4

Drake gave me an amused look when I got back to the Legion’s carriage. “Did your boyfriend scold you?”

Several of our teammates snickered. I stuck my tongue out at them. I was mature like that.

“Colonel Windstriker sure was in a fury,” Monique Park commented, lifting her bag off the floor.

“I wonder why that is.” Claudia Vance winked at me, twirling the tip of her long blonde braid around her finger. It was a rather coy gesture from the Battle Maiden of New York, as some called her. Sergeant Vance was an interesting dichotomy, voluptuous curves and battle-hardened muscle all wrapped up into one person.

“He’s mad because I compelled the paranormal soldiers in the next carriage to give me all their angel cards,” I said.

“Those boys are playing Legion, are they?”

“Yes.” I reached down and pulled my new Nero card out of my boot.

Claudia looked at it, laughing. “The artist sure does know how to make an angel,” she purred, her tongue sliding slowly across her lips, her eyes tracing the illustration of Nero in a suit of sleek black leather.

“You going to screw him already or what, Leda?” Alec Morrows asked me.

Sergeant Morrows was one of the heavy hitters like Drake. Just last week, the two of them had taken on a whole pack of werewolves who’d broken the gods’ laws. Morrows was freakishly strong and tough as nails, but that didn’t mean I was going to let him tease me without retaliation.

I was just thinking up a juicy comeback when Lieutenant Lawrence said, “Don’t encourage the poor girl, Morrows. She has no idea what she’s in for. Remember the shit storm that went down the last time Nero took a lover.” She simpered, her lips curling with vicious delight. “He left the poor girl a mess. She was so heartbroken that she transferred to Europe.”

The train coasted to a stop, and the doors slid open. Overhead, the chandelier crystals jingled in celebration of our arrival.

“I’m reminded of why I never liked that woman,” I whispered to Drake as Lieutenant Lawrence walked off the train.

“She’s just bitter. She spent years trying to get Colonel Windstriker’s attention with all kinds of crazy stunts, but he never gave her the time of day.” Claudia wrapped her arm around me, leading me toward the door. “And then you came along and had him wrapped around your finger by the end of the first day.”

“I wouldn’t say I have him wrapped around my finger.” If I had, I’d have been able to sweet-talk my way out of all those extra laps and pushups he liked to assign me when I gave him lip.

“Yes, there are better places to have an angel wrapped around you,” she said with a wink, then hurried ahead to walk beside her best friend Captain Somerset.

Drake and I were the last to step off the train. Well, I hadn’t seen Nero leave, but maybe he could teleport or at least make himself invisible. The spells of the higher angel echelons were a mystery to me—and to pretty much everyone else who wasn’t an angel.

Together with the others, Drake and I carried the Legion’s cargo off the train and loaded it into the big truck waiting in front of the station. By the time we were done, the truck was so full that there wasn’t space for any of us. We walked through the town, drawing stares and whispers as we made our way to the Legion office.

It had been five months since I’d been back home, but it felt like years. And not just because I was homesick. Something had happened to Purgatory in that half year, a decay, a corrosion that should have taken years rather than months. A trio of shady men, automatic rifles hidden away beneath their huge trench coats, stood outside the Witch’s Watering Hole. That was the last bar I’d gone to before leaving for New York. Purgatory was on the Frontier, so people had always walked around town with guns and knives. But not so many guns and knives—and not ones like those. They weren’t armed to defend themselves; they were armed to destroy life. I recognized the dark brown leather trench coats, heavy boots, and fedoras. These fellows belonged to Prince, one of the town’s district lords who fancied himself cowboy royalty.

They weren’t alone. I saw thugs from five distinct district lords. They were everywhere, more of them than ever before. They were in the restaurants, shops, and bars. Walking the streets like they owned them. There was a strange smell to the town, the smell of overpriced cologne, a deep musk lathered on to cover the stench of fear bleeding down the streets. But there was no scent, no matter how potent, that could cover fear. Fear was the basest of instincts, the strongest of scents. It permeated everything, a sickly sweat scent of overripe fruit spoiling in the summer sun.

“The town feels different,” I said quietly to Drake.

