by Ella Summers
“Because you bent your knees,” Andromeda reminded me. “A lot.”
I shrugged. “But it got the job done.”
“I’m not really into frou-frou sport and braiding each other’s hair and all that,” Basanti said.
But Leila looked like she liked the idea. Her hand rested on her belly. Sure, it was still flat like all of our bellies, but that wasn’t the point. It was a gesture of love. Love for the baby growing inside of her.
Leila was really glowing. I remembered her recently telling me about how much she’d always wanted to have kids but had never been so lucky to get them. Well, now she and Basanti were going to have two.
“And then there’s the best thing about being pregnant: I finally have real boobs.” Alice pointed down at her chest.
I lifted my coffee cup in the air. “I’ll drink to that. I am, for the first time since joining the Legion, getting some serious curves. Now I look like one of those busty women on the cover of a muscle car magazine, sprawled out on the hood of a truck, sticking out my scantily-clad chest, a devilish come-hither look on my lips.”
“You sure have a vivid imagination, Leda.” Basanti took a bite of cake. Then she turned to me, surprise written all over her face. “You’re right. Cake does make my queasy stomach feel better.”
“Told you.”
Basanti took another bite of cake. “I can’t believe I’m subscribing to the Leda Pandora pregnancy diet of cake and ice cream.”
“Just keep clear of those vitamins Nerissa keeps trying to give us,” I warned her. “They have the opposite effect of the cake and ice cream.”
One of Basanti’s eyebrows cocked upward. “You mean, they’re actually healthy?”
I laughed and took some more dessert.
Now that our numbers had swelled, Tessa had to add more chairs to the dais in the Court Chamber—and add a fancy angel banner for Leila too.
Finally, we’d reached the end of the day, the final round of petitions. It opened with a bang. Our first petitioner of the session was none other than Arina Phoenix.
Arina marched up to the base of the dais and declared, “Leda Pandora, I heard you’re looking for me.”
“Yes,” I said in surprise.
Arina’s arrival here on the airship would save me the trouble of searching the city for her.
“We need your help,” I told her.
“And I need yours. That’s why I came here.”
“How can we help?” I asked her.
“It’s my children.” Arina’s voice shook. “I need you to help me get them back.”
I remembered her cute twins, a girl and a boy about eight years old.
“I’m so sorry they’re gone, Arina. Don’t worry. We’ll find them.”
“I know where they are,” she said, her voice harder, her fists clenched. “And I know who took them. It was the Guardians.”
20
Champions of the Immortals
“The Guardians kidnapped your children? Why?” I asked Arina.
“For the same reason they’ve been collecting people for centuries. Except now they’ve moved up their timetable.” She shot me a pointed look.
“Because of me,” I realized. “Because, when they took control over Meda, I freed her, interfering with their plans.”
“You did what you had to in order to save the people of this world,” Arina said. “The Guardians were going to do this no matter what. It was only a matter of when.”
“You mentioned you wanted to keep the knowledge of your children’s magic secret from the Guardians.” I didn’t know what kind of magic Arina’s children had, but it must have been pretty special. “Did the Guardians find out about your kids’ magic because of me?”
Arina shook her head. “I was naive to believe I could keep that knowledge from them. The Guardians have eyes everywhere. Ears everywhere. They already knew, Leda. They just hadn’t moved on that knowledge. Until now.”
“What are the Guardians planning to do?” I asked.
“Enact their ultimate plan: to gain all the magic they believe the Immortals unfairly withheld from them. That’s all I know.”
“The Guardians have taken so many supernaturals. They have a plan for those people, and in that plan, all of them die,” I repeated Faith’s words.
Arina grew very still. “How do you know this?”
“A powerful telepath told me.”
Of course that powerful telepath had used those very words to justify killing many humans, supernaturals, gods, and demons—all to save her brother. But still, despite Faith’s questionable morality, I did believe her words. Faith had believed the Guardians would kill her brother and all of the other supernaturals they kept in their Sanctuary. That knowledge had driven her to take extreme, insane measures.
“Where is this powerful telepath now?” Arina asked.
“Gone.”
Faith’s powers were gone, transferred to my unborn child, which had all been part of Grace’s plan. And Faith was gone too. She’d been locked away by Faris, who still hoped she’d get her powers back—and then he could exploit them.
I was going to ask Arina about her kids’ magic, but then something rather spectacular distracted me: the arrival of five angels. Nero, Damiel, Nyx, Colonel Fireswift, and an angel I assumed was Colonel Dragonblood had landed on the windy deck outside the Court Chamber.
I rose from my chair. “Open the doors,” I instructed the soldiers standing in front of the wall of glass.
Nyx stepped inside the Chamber first, her white wings sparkling like they’d been sprinkled with stardust, her long, gravity-defying black hair in slow, swirly motion around her.
Damiel came next, his bronze hair lightly windswept. His bright blue eyes twinkled when he saw Cadence.
He was followed by Nero. His gorgeous wings, a dark, elaborate tapestry of black, blue, and green feathers, stretched out, then vanished in a flash of magic. His emerald eyes slid over me; the sheer intensity of his stare raised goosebumps up and down my skin. I felt lightheaded, dizzy, even a little feverish. I wondered if anyone would really mind if I leapt off the dais, ran over to Nero, and proceeded to make up for the last week we’d missed.
