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“I wonder what other powers this might have activated in you, Leda.” Grace watched me like I was a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis.

“So, guys, here’s what I’m wondering,” I said, struggling to concentrate. “Just before Stash attacked Grace, I was talking to Bella. She said Ava made her lure me down there, to the dungeon. I think she lured me away so I wouldn’t stand in Stash’s way.”

“You think Ava sent Stash to kill me,” Grace said. “You think she’s controlling him too.”

“If Ava learned about Zarion’s weapon, she could have figured out how to take control over it. Over Stash,” I said. “And then she killed Zarion to make sure he never stole the weapon back.”

Grace frowned. “But what does my sister want with a demon-killing weapon? She is a demon.”

“Being in control of a demon-killing weapon is exactly the spot you want to be in when you’re a demon,” I told her. “So the weapon can’t be used against you. But you can use it against other demons. You guys kicked Ava off your council. Don’t you think she might want to kill you all and remake the demons’ empire with her at the head of it?”

Grace chewed on her lip.

“Yeah, I thought so,” I said. “So, the question is: how do we stop her?”

23

FIRE AND ICE

Iwanted to keep digging, to plunge my hands into this whole big, twisted, tangled mess and see what conspiracy threads came loose. But Faris ordered me to take a break until I got my head on straight.

Honestly, he had a point—I was still pretty dizzy from those megadoses of Venom and Nectar—but I wasn’t very good at taking it easy. Doing nothing made me feel powerless, so I headed to the gym with Nero. I planned to turbo-charge my metabolism. Then my body would burn through the Nectar and Venom in no time, and I’d be able to get back to work.

“You have an insane kind of logic,” Nero replied when I told him my plan.

I frowned. That wasn’t the response I’d been hoping for.

“Maybe you really should just relax,” he said.

“Relaxing is for amateurs.” I lifted my fists, preparing for his attack.

But the attack never came.

“Come on, Windstriker. Or are you scared that you’ll lose now that I’ve leveled up my magic?” I taunted him.

A single, unimpressed eyebrow cocked upward at me.

I swung a punch at him. He evaded easily, and he wasn’t even trying. He was still way faster than I was. Geez, how much Nectar and Venom did I need to take before I’d powered-up to his level?

“So, I’ve been thinking,” I said, deflecting Nero’s strike. “What is Ava’s actual goal? It can’t be as simplistic as just killing a bunch of gods and demons. She has to have something else planned.”

“The plans of deities are often multi-course affairs,” Nero agreed.

He caught my arm, pulling me in close. But just before our chests collided, he turned, throwing me over his shoulder. I hit the mat with a grunt.

“And what is up with these mysterious new deities?” I wondered, springing to my feet. “Are they actually new gods? Or is this all just one of Ava’s tricks?”

“Faris recognized the name Solarian when you said it,” Nero reminded me.

“Right.” I caught his punch, holding him there as I sent a ripple of electricity up his arm. “But whoever this Solarian is, Faris’s not sharing.”

Nero sent my river of lightning back into me. Damn magic-eater spell.

I disengaged, putting some distance between us as I shook out my arms. “How am I supposed to fix this mess if no one is being honest with me? Well, except for you, Nero,” I added with a coy look.

“Are you flirting with me, Pandora?” The warning look he gave me was delightfully savage. “Because if so, that was not a very smooth transition.”

“Yeah, I know,” I sighed. “It’s hard to be smooth when my head’s all fuzzy.” And then I sighed again. “I can’t believe I tried to seduce you in front of my parents.”