Page 94 of Leda's Log

“After the Cure, deities would be able to have offspring with magic, but the same isn’t true of angels,” Dad said. “The children of angels are not usually born with magic. With no new soldiers to replace those who fall in battle—and no way to level up the soldiers we already have—the Legion and the Dark Force would die out in a matter of decades. And then who would protect the humans?”

Dad was looking out for the greater good over his own personal wishes. That was so like him.

“Lavinia cannot be allowed to use that Cure,” my dad declared. “No matter what else that means,” he added, taking Mom’s hand.

“You’re right,” she replied. Her nod was slow but certain. “We need to preserve the Legion, humanity’s protectors. If the Legion falls, who will protect humanity? Certainly not the gods and the demons.”

“What about Nerissa’s project?” Bella asked. “Wasn’t she looking for alternative ways to give people magic based on the Immortals’ research?”

“On one Immortal’s research, actually,” Mom said, “and even after all these years, Nerissa has only just scratched the surface of that research. She doesn’t understand how it works in theory, let alone how to recreate it in practice. Nectar and Venom are still the only methods we can use to accurately and reliably give someone magic. For now, they’re all we’ve got. We can’t lose them.”

Silence filled the room while everyone mulled that over.

“There’s one thing I don’t get,” Tessa said finally. “Why does Lavinia even want to do this spell, this Cure?”

“Yeah,” Gin agreed. “Why can’t she just use Nectar and Venom on herself to gain magic, like any sensible person?”

Their words were somewhat ironic, of course. There wasn’t anything inherently sensible about Nectar or Venom. They werepoisons, plain and simple. And taking them was literally do-or-die. You were either strong enough to survive the poison and it leveled up your magic, or you died.

But I knew what my aunts meant. There was already an established way to gain magic. And here Lavinia was, spending years of her life working on this plan that involved two very old, very obscure Immortal research projects.

“Most magic doesn’t work on Lavinia’s people,” Mom said. “So it’s questionable whether Nectar and Venom would do anything to her. In fact, I doubt either substance would give her any magic at all.”

“Even if it could work, from what you’ve told us of her, I don’t believe she would use it,” Cadence said. “Someone like that would not wish to be weakened, to be dependent on poison to survive.”

“And as to why Lavinia wishes to get rid of Nectar and Venom entirely, she sounds like a real cuckoo,” said Damiel. “This is about power. She wants it all for herself. She must believe what Faris and Grace fear, that without the power to bestow magic on humans, the gods and demons will lose their hold on their followers. And then there she is, powered up and primed to take their place.”

“Lavinia couldn’t be the Queen of her world, but she intends to be the Queen of Magic,” Mom said quietly.

“Ok, this is all swell, but how do we stop her?” I asked, addressing the whole room.

“I believe there is a way, and it’s in here,” Cadence said, showing us the book in her hands. It was Transformations. “This book tells us that magic is not as simple as light and dark, active and passive. There’s a third axis, a third dimension.” Her gaze shifted from Dad to Mom. “Order and chaos.”

“Ok,” Mom said. “So how does that help us?”

“Lavinia’s rituals—the rings ritual, the Cure ritual—are spells of order. Of precision,” Cadence said. “But if we could dial up thechaoswhile she is performing them, if we could inject chaos into the spells, they might fall apart.”

“So when Lavinia tries to drain magic from the rings, the power they’ve collected from the original supernaturals—pure magic—the chaos makes it all go wonky and overloads the spell?” Mom asked.

“That is the theory,” Cadence said. “But it is only a theory.”

“Well, it’s worth a shot,” Mom said. “I’ll do it.”

“You?” Dad frowned.

“Who better than me?” She smirked at him. “I am the Angel of Chaos, after all.”

“There is a catch,” Cadence said.

“There always is,” Mom chuckled. “So, what is it this time? Do I have to drink some weird potion or wear special armor?”

“No, Leda.” She set her hand on my mom’s shoulder. “You have to die.”

CHAPTER 11

CORONATION

“That is not an option,” my dad declared.

---