2

The lobby of the New York office of the Legion of Angels was busy today. Two Legion soldiers dragged a handcuffed fairy with floppy blue hair between them. A third soldier walked in front of them, carrying an oversized bag marked ‘evidence’. Beyond the clear plastic front, simmering particles of rainbow-colored dust swirled in tiny cyclones. Pixie dust. It was a drug that made supernaturals lose control and hallucinate. And these weren’t hallucinations of the sunshine-and-daffodils variety. Pixie dust made people paranoid and murderous. Usually, the Legion left drug cases to the paranormal police. This fairy must have dealt to the wrong people.

Nero and I passed by a trio of soldiers armed to the teeth with guns and knives. Their expressions were as deadly as their weaponry. These were hard, cold killers, the sort of soldiers the Legion sent in to take down the really nasty criminals.

“Where are they going?” I asked Nero.

“West. On a joint operation between us and the Los Angeles office.”

“Monsters?”

“Outlaws,” he replied. “They’ve left a trail of destruction from the east coast to the west.”

“And them?” I asked.

Nero followed my gaze to a group of five soldiers dressed in thick winter wear. “They’re going after a rogue band of shifters hiding out at the north end of the Wilds. These shifters stole Legion property.”

That was a generic term the Legion applied often and generously. It could mean any number of things.

The door past the reception desk whooshed open, and a fourth group of soldiers walked into the overcrowded lobby. Of the four, I knew one of them. We’d gone on a few missions together over the past month. Sergeant Lavender Kane. She and her three companions were on the fast track to level four, and today was the day they headed out to special training. She’d been really excited about it when she’d told me. That same excitement sparkled in her eyes now. She looked from Nero to me, then gave me a conspiring wink.

“Why has Nyx put so many of us into accelerated training?” I asked Nero.

“I can’t say anything about it.”

Of course not. “Her new mystery plan has something to do with where you’ve been these past few months, doesn’t it?”

He’d left shortly after we’d saved the witches’ airship from being blown to pieces, after he’d asked me to go out with him. That was nearly four months ago, and since then he’d only returned here once a month for a few days at a time. Suffice it to say, there hadn’t been any time for dates.

Not that I had time for dates anyway. I didn’t even have time for sleep—not between my usual work, the extra training Nyx assigned me, and tackling the never-ending reading list from Nero. Never-ending because he was adding on new books faster than I could read them.

In Nero’s absence, Captain Somerset had been running things here. Now that he was back with a mission, though, maybe things would get back to normal—or at least as normal as things could be for soldiers of the gods’ army. Hey, who knew? Maybe we’d even finally get around to going on that date.

“Be in the garage in fifteen minutes, Pandora,” Nero told me, then he headed down the hallway that led to his office.

I leaned my elbow against the reception counter and let out a sigh. Encounters with angels were kind of hit and miss. It’s like they were twenty different people, and you never knew which one you’d get. Today I’d gotten professional Nero. I swiped a donut from the box on the counter. Being professional sucked. I much preferred making-out-in-the-library Nero.

“What’s it like to kiss him?” Cocoa, the secretary, asked me.

“He tastes like Nectar.”

Cocoa blinked, obviously confused on how to respond to my statement. Nectar was a poison that either blessed you with new magic or killed you.

My donut in hand, I headed for my apartment on the second floor, a three-bedroom suite I shared with my friends Ivy and Drake. Neither one was at home right now. I went straight to my bedroom to change. The soldiers heading to the Wilds up north might be facing the harsh winds of winter, but right now the Black Plains were basking in the heat of summer. In February. I didn’t question it. No one did. Magic had changed the Black Plains and the nearby Frontier. The weather rarely made sense. You could have a week of scorching heat followed by a week of blizzards.

I shrugged out of my long winter coat, tossing it onto my bed. I traded my club clothing for a tank top, shorts, and hiking boots. Ivy and Drake entered the apartment as I finished braiding my hair back. I was carrying two swords today. They were freakishly sharp, and I had no intention of slicing my hair off by mistake. Legion soldiers were expected to be ambidextrous, flexible, and fast—and I hadn’t quite gotten the knack of it yet.

Ivy’s infectious laugh jingled over the click of the apartment door. I grabbed my donut, then headed into the living room.

“Hey, Leda,” she said, setting down her phone on the coffee table. Her long red hair bounced against her back as she moved. “What’s this I hear about you going out drinking with Jace instead of with me?”

“It was training.” I smirked at her. “It didn’t mean anything, honest.”

She snorted. “So, how long do you think you’ll be stuck training with him?”

“Until one of us dies, I guess.” I devoured my donut in four bites. “But he’s not all that bad.”

“I’ll forgive that comment because you’re obviously inebriated.”

I licked the icing from my fingers. “My head is perfectly clear.” That was one of the benefits of a turbo-charged supernatural metabolism.

The door opened again, and Drake entered the apartment. He wore a muscle t-shirt, cargo pants, and heavy hiking boots. His dark hair was cut short and brushed up into spiky peaks. He looked ready to kick ass and break hearts.

Drake was a frontline fighter, someone you brought in when you had a nasty job that needed to be done. He’d been doing a lot of tough missions lately. Captain Somerset liked to use him because he bulldozed through anything in his path.

“Ladies,” Drake said with a suave smile.

Ivy fanned herself. “Someone call the doctor.”

Drake winked at her. “Should I carry you to the medical ward, honey?”

Ivy and Drake had been best friends since birth. They were also totally into each other, though neither one seemed to realize it. They were each dating someone else right now.

“On second thought, no.” Ivy plopped down on the sofa. “I spent the whole day in there. I never want to hear that stupid Sandy Marine song ever again.”

