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* * *

“I have a job for you, Inali.”

Ava was speaking to one of the octuplets. The changeling Inali was the one who’d taken the form of Gaius Knight, the man who’d led Calli to her children. That must have been what I was witnessing now, the day Inali had set off down that path. So Ava had been behind that. That was the ‘job’ she was referring to.

Ava handed Inali a photograph. “That is the man I want you to impersonate. He has contacts that will prove useful to you.”

Inali glanced down at the picture. “I take it this man is still alive?”

“He is,” Ava confirmed. “But that shouldn’t be a problem. You and your sisters have no qualms about getting your hands dirty.”

Inali glared at her. “It’s not like you’ve given us a choice.”

Ava took one of the charms on her bracelet between her fingers. She smiled. “His name is Gaius Knight. Kill him and take his place.” She handed Inali a second photograph. “This is Callista Pierce. You—or should I say Gaius—will make friends with her.”

Inali’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Why?”

“Because I need to put some pieces into place.”

The third photograph Ava handed her was of Aradia Redwood, the woman who’d kidnapped me. And then raised me.

“You’ll start with her,” Ava told the changeling.

* * *

“They took her. They took Leda.”Grace’s voice trembled. She looked decidedly rattled.

“You’re emotional,” Ava commented with disapproval.

“Of course I’m emotional. Years of planning—centuries of planning—all down the drain! I’m not sad. Oh, no. I’m furious.”

Ava watched her closely. “You’ve grown attached to the child.”

“No. I’ve grown attached to my plan. And now it’s ruined.”

“Do you know who took the child?” Ava asked her.

Of course she herself knew, but she had to see if Grace suspected.

“I thought it was Sonja, but my soldiers searched her estates and found nothing,” Grace replied. “It must have been Faris.”

“Then we shall search his worlds as well,” Ava told her sister, happy to mislead her. “We shall leave no stone unturned.”

“I already did that. And I found nothing.” A sound of pent-up frustration broke her lips. “Still, I’m sure it was Faris. He threatened to take the child for himself. He has her locked away somewhere, out of my reach, grooming her for the day he will use her as a weapon to serve his own purposes.”

Ava set her hand on Grace’s arm. “We will find the child. There is no hiding her magic. Eventually, we will find her.”

Ava didn’t tell Grace that, even now, the child was on Earth, under Aradia’s care. And Ava didn’t tell her sister that she’d already made plans to safeguard her investment. The child would one day give birth to the ultimate weapon. Ava would see to it.

She’d already figured it all out. The child would need other protectors. Ava would use one from each of the four magical quadrants. The symmetry of the idea appealed to her. Four protectors, joined by bonds of family—that was the way to go. Leda needed protectors who would do anything for her, anything to keep her and her child safe.

But the four protectors were not enough. They needed a mother, someone who would create an environment in which the siblings could grow very close. Ava had already selected the perfect candidate: Callista Pierce. The bounty hunter had thwarted Ava’s efforts to gain a foothold on Earth. In doing so, she’d demonstrated her inconvenient morality, yes, but also her ability to unite people. And that ability was just what Ava needed.

Besides, wouldn’t it be poetic justice indeed for Callista Pierce to unknowingly help Ava, the demon she’d thwarted, to gain a foothold on Earth, in this grandest of schemes?

* * *

Through her gazing ball,Ava watched the injured telepath run down the street. He was the most powerful telepath in all of the known realms, and that’s why Faris’s soldiers had hunted him across all of the known realms. Faris wanted to make him part of his ‘Orchestra’ of powerful supernaturals.