Page 24

“This is all because of her. She’s a bad influence on you, Windstriker.” Faris gave him a scathing look. He looked like he wanted to burn Nero’s eyebrows off. “Angels never dared to talk back to gods before Leda Pandora came around.”

“And whose fault is that?” I demanded.

Faris was my father, and he’d made me on purpose. So now he really was reaping what he’d sowed.

“Tell me more about what happened back there,” Faris snapped at me.

“What do you want to know?” I asked.

“Anything of relevance. Anything that will allow me to prevent this from happening again.”

The way that he spoke, I had a sinking suspicion that this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

“How many worlds have you lost to Solarian?” I asked him.

“What?” Surprise flashed in his eyes, but he immediately buried it. “None.”

I didn’t believe him for a second. This wasn’t Solarian’s first strike. No wonder Faris was so grumpy, even for Faris.

“Ok, sure,” I said. “But given what a threat those weapons are, maybe you should convene the gods’ council?”

“I don’t need you to tell me how to do my job,” Faris said tightly. “Now, go.” He waved his hand, dismissing us. “Get out of my sight.”

“Always a pleasure,” I said, bowing to him.

Then I took Nero’s hand, and he teleported us back to our living room.

“Faris is hiding something,” Nero told me as he set his pack down on the floor. “When he said he’d never heard of Solarian, he was lying.”

“Yeah, and he’s lost more than just one world to Solarian too,” I agreed, plopping onto our sofa. “But why lie about it?”

“Because he’s a god.” Nero sat down, wrapping an arm around me. “And gods never tell you the whole story.”

Nero and I sat on our sofa, staring out the great window, looking out on to Purgatory until his parents came in from the next room.

I turned around on the sofa, asking, “How’s Sierra?”

“She’s fine,” Cadence assured me. “She’s sleeping. The little angel tired herself out sparring with Damiel.”

“Sparring?” I repeated, adding in a gasp, “With Damiel?”

Damiel gave me a crooked smile. “Relax. We used wooden swords. And it was Sierra’s idea.”

“I’m sure.” I glanced at Nero.

He shrugged. “I did instruct Sierra to practice her skills.”

And of course Sierra had listened to him. In her eyes, her father ruled the universe.

I looked at Cadence and Damiel. “Where’s Eira?” I asked them.

“Having a long overdue playdate with her Aunt Eva,” Cadence told me.

I bet they weren’t sparring. They were probably doing proper things. Like having a tea party. Or baking cookies.

“We got a lead on the immortal artifact that the mystery god stole from the hunter,” Damiel said.

“Mystery god,” I muttered.