“Things change, Leda. It’s a natural part of life.”

“This change is for the worse. The town was never luxurious or shiny, but it was comforting. Like an old security blanket stained by twenty years of tears and sweat.”

“Security blanket? I prefer something with a bit more kick.” He tapped his crossbow. “I used this baby to clear Sapphire Point of winged serpent monsters.”

“That exact one?”

“The one and same. Fifty-two fiends, two hours, one man. A battle that will go down in the history books,” he declared, his eyes lifted in triumph, his voice soaring with nostalgia.

I grinned at him. “That’s just beautiful. Kind of sounds like the start of one of those horror movies Ivy likes.”

“Oh, no. This was better. Much better,” he replied seriously.

We stopped outside the Pilgrims’ temple of worship. The town’s Legion office was just a room inside that temple.

“File in,” Nero said, emerging from the doorway.

How had he gotten here so fast? Maybe he really could teleport. Or maybe I’d just been slow, distracted by the epidemic of corruption consuming my town.

We followed Nero into a small office down the hall. Seven Pilgrims waited inside. They weren’t dressed in the usual robes of the clergy but instead in cargo pants and t-shirts. I might have mistaken them for regular people, if not for the distinguished way they folded their hands together, palms out. It was a Pilgrim gesture, one that broadcasted their wish to pass along the gods’ message.

“Our mission,” Nero said when we were all there. “Is to guide and protect the Pilgrims in their journey to the holy battle site at the Lost City, which sits at the middle of the Black Plains.”

Centuries ago, monsters had overwhelmed the Earth. The Book of the Gods tells us that the gods came down to our world, pushing back the beasts and saving humanity from certain destruction. The truth was a tad more complicated—ok, a lot more complicated. So complicated, in fact, that no one knew exactly what had happened all those years ago.

We did know that the gods had helped us build walls to separate humanity from the monsters. We knew they’d formed the Legion of Angels, a new breed of soldiers to fight the war against demons and monsters. The Pilgrims had risen from the ashes of humanity at our worst hour. They worshipped the gods, building temples in their honor. Just as the Legion represented the hand of the gods, the Pilgrims represented their voice.

“Valiant tells me that objects of great power lay buried beneath the Lost City,” Nero said, indicating the Pilgrim standing to his right.

Valiant. His name meant he was a higher member of the Pilgrims, someone the gods had distinguished by blessing with long life for their service. They all held honorary titles named after virtues.

“It is absolutely essential that we recover these precious historical relics before thieves or mercenaries get their hands on them,” Valiant said, his voice trembling with emotion.

If the artifacts were from the time of the final battle, they’d been in the Lost City for centuries. Either relic hunters had long since found them, or they were buried so deep that no one ever would.

“We must head out immediately,” Valiant declared.

“That would be unwise,” I told him.

Everyone looked at me.

“The Black Plains aren’t safe at night,” I continued. “The worst beasts come out after dark.”

Nero watched me, as though he were debating whether or not to punish me for speaking out of turn. “She’s right,” he finally said, much to Lieutenant Lawrence’s dismay. “We’ll sleep here in the temple tonight and head out tomorrow at first light.” He waved his hand at the door, and it swung open, revealing a Pilgrim in a plain dress.

She bowed to us. “Please allow me to show you to your rooms.” She looked so young, no older than my seventeen-year-old sisters.

I was about to follow when Nero said, “Pandora, a word.”

My comrades followed the girl, and the Pilgrims followed, shutting the door behind them. Leaving me alone with the stony-faced angel, who from the looks of it hadn’t appreciated my desire to speak my mind.

“You’re going to punish me, aren’t you?” I said with a heavy sigh.

“I fear it won’t do any good.”

“That never stopped you before.”

A hint of amusement broke past his granite mask.

“Admit it,” I said, grinning. “You appreciate my sharp wit.”

“In private perhaps, but not in front of my soldiers. And most certainly not in front of outsiders.”

“All right.” I sighed again. “Give it to me.”

“When we get back, an additional twenty miles every morning for a week.”

As far as Nero’s punishments went, it was pretty lenient.

“Feeling magnanimous today?” I asked.

