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And then it was over. We slammed against the ground. I definitely felt that.

“Everyone ok?” Dad asked.

“Yes.” I peeled myself off the rocks, rising, stretching. My neck cracked. A few other things cracked too.

“Where are we?” Mom wondered, looking around.

I didn’t need to. I already knew where we were. Those shimmering, humming rocks were strikingly familiar. They were still burned into my mind, an echo from my vision. I must have teleported us here without even meaning to.

“Lavinia is that way.” I pointed at the ragged, jagged opening in the rocks, like the mouth of a beast. Like a doorway to evil.

And evil we did find.

Lavinia stood in the middle of the cavern, enveloped in a glowing halo, a pulsing bubble of magical energy that changed color with every beat. Red, purple, white, blue, orange…more and more colors, flashing like a light show.

She had the rings, all sixteen of them. But they’d changed. They’d linked together, forming a long chain which she wore around her neck. The necklace, the halo, the rocks—they were all flickering and flashing in perfect harmony.

“Leda Pandora, we meet again.” She sneered at my mom. “I know why you’re here.”

“To stop you,” Mom declared, taking an assertive step forward.

“Yes.” Lavinia’s smirk stretched wider. “But you’re too late. This is my show. My coronation. I shall dine at this all-you-can-eat buffet of magic, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

Dad drew his sword, swinging at the glowing bubble around her. The blade bounced right off.

Lavinia cackled. “As I said, there’s nothing you can do to stop me. You’re too late. The ritual has already begun, and you can’t stop it. I will become the most powerful magical being in the universe, and destroy all other magic at the same time. This is the end for you.” Her gaze cut to me. “For all of you.”

“You’re a moron,” I told her.

Her nostrils flared.

“You obviously don’t understand those ancient books you read,” I continued. “Your spell won’t destroy all other magic. It will only destroy all Nectar and Venom. That’s hardly the same thing.”

“The effect will be the same, the end of dominance for the gods and the demons,” she snapped back. “It will just take longer. I can wait. And watch. And reign.”

“Who is going to follow you?” I laughed.

“They will. You’ll see.”

“No. They won’t,” I told her.

“I will be Queen!” she hissed. The magic bubble surged up around her, like an ocean wave crashing against the rocks.

“Take out that barrier,” Dad said in his angel-commander voice.

The three of us hit it with everything we had, a formidable artillery of magic. The bubble didn’t so much as whimper. It was humming faster and faster, burning brighter and brighter, building up to the finale. In a few seconds, the two rituals would be over, their spells cast.

Pulse. Pulse. Pulse.

Bam. Bam. Bam.

It was all happening so fast now. The blinking and humming. It wasn’t even really a hum anymore; it was a thump. A slam. A scream.

Lavinia was screaming in agony.

“Something’s wrong,” I said. “The spells have gone wrong.”

Power was bursting out of the chain of rings. Lavinia caught on fire. The sharp taste of metal stung my tongue. I knew that flavor. It was the taste of impending disaster.