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“I didn’t say I was giving you a choice, Faris.”

“If either of you want to take Zane, you will have to get through me first,” I declared. “He is under my protection.”

“Don’t be foolish, child. The Guardians likely let Zane go for a reason,” Faris pointed out. “I intend to find out what that reason is.”

“I do not believe for a second that Zane is working with the Guardians. I know my brother.”

“He’s not your brother,” Faris said with strained patience.

“He is more my brother than you are my father.”

“You’re being very unreasonable. And quite emotional.” He said it with distaste, like emotion was a sin.

“Zane was with the Guardians for a long time, Leda. Two years. Who knows what they did to him. Or how they’ve worked over his mind,” Grace said gently—or at least she pretended to be gentle.

I had to say, I got really worried when my parents stopped bickering for a moment and actually agreed on something.

But still I insisted, “My gut tells me that this is the same Zane he’s always been.”

“Your ‘gut’ is irrelevant here,” Faris said with obvious disdain.

“Leda, are you sure you’re not just believing what you want to believe?” Grace asked.

Neither Faris nor Grace seemed impressed by my confidence in Zane.

“You’re the Demon of Faith, Grace. So how about having a little faith?” I told her.

“Clever, Leda.”

I took a bow. “Thank you.”

“But you know things don’t work that way,” she said.

“Like I said, I know my brother. And I know you two too. That’s why I’m not letting either of you take him. You’re both itching for an excuse to nab a telepath, especially Faris.”

Grace looked at Faris. “She’s not wrong about you.”

“Oh, do shut up.” The expression on his face was positively searing.

My office door creaked open. I spun around to find Nyx stepping through the doorway. The First Angel was wearing her black hair short and straight today. It framed her face, following her jawline. Nyx possessed some pretty spectacular shifting magic. But she didn’t seem to be in the mood for pretty things right now, not like when her hair was long and flowed weightlessly in the air, as though it were floating underwater. No, her hair was stern today. Just like her face. And her no-nonsense black uniform.

“Pandora.” Her voice was somber, but also a tad exasperated. “I’ve been trying to contact you for hours.”

“I hope it wasn’t important.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t play games with me. Nero tried to cover for you, but his excuses, creative as they might be, didn’t fool me for a second. Where were you?”

“Out,” I said vaguely.

“Obviously you were out. Because you certainly weren’t in.”

“I was just having some quality family time.”

Nyx’s face told me she didn’t buy my story one bit.

“You have been fighting.” She picked debris off my jacket. “Extensively.” She pointed out the monster blood on my boots.

“That’s normal with my family.”