Page 44

NEW BEGINNINGS

T he good news was I wasn’t dead for more than a few moments, at least according to my parents. Apparently, when I’d charged into the magic bubble, the shock to my body was so severe that my heart stopped. They restarted it, and now here I was alive and breathing.

In other good news, my parents were also both still alive and I’d prevented the end of the universe. So yay.

Of course, there was also bad news.

While I’d saved the universe and stopped Lavinia from becoming the all-powerful Queen of Magic, I hadn’t managed to stop the Cure.

Or maybe it wasn’t bad news?

On the one hand, there wasn’t any Nectar or Venom anymore. On the other hand, deities and angels weren’t dependent on a poison to survive; and also, with time, as the poison faded from their bodies, they would have a much easier time having children.

Time would tell whether the Cure was good or bad, but one thing was for sure: the Cure had changed everything.

“The world—the universe—just got a hard reset, and nothing will ever be the same,” Eira said.

She was visiting me in the Legion’s Purgatory medical ward, where I’d been recovering for the last couple of weeks. Yes, weeks . I felt fine, but my overly-protective parents insisted that I needed 24/7 medical supervision. I guess my brush with death had them pretty freaked out.

It was so boring here. But at least they’d given me an extra large bed so Snow could sleep with me.

“Yes,” I agreed. “The gods, the demons, the Legion of Angels, the Dark Force…everything is different now. I wonder what will happen next. How will people get magic? There’s no Nectar anymore. There’s no Venom anymore.”

“How about the Immortals?” Eira said. “They created the gods and demons. They can give people magic.”

“That was long ago,” Sunfire declared as he entered the room with my parents. “Only very few of us ever possessed such a power, and they are long gone. Those of us who remain can only bestow magic on people with the help of Nectar or Venom.”

“So that’s it?” I looked at him, at Eira, at my parents. “It’s all over? The Legion of Angels is finished?”

“Absolutely not,” Dad replied. “As always, we will soldier on. This isn’t the first setback the Legion has experienced.”

“Yeah, but you’ve got to admit it’s a pretty big setback,” I said. “You can’t make new soldiers. And you can’t level up the ones you have.”

“We will find a way.” Dad’s face was calm, and there wasn’t even a hint of panic present in his level voice.

“In fact, we might have a solution.” Mom looked at Sunfire.

The Immortal squeezed his cheeks in. “I have an idea . It’s not a solution just yet. But with time and patience, it could become one.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“You have encountered individuals who got their magic from something other than Nectar or Venom.”

“Cupid and Dreamcatcher!” I realized. “They got their magic when the Guardians’ Sanctuary was ripped open.”

“That event resulted in a sizable release of magic,” Sunfire said. “The magic had to go somewhere. It went into the humans nearby, transforming them. Giving them magical abilities.”

“So you can recreate another sizable release of magic?” I asked. “And use that to give people magic?”

“It won’t be that easy,” replied Sunfire. “It’s unlikely that we could create another event of that magical magnitude, but we might be able to channel smaller amounts of magic. With time. And research. To start, I will need bodies.”

“Bodies?” I looked at Eira. “Like dead bodies?”

Sunfire nodded. “When someone dies, their magic isn’t lost. In the case of Immortal artifacts—and Nectar and Venom—that magic is channeled into something else. Well, what if we could channel the magic from those who die? What if we could channel it into the living?”

“You could make new Legion soldiers,” I told my parents. “Even without any Nectar.”

Mom nodded. “Yes.”

“Theoretically,” Sunfire reminded us.

“We will turn that theory into a reality,” Dad told him.

Mom took his hand. “If we’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that there’s always a way if you’re just stubborn enough to find it.”

“You are that, Pandora.”

She smirked at him. “Look who’s talking.”

I laughed at them. “You’re both as stubborn as they come.”

“As are you,” Dad told me.

“Yeah, well, I am your kid, after all,” I replied.

“Speaking of kids ,” Sunfire said, saying the word like he didn’t quite approve of such things, “you should be aware that many things will change now that the Cure was cast.”

“They already have,” Mom said, winking at Dad.

“Pandora?” His voice was quiet, almost reverent.

She grinned at him. “Yes.”

“Huh?” I frowned at my parents. “What am I missing?”

Mom peeled her lovey-dovey gaze away from Dad, meeting my eyes. “Sierra.” She drew in a deep breath. “You’re going to be a big sister.”

“Huh.” I blinked. “That happened fast.”

“ Fast ,” she repeated, chuckling. “Right. It only took sixteen years.”

Dad kissed Mom, then gazed upon her like she’d just given him the world. It was kind of sweet. Kind of . They were my parents, after all, and I really didn’t need to see them kiss or make googly eyes at each other.

“Wait,” I said, a new thought stopping me dead in my tracks. “Does this mean I’ll have to share my room?”

We all laughed. And through that laughter, my heart lightened. The world was different now—wild and unpredictable and chaotic—but through all that, at least I had the people I loved. Together we would face the future. Together we could do anything.