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The wheels in my head had been turning the whole time she’d been explaining how she’d created all this life using all that death.

“This has happened before,” I said quietly. “Twenty-five years ago. All the deaths. Like at the Battle of Calamity, where so many gods and demons died. That’s where you got the powerful magic you needed to channel in order to make life. To make me. And Bella. And Jace and all of those Legion brats in my initiation class.”

“The death of an immortal creates a very powerful magical release, particularly the deaths of deities,” Indira said. “That’s how you, Leda, could be born to a god and a demon, two beings whose magic is in complete conflict. It took a lot of skill to shuffle all of that magic around, to turn death into life, but I must say I did a marvelous job of it.”

She sounded proud. I was horrified.

“Protecting the universe isn’t always pretty,” Indira told me.

You know, the more I saw of the universe, the more I realized it was just the same old story over and over again. That same callous attitude was why the people of Earth had lost faith in the Legion.

“You said you will tell us how to reach the Guardians’ Sanctuary,” Nyx reminded Indira.

The First Angel was nothing if not practical. Still, I knew there was some humanity in her. I’d seen it. I wondered if, deep down, beneath that angelic shimmer, learning what Indira had done had made her as sick to her stomach as it had made me.

“And so I shall. What you need to do is actually quite simple.” Indira looked at me. “And you already figured out the first part. You need to channel a lot of magic to break through the Guardians’ barriers, using your cat as a vessel.”

I was almost afraid to ask, but I did. “What is the second part?”

“You and all the other mothers-to-be here need to give birth at once,” Indira said.

I frowned. “How does that help us break through the Guardians’ barriers?”

“To break through that barrier, you need magic, Leda. Because nothing more than an insane amount of magic will overpower the Sanctuary’s magic-nullifying defenses,” Indira said. “Remember what I said, that there’s power in life and death? Remember how I used death to make life? Well, it works in reverse. You can use life to make death. The power of many angel babies being born at once is the source of the insane amount of life magic you need. That magic can be channeled through your Companion cat and directed at the Sanctuary. That should be enough magic to ‘kill’ the Guardians’ defenses and allow you entry. That is your way in.”

“So let me get this straight. We all…” I pointed at myself, then to all the other pregnant women in turn. “…we all need to give birth at the exact same time.”

“That’s right,” Indira confirmed.

“Isn’t that a bit improbable?”

“Nah, it’s all about timing.” Indira waved her hand.

I felt an odd stretching sensation, then I looked down to find I was suddenly very pregnant. I glanced at Cadence, Nyx, and the others. Their bellies were just as round now too.

“All right then.” Indira dusted off her hands. “That should give us a few hours to get our ducks in a row before the babies arrive.” Her merry eyes panned across our line of pregnant soldiers. “So, who’s ready to storm the castle?”