The thought of these two little girls—my sisters—having to go through all that made me sick to my stomach. “You never figured out what their magic is?” I asked Calli.
“I grabbed their hands, and we ran out of that jungle as fast as we could go. I never saw their magic,” she replied. “The warlords had spent months hunting them—and fighting each other—over Tessa and Gin, so I knew their magic had to be very rare and powerful. The girls didn’t want to talk about their magic or what had happened in the jungle. They shuddered whenever I asked, so I stopped asking. They spoke in hushed whispers of terrible black beasts in the jungle, so vicious that even the warlords’ bands shunned them.
“From those short tales, I gathered that they each possessed a different kind of magic. They’d met in a warlord’s laboratory, the atrocities they’d lived through creating an unbreakable bond between them, a bond stronger than blood.”
“In all these years, they’ve never spoken of their magic,” I said.
Guilt flashed across Calli’s face. “They were four years old, and they were fighting for their lives in a monster-infested jungle. They were far too young to have lived through all that. Those warlords had stolen their childhood from them. On our way across the plains, they fell asleep in the truck. As they slept, looking so sweet, so innocent, I swore I would find a way to give them a normal life, the life they deserved. So when we got home, I carried their sleeping bodies to Zane.”
My brother Zane was Calli’s first adopted child. He’d been with her longer than any of us.
“I asked Zane to use his magic to block the girls’ memories of their early life, to block their suffering so they could live normal lives,” she said. “They were so young, and memories fade easily at that age.”
Bella took Calli’s hand and squeezed it. “I would have done the same thing. The two of them had seen too much.” Her voice caught in her throat. “They’d killed too much. They never would have grown up to be the sweet, happy girls they are now, girls full of hope, innocence, and fun. You gave them a chance at a bright life, not one tainted by blood and fear.”
Calli looked at me. “You don’t agree with Bella.”
“You meant well, Calli, but secrets have a knack for not staying buried. And now the secrets of your past have come back to haunt us. The Pioneers have found out about Gin and Tessa, and now they are hunting them down too. What else are you hiding from us?” I asked her. “What else do you know? Did you know about Bella’s origin as well?”
“No, I didn’t know, but now, looking back, I’m not surprised that she’s special. He had a way of leading me to special children.”
“He?”
“Never mind.”
“The time for secrets between us is over,” I told her.
“We’re family. From now on, only the truth,” agreed Bella.
“Ok,” said Calli. “A long time ago, I had a friend. Every so often, he sent jobs my way. He was the one who sent me to the orphanage where I found you, Bella. And because he warned me not to take a job, I was home when Zane’s mother stopped by and begged me to take him in. He hooked me up with the treasure-hunting gig that led me to Tessa and Gin. I don’t know how, but he always manipulated things so that I found my children. One of his jobs led me to you, Leda, on the streets of Purgatory.”
I mulled that over.
“I’ve always known my children are all special, but I didn’t know how,” Calli said. “Zane a telepath. Bella the granddaughter of the Dark Lord of Witchcraft. Tessa and Gin so special that people were going to war over them back when they were only four years old.”
“And me?” I asked her.
“I don’t know, but you are special too. I’ve witnessed your potential firsthand, kid. Even when you were a child, I knew there was something special inside of you, just waiting to happen. The Legion has been good for you. You’re finally realizing your potential.”
I chuckled. “That was hard for you to admit, wasn’t it?”
Before going independent, Calli had worked for the League, the largest bounty hunter organization on Earth. The free spirits of the League weren’t overly fond of the Legion of Angels and their black-and-white world order.
“It’s not just about the Legion, Leda. I was afraid to let any of my children go. Because, as you know, danger befalls special people in this world. Trouble follows them. Evil is drawn to them. Monsters seek them out—of both the beastly and human variety,” she said. “Each of you has a great destiny, but great is a far cry from good. You are each meant for something special, something that will change the world. Something you might not survive.”
“Aren’t you being a tad melodramatic?”
“No. I was afraid for you when you joined the Legion, Leda. And then it turned out that my fears were realized, that someone had manipulated you into joining.”
“It all started with Zane’s abduction,” said Bella. “That was the beginning of the journey for each of us. For Zane. For you, Leda. For me. And for Gin and Tessa. It all snowballed from there.”
“Ever since I took you all in, I’ve wanted nothing more than to keep you safe. I swore to protect you in every way I could. And yet when Zane was taken, the hard, cold truth reared its ugly head: I am powerless to protect any of you. I can only watch as each of you is taken from me, one by one. As you’re each thrown into mortal danger. And now Gin and Tessa are gone too.”
Tears fell down Calli’s cheeks. She’d always been our mountain—so strong, so unmoving. It hurt to see her like this.
“Calli…” I choked up on the teardrops of my bleeding soul.
Bella added her tears to mine.
“Ok, enough of that now.” Calli wiped our tears away. “Legion soldiers are supposed to be tough, right?”
“Well, I guess I’m just a rebel.”
I wrapped one arm around Bella, the other around Calli, and drew them into a deep hug. Hugs had a magic unlike any other; potions healed the body, but it was hugs that had the power to heal the soul.
Finally, I pulled away, clearing my tight throat. “We will get Gin and Tessa back,” I promised, the conviction ringing in my voice as surely as in my heart. “We’ll find Zane too. And I’m not going anywhere. Honestly, Calli, I’m surprised at you. You should know better. You should know that I’m far too stubborn to die.”
Calli brushed her own tears away. “That’s true.”
Calming my emotions, I rubbed my red eyes. “And I never seek out trouble,” I added with a smirk.
Bella snorted.
“You’ve always told yourself that,” Calli chuckled.
“No, I always said it for your benefit,” I told her. “But since we’re all being honest now, I should rephrase: I only seek out trouble when absolutely necessary.”
“Which is why you’re dating an angel,” Bella said with a sweet smile.
“Actually, I only did that to freak out Mom.”
We both laughed.
“Ok, you comedians.” Calli’s eyes twinkled. “In all honesty, Leda, I’ve come to recognize that your angel gets you into less trouble than you get him into.”
I blinked. “Did Nero just get Calli’s stamp of approval?” I asked Bella.
“As close to it as he can get,” my sister replied.
“Great. I’ll have to tell him Calli loves him too. We can invite him to dinner after we rescue Gin and Tessa.”
“Just how did the Pioneers find out their magic was special?” Bella asked Calli.
“Hardwicke,” Calli said darkly. “I recognized him. He was there, fourteen years ago. Back then, he was a member of Hellfire’s war band that hunted Tessa and Gin through the jungle.”
19
Crossfire
I thought about Calli’s story the rest of the ride back to Chicago. My sisters had magic, something powerful enough that warlords had gone to war over it. Their magic was unlike anything this world had ever seen, Hardwicke had said. What did that even mean?
Back at the Legion building in Chicago, I found Jace in his sister’s office, sitting at her desk. He’d told me earlier that he was using it while she was away. His hair was disheveled, his eyes unsettled, constantly flickering from one point in the room to another. I’d never seen him look so stressed.