“That’s how the Legion wants us to be: isolated, alone, no weaknesses in our armor.”
“And that’s no way to live. Life isn’t clean. It isn’t perfect and orderly and always on schedule. It’s not spotless swords and sterile sheets. It’s unordered lists and dirty laundry. Life is messy and chaotic and, best of all, unpredictable. Our weaknesses, the people we love, our imperfections, not knowing what’s going to happen every second of every day—that’s what makes it all worth living. The Legion believes those soldiers’ loved ones were their weakness. But that’s not true at all. Our enemy is arrogance, the blind assertion that we have no weaknesses, that we are completely apart and cut off from ‘lesser’ humans. Instead of this blind belief that we are infallible, instead of the Legion ignoring that we have connections, they should be protecting those we care about. Because it’s not magic that will win this war and save humanity. It is compassion.”
Harker blinked. “Good speech.”
“Thank you.”
“What they say about opposites attracting has to be true. You must drive Nero insane with all the ‘unordered lists and dirty laundry’.”
“Often, yes,” I laughed.
We didn’t say another word about Nero. We were both worried about him and trying hard not to think about it.
Harker cleared his throat. “Enough slacking off. Show me what you’ve got.”
But before I could plan my attack, he thrust his hands in front of his chest. Telekinetic magic exploded out of his fists. It hit me like an invisible wrecking ball. I caught myself as I began to slip, planting my feet on the ground.
“You’ve been practicing,” Harker declared when the psychic storm had finally dissipated.
“I have too many sleepless nights of training to thank for that. Plus an unexpected visit from the Lord of the Legion.”
“Ronan visited you?”
“Yes. He gave me some tips. And a potion.”
The door to the gym swung open. I turned eagerly toward it, fully expecting to find Nero standing there. My hope fizzled out when I found Colonel Fireswift instead. Jace walked in behind him.
Colonel Fireswift’s face was cold and expressionless again. Whatever brief emotional outburst he’d had, it was over. The vicious, calculating angel had returned, and he had me caught in his crosshairs.
“Come with me, Pierce,” he said. “I’m promoting you and Jace.”
I didn’t harbor any hope that Colonel Fireswift had decided I wasn’t such a dirty street rat after all.
“The anarchists are bleeding the Legion dry,” he said, his eyes burning with cold fire. “They are trying to cut off our power, to weaken us by killing our angels and future angels.” He frowned at me. “I don’t like you, but you’re ready for the next level.” His gaze shifted to Jace. “The Legion needs you both to step up.”
Jace nodded, his face set with determination.
“I know you’re ready, so don’t you dare die.” Colonel Fireswift’s voice was as hard as diamonds. “I forbid it. To die is treason.”
It was so ridiculous to say such a thing—that my death would be an act of treason—but I got what he meant. We were fighting for something big, something beyond our own personal needs. The Legion could be cruel, but we were all that stood between the monsters and the end of humanity. As we’d just seen, even the great Magitech wall could fail the people of Earth. The Legion, however, could not afford to fail them.
Colonel Fireswift led the way to the grand hall. The room was packed. Every Legion soldier in the Chicago office must have been standing here, and yet the hall was as quiet as a tomb. No one spoke; they hardly moved. A promotion ceremony at the Legion of Angels was typically characterized by tuxedos and ballgowns, but no one was dressed up today. They were all in uniform, all standing in perfect lines with nearly identical expressions on their faces. It felt more like a funeral than a promotion.
My gaze shifted from the black silk banners hanging on the walls, to the vases of white roses on the tables. It was a funeral. A funeral for everyone we’d just lost.
Stepping onto a raised platform at the center of the room, Colonel Fireswift began the ceremony. “Traitors have besieged the Legion of Angels. They have defiled our halls, turned their backs on their immortal duty, and killed our comrades. But from the ashes, we will rise stronger than ever before.”
Jace and I stood beside him, the only candidates at this unexpected promotion ceremony. Jace was in uniform, but I was still wearing my sweaty workout suit. No one seemed to care.
Colonel Fireswift recited the usual Legion lines. “We bear witness here today as two of our own challenge themselves once more to take their next step in life, to strengthen themselves and the Legion in preparation for the days to come.”
“For the days to come,” repeated the audience.
“Leda Pierce, step forward.”
Colonel Fireswift’s voice was gruff. He wasn’t nice, but this sure beat his usual disposition. He didn’t make any derisive comments this time. Today, he was all business. This ceremony wasn’t about personal feelings. It was about refilling the void in the Legion’s upper ranks.
I faced him.
“Sip now of the gods’ Nectar,” he said.
He was hiding his pain well, but it was still in there. I actually did feel sorry for him. I couldn’t shake the memory of the agony in his eyes when he’d lost his daughter. It haunted me, the sight of that strong and hard angel breaking down, losing himself to his anguish.
“Consume the magic of their sixth gift. Let it fill you, making you strong for the days to come.”
“For the days to come,” everyone repeated once more.
He set the goblet in my hands. I lifted it to my mouth and drank, not thinking, just doing. I had to trust that I was prepared enough. Much as Colonel Fireswift hated me, he was not trying to weed me out this time. His dislike of me was less important to him right now than his need to see the Legion survive this—and his desire to crush the bigger threat, the Pioneers who’d dealt such a heavy blow to us this day.
The Nectar poured down my throat like a burning river, igniting my magic and awakening my senses. I felt alive again, invigorated. It was as though a weight had lifted from my chest, evaporating my worries. I knew it was just the high of the Nectar, but I didn’t care. I hadn’t realized until now just how long I’d been holding my breath, or how long I’d been buried beneath the burden of things I couldn’t control.
My whole body was buzzing with magic, but I tried to keep my steps steady and straight as I moved aside for Jace. Colonel Fireswift went through the lines again with him, but I hardly saw the two of them. I didn’t hear them at all.
An explosion of applause snapped me out of my daze. I glanced to my side to find Jace standing beside me. The audience was clapping in celebration of our survival.
“The Legion is counting on you both—on all our soldiers, to step up,” Colonel Fireswift declared, his voice filling the room. “You must all train harder than ever before. This isn’t just about your individual survival. It’s about the survival of the Legion. It’s about the future of the Earth.”
His speech continued, but I didn’t hear another word because Nero had just stepped into the room.
His clothes were torn and bloody, but even so, he was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. My heart raced. Rather than not breathing, I was breathing too fast now. I was just so happy to see him, so completely overjoyed that he was alive.
I rushed forward, crossing the room in a few mere steps. I didn’t care about the whispers from the soldiers in the audience. I stopped right in front of him. Thoughts were buzzing around inside my head, unordered and chaotic. There was so much to tell him, and how did I choose to open? By tripping over my own tongue.
“You’re covered in blood.”