The commotion had drawn the Pilgrims out of their temple. They were staring at the horrible scene of destruction, solemn looks on their faces.
I marched up to the Pilgrim who’d showed us to the Legion room earlier. “I am Lieutenant Pierce of the Legion of Angels.”
As soon as I said the words, it was like I was a completely different person to him. I wasn’t a troublemaker. I was a holy soldier touched by the gods’ magic. A Legion soldier of my level wasn’t all that common. Not many people survived so many doses of Nectar. After all, it was the strongest poison on Earth—a poison that literally killed you or made you stronger.
“What can I do for you, Lieutenant?” Not a hint of disgust tainted his tone. His words were professional and polite, even reverent.
“Bring the Legion truck around,” I instructed him. “We’re heading out to the Black Plains.”
7
The Horde
We passed under the wall and drove out onto the Black Plains, rolling over scorched earth and blackened fields. The place looked like it had been hit by one enormous bolt of lightning. I let Calli drive. My mind was too preoccupied, too busy with thoughts of what had happened with the werewolf mercenary.
Back in my days living in Purgatory, life had been simpler. Back then, my biggest worry had been whether I would survive a dangerous job I’d taken so my family could eat. I hadn’t dealt with these bigger issues of the soul, the fear that I had lost myself.
“Leda, you sure have learned to take charge,” Calli commented, bringing me out of my thoughts. “When you talked to Sheriff Wilder back there, you were literally glowing. You looked so alive, so in your element. This is who you are. It is your destiny.”
She sounded proud—but also sad. And her words reminded me once again of how much I was changing.
Calli glanced sidelong at me from the driver’s seat. “You’re worried.”
“Yes. Who hires a team of mercenaries to abduct teenagers? The sort of people I don’t want to have my little sisters, that’s who.”
“We’ll get them back,” Calli told me.
“Hopefully, before it’s too late.”
“Gin and Tessa are tough. Tessa is so resourceful that I have her do all our shopping. I can’t believe the deals she gets.”
An image flashed into my head—that of Tessa with pink shopping bags dangling from her arms, each one filled with medical supplies, ammunition, and machine parts.
“And Gin has a good, level head. She’s been working in the garage, keeping the Magitech and vehicles for Pandora’s Box in good order.”
Pandora’s Box was the bounty hunter company Calli had started long ago. Last year, I’d been preparing to take over from her, but then Zane was taken, and all our plans went to hell.
“I’m sorry about the burden I put on you by leaving,” I told Calli. “I wish I could help more. If you would just take some money—”
“That’s your money, Leda,” Calli said, her jaw hard.
“I don’t need it. But if you take it, you can improve your lives. You don’t need to work in these conditions. You don’t need to live in constant danger out here. Take the money. It’s the least I can do for you after all that you’ve done for me.”
“I never wanted you to take the burden of the whole world on your shoulders,” said Calli.
I didn’t tell her about the bounties I funded for them.
“Believe me, neither do I. The whole world just keeps falling apart whenever I’m around, and so I sort of feel obligated to put it back together.”
“You certainly have a knack for attracting trouble,” Calli chuckled.
“Once we get the girls back, you all can come to New York and get an apartment,” I pushed on. “At least there I can look out for you. At least there you’ll be safe.”
“Your heart is in the right place, Leda, but no one is safe. Not as long as monsters walk the Earth.” Her expression softened. “And the monsters aren’t confined to the wild lands.”
She was referring to the recent threat in New York, when Stash’s army of supernaturals had tried to take over the world. And she had a point. Nowhere on Earth was completely safe, at least not as long as humanity was caught in the middle of this war of gods and demons.
“Besides, I can’t abandon the people of Purgatory, not as long as the district lords rule,” she told me.
“I know.”
“Don’t feel bad about leaving, Leda. You made the ultimate sacrifice. You left your whole life to join the Legion, not knowing if you would survive the gods’ gifts of magic that kill so many. And you did all of it to save Zane.”
“Lately, I’ve been wondering… well, is it really so much of a sacrifice? My life is nice. Sure, there’s danger, but I actually like what I do. I like solving big problems. I like making a difference. I like my friends.”
“And your angel,” Bella said.
“Yes.” I sighed. “I’m so selfish.”
“You’re not selfish for wanting to live a little,” said Calli.
“I’ve been having trouble with telekinesis, the next ability. It isn’t coming to me, no matter how much I train. It’s like I’m blocked.”
“You’ll get through it,” Calli said with confidence.
“See, that’s not the point. Maybe I’ll figure it out and maybe I won’t, but the Legion won’t put me through the next ceremony until I’m ready.”
“So?”
“So there’s no consequence to me for failure,” I replied. “It’s somehow too easy, too cushy of a life for me. I’ve become complacent.”
“You’re the first person I’ve ever heard refer to life at the Legion as ‘cushy’.”
“You’ve been working harder than anyone, pushing yourself, leveling up like no one else,” Bella added.
Except Jace was leveling up faster. Even knowing that he was the son of an angel and had all those magic genes to help him, I couldn’t help but feel guilty, like I could be doing more.
“What is blocking me from reaching the next level?” I wondered. “Can I even reach the next level? Most Legion soldiers never go this high. What if this is it? What if I’ve sped up the ranks only to hit a wall that I can’t power through? What if this is the end of my potential? What if I fail Zane?”
“This isn’t the end, Leda,” said Calli. “It’s just a challenge, something to overcome. Not everything comes easily. You just need to figure out what’s wrong and how to solve it.”
I wasn’t sure I could figure it out, but I wasn’t giving up. That’s how Calli had raised us all. She hadn’t taught us to be quitters.
A shrill shriek echoed across the plains, cutting through my thoughts like a bolt of lightning. Tiny dark dots danced across the barren field, and they were moving fast toward us. Like a stream, the dots took a wide loop around our truck. Now that they were closer, I got a better look at them. Each black dot was a small, raptor-like dinosaur with long claws and pointy teeth. Together, they made up a pack of a few dozen monsters. Swirling closer, moving as a perfect swarm, they watched us with vicious, hungry eyes, fully prepared to tear us apart.
One of the raptors leapt at the truck. It landed on the door, its claws scratching across the metal body. I hit it with a gust of air magic. The raptor went flying, bowling over a section of its own pack.
Agitated, the monsters let out a collective shriek that made my eardrums scream in pain. I took a closer look at them. The monsters’ skin had an iridescent glow to it, like it wasn’t completely opaque. A pulsing light shone from within, the light of their magic. What kind of magic was that?
I got my answer when one of the raptors opened up its mouth and spat a fireball at us. Calli jerked the steering wheel hard, swerving to avoid the flames.
“Since when can raptors spit fire?” I spun my sword around, slashing apart the next monster that launched itself at the truck.
“Lately, the monsters here are mutating, breeding with other monsters,” Calli explained. “They are evolving faster than ever before.”
I continued to slash at the dinosaurs. Charged with lightning magic, my blade cut right through them. “Evolving into what?”