Sonja’s brow crinkled.
Ava just looked resigned. “Move out,” she told the demon soldier beside her. “We’re leaving.”
The soldier motioned to the troops, who began to withdraw.
Ava nodded at Faris. “Until next time.”
“May next time be your last time,” he replied.
Ava shot him a haughty look, then she and Sonja marched off with their retreating army.
“You’re letting them go?” Ronan said in surprise as he watched the demons leave.
“We only outnumber them two to one,” replied Faris. “If we fought, I am sure we would win. But we would also suffer heavy losses.”
“I know that. I’m just surprised that you know it too. You were never shy about suffering heavy losses if the other side suffered heavier losses.”
“Times have changed,” Faris declared. “Right now, we need to conserve our forces for the battles to come. Those battles will decide the course of the immortal war. We need to be smart so we can outlast the demons.”
Faris and Ronan walked back to the castle. Nero and I followed behind them.
“Are you all right?” Nero asked me quietly.
“Several bones in both my feet are broken.”
During that whole really long parley with the demons, I’d resisted grinding my teeth, as well as screaming out in pain.
“I know,” Nero said, his hands brushing against me.
His healing magic poured down my legs, absorbing into them. His power warmed me, healing my breaks and soothing my pain.
“Thanks. But you knew?” I frowned as we continued walking. “I thought I was hiding the pain well.”
“You were. You looked very ferocious.”
“That was on account of my stoic silence. I made sure to keep my mouth shut, even though I was itching to comment on Sonja’s ridiculous hairdo.”
“A wise choice,” he said. “Smarting off to the enemy does detract somewhat from your ferocity.”
“See, I figured that. Hence the no talking.”
“You should try it more often,” he told me.
“Very funny, General.”
He looked pretty damn smitten with his own cleverness.
“It’s over. The trials are over,” I sighed with relief.
“Not quite,” Ronan said, turning around.
We’d just entered the lower hall of the castle. All the other Legion teams were here. Even Nyx was back.
Dread twisted and coiled in my stomach. We’d gone through seven challenges. We were done. We had to be done. There couldn’t be any more trials left.
Or could there? I supposed the gods could keep throwing challenges at us indefinitely.
“It’s not over,” Ronan said. “Because the gods’ council must still decide who will be made the Legion’s next angel. And which angel will receive a new gift of magic.”
30
Sanctuary
“The gods will now convene to discuss your performance in the challenges. We will decide which of you we’ll make an angel—and which angel will receive new powers,” Valora declared when we were all back in the gods’ audience chamber.
Unfortunately, we’d had to return the gods’ items. I really could have used a few immortal artifacts in my possession. Given my track record, I was due to be thrown into calamity again next week at the latest.
As the gods disappeared behind the closed doors of their meeting room, we all waited in the audience chamber. There weren’t even any snacks this time, nothing more satisfying than the joy of our collective shared company.
Colonel Fireswift and General Spellsmiter were closely watching me—and each other—like they were competing to see which one of them could break me first. Colonel Silvertongue looked at me like she was going to make another go at compelling me. Delta, on the other hand, appeared to be contemplating when and where she’d catch me alone and unawares, so she could stab me through with her sword. And Jace was trying to catch my eye, so I’d go speak to him. He wanted to know why I hadn’t leveled up. He wanted answers. I didn’t know what to say to him.
Most everyone else was watching me with more curiosity than disdain, which was a decided step up from just an hour ago. I guessed they wanted to know why Faris had chosen me to stand with him on the battlefield.
I couldn’t be here. There were too many questions whose answers inevitably ended in my death. It was just all too much.
I left the room. I was heading toward the garden entrance when I saw Athan coming through those very doors. If I went past him, he’d drop more cryptic hints and uninvited pearls of wisdom in my lap. I couldn’t handle any more of that right now.
So I detoured to the nearest staircase. The stairs ended one floor up, in a small open room with angled beams across the top. It kind of looked like an attic space, but the castle was many floors higher than this room.
I heard the quiet hum of voices, filtering in past a cross section of beams at the back of the room. Peering through the web of thickly-woven wooden bars, I saw the fractured slivers of seven people. The gods. It seemed that this room was hanging partially over their meeting chamber.
I backed up, away from the peephole into the gods’ private conference. I didn’t need to hear what they were saying. That would just plunge me deeper into their drama. I’d come here in search of a sanctuary, to be alone, to put some distance between me and everything that was going on.
I was sitting here, crosslegged, trying to clear my mind and find some inner peace, when I heard light footsteps coming up the stairs. Someone had found me. I hoped it wasn’t Athan or Colonel Fireswift or General Spellsmiter. Or anyone actually, for that matter.
But it was only Nero. “Hiding from the world, Pandora?”
“From the universe actually,” I sighed as he crouched down beside me.
For a while, we simply sat there side-by-side on the wood-planked floor, not talking, simply enjoying each other’s company.
“How long do you think the gods’ discussions will last?” I finally said.
“If you’re curious, you could take a look.” His eyes flickered toward the peephole into the gods’ meeting chamber.
“Not even tempting.”