He shot me a hard look. “I can make it fifty miles instead.”

“No, twenty should be fine. Thank you. I’m already feeling very repentant.” I should have stopped there, but then I’d never known what was good for me. “Will you still punish me with extra laps when I’m an angel?” I asked him. I just couldn’t help myself.

“Do you think I’ll still need to punish you with extra laps when you’re an angel?”

“Probably,” I admitted.

A small smile touched his lips. “I hope so.”

“Oh? And why is that? Because you enjoy punishing me that much?”

“No, because it means you managed to become an angel without changing who you are.” He brushed his hand against mine. “I didn’t ask you to stay just so I could punish you.”

“Nero, I’m not going to make out with you in this tiny office. It doesn’t even have a proper lock. Anyone could walk in at any time.”

He laughed out loud. “You made out with me in the library. There wasn’t even a door.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks—and a few other places.

He lifted my hand to his lips, kissing my fingertips. “I didn’t ask you to stay here for that either. I just wanted to inform you about the unfortunate shortage of beds at the temple.”

“And this is where you generously offer to share your bed with me?”

He snorted. “That is one option, of course. But I was going to propose you go stay with your family.”

The sass sizzled out inside of me, washed away by an overwhelming surge of gratitude. “Really?”

“It is an appropriate solution to the problem.”

“Thank you.” I threw my arms around him. “Thank you so much.”

“I expect to see you here tomorrow at a quarter to six. Don’t be late.”

“I won’t be,” I promised, giving him a second hug before heading for the door.

“And Leda.”

I turned my head to look at him.

“I know it’s difficult for you to see the changes in this town since you left, but I must remind you not to interfere in local affairs. You are a soldier of the Legion now, sworn to uphold the gods’ justice. If you forget that, even I cannot save you from the gods’ wrath.”

“I know.” I drew in a deep breath. “I’ll remember.”

“Sleep well.”

I smiled at him. “You too.”

* * *

There was nothing better in life than dinner with your family. Being away from them for so long had reminded me of that one simple truth. Calli and the girls, Tessa and Gin, were there. The New York University of Witchcraft was closed between semesters, so Bella was home too. The only person missing to make this family dinner complete was Zane. I glanced at my brother’s empty chair, and a twinge of melancholy burned in my heart, a single black spot on this otherwise perfect evening.

“You will find him,” Bella said from beside me. She squeezed my hand. “We all believe in you, Leda.”

Calli lifted her glass to me. My sisters mimicked the gesture. We were only drinking water tonight, but I appreciated it all the same.

“So, how’s school?” I asked Bella as I shoveled sweet potato fries onto my plate. “Anything interesting happening?”

“Well, there’s no way I could beat the adventure we had, Leda, but I did score the top marks in my class on the semester finals.”

“That’s awesome,” I told her. “I knew you could do it.”

“That’s cool and all,” Tessa said, grabbing the bowl of corn. “But what I’m interested in is hearing about this ‘adventure’ you and Leda had.”

“Oh, it was no biggie. Bella and I just stopped a conspiracy from tearing New York’s witch community apart.” I looked at the bowl in front of Tessa. “Could you pass the green beans?”

“That doesn’t sound like no biggie to me,” Tessa commented, looking from me to Bella.

“You give me far too much credit,” Bella told me. “I merely played a small role in a larger plot that you and Colonel Windstriker unravelled.”

“Colonel Nero Windstriker, as in the hot angel from New York?” Tessa asked.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, dear,” Calli chided her.

Tessa swallowed, then looked at me with hungry eyes. “And? Don’t leave me hanging here!”

“I’m the one left hanging. I’m still waiting on those green beans,” I reminded her.

She passed the bowl to me. Her lips trembled with a hundred followup questions just waiting to be launched.

“Yes, that Nero Windstriker,” I told my suffering sister. “How do you even know who he is?”

An expression of pure teenage horror flashed across her face. “Are you serious? Of course I know who he is. Everyone knows who he is. Haven’t you seen his Legion trading card?”

I hadn’t known who Nero was when we’d met, but then I didn’t collect Legion trading cards. Well, at least I hadn’t until today. I pulled the Nero card out of my boot and slapped it down on the table.

