“The Warden has to die if we’re ever going to finish this,” I insisted. “There has to be a way to kill him.”
“I’ll research it,” Ez offered. “I’m spending all my time learning about healing magic. I can learn about the systems of angels, too, and figure out any potential weak spots.”
I slightly winced when Ez spoke. I hadn’t had time to tell my brother what we’d discovered in the Warden’s office. We’d found medical records from angel surgeons, who’d done a live autopsy on me during my spinal surgery after I’d gotten hurt in the Underground. Because they’d been experimenting on my body while my Anichi magic was attempting to heal my spine, the injury had set wrong, and there would never be a cure. Ez still thought there was a chance I could walk, and had been researching ideas on how I could make a full recovery for months. He was going to be devastated to learn the truth.
I’d tell him later. He didn’t need to know right now. Not when he was doing the hard work of figuring out how we could kill the Warden.
“We can kill the Warden after we get the Divinity Keys,” Charlie said. “And they’re not here, so we need to pack our things and go looking for them again.”
“I understand your impatience, but it’s best for all of us to remain within the safety of Ilamanthe until we have iron-clad clues on where the keys might be. The supernatural world isn’t safe,” Cameron said.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Charlie shot at him, and I watched Cameron recoil. “This is my responsibility. I’ll fulfill my prophecy the way I see fit, and we can’t be expected to find the keys while sitting around here, because they’re obviously not in this city.”
“Ehh…” Chancey started, and he shook his head. “Sorry to tell you this, pal, but it’s not gonna be easy searching for these keys outside of Ilamanthe. The Warden’s got wanted posters of you four painted all over every town.”
“What?” Charlie’s expression became dark.
“He put out a huge bounty on your heads,” Chancey stated. “He’s promised millions of dollars to the supe who can bring the four of you in, dead or alive, so you’ve got bounty hunters crawling all over the place just looking for a clue on where they can find ya.”
I bet that sleazeball at the pharmacy recognized you, and called it in hoping to get the reward,Oberi remarked.
“That’s great,” Charlie growled. “Like we needed more complications. Guess we have no choice but to stay here.”
“You’ll manage. We all will,” Mama said gently.
Daddy huffed. “Not like we all don’t know what it’s like to be hunted down.”
“Very true.” King Ethan nodded.
“This shit’s getting kind of old,” Nadine mumbled. Lucas reached out to grab her hand.
The door to the room opened, and two older women strode in. The first woman had caramel colored hair and wore a multi-colored dress. The second twirled as she entered the room, avariety of bangles jingling on her lithe form as she danced to my side with a broad smile.
“These are two members of the Demigod Guardians, Professor Wykoff and Professor Amber,” Cassiel said, gesturing to them in turn. “Although the Guardians prefer to keep their membership as secretive as possible, they have sent these strong women to stand in Takahashi and Hemlock’s place.”
“We will be taking over your demigod training from this point on,” Wykoff said, stopping before the table. “It’s important to advance your abilities so you can stay ahead of our enemies.”
“And bless the world!” Professor Amber cheered. She had literal glitter in her pockets, and flung it upward so it tricked down onto the people closest by. I sneezed.
Daddy rose from the table. “It’s good to see you again, Professor Amber,” he said as he gave her a hug.
“And you too, dear,” Amber said, placing a peck on his cheek. “It was a blessing to help you on your ascension toward enlightenment. Now I get to help your daughter. What a joyful time this is!”
I wouldn’t call this war ajoyful time, but I liked Professor Amber’s style. She seemed like the kind of person who could turn anything into a spiritual lesson, no matter how crappy it felt.
“We’re happy to see you again, Professor Wykoff,” Lucas said, giving her a nod. “We need you on this team.”
“Aren’t you a member of the Union?” Marcus asked, looking up at Amber.
Amber gave a high-pitched giggle. “Iama member of the United Supernatural Union, representing the Hawkei, but as things have gone rather bottom-up there, I’ve decided to spend most of my time with the Guardians while keeping up appearances on the council. Not that anyoneknows, of course, as the Guardians are a secret society. The Union members Icannot trust believe I am spending my spare time at a nudist colony in France.”
“It’s certainly something they’d believe you to be doing, Professor,” Mama said with a smile.
“There are more Guardians than anyone realizes, scattered throughout the globe. We’re wise supernatural elders concerned with the survival of the supernatural races, as well as this planet. Therefore, it is imperative that the demigods within our care are ready to take on the Warden,” Wykoff added. “During your training, you’ll be joined by another demigod in our care.”
“Another demigod? Who?” I asked.
Somebodyliterallykicked the door in. Oberi gave a surprised screech from the back of my chair and fluttered her wings in alarm. I turned my chair slightly to see who had entered.