He chuckled. “It’s hard to say how long their meeting will take. It depends.”
“On whether they can stop bickering long enough to actually discuss the matter?”
“Yes, there is that,” he agreed. “But even under normal circumstances, the gods’ council sessions can last a long time.”
“What exactly is normal?” I laughed. “When we’re not in a constant state of war? When everyone isn’t trying to stab their own allies in the back?”
“When a topic is especially heated, when the gods all have strong opposing opinions, the session can go on for days,” he said. “Or even years.”
“I wonder if they’ll let us go home in the meantime.”
“Doubtful,” he said. “This isn’t simply about rewarding excellent performance. It’s also about critiquing unsatisfactory performance. Before the gods let any of us go anywhere, they must first agree that none of us will be punished.”
“If I scrape through this without being punished, I’ll consider that a miracle. The gods don’t particularly appreciate my methods.”
“Perhaps not, but some of them will stand up for you,” he said. “Only out of their own best interests, of course, but it will help you just the same.”
“You sound awfully certain of that.”
“Yes.”
“How can you be so sure?” I asked him.
“Experience.” A devious spark twinkled in his eyes. “Centuries of being always right.”
I snorted. “Thank you. I needed a little humor to brighten my mood.”
“I am completely serious, Pandora.”
I smirked at him. “Oh, I know you are.”
Nero’s hand caressed my cheek, brushing lightly across my lips. “You have such a beautiful smile.”
Though
his touch was soft, it was backed by a megaton of magic. My whole body, wound up by stress and worry and far too many battles, quivered in appreciation. My fangs burned inside my mouth.
“Sorry.” I covered my mouth as my fangs descended. “How embarrassing.”
It had been a long time—like my early days of the Legion long—since they’d come out on their own, not controlled by my will.
Nero took my hand, peeling it off my mouth. “Don’t be embarrassed or sorry, Leda.”
As he spoke, his wings unfolded from his back. The glossy dark feathers of black, blue, and green were so beautiful that I couldn’t resist touching them. So I didn’t resist. I stroked my hand over his wings. They were as soft as silk. Nero’s magic burned through them, pulsing through my fingers.
I leaned into him, my mouth kissing his skin, my fangs caressing his pulse. Each throbbing beat invited me to bite him.
What was I doing? This was a public place. Sure, no one else was here right now, but it was far from private. There wasn’t even a door. Anyone could just walk up here at any point.
But I really didn’t care about that. I cared only about Nero.
He looked at me, his eyes burning. “Don’t expect to get away with that.” He kissed me softly on the lips.
“Get away with what?”
“With touching my wings and not following through.”
Smiling coyly, I traced the tip of my finger across the bridge of his wings.
Nero’s arms folded around me, holding me tightly to him. His hand slid the braid off my shoulder, baring my neck as his mouth dipped to my throat.
“I don’t think we’re supposed to be doing this in the gods’ attic,” I whispered.
“Pandora, I’m disappointed in you. I thought you relished in breaking all the rules.”
Heat scorched my cheeks. “Usually.”
Nero chuckled, a deep and decadent sound, like dark chocolate poured over cherries. “Always.”
He moved in closer, his huge body casting a shadow over me. His wings extended wide.
I rose and scooted back. He followed, matching my movements.
“What’s gotten into you?” I smiled.
The look on his face shot an electrifying jolt of lust through me.
“The challenges are over.” He stepped toward me again, a step as soft as a rose petal and as forceful as a bolt of lightning. “We are no longer on opposing sides.”
I smirked at him. “But it was so much fun being on opposing sides.”
“You stole from me, Leda. And you tormented me far too much.”
I’d run out of space to retreat. His hand was on my back, catching me as I stumbled over a big box. Storage? I had a fleeting thought—wondering what the gods could be storing up here in their loft—before Nero distracted me once more.
“As I recall, you did a fair amount of tormenting yourself,” I said.
Nero chuckled deep in his throat. It was the growl of a predator who knew he had his prey cornered—and there was nothing I could do about it.
My heart skipped as his hands plunged down my back, rounding my butt. “Stop that.”
A sexy smile lit up his face. “Stop what?” His right hand settled on my hip.
“I’m not going to have sex with you in the gods’ attic,” I told him.
His left hand set down lightly on my other hip. “You are mistaken.”
“I am never mistaken.”
“Your angelic demeanor is delicious,” he purred. “Sweet with just the right touch of arrogance.” He spoke like he was describing a dessert.
Despite my vocal protests, my body had other ideas. I peeled off his jacket and unzipped the shirt below, leaving him in only his pants. I traced my finger down his chest, following the hard ridges of his abdomen, sliding lower and lower… His muscles contracted, tensing at my touch.
“Tsk, tsk, General.” I sucked on his lower lip. “You’re out of control.”
“You make me forget what control is,” he said, his voice tolling with impatience.
He slipped my jacket off of me, one sleeve at a time, and tossed it to the ground. Then, with calculated slowness, he relieved me of all my clothes, all except my underwear. His hand slid up the inside of my thigh, as soft as velvet.