“You mean this card?” I asked Tessa.

An impish smile twisted her lips. “Gods, Leda, did you just pull that out of your boot?”

“Yeah. And?”

Tessa’s eyes darted to Gin. “She keeps his picture in her boot. That’s like the Legion’s equivalent of a locker.”

“Do you keep that card on you at all times?” Gin asked me.

“Ever since I nabbed it off some paranormal soldiers on the train an hour ago.”

Tessa crossed her hands in front of her heart. “How romantic.”

“If you say so.”

Tessa caressed the outer edge of the playing card. “Are his muscles that big in real life?”

“Oh, much bigger. They’re like totally enormous,” I told her, taking the thick slice of turkey Calli had cut for me.

“Really?” Tessa wet her lips.

“Yeah, so big he was always bursting out of his uniform, so now he just goes around the Legion office naked.”

A pout displaced the euphoric smile on her face. “You’re mocking me.”

“Just having fun with you, little sis.” I glanced at Bella. “So, when we’re back in New York, we should go out to celebrate your academic triumph. How about cheesecake?”

“That sounds divine.”

“You know what else is divine? Angels,” Tessa said with a smirk. “Tell us more about your angel, Leda.”

“There’s nothing to tell. How about you tell us about school? What’s new?”

“I won the Winter Queen pageant,” she said. “And I’m in charge of the prom committee. Dani Wilkinson wanted the theme to be Witches, but we already did that for homecoming three years ago. I mean, seriously, what would these people do without me to keep track of these things? I told her we’re doing Angels this year, and of course everyone loved it. Who doesn’t love angels?”

No one apparently.

“How are classes?” I asked Gin.

“I got an A in Steam Tech,” she said, smiling.

Calli beamed at her. “Gin has been helping me in the garage. Remember that old motorcycle we found last year in the Junkyard just outside of town, Leda? She managed to get it working.”

“That’s fantastic,” I told Gin. She was really gifted. People just didn’t see it because she was living in Tessa’s shadow.

“It really is,” Tessa said. She might have been an attention hog, but she did love Gin. “All the guys at the wall were really impressed. I think that cute one with the dragon tattoo is going to ask you out.”

Gin blushed a lovely shade of pink.

“And how is your paranormal soldier, the one whose name you wanted to tattoo into your skin?” I asked Tessa.

Tessa pushed out her lower lip. “Don’t even mention his name.”

“I think you’re safe there. I don’t even remember his name.” It was impossible to keep up with Tessa’s revolving door of boyfriends.

“He left town when his time was up. He said he’d write to Tessa, but he never did,” Gin told me.

“Whatever. I met someone who is ten times the man he will ever be,” Tessa declared.

“Oh, really. Who is this wonderful fellow?”

“Uh-uh. I’m not telling.” Tessa zipped her fingers across her mouth.

“Why not?”

“Because I can tell from the look in your eyes that as soon as I do, you’ll go find him and give him a speech about staying away from your little sister.”

“Unfortunately, little sister, I don’t have time to play hot potato with paranormal soldiers right now.” I sighed, looking at Calli. “What’s happening here? The town feels different.”

“The government cut funding to the sheriff’s offices in several Frontier towns, ours included. The resources are being diverted into the Legion, the wall, and the fight against the beasts. Sheriff Wilder didn’t have the money to keep paying us bounty hunters to track down criminals.”

“You’re not working?” I asked.

“We’re working, just not enough. Many of the local bounty hunters have moved on, but even with just a few of us left, there’s not enough work to go around. And your friend Jinx has made a habit of letting us do all the work, then snatching our marks out from under us.”

I gritted my teeth. “Where is he?”

“Don’t even think about going after him. I know the Legion has rules about interfering in local affairs.”

“The man is a vulture,” I growled.

“He’s a lot worse than that, but most of all, he’s not worth it, kid. Leave it be. Thanks to you, we’re getting along all right.” She met my eyes. “You didn’t have to send us so much money.”

“After what you said, I’m wishing I’d sent more.”

“It’s your money, Leda.”

