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“Just because we haven’t seen the Guardians, that doesn’t mean they’re not out there, scheming against us, putting all their pieces into position,” I said. “For all we know, Bella’s curse is part of their scheme.”
Harker locked his arms over his chest. “Ava cursed Bella. The Guardians didn’t do it.”
“Right, and the Guardians have never manipulated the gods and demons,” I reminded him. “There’s a decent chance they’ve manipulated Ava—and maybe Zarion too. Or do you think it’s a coincidence that the gods and demons both now suddenly each possess weapons that can annihilate the other?”
Harker squeezed his arms harder to his chest, glowering at me. “You sound like you don’t even want to help Bella.”
“Of course I do. We all do, Harker.” My gaze panned across my family before returning to him. “But we have to tread carefully. If we do as you suggest, we might cure Bella now, but that won’t matter if the Guardians win and kill us all, including Bella.”
Harker continued to stare at me, his frown deepening. Finally, his shoulders relaxed. “When the Angel of Chaos reminds me to be cautious, I guess I should listen.” He sighed. “You’re right, Leda. This could be a trap.”
“That, plus you don’t want to hand Zarion’s weapon over to Ava in any case,” I said. “Because very likely it’s exactly the same kind of weapon as Bella.”
“A person,” Harker said under his breath, his eyes drifting off in thought. Then his gaze snapped back to me. “Bella would never allow us to trade away another person to save her.”
“Speaking of Bella, where is she?” I looked around.
“She and Calli went into the kitchen to bake some more cake,” Gin told me. “It should almost be ready.”
“They work fast.”
“You were outside for a long time,” Zane said.
“I had a lot to process.” I let out a heavy breath. Today had been a very long day. Thank goodness it was almost over. “Ok, so what do we know about this cake?”
“It’s an angel food cake,” Calli said, carrying in a large platter. She nudged aside some books to make room for the cake.
“Angel cake!” Sierra squealed.
I turned to find her loitering in the doorway, waiting for her chance to pounce. She was fully awake again. Her eyes twinkled, her lips sporting a massive grin. Yep, she was definitely up to something. And I had a strong feeling that something involved stealing my cake. Again.
Nero walked over to her and swooped her up. “Sierra and I are going to pay my parents a visit.”
“Grandpa! Pancakes!” Sierra chimed in.
“Yes, pancakes. But, more importantly, research,” Nero told our daughter.
She wrinkled her nose at him like she didn’t like the sound of that.
“An immortal artifact cursed Bella,” Nero continued. “So perhaps another immortal artifact can cure her. I’ll talk to Cadence and Damiel, see what they know. They have many more books in the Keepers’ library than we have at the Legion. The Immortals’ knowledge is vast. They will have an answer to this.”
“Thanks,” I said, blowing him and Sierra a kiss.
A ripple of magic bubbled around them, then they disappeared.
“So, how about that cake?” I gave Calli a demure eyelash flutter.
She chuckled. “Help yourself.”
And so I did.
“Whoa, Leda! Leave some for the rest of us!” Zane protested.
“I did.” I indicated the cake platter. Almost half of it was still there.
“Not really,” Zane grumbled, reaching toward my plate.
Harker caught his hand. “I wouldn’t.” His gaze flitted to me, then back to Zane. “Leda has a tendency to jam her fork through the hand of anyone who tries to steal her cake.”
