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“Ava wins through skill, not luck,” Grace declared.

His voice dipped lower. “On the rare occasion that Ava does win, it’s by cheating.”

She shot him a threatening look. “Don’t speak ill of my sister, Faris, or there will be dire consequences for you.”

“I’m shivering in fear.”

“As you should be, you self-righteous megalomaniac,” she snapped.

“Bella told me about the Battle of Calamity,” I said, cutting through their silly fight. “She said one of the demon squadrons was tasked with destroying an enemy supply camp high in the mountains.”

“Yes. And the gods ambushed them along the trail.” Grace pointed an accusatory finger at Faris. “Talk about sneaking out and attacking from the shadows. Only three demon soldiers survived the ambush.”

Three demon soldiers plus Thea, Bella’s mother. I wondered if Grace knew that Ava’s son Khalon had saved Thea’s life.

“Your version of events is highly suspect, Grace,” Faris said. “You’re counting on those three demons being the only survivors who can speak of that day, and we all know that demons are liars. None of my soldiers survived. Over a hundred gods killed! And so we shall never know what truly happened there.”

“Many more soldiers died in the battle in the valley,” I said. “On both sides.”

“Yes,” Faris confirmed.

“Is that typical of battles between gods and demons?”

“Losses are not typically that high, no,” Grace answered. “We are immortal, but not particularly good at repopulating our numbers.”

That was due to the abysmal fertility of powerful deities, which was even worse than the fertility of angels.

“Usually, the demons and gods just flex their muscles a bit and shoot off their mouths—and sometimes a little flashy magic,” Grace told me. “But they get cold feet as soon as things get very real.”

Faris puffed out his chest like the pompous peacock that he was. “I take issue with the implication that I ever get cold feet.”

“Duly noted,” Grace said coolly. “But you can’t take issue with the facts, Faris.”

He frowned.

“What made the Battle of Calamity different?” I asked. “Why were the losses so high?”

“I wasn’t there, but from what I understand, things there just escalated very quickly,” Grace said. “So many soldiers were already dead on both sides before anyone could even think of getting cold feet. “

“The first dead soldiers were in the mountains?” I asked.

“Mainly,” she replied. “Thanks to Khalon.”

So Grace did know about Khalon and Thea.

“Khalon? What was Ava’s son doing in the mountains during the Battle of Calamity?” Faris frowned. He clearly hadn’t known about that.

“What was Khalon doing? Kicking your soldiers’ asses, it would seem,” Grace told him. “Against overwhelming odds. He must have had something worth fighting for.”

Like Thea’s life.

“You know more than you’re saying, Grace.”

“Yes. As always, I know more than you, Faris,” she replied with a sugar-coated smile.

“I will find out what you know.” He kept his voice calm and level, but I could tell he was fuming. Cold, menacing fury dripped off his every word.

“Good luck with that.” Her smile had turned decidedly sardonic.