Still, we have to try to get to Zomuri’s vault to retrieve the soul pearl. I hope his defenses were made with ordinary humans in mind, not taigas. Broomstick and I will need your help through our gemina bonds. The Lake of Nightmares will try to make us lose faith in ourselves, and you’ll have to remind us that we’re better than the hallucinations want us to believe.

Broomstick read the note over Sora’s shoulder. “I hope your mother’s research is wrong about the lake.”

Sora nodded. “But I suspect it’s not.”

She rolled up the paper, attached it to the eagle ray’s tail, and sent it off toward Jade Forest.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Seeing Liga’s demigod powers in action and sabotaging the ryuu’s shipyard energized Daemon. Anxiety for Sora and Broomstick, on the other hand, sapped him. The only thing he could do to balance the two—and to keep himself from going insane with worry—was throw himself into his magic.

The next day, he practiced shifting from boy to wolf form again and again until he could do it seamlessly, including conjuring clothes for himself at the switch. He and Liga flew figure eights and barrel rolls and nosedives while Daemon learned to suppress the blue sparks that leaped off his fur.

After a particularly impressive set of aerial tricks, he thought of Sora. It seemed wrong that she wasn’t here as he finally came into the magic he’d been waiting for. He wanted to watch the smile bloom on her face as he performed a loop-de-loop in the air, her eyes crinkling with joy. Then Daemon would land and charge straight at her, toss Sora on his back, and feel her body pressed against his. . . .

Fairy cheered for him from the ground below. Daemon shook himself from the daydream.

What is wrong with me? he scolded himself. His subconscious needed to let go of its old fantasies.

When it was time for a break from flying practice, he sat on the ground in the chestnut grove with Fairy and played with his other demigod powers, like conjuring something better to eat than the berries Fairy had scavenged. His rose-apple jam and flaky biscuits weren’t as good as the ones from the Citadel dining hall, but they pleased her so much, Daemon swore to himself he’d keep on trying to perfect them. Plus, Liga really liked tasting human food.

When evening fell, though, a storm broke out over Jade Forest. Lightning slashed through the sky, and thunder shook the trees. All the remaining chestnuts pelted Daemon, Liga, and Fairy. They were soaked from the rain within seconds.

“It seems our dear father has noticed my absence,” Liga said.

Fairy looked up at the gray clouds. “You mean this isn’t a normal storm?”