Page 10 of Gods' Battleground

Faris and Grace.

The Guardians.

Venom.

Nectar.

Bella.

It was all too much! There was just too much. Too much broken in the universe! Too many things falling apart! I couldn’t fix it all! I couldn’t fixanyof it!

“Divide and conquer, Leda,” I muttered to myself. “Divide and conquer. One problem at a time.”

I let all the distractions fall away, sharpening my focus, narrowing it to one thing. One worry. One problem.

Bella.

Looking for Bella was something I could control. It was a single goal, a single thought I could hold on to. I couldn’t do much about all of those other things right now, but I could do something about Bella. The person in front of me—Vertigo—held the key to saving Bella. So if I could only subdue Vertigo, then I’d be one step closer to saving my sister.

So with that focus driving me, fueling me, I cut through the dizziness and all the distractions swirling around inside my head. I lumbered toward Vertigo, one painful, heavy step at a time.

“Stay back!” Vertigo hissed.

I could sense her preparing to run for the exit. “I can’t let that happen,” I said, reaching for my telekinetic magic. I rearranged the furniture in the lobby, blocking her escape.

As Vertigo’s panic grew, my vision cleared. I could see her again.

“It’s over,” I declared.

“No!”

“Yes,” I countered.

I slapped a pair of handcuffs around her wrists, silencing her spell—and finally putting an end to the worst magical migraine in Earth’s history.

CHAPTER 5

THE WISH

The cuffs I’d put on Vertigo were an immortal artifact, a helpful little gift from Cadence and Damiel. And they did the trick perfectly. They’d totally silenced Vertigo’s magic.

“Thank goodness,” I said, rubbing my head.

The dizzying, sensory-overload detour was finally over. And slowly—very slowly—I was starting to feel like myself again.

“Ouch,” Jace moaned, getting to his feet. “Now that’s even worse than a Nectar hangover.” He was also rubbing his head.

Whereas the crazy telepath was smiling, rocking, muttering as she clutched herself.

“What’s she saying?” Jace asked.

“The visions are gone,” Vertigo muttered. The spark in her eyes was a little less manic. “The visions are gone!” She grinned at us. “The thoughts are gone. It’s only…” She breathed a euphoric sigh. “…silence. Sweet, blissful silence.”

“She’s happy,” I said to Jace, surprised. “You know, I think she actuallywantedme to put the cuffs on her. She wanted me to stop her.”

“Yeah,” Jace agreed, watching as the telepath hopped up and down in place. “But why?”

“Let’s find out.” I caught Vertigo’s wrist, stopping her popcorn hop. “What’s going on here?” I met her gaze. “You had us totally neutralized for a while there. You could have easily gotten away, but you didn’t. Why? Why did you want me to capture you?”

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