“I thought you liked that song,” I said.

“I did before last month. But they play it over and over again, hour after hour, day after day.” She dragged her fingers through her hair. “It’s enough to make anyone go mad. If this is the gods’ testing me, I’d rather just take the Nectar and be done with it.”

Drake and Ivy had been promoted to level two in last month’s ceremony. Witch’s Cauldron was a mental ability, and some of the Legion brats hadn’t thought my friends had it in them to be brainy. But Drake was an avid reader, and Ivy had turned out to have quite a knack for potions. She was working in the medical ward now, trying to find her true calling.

“Did Leda tell you about the mission we’re going on?” Drake asked her.

I turned to him. “You’re going too?”

“Yep.”

“Oh, I feel left out,” said Ivy.

“We’re guiding Pilgrims across the Black Plains,” Drake told her.

“The monster-infested wilderness?” She grabbed a piece of chocolate from the bowl on the coffee table. “On second thought, I’d rather stay here, even if it means listening to that wretched song over and over again.”

“Well, have fun with that.” Drake grabbed his jacket and pre-packed bag. “I need to help load up the truck. I’ll see you later.” He blew Ivy a kiss, which she caught in her hand.

“You going to hold onto that for a while?” I asked her when Drake was gone.

She looked down at her clenched fist. Her hand uncurled slowly, as though she could still feel the weight of his kiss in her palm.

“Air kisses aren’t as fun as the real thing,” I said, grinning.

“What?” She looked up at me, distracted.

“Never mind. I have to be going too. If I’m late, I’ll incur the wrath of New York’s favorite angel.”

“He’s back? When did this happen? Did he come to see you yet? Did you kiss?” The questions spilled off her tongue so fast that I could hardly follow.

“Yes, he’s back. I don’t know when he got in. He came to see me about a half hour ago when I was training with Jace. And, no, we didn’t get around to kissing.”

“But you expect there to be kissing?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s leading the mission to the Black Plains, but I think we’ll be too busy fighting monsters to make out.”

“Don’t be so sure, Leda. He was at the office all of five minutes last month, and he still found time to make out with you in the library.”

“I shouldn’t have told you about that,” I said, frowning.

“You didn’t.”

“Oh, right.”

Ivy had a talent for always knowing everything that was going on in the Legion. Hell, she even knew things about Legion soldiers she’d never met in offices she’d never visited.

“See you later.” I swung my pack over my back. “Try to stay out of trouble while I’m gone.”

“You too, Pandora.” She winked at me.

Chuckling, I left the apartment and headed for the staircase. The halls were busy like always, people coming and going between work and their tiny piece of privacy in an office of over a thousand soldiers.

Everyone I passed stared at me. I was neither popular nor unpopular at the Legion. Some people liked me, others disliked me, but everyone knew who I was. They knew me for my unparalleled ability to attract trouble wherever I went—and for Nero’s unspoken promise to make me his lover. Mayhem and sex, the perfect recipe for gossip.

“Leda,” Jace said, sliding into step beside me. “I hear you’re headed to the Black Plains with Colonel Windstriker.”

“News travels fast. It looks like you’re headed out yourself.” I glanced sidelong at him, noting his fitted jacket and pants, the Legion-approved uniform for sub-zero missions. Wherever he was headed, it was someplace cold. “I take it your meeting with your father went well.”

“As well as a meeting with him can go,” he said grimly. “He’s recruited me to join his latest mission.”

“Your father heads the Chicago office, right? Is it common to recruit a soldier from another Legion office to join a mission?”

“Not common, but it does happen if the soldier you want has special skills critical to the mission’s success.”

“And what are your special, mission-critical skills?”

“That I’m his son.”

“Ah.”

“We’re tracking down Osiris Wardbreaker. He’s part of Nyx’s inner circle, one of the first soldiers she trained to be an angel.”

“He’s gone missing?” I asked.

A dark look crossed Jace’s face. “He’s gone rogue. This is bad news, Leda. He’s the first angel to go dark in a long time. If he joins the demons, we’re all in a lot of trouble. We have to stop him.” He fell silent, not speaking again until we were on the stairs. “My father put me on this mission so I could prove myself to the First Angel.”

“I’m sure you will.”

“Why are you being so nice? Don’t you understand?” he demanded, frustration pulsing through his voice. “It’s hard to beat what you did, saving an airship full of witches. Capturing a rogue angel is about as big as it gets. He wants me to upstage you.”

I laughed. “And?”

“You are my biggest competition, and an angel—my father—is helping me. Don’t you think that’s really unfair?”

“You want to beat me in a fair game,” I said.

“Yes.”

“I have an angel helping me too,” I pointed out. “So I think it’s about as fair as it’s going to get.”

“You have a point,” he said, a thoughtful look sliding across his face.

“But this doesn’t have to be a competition, you know,” I told him.

“Tell that to my father.”

I set my hand on his shoulder. “Your father does not control you, Jace. He does not define who you are.”

“You don’t know him.”

“No, but I do know you. And when you’re not trying to be the person your father wants you to be, you’re a great guy.” I smiled at him. “A great friend. Remember that.”

I turned toward the garage.

“Leda, wait.”

I looked over my shoulder.

“Watch your back out there on the Black Plains, in the Lost City,” he said. “Some say the phantoms of the past still linger there, waiting to be released. Others say that the place holds a gateway that leads straight to hell.”

“I’m actually more worried about monsters than phantoms, but thanks for the warning. And good luck.”

“Thanks. I’ll need it. My father’s plan to distinguish me just might kill me instead.” Then he turned and walked back down the hall.