“Zomuri’s treasure . . . What if it’s not here on earth but up in Celestae?” Sora looked fearfully at the sky. “I’m an idiot for assuming the vault was somewhere we could find. But if it’s up there, we can’t get to it.”

“Maybe Wolf could fly,” Broomstick suggested earnestly.

Daemon shot him a black look. “How? By flapping my arms?”

“Calm down; he wasn’t trying to insult you.” Fairy physically inserted herself between them before they started throwing chestnuts again. Or actually fighting.

“But what if . . .” Fairy’s brow furrowed as she thought. “What if we could help you fly? Then you really would be able to take us to Celestae.”

“You’re saying we should work on Daemon’s powers?” Sora asked. She still had the same concern as before—they weren’t even sure what it was Daemon could do, let alone how to summon or control it. Figuring it out could take weeks or months. “We don’t have the time to do that.”

“Oh. Right.” Fairy’s shoulders drooped.

But Sora’s mind raced as if finishing the last pieces of the puzzle. Prince Gin had given his soul pearl to a god. It might be hidden in Celestae, the home of the gods. Or it might be here on earth, in a hiding spot chosen by a god. The common denominator in all of this was . . . a god.

She bolted upright. “I’ve got it.”

Broomstick and Fairy both looked at her expectantly. Daemon continued beating up the mushrooms.

“Who would know best where a god might hide his treasure?” Sora asked.

“Um, the god who hid it in the first place?” Broomstick said.

“Besides him.”

Fairy scrunched her nose as she thought. “Someone who knows how gods think.”

“Another god,” Broomstick said.

“Exactly,” Sora said. “And we might have a connection to another god if Daemon is the demigod constellation we think he is.”

“What are you suggesting?” Fairy asked.

Sora looked up at the sky. “We should try to summon Vespre, Daemon’s dad.”

Chapter Eleven

Daemon thought he might keel over. All his life, he’d wondered where he came from and who his parents were. Will Vespre answer our summons? Will he be happy to see me? Can he tell me who my mother is?

But then he thought of another question. Why hadn’t Vespre reached out to him sometime in the past eighteen years? If he really was Daemon’s father . . .

Their imagined reunion suddenly didn’t seem so sweet.

“Maybe I’m not his son,” Daemon whispered.

“What?” Sora said.

He felt so cold. “Maybe we’re wrong and I’m not a demigod, just a freak of nature or a fluke. Maybe I’m not as special as you think.”

She seized their gemina bond and shook it hard. “You turned into a flying wolf that protected us from the Dragon Prince’s mind control. You’re special. Face it.”