Colonel Fireswift was next in the procession, looking just as humorless, just as iron-jawed as always. His wings were the color of freshly-shed blood, his eyes hard and cynical, and his body armed to the teeth.
Colonel Dragonblood brought up the rear. I’d never met the angel before. He wore his black hair cropped short, as many no-nonsense angels did. His dark eyes were serious, but they didn’t possess the same cynical edge as Colonel Fireswift’s. His wings were a mixture of both turquoise and orange feathers, highlighted by a few bronze spots that were a perfect match to his complexion. The color combination of his feathers was quite beautiful.
The sergeant with the booming voice quickly began rattling off the five angels’ names and titles. He looked quite excited. So was everyone else. There had rarely been so many angels together in a single place. Eight, to be exact.
While the sergeant pressed on with the lengthly introductions, I quietly observed the fascinating differences in how these different male angels greeted their wives.
Damiel was charming. His words were laced with innuendo designed to incite Cadence. Instead, she planted her hands on her hips and shook her head at his jokes. Her expression softened, however, after he presented her with a gift box.
Colonel Dragonblood bowed to his wife and set his hand on her belly, a sign of respect that she was carrying his child.
Colonel Fireswift was, as expected, very formal when greeting his wife. He really was all about keeping up appearances. And yet, I thought I caught a spark of something in his eyes, something I’d never seen in him before. Devotion. And love. He really loved her.
Nero came to stand before me. “Pandora.” An eyebrow cocked up at me.
“Windstriker. You look well.” I was trying really hard not to giggle.
He cast a long, languid
look down the length of my body. Then his eyes snapped up and met mine. “So do you.” He grinned, slow and sexy.
A blush kissed my cheeks.
He closed the distance between us. His hand curled around my waist, supporting me as he dipped me back. His mouth came down on mine and he kissed me with a deep, hungry urgency that sent a shot of fierce desire straight through my body.
Nyx cleared her throat. Loudly.
“Later,” Nero whispered to me, his words thick with lust.
He gave me a quick, final peck on the lips, then released me. I remembered just in time to reengage my standing muscles. Falling over in front of all this people, including angels and gods, would have been totally embarrassing.
Nyx was chastising Nero. “Really, Windstriker. Did you have to kiss her like that?” she demanded grumpily.
Nyx sounded like she needed a good kiss.
“Well, this is something you don’t see every day,” Arina said to me. She looked at my belly. “You’re all pregnant.”
“You can see that?”
“Of course.”
Arina could see the past events that led up to someone or something. I hoped she wasn’t focusing her magic too closely on the particular event that had led to my pregnancy.
“Six pregnant angels and wives of angels,” I said. “In fact, it has only ever happened once before, twenty-five years ago.”
“Six?” Arina shook her head. “No, you’re mistaken, Leda. Not six. Seven.”
No, I was pretty sure Nero’s amazing kiss hadn’t removed my ability to count. I recounted, just in case.
“Cadence, Alice, Andromeda, Leila, Basanti, and I. Six.”
Arina’s eyes fell on the First Angel.
I gaped at Nyx. “Nyx? You too?”
“Yes.”
That was all she said, but it was an answer that truly said it all. The First Angel was pregnant. Wow.
A flash of magic blinded me for a moment, then Ronan was there, right in front of Nyx. The God of Earth’s Army couldn’t hide his awe. He didn’t touch her belly or bow or do anything dramatic. But the look on his face was very telling.
“We need to talk,” he said to Nyx.
“Yes,” she agreed.
Then they both left the room.
Once they were gone, Basanti turned to me. “I told you, Pandora. It’s contagious.”
“Magic certainly is acting in unpredictable ways right now,” Leila commented.
“The First Angel has never had the Fever.” Cadence looked baffled.
“Apparently, she did when you all did,” said Damiel.
All eyes in the room turned toward me.
“Why are you all looking at me?” I asked them. This totally wasn’t my fault.
My mind was working fast, backtracking to when I’d had the Fever. I’d seen Nyx and Ronan get pretty physical. So that’s why they’d acted so…passionate. No, more than merely passionate. Nyx and Ronan hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other. Nyx must have had the Fever then.
“This started with you, Leda.” This time, Basanti looked more amused than annoyed; the cake must have had enough time to settle her queasy stomach. “You upended the rules of magic.”
Nyx had returned to the Court Chamber, sans Ronan, but with a lot of soldiers guarding her. They looked human, minus the rather blue skin.
“Ronan’s soldiers?” I wondered.
“Yes,” Damiel confirmed. “From the Legion of the Arcane.”
“The Legion of the Arcane? What’s that?” I asked.
“It’s kind of like the Legion of Angels, but on another world. Not Earth,” Damiel explained.
“So they’re like alien angels?”
“Not angels. The arcane.” Damiel said the word like it was supposed to mean something to me.
“I guess I never thought about any Legions on other worlds,” I said.
