by Ella Summers
“Now who’s hiding?” she mocked him.
He blasted her with magic. She swung her trident, knocking away Faris’s spell like a bat hitting a baseball. He had to duck again, which made her laugh and taunt him some more. He unleashed more magic on her. One spell burnt her hand, and she dropped her trident. Now it was Faris’s turn to taunt her.
“So those are your parents,” Zane commented as we watched Grace and Faris fight.
I sighed. “Unfortunately.”
Zane patted my arm to reassure me. It helped—at least a little.
He glanced down at my cat. “Nice cat. It’s big.”
“Thank you.” I stroked Angel under her chin. “She’s aspiring to be at least as large as a tiger.”
“She’ll need to get big to handle your big magic.” His eyes twinkled. “And your big attitude.”
“You know what Angel is?” I said in surprise. “You know that she can channel my magic?”
“I know a lot of things.”
I linked my arm with his. “I’d love to hear them.”
“And I’d love to tell you. We have a lot of catching up to do, Leda.”
“Absolutely.” I glanced at Faris and Grace, who were still firing off their magic and their mouths, doing their best to kill each other. “Any chance you know the secret, express way out of here?”
“Yeah, River told me how to get in and out of the Vault—without waiting for a full moon and picking the lock.”
“Good. Now let’s sneak out quietly while they’re busy fighting. It might be my only chance to ditch Pops and Mommy Dearest. And, you know, my life would be far less complicated without them in it.”
5
New Orders
Unfortunately, Faris and Grace noticed that Zane and I were riding one of those tornado elevator things off the flying asphalt island, and my annoying parents followed us out of River-the-rogue-Guardian’s secret Vault.
We passed through the glowing curtain but did not return to the Lost City. The spell dropped us off inside my office in Purgatory’s main Legion building.
I looked around. “Strange that it brought us here. The passages between portals are usually set, locked on both ends.”
“Usually but not always,” replied Zane. “According to River, the tornado elevator can take someone anywhere on Earth. It reads your thoughts to decide where to go. You must have been thinking of this place.”
I glanced at the rather substantial pile of paperwork on my desk. “I was thinking of all the work I still have to do.”
Zane looked at the stack. “When’s the last time you filled out a mission report?”
“Uh…never.”
I was kidding. Mostly.
“I’m not good at writing things down,” I said. “My assistant Lucy usually does it for me. But she’s on vacation right now. The last apocalypse was a tad too much excitement for her, so I told her to take a few weeks off.”
Angel pounced on one of the piles of paperwork, sending loose sheets flying everywhere. I caught the wayward pieces of paper with my telekinetic magic and reformed the stack. On the plus side, thanks to my chronic case of disorganization, it wasn’t any more chaotic than it had already been.
“You might not be good at filling out your paperwork, but your spells are topnotch, Leda,” Zane said, grinning.
I returned the grin. “Thanks. I’ve been practicing. I can even fold the pages into little magic origami birds and make them fly. Wanna see? We could send a flock of them down the main corridor and watch everyone duck for cover.”
“You might be an angel now, but you’re still the same old Leda,” Zane laughed.
“Of course. I’m incorrigible. Calli always told me that.”
“You’re not just incorrigible; you’re incurable. What am I going to do with you?” Faris said, making himself comfortable behind my desk.
“Err, perhaps not try to turn me into a weapon,” I suggested, flashing him my teeth. “I might misfire. And hit you instead.”
Faris leaned back in my chair. It was sturdy, but I was still worried it might snap under the weight of his ego.
“Insolence is not an endearing trait in a daughter,” he told me.
“I’m sorry you think so. I was hoping we could share a big hug later.” I spread my arms wide.
Faris looked at me like he thought my kind of madness was contagious. “You’re not as funny as you think you are.”
“Sure she is,” Grace laughed, opening up her arms to me.
I just stared at her. She’d called my bluff. Damn it. Grace chuckled.
“If you two are quite finished being ridiculous, I will be taking my leave of you now.” Faris rose smoothly to his feet and grabbed Zane’s arm.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I demanded.
“Taking the Ghost, of course.”
I knocked his hand away from my brother. “I don’t think so.”
“Indeed,” Grace said stiffly. “I will be taking him.”
Faris glowered at her. “If you think I will allow you to take him—”
“I didn’t say I was giving you a choice, Faris.”
“If either of you want to take Zane, you will have to get through me first,” I declared. “He is under my protection.”
“Don’t be foolish, child. The Guardians likely let Zane go for a reason,” Faris pointed out. “I intend to find out what that reason is.”
“I do not believe for a second that Zane is working with the Guardians. I know my brother.”
“He’s not your brother,” Faris said with strained patience.
“He is more my brother than you are my father.”
“You’re being very unreasonable. And quite emotional.” He said it with distaste, like emotion was a sin.
“Zane was with the Guardians for a long time, Leda. Two years. Who knows what they did to him. Or how they’ve worked over his mind,” Grace said gently—or at least she pretended to be gentle.
