Page 88 of Leda's Log

I couldn’t teleport in or out of this weird chamber—it must have been something in the rocks—so I was stuck. I could have bowled over the demons and gods, but if I did that, my parents would ground me for the next century. They still might. I had snuck out of the house and gone looking for the rings against their explicit instructions.

“Thank you, guys. You can go. We’ll take it from here,” my mom said as she squeezed between Aerilyn and Stash to enter the vault.

Dad was right behind her. He was dressed for war. In addition to all the armor and weapons, he wore a blank expression.

Crap. I was so grounded.

“Lord Faris instructed us to bring Sierra to him,” Devlin told my mom.

“I’m sure he did,” she replied with a tight smile. “But I’m telling you to leave.”

He frowned.

“We were also instructed to bring Sierra with us,” said one of the demons.

“You may all remind Faris and Grace that we are Sierra’s parents, not they,” she continued.

“There is a chain of command to be follow?—”

“Furthermore, you guys can remind Grace and Faris I’m on both councils,” she cut him off. “In other words, all of you can get out of my way now before I smite the lot of you and have a very good time doing it.”

The gods and demons withdrew, some looking more willing than others. Mom asked Stash to bring Troy back home, which left me alone in the vault with my parents.

“You have tears in your clothes,” Dad noted. “And blood on your skin.”

“I’m fine,” I assured him. “Just a few minor bumps and bruises. None of my injuries were severe. They’ve all already healed.”

Mom winced. “I am trying real hard not to think about how you got injured, Sierra.”

“Look at her, Pandora. See the proud, excited light in her eyes.” Dad addressed me now. “I take it that means you were successful?”

Wait, no lecture about running off alone? I held my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Yes. I got them all. All sixteen.” I dug into my pockets and fished out all the rings.

My parents just stood there, silent and…no, not angry. They definitely weren’t angry. They looked resigned, like they’d decided I was a lost cause and there was nothing they could do about it.

“Look, I’m sorry I went off after the rings when you told me not to,” I said. “It’s just that I knew I could find them, and wehadto find them before Lavinia did, and then Troy showed up and, well, he might have egged me on a little. And I know I shouldn’t have, but I was…” My voice trailed off. There was something so wrong about the expressions on their faces. “What is it? What happened?”

Mom took a slow breath, then said, “While you were out, Cadence came to us with important news. She’s been reading through the Immortal books. And she’s figured out what Lavinia is trying to do.”

“Which is?” I asked eagerly, leaning in.

“The rings are more than the sum of their parts,” Dad told me. “They link together to form a necklace. But only after all the rings are powered up.”

“And how are they powered up?”

“Each of sixteen rings can be powered up,” Dad said, pausing to glance at the dead beast on the ground. “By killing the corresponding original beast. The magic of the beast—ancient, primal power—is then transferred to the ring.”

“Once all the rings are powered-up—once they’re primed with that magic—they can combine into a necklace,” Mom said.

“What does the necklace do?”

“It combines the powers the rings absorbed from the sixteen original supernaturals,” she said. “The person who wears the necklace can perform a ritual to become the ultimate being, someone who will wield powers far beyond anyone or anything we have ever seen.”

“Lavinia,” I gasped. “That’s what she’s planning on doing. She is going to make herself that ultimate being.”

“And then she will take her revenge.” Mom glanced at Dad.

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