They spent a few more hours poring over the map, plotting the best paths, making contingency plans.

When they were finished, Sora rubbed her fist into Hana’s hair, like she used to do when they were kids. “Nice work, stinkbug.”

Hana lit up. It wasn’t as intimidating as “Virtuoso,” but it was suddenly clear that that wasn’t what she needed anymore.

All she wanted was this.

Chapter Fifty-Eight

It shouldn’t have taken long for Daemon to get anywhere when he flew at the speed of light. But he didn’t know where exactly Celestae was located. He’d figured that it would be obvious when he saw it. Who could miss an entire floating island in the sky?

Apparently, Daemon could. He’d been flying for several days now—stopping only when he needed to eat or take a quick nap on a cloud—and exhaustion strained his muscles.

“Liga! My lady, Luna!” he shouted, his voice hoarse from the endless yelling. “Can you hear me? It’s Wolf. I need your help!”

As before, there was no response, as if the vast emptiness of the sky was just absorbing Daemon’s entreaties. Where was everyone? There were hundreds of gods if you counted both the major and minor ones, plus who knew how many demigods like Liga there were. In order to give all those enormous personalities enough space, Celestae must be bigger than the entire Kichonan archipelago. And yet it was nowhere to be seen.

“I should have asked Fairy to gather some night-blooming flowers for me to bring,” Daemon grumbled. “Maybe then I could get Liga to respond.” His brother could probably get hold of Luna.

Daemon’s sparks sputtered through his fatigue, and he decided to give in to it, just for a moment. He landed on a cloud and collapsed into the cushions of mist. In his wolf form, he was paradoxically sturdy and strong while also weighing very little, since he was composed of stardust and god magic; therefore, the clouds could hold him. It was still hard for Daemon to grasp how this was possible, but that was likely because he was trying to understand it from a human point of view.

“Liga,” he called half-heartedly. “Where are you?”

A small flock of birds flew past Daemon’s cloud. He followed them with his gaze until they’d vanished from sight.

His mind began to wander to what Sora was doing. She was probably laying out a detailed plot for how to assassinate Prince Gin. He hoped she was reconnecting with her sister, too, like he’d gotten to do with Liga. Maybe Sora and Hana were even training together, with Hana teaching Sora how to better use her invisibility.