Ez looked toward the ceiling. “What concerns me is that Anichi magic should’ve helped you. Mom and I have spoken about it at-length, and she doesn’t understand why she wasn’t able to heal your spine, or why your own magic didn’t heal you during your surgery.”
“Don’t ask me. It’s a total mystery.”
Just like my healing magic was. It was connected to my demigod magic, which meant it wasn’t straightforward at all.
“Right. You healed me from sepsis last semester, when I was moments away from dying. If you could do that, fixing your spine shouldn’t be an issue.”
“We could try again,” I offered. “I’ve had more time to recover since then, and you restored Tahoma’s blood loss. Maybe you can fix it.”
“Let me try.”
My brother splayed his hand across my stomach. I felt Ez’s healing magic working within me, and the warmth of its power as it flowed through my muscles and radiated throughout my veins. It was just as strong as my mother’s magic was, if not stronger. I half expected to regain feeling in my legs and to stand up again, but the sensation of his magic stopped at my knees and didn’t go any farther. The Anichi light hovered over my middle before fading out completely.
Nothing happened. My throat tightened, and I told myself how stupid it was to have hope. I was lying to myself if I thought this was getting any better.
Ez shook his head. “My magic isn’t helping you. Something else is at play here.”
My stomach tumbled as I said, “Wish we knew what it was.”
“That’s what I’m working on,” Ez promised. “Don’t give up hope, Ava. I’m going to figure this out.”
I tapped my fingers on the desk. “I know your research is important, but there might be someone who needs your help even more than I do right now.”
“Ivy.” Ez leaned over the table, though he gave me a skeptical look. “What’d you have in mind?”
“I think he’s ready to quit using,” I told him. “He didn’t tell me so, but there was something different about him. I just… knew. Is there something you’ve been researching that can help him?”
Ez stood and began gathering up papers. “I can try. You stay out of it for now, Ava. I’ll do what I can.”
Tahoma gave me a friendly nudge as they left, and I patted him between the antlers before the two of them wandered off. I turned my attention away from Ivy and toward what I’d come here for.
I pulled out a couple of books of merfolk mythology and spread them out across a table before I removed the books on Elvish lore from my bag. They’d been damaged pretty horribly by being underground for so long, but at least they were still legible. So far, I’d only gotten through one book. I wanted to compare the stories the Elves had with those of merfolk, to see if I could find any similarities between legends that might help us locate the next key.
I went through the Elven books, which cracked and dropped dirt on the table as I read them. From what I discovered, I read that merfolk were one of the eldest supernatural races, and had been allies with the Elves for centuries. What had changed?
As I turned a page, a thrill welled up inside of me as I witnessed a drawing of seven keys scrawled across the parchment. There was an inscription at the top of the page…The Divinity Keys.
I knew by the drawings the book referred to the keys we already had in our possession, because they looked just like them. I searched for more, but there was only one paragraph about the Divinity Keys, and all it said was they were made to bring the supernatural races together, which wasn’t very helpful.
But at least now we had a name for the objects we were looking for. The rest of my research came up flat. I was really excited to tell the others what I’d found out, but I got tired around lunchtime, and I didn’t have the energy to roll around the prison to find them, so I went back to my cell to take a nap. Oberi curled up beside me on the bed, and we got so nice and warm that I stayed there for hours.
I didn’t feel well enough to get out of bed until it was dinnertime. Charlie wouldn’t get off his shift until it was time for curfew, and I was hungry, so Oberi and I went off to get something. I looked for my friends in the cafeteria, but absolutelyno onewas around, which was really weird. I wasn’t used to eating alone, so I ate my sandwich in silence as I listened to gossip traveling around the room.
“Where is everyone?” I asked Oberi once we’d left the cafeteria. I knew Kallie and Marcus were at their weekend jobs, same as Charlie, but by this point I should’ve run into someone I knew.
Chancey’s up there, Oberi noted, pointing with his nose toward the foyer.
We locked eyes, and Chancey came over. He shoved his hands in his pocket as he said, “Ava.”
“What happened to the nightshade?” I’d been meaning to ask the moment I ran into him.
“I got rid of it,” Chancey said.
I didn’t press, because it didn’t matter. Whether he’d dumped it down the drain or given it to someone else, I didn’t care. All I cared about was it was out of Ivy’s hands.
“Where’s Ivy?” My hands gripped the arms of my chair as I worried what the response would be.
Chancey jerked his head toward the angel cell block. “He’s in my cell. You wanna see?”
