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“You used Ava to find Thea,” I realized.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “As soon as she thought Thea was the only one who knew this very important prophecy that would make her all-powerful, Ava became very interested in finding her.”

“You aren’t as clueless as your mother believes,” I said. “You’re downright devious.”

The smile he gave me was more pragmatic than proud. “I spent far too long playing the stupid, powerless son that Ava could push around.”

I saw where this was going. “And now you seek to replace Ava, to claim her power for yourself.”

“It’s only fair,” replied Khalon. “Her precious quest for power is why she manipulated me and Thea. She made us create a weapon.”

Bella.

“It’s taken many years, but Ava will finally get what she deserves.” A hint of savage rapture crept into his carefully-measured tone. “I am playing the long game, Leda Pandora. I always have.”

“And I am playing it with him,” said Aerilyn, his half-sister and Thea’s best friend.

I didn’t blame them. The three of them had suffered a lot at Ava’s hands.

“So let me play too,” I pleaded. “I can help you thwart Ava. And you can help me cure Bella. Your own daughter. Doesn’t it boil your blood to hear how Ava is using her?”

“We already knew all about Ava’s scheme,” Aerilyn told me. “We knew that she planned to curse Bella.”

“You knew Ava was going to curse Bella, and you let it happen?” I had to swallow the snarl on my lips.

“There was no helping that. Bella had to be cursed so she’d have the power to find Thea,” Khalon said, infuriatingly pragmatic.

“Bella had already found Thea when Ava activated the final piece of the curse. You could have helped Bella. You could have warned us of what Ava was about to do!”

“We needed Ava to use Bella to strike against the gods,” Aerilyn said. “Because that finally turned the demons’ council against her. Before, they weren’t really looking for her. Some demons on the council were still protecting her.”

“Some still are,” Thea mentioned. “Like Sonja.”

She frowned when she said the demon’s name. According to Bella, Thea and Sonja didn’t have the best history. Sonja had always hated the dark angel. She’d even sent her into a hopeless battle, confident she would die.

“Don’t worry.” Aerilyn reached across the table, setting her hand on her best friend’s. “If Sonja is helping Ava, we will find out soon enough.”

“And even Sonja cannot protect Ava now,” Khalon said. “The council branded Ava an enemy. Sonja spoke in her sister’s favor, but the rest of the council outvoted her. The council has devoted significant resources to finding Ava. They will find her. And then that will be the end of her.”

Khalon was speaking pretty callously about his own mother. Then again, he’d used his daughter as a pawn to strike out at his mother.

“I can’t believe you would allow Ava to do this to your own daughter.” I glowered at Khalon and Thea—and Aerilyn, just for good measure. “Bella trusted you. And you betrayed that trust just so you could get revenge on Ava.”

“It’s nothing personal,” Khalon said coolly, like nothing he’d done bothered him at all.

“Yeah, with deities it never is,” I snapped. “Well, are you at least going to help me break Bella’s curse?”

“We can’t break it,” he told me. “The curse is woven into Bella. It’s part of her connection to the immortal artifact that brought her into being.” He folded his hands together. “There is nothing we can do.”

“What about Ava?” I asked, my pulse racing with panic. “She said she could cure Bella. Is that even true?”

Khalon and Aerilyn exchanged glances, then he said, “No.” The word crashed into me, like a nail being hammered into my heart. “Ava lied to you in order to gain the answer she seeks. She cannot cure Bella. No one can.”

“We’ll just see about that.” I pushed away from the table. “You might have given up on your daughter, but I will never give up on my sister,” I hissed.

Then I teleported the hell out of there.

I was going to the gods’ castle, and I was going to speak to my parents. Grace was probably still there. I’d ask her and Faris to help me find a way to cure Bella’s curse. They would help me. I knew they would. I just hoped their help wouldn’t come at too heavy a price.