by Ella Summers
“We have to talk about what happened in hell,” I said.
He waited for me to continue.
“I told you what happened with the dark angel, how he tortured me and my sisters,” I kept talking, not pausing to breathe. I had to get this all out before I lost my nerve. “Soulslayer tortured us at the bidding of Sonja, the Demon of the Dark Force.”
Nero’s face was hard. Something cracked loudly, and I jumped in surprise. I looked down. One of our barstools had shattered in his hand.
“But I didn’t tell you everything Sonja did to me.”
Nero took my face in his hands, his touch so gentle. It was hard to believe that these were the same hands that had just pulverized our barstool.
He dipped his forehead to mine. “You don’t have to tell me anything.”
But I had to tell him. I couldn’t keep this secret to myself. It was eating away at me.
“She injected me with Venom. Twice. She was bringing my dark magic up to the same level as my light magic. If you hadn’t come when you did, she was going to inject me with a dual dose of Nectar and Venom.”
His touch was soft, but I could hear the angry beat of his pounding pulse.
“She would have kept going until she made me an angel with both light and dark magic.”
Which was blasphemy according to both the gods and demons.
“I am not surprised,” Nero said. “She obviously found out about your ability to absorb Nectar and Venom, and she wanted to use it for herself—to figure out how you work and how she could exploit that special power.”
“See, the thing is, Nero, she didn’t need to figure out anything,” I told him. “She already knew how I can use both light and dark magic. She told me where I came from, and then I saw for myself firsthand. I am a monster.”
“Leda—”
“I killed the dark angel.” My heart hammered in my chest. The icy fingers of fear gripped me, bringing me back to that dungeon—and everything that had happened there. “I didn’t just break Soulslayer’s mind, I destroyed it, shattering in into a million pieces. I got so caught up in my own magic, so blind with power lust, that I broke his neck without even realizing it.”
“He tortured you,” Nero said.
But I wasn’t looking for excuses to assuage my guilt. “A part of me enjoyed breaking him.” Tears poured down my cheeks. “Did you hear me, Nero? I’m sick, just as sick as the dark angel who relished in torturing me and my sisters. I am a monster.”
“No.”
“Do you know what I was feeling as I crushed Soulslayer’s mind? It wasn’t guilt, or even something as innocent as relief that his reign of terror was over. It was excitement. I was so enamored of my grand and mighty magic, which had brought a dark angel to his knees, that I started to wonder what else I could do. How high could I go? I fantasized about taking on the gods and demons. Once I crushed their minds, I would rule supreme over all the realms. From their ashes, I would build my empire.”
“You were lost in the moment,” Nero said. “It happens to everyone, especially to those who’ve gained so much magic so fast.”
“I can’t control it, Nero.” I wiped my tears away. If only I could wipe away the stain on my soul. “And it’s getting worse. One day, I really will lose my mind, and then the monster within will take over, a cruel fiend who destroys everything that stands in my way.”
“That’s not you.”
“It is me. That’s what I’m telling you, Nero. When the monster takes over, I want to challenge the gods. I want to destroy every single one of them to make way for my reign and embrace my so-called immortal destiny. You have to put me down,” I sobbed. “It’s what the Legion does to monsters and threats to humanity and heaven. I am all of the above.”
“No,” he said, his voice harsh and angry. He caught me by the shoulders. “Look at me, Leda.”
I swallowed back my sobs and met his eyes
“I’m not going to kill you. No one is going to kill you.”
“Soulslayer—”
“Had it coming,” he growled. “After what he did to you and your sisters, he didn’t deserve to die quietly. If you hadn’t killed him, I would have. I guarantee it would have hurt him a hell of a lot more than what you did—and that I would have enjoyed it a hell of a lot more than you did.”
Gold fire burned in his eyes. He was not exaggerating.
“I am more of a monster than you’ll ever be,” Nero told me. “You are kind and caring. And you have a frustrating habit of throwing yourself into danger to save the people that you care about. Is that the profile of a monster?”
“But you don’t know—”
His hands stroked down my cheeks. “I know.”
“No, I mean you don’t know what I am.”
“I don’t care what you are, Leda. I only care who you are.”
His words were so romantic, so sweet, that it hurt. Here he was professing his love, and he didn’t even know the full truth of it. I had to tell him.
“I don’t even know how I destroyed the dark angel’s mind when his power is so much stronger than mine,” I said quietly. “If my magic grows, if this power grows, could I do more? Could I really destroy a deity? While I was chained up in the demon’s dungeon, Zane came to me in a dream. He said the Guardians call me a god killer and demon slayer. If the gods and demons find out, they will kill me.”
“No one is killing you. I won’t let them.” He folded his arms around me, wrapping me in his hard embrace.
He was offering himself as a shield against anything and everything that might hurt me. I would have been a fool not to accept. But, still, he had to know what he was getting into.
“My mother is a demon.” I watched his face for his response. “And my father is a god.”
“I had considered the possibility.”
It wasn’t the response I’d expected after dropping that bomb on him.
“And it doesn’t bother you?” I asked. “The gods and demons would call me a disease, a scourge of unnatural, unholy magic.”
“Of course it doesn’t bother me.” He shot me an offended look.
My heart skipped a beat. “That’s how I can absorb both light and dark magic, both Nectar and Venom.”
Nero was just listening. And I couldn’t stop talking.
“Sonja wouldn’t tell me who my mother and father are, but I’m going to find out.”
“That way lies danger, Leda.”
I sighed. “I just have to know. And I have a plan.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to march into heaven and hell, demanding answers.”
He knew me all too well.
“Pretty much.” A hard, determined smile stretched my mouth. “After all, we are long overdue for a family reunion.”
Author’s Note
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The seventh book of Legion of Angels will be coming soon.
Books by Ella Summers
Legion of Angels
Vampire’s Kiss
Witch’s Cauldron
Siren’s Song
Dragon’s Storm
Shifter’s Shadow
Psychic’s Spell
Book 7 [2018]
Dragon Born Serafina
Mercenary Magic
Magic Games
Magic Nights
Rival Magic
Dragon Born Shadow World
The Complete Trilogy
Dragon Born Alexandria
Magic Edge
Blood Magic
Magic Kingdom
Shadow Magic [2018]
Dragon
Born Awakening
Fairy Magic
Spirit Magic [2018]
Sorcery & Science
Sorcery & Science (Prequel)
Vampires & Vigilantes
Book 2 [2018]
And more books coming soon…
About the Author
Ella Summers has been writing stories for as long as she could read; she's been coming up with tall tales even longer than that. One of her early year masterpieces was a story about a pigtailed princess and her dragon sidekick. Nowadays, she still writes fantasy. She likes books with lots of action, adventure, and romance. When she is not busy writing or spending time with her two young children, she makes the world safe by fighting robots.
Ella is the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and International Bestselling Author of the paranormal and fantasy series Legion of Angels, Dragon Born, and Sorcery & Science.
Connect with Ella at
www.ellasummers.com