I had to say, I got really worried when my parents stopped bickering for a moment and actually agreed on something.
But still I insisted, “My gut tells me that this is the same Zane he’s always been.”
“Your ‘gut’ is irrelevant here,” Faris said with obvious disdain.
“Leda, are you sure you’re not just believing what you want to believe?” Grace asked.
Neither Faris nor Grace seemed impressed by my confidence in Zane.
“You’re the Demon of Faith, Grace. So how about having a little faith?” I told her.
“Clever, Leda.”
I took a bow. “Thank you.”
“But you know things don’t work that way,” she said.
“Like I said, I know my brother. And I know you two too. That’s why I’m not letting either of you take him. You’re both itching for an excuse to nab a telepath, especially Faris.”
Grace looked at Faris. “She’s not wrong about you.”
“Oh, do shut up.” The expression on his face was positively searing.
My office door creaked open. I spun around to find Nyx stepping through the doorway. The First Angel was wearing her black hair short and straight today. It framed her face, following her jawline. Nyx possessed some pretty spectacular shifting magic. But she didn’t seem to be in the mood for pretty things right now, not like when her hair was long and flowed weightlessly in the air, as though it were floating underwater. No, her hair was stern today. Just like her face. And her no-nonsense black uniform.
“Pandora.” Her voice was somber, but also a tad exasperated. “I’ve been trying to contact you for hours.”
“I hope it wasn’t important.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t play games with me. Nero tried to cover for you, but his excuses, creative as they might be, didn’t fool me for a second. Where were you?”
“Out,” I said vaguely.
“Obviously you were out. Because you certainly weren’t in.”
“I was just having some quality family t
ime.”
Nyx’s face told me she didn’t buy my story one bit.
“You have been fighting.” She picked debris off my jacket. “Extensively.” She pointed out the monster blood on my boots.
“That’s normal with my family.”
“You’re pregnant.”
“I know.”
“Well, apparently, it just slipped your mind. Just like my orders for you to remain here.”
“I was with Faris and Grace. Surely, a god’s orders supersedes your orders?”
I glanced back at Faris, but he was gone. So was Grace. They’d both vanished. I’d thought the room had grown suddenly very quiet and peaceful.
Nyx gave me a hard look.
Typical. When I didn’t want Faris and Grace around, I couldn’t get rid of them. But when I actually needed them, they were nowhere to be found.
“They were right here just a minute ago,” I told Nyx.
Nyx sighed, a rare show of emotion. “I believe you.”
“You do?”
“No one is crazy enough to lie about going on an outing with a god and a demon.”
“I might be crazy enough.” Then I added quickly, “But I’m not lying.”
Nyx shook her head. “So was this dangerous, monster-fighting excursion at least fruitful?”
“I guess. Kind of. We were in the Lost City.”
“Didn’t get enough of it your first time around?”
“Well, no. That’s why I went back there. I’ve been having these visions again, like I had back then, and…” I stopped when I saw the look on her face. “You think I’ve lost my mind.”
“No. I’ve had visions of my own.”
“Oh, right. Of me at the head of a demon army.”
Her dark brows drew together. “How do you know about that?”
Oops.
I smiled and shrugged.
“If you’re going to eavesdrop on people’s private conversations, Pandora, you should take care not to admit your guilt later.”
“I’ll try to remember that,” I said quickly.
I didn’t want her to remember what had happened after that conversation I’d overheard between her and Ronan. I didn’t want her to know what else I’d seen that I shouldn’t have. Because then I might have been in actual trouble.
“So the visions,” I said. “They’re coming from this secret place. The Vault, she called it.”
“She who?”
“River. She claims to be a rogue Guardian.”
“Be careful, Leda.”
“I am being careful. I’m not even sure I trust River. She could be trying to manipulate us.”
“So this River is the one who sent you the visions?”
“She said she didn’t send me the visions. All she said is they came from the Vault. Like those memories were the treasures held in that vault. But like I said, I’m not sure I can trust her. If she’s telling the truth, and she really is a rogue Guardian, she might be able to help us take down the Guardians. And if she’s lying to me, well, we might be able to use her to take down the Guardians anyway. If we can find her again.” I looked at my brother. “Do you know how to find her?”
But before he could speak, Nyx said, “That is your brother Zane.”
“Yes,” I said cautiously.
“Your brother who was abducted by the Guardians two years ago.”
“Yes. He says River helped him escape the Sanctuary.”
“Be careful,” Nyx told me again, like I was never careful or something. “The Guardians might have let him go; maybe they want him out here for some reason.” Nyx turned an assessing stare on him. “Or maybe he is willingly helping them.”
Déjà vu. Faris and Grace had said the same thing.
“No, he’s not helping them,” I defended my brother.
“Just to be sure, I want the Legion’s doctors to check him out,” Nyx said,
“What do you think they will find?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I want him checked out.”
“Nyx—”
“I’ll go,” Zane said, stepping forward. “I have nothing to hide.” He smiled at me. “And the sooner they realize that, the sooner we can have a long-overdue reunion.”
