Page 83 of Leda's Log

“I’m listening.”

“Nectar and Venom have been around for a very long time, long before the gods and demons learned how to use them to give people magic,” Cadence said. “But this book is even older. It predates Nectar and Venom. It tells of the early Immortals’ experiments with magic.”

“Like how they made the sixteen rings and the original sixteen supernaturals. Monsters.”

“Yes,” she said. “And after the monsters, they moved on to creating supernaturals in human form. Then they created gods and demons. They created Nectar and Venom, potions that could give someone magic or increase the magic they already had. The Immortals changed themselves too.”

“They took the potions?” I asked.

“They did. At first, they thought they’d invented a miracle potion,” she said. “Until a rather large side effect came to light.”

“Infertility.”

She nodded. “The Immortals tried to reverse the effects, and when that failed, they stopped taking the potions altogether. But it was too late. The potions had changed them. The Immortals could no longer live without them.”

“What happened next?”

“The Immortal scientists continued to work on the problem. They were so sure that they would come up with a cure. They worked on this until the very end.”

“The end of what?” I asked.

Cadence sighed. “The end of their civilization.”

“And did they?” I swallowed. “Find a cure?”

“When the Immortals’ civilization collapsed, most of their scientists died. But one of the scientists who survived came up with a solution.”

I perked up. “So there is a cure?”

“A cure with a catch.”

“What is it?” I said eagerly.

“The cure is a very clever, very powerful spell,” she told me. “But it is also very permanent.”

“What do you mean?”

She set down her cup. “The cure is a spell that would destroy all Nectar, Venom, and Life in the universe, Sierra. It would completely wipe them out, unraveling the spell of their existence.”

“So it’s an all-or-nothing sort of deal?”

“Yes, no one is cured.” She paused. “Or everyone is cured.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” I said. “Unless it takes away people’s powers. The gods and demons wouldn’t go for that.”

“According to the book, everyone who already has powers would keep them,” she told me. “And they would no longer be dependent on the poison to survive. And since they were no longer being constantly poisoned, they would soon become fertile once more.”

“Why does this sound too good to be true?” I asked.

“Like I said, all Nectar and Venom would be spelled from existence. That means no more angels or dark angels could be made. And no more humans could gain magic by drinking the Nectar of the gods. Sierra, it would be the beginning of the end of the Legion of Angels.”

CHAPTER 7

AN OLD ENEMY

My mouth dropped, and I just stared at Cadence for several seconds before I said, “It would change everything.”

“But not necessarily for the worse.” She set her hand on my arm, offering me a smile. “Change is a part of life, Sierra. Sometimes we immortals forget that.”

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