“Ronan is a member of the gods’ ruling council, one of the seven most powerful gods out there. The Earth is important to the gods, but not that important,” Damiel pointed out. “There are thousands of worlds in the gods’ domain. And many Legions. Ronan is the Lord of the Legion. Such a title, a title worthy of a place on the gods’ council, is bigger than only Earth. It’s bigger than angels.”
Yeah, that made sense.
I watched the blue-skinned soldiers. Ronan had obviously ordered them to guard Nyx—apparently, very closely because they were practically glued to her sides.
“This isn’t just about me,” I said quietly.
But Nyx had good ears. “What isn’t just about you?”
“All the angel pregnancies. The same thing happened roughly twenty-five years ago.” I pulled a sheet of paper out of my jacket and unfolded it. It included the birth records of the angel brats. I’d compiled the list from the names of the children of angels who’d been in my initiation group. “The same thing is happening now.”
Nyx read the sheet. “Yes, the convergence of all those births of angels’ children at once back then was indeed odd. Considering this has never happened besides then and now again, these incidents are likely linked.” She handed the sheet of paper back to me, then she took a stroll around the decorated Court Chamber. “You’ve been busy.”
“I decided I’d best not waste any time setting off on the impossible task you’d set me.”
“I thought you didn’t believe in the impossible,” Nyx said, her eyes narrowed.
“I don’t, but you did when you set me the task.”
“Indeed,” Nyx laughed. “But I’ve come to realize that your tenacity makes quick work of the impossible, Pandora.”
Colonel Fireswift snorted. Wow, he was actually showing emotion. He must have been in a very good mood. And indeed he did look less grumpy than usual, standing there beside his pregnant wife. Perhaps thinking about the continuation of his legacy gave Colonel Fireswift a case of the happies.
“Not that I don’t appreciate your company, but are you going to be staying here and looking over my shoulder as I attempt to tame the impossible?” I asked Nyx.
“Apparently, I have no choice. I’ve been ordered to stay here,” Nyx replied, dour.
By Ronan, no doubt.
“Well, it was your idea to safeguard the Legion’s future on this airship,” I pointed out.
She was not amused. “Not helping, Pandora.”
Ok, then. Nyx was not in a good mood. The First Angel really didn’t like being sidelined. So I gave her some space.
“How’s the mission going?” I asked Nero.
“We’ve captured a few people we discovered were previously at the massacre sites,” he said. “But we’re not sure how they could have possibly killed the angels. And so far, our prisoners aren’t talking.”
“Maybe they aren’t the ones who did it,” I suggested.
“The Interrogators have them now. We shall soon find out who they work for and what they want.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Not feeling confident?” he asked me.
“There is something bigger going on here, Nero. And my gut tells me it has to do with what happened in the past.”
“Have you had any more visions?”
“No. But I wish I had. I’m sure the answers we need are buried in the past,” I said. “Cadence thinks I’m the common link between all the angel pregnancies now and when it happened twenty-five years ago.”
“I think she’s right,” Nero agreed.
“Have you heard about Leila and Basanti?”
“Yes.” A smile flitted across his face. “I’m not sure how that happened, but good for them.”
“Magic is pretty wonky right now.”
“Indeed.”
“I’ve been thinking about the attacks on my family,” I told him. “Are the Guardians truly targeting Zane? And is this connected to the Guardians’ plans to kill all the people they ‘saved’, including Arina’s kids? Furthermore, could this all be related to the massacres you’re investigating? How is all o
f what’s going on connected? Because figuring that out might be the key to stopping the Guardians.”
“You’ve been having visions?” Arina asked me.
“Yes, of the past.” Then I described them to her, especially the ones from the Lost City. When I was done, I asked her, “Do you know what it means?”
She shook her head. “No.”
I had a thought. “Zane once told me: ‘The Guardians have a prophecy about a divine savior who will be born human, with equal light and dark magic. She will grow her magic one ability at a time, and someday she will upset the balance of power….The Guardians…believe you will change the balance of magic back to the middle, back to mixed magic of light and dark origins. They believe the savior is a god killer and demon slayer.’ What do you think?”
Arina chewed on her lip, obviously mulling that over.
“When we first met, you told me the Guardians wanted me dead,” I reminded her.
“They do. But they…they must need you too.”
“According to what Zane heard, they need me to change the balance of magic. So why did they try to kill me on the rooftop in Purgatory?”
“There’s a way we might be able to answer all of these questions,” Arina said.
“I’m listening.”
“You don’t happen to have the weapons of heaven and hell on you, do you?”
I did, in fact, have the weapons of heaven and hell with me. Before leaving on her quest with Nero and the others, Nyx had sent them up to the airship, along with my cat.
We all gathered around Arina in the garden library, as she tried to read the memories branded into the four immoral artifacts’ magic.
“These are very old.” Arina’s eyes were closed, and her hands slid over the shield. “They were made by the legendary Immortal smith Sunfire. One of the surviving Immortals gave them to a special soldier, one of balanced magic: light and dark, active and passive.”
Her fingers traced the blade of the sword, her eyes still closed. “There’s a missing piece of the Prophecy.” She opened her eyes and looked at Zane. “One the Guardians didn’t tell you.”