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I was rising to join Eira when a sudden wave of dizziness slammed into me, knocking me back into my chair.

“Sierra?”

Eira’s voice was muffled, buried beneath a tangled mess of other sounds and sensations. The roar of an explosion. The crash of glass. The shimmer of a gold ring. And another. And another. They were falling to the ground, sixteen of them in all, almost identical in every way. Except for the text on them, shining before my eyes, burning into my brain.

“It means something,” I said, then my vision shattered.

“What means something?” Bella asked as I faded back to the here and now. “What did you see?”

“The rings. The text on the rings means something. I just can’t read it.” I looked at her, at Eira. “We thought there was only one ring, but there are more.”

“What ring?” Eira asked me.

I looked at her. “Remember the story I told you about my adventure with my parents a few years ago in the treasury of the Legion’s research facility?Thatring.”

“And there are more of them now?”

“There always have been more of them. I just didn’t know it. Four years ago, a djinn stole the ring. We got it back. But now…” I struggled to arrange the pieces of my vision in a way that made sense. “Someone stole it again.”

“Who?” Eira asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t know. But I think it’s the same person behind the last theft.”

“I remember Leda telling me this story,” said Bella. “Didn’t you catch the thief last time?”

“We did. And then he blew himself up.” I moved past the unpleasant memory. “Dad thought he was afraid to be captured and interrogated.”

“So he was more afraid of the person who’d hired him than he was of the Legion of Angels?” Eira said. “And of dying?”

“According to my dad, yes.”

“You mentioned writing on the rings,” Bella said. “What kind of writing?”

“Ancient writing.” I shook my head. “I don’t recognize the language.” I looked at Eira. “But maybe your parents would. They’re Keepers. You have so many ancient texts and artifacts in your house. Maybe this language is in there somewhere.”

“Come on, Sierra. Let’s get you to my parents,” Eira said, all thoughts of shopping forgotten. “They’ll be able to help us.”

“I hope so,” I replied. “Something really bad is going to happen, and these rings are part of it.”

CHAPTER 2

THE PALACE

On our way to the Palace, Eira and I swung by my house to pick up Snow. Years ago, my mom’s cat Angel had given birth to seven kittens. When they’d grown old enough, she’d given one kitten to each of the kids born the same day as me. Seven kids, seven kittens.

Snow had gone to me. He was a big boy, even bigger than his mother, which might have made him the largest cat to ever walk the Earth. His coat was white with black spots, a perfect snow leopard pattern.

Eira’s cat was a pretty girl named Bonbon. Like all of Angel’s babies, Bonbon was a blend of her parents. She was white with big black splashes on her body, like the spots of a cow.

Bonbon was waiting for us when we stepped inside the Palace. As soon as Snow saw her, both cats took off running up the stairs. The two of them were as loud as a herd of bison. Luckily, Grandpa Damiel had reinforced every part of the Palace to withstand a battle.

Grandma Cadence was sitting in the kitchen when we entered. “Home already, Eira? Did you run out of—” She stopped. “Something has happened.” She pulled out two more chairs. “Tell me.”

“I had a vision,” I said as Eira and I sat down.

I told her about the rings, the theft, and the mysterious person, cloaked in shadow, just past my field of view.

“Visions rarely give you everything on a gold platter,” Cadence said. “Tell me more about these symbols you saw on the rings.”