“The Legion feeds and houses me, and I don’t have the time to spend money anyway.”

“I could help you with that,” Tessa offered.

Calli gave her a hard look.

“What? I was offering to do her shopping for her.”

“After Sheriff Wilder lost his funding, he took drastic measures to keep crime in check, didn’t he?” I asked Calli.

“Yes, he accepted the district lords’ help. The common criminals are all but gone, but now we have organized crime in its place.”

I clenched my fists. “It wasn’t a good trade. He shouldn’t have made a deal with the district lords. He knew that their help came at a price. They are the police now. They are the ones running this town.”

“He didn’t have much of a choice, Leda,” Calli told me. “He tried to hold out, but as soon as the criminals learned the sheriff didn’t have the manpower to keep them out, they flocked here in droves. I tried to help him. So did a few others. But it wasn’t enough. He had to make the deal or watch the town burn to the ground, its people murdered, their houses stripped bare.”

Two pieces of warped metal hit my plate. I looked down at my hand to find I’d broken my fork in half. I knew I wasn’t allowed to interfere. As long as the district lords did nothing against the gods’ will, as long as they continued to make donations to the Legion and to the Pilgrims, my hands were tied.

“Come on, Leda. Let’s not speak of these unhappy things,” Calli said. “There’s nothing we can do to change them. We’ll survive just as we always have. The tides will turn, and we’ll get our chance to right this wrong.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Of course.”

“Yes,” Bella agreed. “Hope is a powerful magic, Leda. Don’t forget that. We’ll save this town. And we’ll save Zane. Tell them what you told me, about how you saw him.”

“You saw him?” Gin said, her eyes going wide. “Where?”

“I didn’t see him in person. I caught a passing glimpse of him. He’s safe. For now.”

“How did you see him?” Tessa asked me. “I thought you wouldn’t gain that kind of magic until you became an angel.”

“I don’t have that magic. I…borrowed it for a short time. It wasn’t enough to track him down, but at least I got to see that he’s all right.”

“So the dark angels of hell don’t have him?” Gin asked.

“Neither gods nor demons have him. He is someplace where he feels safe. That’s all I know.”

“How did you borrow this magic?” Tessa asked. “Could you do it again so we can all see Zane?”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t work that way.”

“Then how does it work?”

I hesitated.

“You performed a blood exchange with an angel, didn’t you?” Calli asked.

Tessa’s jaw dropped.

“And with not just any angel,” Calli continued. “With Nero Windstriker.”

“Yes.” The word hung over the table, filling the silence.

“Leda.” Calli sighed. “He’s an angel. When push comes to shove, he will choose the Legion over your brother. You can’t trust him.”

“He’s not like that. He’s…different.”

“I thought you knew better, but you’re still just as naive as Tessa.”

“Hey!” Tessa exclaimed in protest.

“Nero knew about Zane. I didn’t tell him. He came to me, offering his help. He’s been training me, helping me get stronger.”

“And you never wondered why?”

“Because he’s a good person.”

“He’s not a person, Leda. He’s an angel. He might look like us. He might even talk like us, but he is not like us. None of them are. The gods’ Nectar has changed them. They’re no longer human.”

“Neither am I!” I shouted, jumping up. “I’ve drunk the gods’ Nectar, and I will do it again many more times before this is over. To find Zane and bring him back to us, I will become an angel, the very thing you hate.”

“I don’t hate the angels.” Calli rose to her feet. “I just want you to be wary of trusting them.”

“Will you trust me when I’m an angel.”

“Always.” She set her hands on my cheeks, pressing her forehead to mine. “Because I know you will always be you. You’re stronger than the Nectar. It won’t change you. You are too good.”

I set my hands over hers. “Nero is good too. I can feel it in his magic, in his blood.”

Calli’s brows drew together. “There is darkness in that angel.”

“There’s darkness in me too.” Darkness wasn’t evil. And light wasn’t goodness. Darkness and light were just two sides of the same magic. “Please, Calli…Mom. You need to trust me.”

“Always.” She squeezed my hands. Her expression lightened. “Though I do reserve the right to warn you about getting involved with an angel like Nero Windstriker. Mother’s prerogative.”

