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“Vandalisms, actually.”

His lips thinned.

“You’ve experienced something similar, haven’t you?” Grace said.

“Yes.”

“There’s also been vandalism at the New York University of Witchcraft.” I looked at Bella. “Right, Aunt Bella?”

“Actually, as it turns out, the vandalism was used to cover up something else,” she said. “Theft.”

Faris and Grace both frowned.

“The thieves vandalized the premises so we wouldn’t be looking for a thief, so we wouldn’t realize something had been taken,” Bella continued. “But I am very meticulous in my inventory-keeping. Things are missing that weren’t found in the debris.”

“What was taken?” my mom asked her.

“Fire lily extract.”

“Fire lily extract?” I chewed on that. “Isn’t that used as a catalyst for explosives?”

Bella nodded. “Yes. But there are other uses.”

“Was there anything missing from your facilities?” I asked Faris and Grace.

“You shouldn’t be getting involved in this, child,” Faris told me.

“Answer my daughter’s question,” Mom snapped.

“I have no idea if anything was taken. My soldiers told me it was vandalism, likely some boorish agitators trying to make noise to get a little attention for themselves.” He stroked his chin. “I will call them to see if anything turned up missing from the facility.”

Grace grabbed her phone. “I will do the same.”

“There’s something else,” Bella said as Faris and Grace went off to make their calls. “I was going to wait until after dessert to share this with you, but given what else is going on…”

“What is it, Bella?” my mom asked.

Bella pulled out her phone. “The thief was very careful to avoid the university’s security cameras—and even destroyed some of them—but we did manage to catch a face on one of the hidden cameras.”

We all gathered around to see what was on Bella’s screen.

“It’s her.” Mom looked at Dad. “It’s Lavinia.”

“Ok,” he replied, his tone perfectly level. At times like these, my dad didn’t have room for emotion, only strategy. “We need to figure out exactly what Lavinia stole from all the facilities she broke into. We need to know what all those things make when combined. And then we need to stop her before she makes her next move.”

CHAPTER 10

ORDER AND CHAOS

Faris and Grace came back with the reports of what had been stolen from the gods’ and demons’ facilities. We spent the next several hours looking through them, trying to figure out what all those random magical herbs made when they were put together.

We didn’t have a clue.

But Cadence did. She and Damiel arrived sometime around midnight for a little magical knowledge backup.

“All those herbs put together,” she said, “it’s the formula for the Cure.”

“The cure to what?” Bella asked.