“And return home to see the rest of our family,” I said.
Zane reached out to squeeze my hand. “Absolutely.”
Two Legion soldiers stepped into my office. Man, Nyx worked fast. I hadn’t even seen her call them in. She must have done it telepathically. And the soldiers must have been waiting just outside my office.
Nyx watched them lead Zane away. When they were gone, she turned to me and said, “Obviously, you’re bored, Pandora. You have too much time on your hands. It seems relieving you of your duties wasn’t a good idea after all. It gives you too much time to think up ways to put yourself in danger.”
“I didn’t go to the Lost City to be dangerous. I did it because this investigation is important,” I insisted. “These visions mean something. Something with global, even galactic ramifications. It’s important.”
“So is my next assignment for you.”
Apparently, my protests had fallen on deaf ears.
“What is the assignment?” I said cautiously.
“Some good, long hours in the classroom for lessons on angel decorum and etiquette. It’s long overdue, and now that you’re pregnant, you have all the time in the world.”
“Angel school?” I groaned. “I would rather kill monsters.”
“I know you would. But, much as you like to forget it, the Legion of Angels is not a democracy, Leda. It’s an army. So when I give you an order, you don’t have a choice in the matter. And that means bright and early tomorrow morning, you will report to Classroom 169 in Building One for some long-overdue lessons in angel manners.”
6
Flirting with Danger
Early the next morning, I sat in the Legion’s canteen. Though the sun had barely risen a few minutes ago, it was packed full for the breakfast rush.
Nero walked over to my table and sat down next to me, carrying two breakfast trays. He slid one across the tabletop to me.
“Thanks, honey,” I said. “But what are you going to eat?”
He caught my hand as I tried to steal his tray too.
I smirked at him.
Under the table, Angel arched her back and rubbed against his legs.
He gave the cat a flat look.
She looked up at him and blinked. Then she let out a soft meow.
Nero tossed her a breakfast sausage.
My cat started tearing into it, purring.
“You’re such a softy, Windstriker,” I laughed.
“I don’t believe anyone has ever referred to me as soft.”
I allowed my gaze to pan up his hard, muscular physique. “No, I’d imagine not.” I wet my lips. “Any chance I could ogle—er, observe you on the salmon ladder later?”
“I’ve already performed my morning exercises.”
Shame.
“When did that happen?” I asked.
“While you were still asleep in bed.” His mouth twitched. “Snoring.”
“Angels don’t snore,” I protested.
“You aren’t a typical angel, Pandora.”
His eyes drank me in. The look in them…it made me want to jump across the table and pin him under me. I sent him the mental image.
“Careful, Pandora,” he said, so quietly I could hardly hear him. “Or I’ll have to reprimand you.”
“Reprimand me?” I asked my husband. “For what?”
“For projecting inappropriate thoughts to a superior officer while on duty.”
I braided my fingers together, smiling. “Oh, so that’s not allowed?”
His gaze didn’t waver from mine, not for a second. “No. It is not.”
“Well, then, I guess you’re just going to have to reprimand me.” Under the table, I slid my leg against his.
He reached out to touch me, then stopped himself. “Led
a, what are you doing?” he said, low and rough.
“Misbehaving.” I slid my foot higher up his leg.
“This is most inappropriate. Anyone in the canteen could see what you’re doing.”
“Oh, right.” I slid my foot all the way down his leg, but I did it very, very slowly. “Remind me to order tablecloths for all the tables.” I allowed my eyes to pulse silver, once. “Long tablecloths.” I licked my lips slowly, then finally withdrew my leg.
For once, Nero was speechless.
I leaned forward on my elbows. “So what will it be? Pushups?”
“What?” Nero said, as though coming out of a trance.
I smiled. “Was your mind someplace else, General?”
“Yes. Several places.”
His gaze dipped to my chest. My breasts suddenly felt very heavy.
I unzipped my jacket. “It’s gotten hot in here, hasn’t it.”
Nero didn’t blink. “Yes.” He looked like he was going to move forward and touch me, but he sat back in his chair and watched me instead. “You mentioned pushups. No, I don’t believe that would be wise in your condition.”
“Running laps?” I asked, feeling a little breathless.
“No. That is not a good idea either.”
“It would be if you chased me,” I said.
“Chased you?”
I felt the soft caress of his magic slip down my neck.
“You’re not fast enough,” he said. “I’d catch you.”
That soft whisper of barely-there wind magic traced my collarbone.
His brows arched. “And when I did catch you, you’d throw water bottles at me so you could get away.”
I laughed, which sent the stroke of whispered wind plunging between my breasts. My laughter roughened into a choked gasp.
Nero’s finger sprang to my lips, silencing me. He leaned in and whispered, “We have company, Leda.”
“Then you shouldn’t have provoked me, Nero,” I hissed under my breath.
His finger traced my lower lip. “I do believe you started it.”
“Did I? I can’t remember. I don’t know who started it, but we both need to finish this now.” I arched forward.
“What are you doing?”