I laughed. “Of course.”

Calli lifted the cover off a glass dish. The delicious aroma of baked apple and cinnamon rose up. It was the sweetest smell in the world—because it smelled like home.

“We get to tease you about Nero Windstriker, you know. Sisters’ prerogative.” Tessa said, heaping steaming cinnamon apples onto her plate. “What’s it like to kiss an angel?”

“I see you’re starting with the easy questions right off the bat,” I commented.

She smiled at me. “Spill. I want to know all about that angel’s lips.”

“It’s classified.”

“His lips are classified?”

“Yep.”

“Come on, Leda. I’m dying here. You have to give me something.”

“Fine. Nero asked me out on a date.”

Her eyes sparkled in delight. “And how was it?”

“I don’t know. It hasn’t happened yet. We’ve both been too busy the past four months.”

“He asked you out four months ago, and you still haven’t gone on a date?”

“Pretty much.”

“But you have kissed him right? And exchanged blood with him? What was it like?”

Not for your ears, little sister. I stretched out my arms and yawned loudly. “Wow, would you look at the time! I have to get up really early tomorrow, so I’d best be going to bed now.”

“Coward,” Tessa muttered.

“I’m going to go to bed too,” Bella said, following me into the bathroom.

After we’d brushed our teeth, we headed into the bedroom we’d shared since we were kids. Our old bed waited for us. We dove in and pulled the blanket over our chins.

“You disappointed Tessa,” Bella told me, her mouth twitching.

“When you want to know everything there is to know in the world, you’re going to be disappointed now and again.” I hugged my sister to me. “I did want to ask you something, though.”

“Oh?”

“It’s about the gods’ Nectar.”

“I think you know more about Nectar than I do, Leda. The offices and buildings of the Legion are the only places on Earth you can find it. We witches don’t have access to Nectar.”

“But you do have access to knowledge. You must have read about Nectar,” I said.

“A little. I know it’s a poison, more powerful than any poison on Earth. That’s why Legion soldiers can’t be poisoned. Your bodies have already survived the strongest poison known to man—and it changed you, bestowing you with powerful magical gifts.”

“What do you know about what happens when someone drinks the Nectar?” I asked her.

“If the person is uninitiated, the Nectar either kills them or it unlocks their magical potential. The initiates train and then drink the Nectar again, this time in a less diluted form. Those who survive, gain the gods’ first gift. With each new level, each new ability, you drink a stronger, less diluted Nectar. If you haven’t trained hard enough—if you haven’t gained at least a hint of the next level’s magic—you die. I’ve heard it’s an agonizing ordeal.”

“Yes,” I said, remembering the faces of everyone I ever saw drink the Nectar in a promotion ceremony. “It’s agonizing. For them. But not for me. Nectar doesn’t hurt me. It makes me drunk.”

Bella went very still. “I remember reading a case of someone who had that reaction. Both his parents were angels.”

“Nero has the same reaction to Nectar, and both of his parents are angels. He’s the only person I know of with two angel parents, in fact. Maybe you read about him.”

“Maybe. The study didn’t list names.”

“Bella, do you think it means… Do you think it means both my parents were angels too? That I’m a brat of the highest tier?”

“A brat?” she asked, amused.

“It’s what Legion soldiers call the recruits with an angel parent.”

“I see.” Bella paused. “Leda, I can’t tell you if both your parents are angels, but it might explain your reaction to the Nectar.”

“Do you recall the title of that book?” I asked her.

“Poisons and Potions.”

“Thanks.” It looked like I would be adding another book to my reading list when I got back to New York.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she whispered in the dark. “It’s been too long.”

“Yes, it has.”

We closed our eyes, holding to each other, two sisters, two friends. Just like the old days. Things had been so much easier back then, so much more peaceful. I fell asleep, expecting the sweet dreams of those happy golden years.

Instead, I dreamt I stood back-to-back with Nero on the Black Plains, fighting off the horde of monsters closing in on us. It was a long battle, a hard battle, but we were finally victorious. We celebrated our survival by having sex on the back of Nero’s motorcycle.

Yeah, my life had definitely changed. And there was no going back.