I squirmed beneath him. Please. I willed him to remove my panties, to thrust inside of me and satiate that hunger that had plagued me for days. It had started as a dull throb, building up every time I saw him, until it was so intense that I felt I might explode.
Nero out of control? No, I was the one out of control. I vaguely recalled that the gods were meeting in the room below us, but I couldn’t scrounge together enough propriety to give a shit. I just wanted Nero. Now.
His breath kissed my skin, every breath intoxicating my senses. I moved, clutching his back, trying to pull him to me. He pushed me down and pinned my legs beneath his knees. His hands closed around my wrists and held me there.
“Nero,” I whimpered, shaking with denied desire.
He pulled off my panties and slid them down my legs. “The moment I walked into the Crystal Falls gym and saw you, I knew I wouldn’t be able to follow Nyx’s orders.” He grabbed my hips, flipping me around. “I went to your room that night, not to chastise you, but to seduce you.”
His words trickled like hot honey down the back of my neck.
“And then the gods came,” I gasped.
“Yes, then the gods came. Do you know how hard it’s been to be so close to you all these days, Leda?”
His hand slipped between my legs, the touch of his fingers so hot that I couldn’t stand it. I shook, biting back the moan blossoming on my lips.
His hand lifted from me, his finger brushing against my mouth. “Shh, my love.”
My back arched, my legs spreading wider as my bottom lifted. Nero’s hand traced down my spine and rounded my butt to slide between my legs. His fingers teased my slick, swollen lips, even as his other hand stroked my mouth. I could smell myself on his fingers and it made me crazy. I bit his finger. A drop of his sweet blood touched my tongue. It slid down my throat like pure ecstasy, stoking the wild fire raging inside of me. His blood and mine merged into one. My pulse pounded and my body shook, craving a release from this delicious torment.
I moaned softly. “Nero, if you don’t stop playing around, I swear I’m going to tie you down and have my way with you.”
“I thought you weren’t going to have sex with me in the gods’ attic,” he whispered in my ear.
“I’ve changed my mind,” I said huskily.
His eyes burned with promises of dark pleasures. “That’s all I needed to hear.”
His gentle, teasing touch turned hungry. He grabbed my hips, turning me around to face him as he set me onto his lap. My legs straddled his body.
I screamed as he thrust inside of me. I tilted my hips, taking him fully into me. He thrust again, rough and forceful—so hard that I shook from head to toe. He filled all of me—his body, his blood, his desire. And his love. They all mixed with mine, becoming something more, something greater than we each were alone. We moved together as one, in perfect sync.
Nero completed me like no one could, body and soul. There was an empty longing inside of me, growing each day, that space that only he could fill. I never wanted anyone else.
“Nero,” I gasped.
His eyes met mine, so much fierce love in them that I almost cried.
“Colonel Fireswift and General Spellsmiter are each vying to recruit me,” I said. “When this is all over, when we’re back home, the Legion is going to test my magic.”
He gripped me to him in a protective embrace. He knew what that meant just as well as I did.
“Nyx knows what I am,” I said. “She won’t tell anyone. She knows that if she does, the gods will find out about me, and then she’ll lose her secret weapon. But if she finds my magic is compatible with someone else at the Legion—”
Nero kissed me roughly, swallowing my words. “I won’t lose you, Le
da.”
“But if the Legion—”
“They can try all they want, but they will not take you from me. Do you hear me? You’re mine, and I’m yours.” He set his hands on my cheeks, dropping his forehead to mine. “There’s no going back for me, don’t you see? I’ve fallen too deeply in love with you. The rest doesn’t matter. It will only ever be the two of us, now and forever.”
Tears stung my eyes. “I feel the same way.”
I knew right then and there that if the Legion tried to pair either of us off with someone else, we would fight back. We wouldn’t let that happen.
“I won’t allow them take you from me,” he promised me, conviction ringing in every syllable. “Not ever.”
He moved hard inside of me, my body shuddering with every savage stroke.
“You are my Leda. My Pandora.”
Rapture collided with euphoria, cascading, drowning me in delicious waves of bliss. It consumed me—it consumed us together. We were one. No one in heaven or hell or any of the realms would ever break us apart.
Nero wrapped his arms around me. His wings closed over my body like a shield. I rested my head against his chest, listening to his heart beat, feeling him breathe, the gentle rhythmic rise and fall of his chest beneath me. At the same time, it grounded me and made me soar.
This old attic wasn’t the sanctuary that I’d sought, a place away from the world. Nero was my sanctuary. He was the one I’d always run to.
We might have lain there for minutes or hours. I couldn’t tell. The world around us had melted away. Time had lost all meaning. There was only the eternity that stretched out before us.
The gods’ bell toned. Voices whispered in the hall below.
“The gods’ council has reached a decision.” Valora’s words pierced the walls and ceilings and floors, as though they weren’t even there. “We’ve decided which soldier we are making an angel.”
31
Judgment
“How long did the gods convene in their meeting chamber?” I asked Nero as we put our clothes back on.
“Under an hour,” he said.
Fairy’s Touch: Legion of Angels: Book 7 Page 27