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“I’m not surprised,” he said. “The Guardians harbor many secrets.”

Arina closed her eyes again. Her hands had moved on to the armor. She repeated Zane’s words, “The savior will change the balance of magic back to the middle, back to mixed magic of light and dark origins. The savior is a god killer and demon slayer.”

Prophecies were always so dramatic.

“The missing piece of the Prophecy comes after Leda changes the balance of magic,” Arina said. “That missing piece is the part where Leda destroys the Guardians too.”

“So we will actually defeat the Guardians?” I asked.

“Not sure. I cannot see into the future. I can only see how the Guardians interpreted the Prophecy. But even if I could see into the future, I don’t think it would help much. You see, the future is not set. The Prophecy allows for several different paths. Down one path, you grow your magic, Leda; the Guardians did need you to grow your magic. They explored the Prophecy’s possibilities, and any path where they tried to stop you from gaining power just led to their destruction and your gaining power anyway. They decided they needed to let you gain all your powers before they struck out at you.”

“How can the Guardians have a Prophecy? How can they see into the future? That’s not the kind of thing magic-nullifying beings can do, right?” I looked at Damiel and Cadence, our resident experts in all kinds of magic, for confirmation.

“But the Guardians have collected supernaturals with all kinds of powers,” Cadence said. “Long ago, a telepath with future-gazing powers might have given them this Prophecy.”

Arina’s hands followed the gun’s contours. “Not all Guardians are united on what to do with Leda. Some think she’s more trouble than she’s worth and that the magical shift can be done in other ways. Some think they need Leda for it.”

Arina’s hand flashed out and she grabbed my hand. I felt a jolt as we connected, my hands and our minds.

And then I was once more in the Lost City. I saw the pale-haired angel from long ago. She flashed in front of my eyes, this fragment from the past.

Arina was beside me. “The Guardians’ forces attacked the city.”

“You’re seeing what I’m seeing?”

“Yes,” Arina said. “This woman, she was the Immortals’ chosen one, the one of balanced magic. The first bearer of the weapons of heaven and hell.”

“She was an angel.”

“No, not an angel. Something else,” Arina told me. “I don’t know what she was exactly. Some kind of deity, neither god nor demon. She flew out to face the invaders. The city was lost.”

“How long ago did this happen?” I asked her.

“Long ago, before the gods and demons came here. When humans were hardly more than primitive cave dwellers.”

“There were cities here on Earth so long ago?”

“The Lost City was built, destroyed, and rebuilt many times,” she said.

“There were many bearers of these immortal artifacts,” I remembered.

“Yes. Chosen champions of the Immortals. Only a champion can see these lost memories.”

“You’re seeing them,” I pointed out.

“I’m seeing them through you, Leda, as you see them. Because I’m reading your magic.”

The scene changed.

“Another champion.” I pointed at the red-haired angel Sierra in the Lost City.

“Yes.”

“How long ago did she live in her version of the Lost City?” I asked.

“She didn’t live. She will live.”

“What does that mean?”

“The visions of the red-haired angel, they aren’t memories from the past,” Arina said. “They are snippets from the future.”

“What?”

“They show what is yet to come.” She opened her eyes and looked at me. “This is part of the Prophecy the Guardians are so worked up about. And that angel—Sierra—the future bearer of the weapons of heaven and hell…she’s your daughter, Leda.”