see people suffer. They want to save them.”
My fingers drummed the hilt of my sword. “So we’re supposed to believe you’re here on a mission of mercy?”
“No,” she laughed. “I didn’t come here on a mission of mercy. I came here to find a weapon we could use against the gods.”
“The immortal daggers,” I said.
“Yes.”
Her bluntness was surprising. Generally, deities strongly favored the cloak-and-dagger approach.
“We came here for the daggers, but we did not cast this curse,” she insisted.
“She speaks the truth.”
I turned to find Jiro standing right behind us. Where the hell had he come from?
“Killing so many people doesn’t serve the demons’ agenda,” said Jiro. “Not as long as they gain power from their worshippers. Fewer people equals fewer worshippers. And less power for the demons.”
“Exactly. What he said.” Asteria turned a warm smile on Jiro. “Whoever he is.”
“That’s Jiro Goodman,” my father declared, joining our face-off with the demons. “And he’s supposed to be dead.”
“He was dead, and now he’s not,” I told him.
My father stared at Jiro for a few moments, then declared, “I’ve seen stranger things.”
“You don’t think the demons cast the curse?” I asked Jiro.
“No.”
“The last time we met, you told us the demons were responsible for the curse.”
“No, I told you the curse happened shortly after the demons arrived. You drew your own conclusions from that statement.”
I frowned at him. Damiel was right. Jiro was playing games.
“So the demons are not the enemy?” I asked.
“I suppose that’s a matter of perspective,” he replied. “Will they steal your daggers and use them against the gods? Yes, and kill you if you try to stand in their way too. But did they cast the curse on this world?” He shook his head. “No.”
“You know a lot.” I looked at him, trying to unfold the mysteries that shrouded his existence. “You’re not only a phoenix, are you?”
“No. He’s not.”
I turned. I knew that voice well. It belonged to Eva Doren.
29
The Keepers
Eva moved to stand opposite Jiro. This place was turning into a real party.
“What is going on here?” I called out for answers.
No one obliged.
Instead, all eyes were on Eva and Jiro, who’d both drawn their swords. Magic unfolded from their bodies. There was a flash, and then a beast appeared beside each of them.
Jiro’s beast was a small dragon, about half his height but very long. It had ruby-red scales and bright turquoise eyes.
Eva’s beast was a snow-white wolf with sapphire-blue eyes. It was roughly the same size as the dragon.
“You shouldn’t have come here, Jiro,” Eva told him. Beside her, the white wolf barked to emphasize her point.
The dragon growled in response, and Jiro said, “And you should not have interfered, Eva. You’ve broken your oath many times over.”
“As have you.”
I glanced at Damiel. “How do they know each other? And what do they mean by interfering?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “But in any case, it appears Eva is following her own agenda, not the Guardians’ path.”
“Agreed.” I looked around. “I don’t see Starfire.”
Eva cast a sidelong glance at me, a smile twisting her lips. “Starfire fell on the pointy end of my dagger.” She drew the dagger and showed it to us.
The unearthly shimmer on the blade identified it as an immortal dagger. And I recognized the glowing turquoise stone in the hilt. This was the dagger Starfire had wielded.
“The Turquoise Tear.” Eva sheathed the dagger once more. “The immortal dagger of elemental magic.”
That explained how Starfire had been able to throw the magic of the Elemental Expanse into chaos. The dagger had augmented his already-powerful elemental magic.
“If you aren’t serving the Guardians, then who are you serving?” I asked Eva.
She offered me no explanation beyond a cryptic smile.
“And if you aren’t serving the Guardians…” My mind tried to piece things together. “Did you have anything to do with my escape from the Sanctuary?”
“It seems someone inadvertently shut off the ward for a few minutes.”
“At just the moment I was trying to escape.”
“It was a lucky break for you too, Cadence, because the Living Death potion never would have fooled the Sanctuary’s wards. They’re far too sophisticated.”
“So you did help me.”
Eva’s smile seemed to hold all the answers, and yet none of them. “I promised you long ago that I would always look out for you.”
She had. But I’d thought it was just another lie.
The glowing dragon snapped its jaws at Eva, and Jiro said, “You can reminisce later, Eva. Right now, we have to repair the damage you caused.”
“The damage I caused?”