“Don’t lie,” I say. I slip the letter out of my pocket and show it to Sora. “I know you were hiding the seventh artifact for your own use.”

She reads it, and her eyebrows arch in surprise. “How did you come to have this?”

When I don’t respond, she grabs a Swiss ball and invites me to sit on it. “You were honest with us about what brought you here. So let me now repay you in kind.”

Out of principle, I refuse the Swiss ball and sit on a nearby chair instead. I don’t want her to think she’s won me over. I cross my arms. This had better be good.

She takes a big breath. “People know the Horangi as keepers of the sacred texts because we looked after the gifted library. But that was only one of our duties. For generations upon generations, we have also been the keepers of the sacred artifacts—divine but dark objects that represent the goddesses’ original sin.”

Original sin…I remember Adeline’s monologue about the goddesses believing that the dark sun and moon represented their inner darkness. When the goddesses commanded the Haetae to devour the sun and moon, they committed a sin against their mother. As a result, Mago Halmi locked them out of the Mortalrealm. It makes sense that the fallen shards, or artifacts, are physical representations of the daughters’ crime.

“But our ancestors were sworn to secrecy,” Sora continues. “We had a duty to protect the artifacts, even from people in our own community. If they fell into the wrong hands, these powerful dark relics could break the equilibrium between the three realms.”

Now I understand the real reason why the Cave Bear Goddess wants the last fallen star destroyed. “Okay,” I say, trying to see where this is going, “and…?”

“But we failed to adequately protect the sunstone ax. The council found it, and they, like so many others, became infected by its power. They became corrupt. We had no choice but to destroy the artifact before the members kept it for themselves.”

I snort. “No, that’s wrong. The council was trying to stop you from using it. The elders aren’t corrupt.”

A dark shadow passes over Sora’s face. “We believe they were. And when we tried to reveal the truth, they framed us and banished us from the gifted community.” She shakes her head. “Because of the council, many innocent people were killed. Including your parents.”

I swallow. This is all a lie. A big, elaborate invention. Emmett’s mom had been an elder on the council. And in the vision around the Haetae’s bell, I’d seen her taking the sunstone ax from the Horangi.

Suddenly, the blood freezes in my veins. Could Emmett’s mom have been taking it from the Horangi to use for herself? I shake my head. Impossible.