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DEAD MEN LEAVE NO BODIES

T he dead man left no body behind. Whatever spell he’d used had completely vaporized him. The Legion of Angels wouldn’t be questioning him after all, which was obviously exactly what he’d wanted.

“Why would he do this?” I said as the soldiers checked the treasury for further damage.

The two explosions in five minutes had left their mark on the building.

“Why go through all the trouble to find an ancient book? Planning the ring heist—getting through our defenses—must have required a great deal of planning. And then when he was captured, his first move was to kill himself?” I shook my head. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“He must have been stealing the ring for someone else,” Nero said. “Someone he fears so much that he killed himself rather than allow himself to be captured alive and subsequently interrogated.”

“You might be right about that.” I set my hands on Sierra’s shoulders. “Are you all right?”

She was rocking back and forth on her heels, clutching her arms. Despite her bravado earlier, the two close explosions had clearly rattled her.

“Don’t worry, Mom.” Sierra blinked a few times and stopped rocking. She drew in a slow, deep breath. “I was born on the battlefield. Death is my life. And it always will be.”

She sounded so resigned. So young and already so sure of her fate.

“Your future is not set in stone,” I told her. “You can choose your fate, Sierra.”

She sighed, looking thankful for my words but nonetheless unconvinced.

“Sierra can no more choose her fate than you can, Leda. She is wise to accept that. Wiser than you.”

I turned toward the familiar voice, frowning at Faris, the king of the gods and my father. He swept into the room with his usual air of arrogance, coupled with a forceful, quiet indulgence, like we should all be grateful for the honor of his company.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him.

He spread his arms wide, the better to show off his new suit of armor. It was a deep, dark crimson, the color of spilled blood.

“I’m not sure I like the tone of your voice.” His smile, perfected over thousands of years, always rang false to me. “Can’t I just stop by to visit my daughter and granddaughter?”

“No.” I folded my arms across my chest. “You always have an ulterior motive.”

He pretended to look offended. “I most certainly do not.”

The trill of light laughter echoed in the room for a few seconds before she appeared: Grace, queen of the demons.

“Come now, Faris.” She hooked her arm in his. “Don’t lie to our daughter.”

He shot her a scathing look and extracted his arm from her grasp. Grace was unfazed. Her smile shone as brightly as ever before.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said to me. “I got tied up in my work.”

My gaze shifted back and forth between my parents. “How did you know we were here? Are you spying on us?”

“Of course,” Faris said, like it was the most natural thing in the world to spy on your daughter.

“We keep an eye on you because we care. We only want to help, Leda,” Grace added pleasantly.

They were both insane.

“Help me?” I replied. “Or help yourselves?”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you?—”

“And I’m sure you know exactly what you’re doing,” I cut her off. “Both of you.”

“The stolen ring must be very valuable for someone to go to all this trouble to steal it.” Nero came up behind us, placing one hand on my shoulder, the other on Sierra’s. “That is why you are here.”

“They are like vultures circling around a carcass whenever there is a magical artifact to be found,” I agreed.

“I resent that analogy,” Faris said stiffly.

“You can resent it all you want,” I replied. “It doesn’t make it any less true.”

“What does the ring do?” Nero asked my parents.

Grace’s gaze flickered to Faris, then to Nero. “We have no idea whatsoever. That is why we are here. To find the ring and learn its secrets.”

“You’re about ten minutes too late,” I said. “The ring is gone. And so is the thief who stole it.”

“I found it!” Sierra exclaimed suddenly, like she’d just come out of a trance. She grinned at me. “I know where he sent the ring!”

“Excellent.” Faris slunk forward. He extended his hand toward her, palm up. A small glowing ball rested in it. “Show us.” He tossed the magic ball into the air, and it exploded like a tiny firework.

“A map of the cosmos,” Sierra whispered, reaching toward the sea of glowing dots. She watched them blink in and out like fireflies, her eyes full of wonder. “It’s so beautiful.”

Faris passed behind her, saying in a soft, soothing voice, “Where is the ring? Which world?”

Sierra lifted her hand to point, then stopped herself. “No.” She spun around and glared at Faris. “I won’t tell you.”

Grace glanced at Faris. “She was looking at this one.” She tapped one of the glowing dots, and it rang clearly, a single musical note. “The ring must be there.”

Faris moved in closer, so his eyes were level with the pulsing dot. “That is the world of Palak.”

“It’s a big planet,” Sierra told him, hands on her hips. “Your soldiers will never find the ring. Not without my help.”

Grace gave her a curious look.

“I can track down the ring the djinn took,” Sierra continued. “But I won’t do that if you try to cut my parents out of this.”

“Why would we do that?” Grace said, all sugar and spice.

“It is a powerful artifact. And you are deities who collect power. You want the ring for yourselves.”

Grace chuckled. “Clever girl. Only twelve years old and already you understand the game of demons and gods.”

Sierra stood a little taller.

“But that wasn’t our plan at all.” Grace glanced at Faris. “At least not my plan.”

“Then what is your plan?” Nero asked.

“We heard you were in danger,” Faris said. “We were concerned.”

I snorted. “You mean, you were concerned that someone might have gotten their hands on powerful artifacts. This literally happened ten minutes ago, and you already know all about it. News sure travels fast.”

Faris turned his nose up at the allegation. “There are many here loyal to the gods.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You mean you have spies here.”

“I have spies everywhere .”

“I’ll bet,” I said with a forced laugh.

“Don’t be so bitter,” he said. “This would all be a lot easier if you remembered we are on the same side, Leda.”

“Are we? With the way you act, it’s so easy to forget. I’m on the council too, you know.”

His wry smile was immediate and not at all unexpected. “Which is why I’m sure you would have called a meeting to report the ring’s theft to the rest of us.”

I smiled back. Hard. “Just as I’m sure you always share everything relevant you learn with the council.”

Faris folded his hands together. “Naturally.”

I snorted in disbelief.

I didn’t trust my parents, but I did trust that they wanted to keep Sierra safe, even if only to use her for her powers. So in the end, we all agreed to work together to retrieve the ring.