“I don’t know. All we do know is that their magic is not of this world.”
He frowned. “That is vague.”
“I know. ‘Not of this world’ could mean any number of things,” I said. “But I think it means literally not-of-this-world. As in, magic we do not have on Earth, something from some other realm in the magical cosmos.” I paused. “We should ask Damiel.”
Nero looked at me as though I’d suggested that we march off into the depths of hell and challenge a demon to a duel.
“Damiel has traveled,” I continued. “He’s been around a lot. He has seen things none of us have, especially during his many years in hiding. He traveled to other worlds.”
“I don’t question his knowledge but rather his intentions,” said Nero. “Are you sure you want to trust him with the information about your sisters being special?”
“Haven’t we been through all of this already? Damiel is not our enemy. What he did—his time in hiding, staging his death before your eyes—was for you.”
“Damiel might not be our enemy, but he is an angel,” Nero said. “He has a habit of using sensitive information against people. You don’t know what he will do with this knowledge, but you can be sure that he will do something. Information is a weapon, and my father wields it far too well.”
“We have to trust some people,” I told him. “And hasn’t Damiel earned our trust?”
“You know better than to trust an angel, Leda.”
“You are an angel, and I trust you.”
“I love you. I would move heaven and earth for you, so our interests are aligned.”
I felt the sincerity ringing in his words, the passion and conviction resonating in his voice. Even his skin seemed to glow a bit brighter as he spoke. The raw, brutal romanticism of it all was almost enough to bring me to tears.
“Then we need to make sure Damiel believes his interests are aligned with ours too,” I said. “And we’ll start with what it is that he wants most of all from us.”
Nero nodded in approval. “Now you’re thinking like an angel.”
23
Web of Magic
Damiel’s interests and ours were aligned as far as he needed us to help him find his wife Cadence. Locating her had been his mission, his purpose in life, since the two angels had been separated two centuries ago.
And he knew Nero and I were his best bet. Damiel’s magic alone was not strong enough to track Cadence. Even his bond to her couldn’t break through to the Guardians’ realm, but Nero had a bond to her as well. Born in blood, strengthened by magic, the bond of mother and son was a powerful one. Since becoming an archangel, Nero’s magic had only grown. If I became an angel, together these intersecting bonds that linked us all together would work in unison, the magic of each feeding off the others, building and culminating. Then we might just be powerful enough to break through the Guardians’ magic barrier to find Cadence and Zane.
If Damiel wanted us to help him, he’d have to behave himself, and he knew it. We could trust him—at least as much as we could trust any angel.
So the next day, we went to meet with the legendary Damiel Dragonsire. Nero had asked him to come to Chicago, but he hadn’t said why. To do so would have been a violation of the angel code of conduct, subsection ‘Power Plays’.
Breaking that code completely, I’d invited Bella and Calli to the meeting, and Harker too. I didn’t question Harker’s loyalty, not after all he’d done for Bella. He was already keeping the secret of her origin; I knew he’d keep Tessa’s and Gin’s secrets as well.
Besides, we would need all the help we could get if we were going to keep my little sisters safe—both from the Pioneers and from the Legion of Angels itself. The Legion was not above turning people into weapons. In fact, it did exactly that each and every day.
We met with Damiel in an apartment building in the city. The angel was staying in the penthouse suite, of course. The elevator doors slid apart, and we stepped into a very extravagant, very modern open living room decked out in marble and gold. Floor-to-ceiling windows with a gorgeous panorama view of the whole city lay beyond the massive leather sofa. At least twenty people could have sat there and still had elbow room to spare.
“Subtle,” I commented.
Damiel came out into the kitchen, smiling. He was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of artfully torn jeans. His hair was slightly disheveled in a stylish, purposeful manner. It made him look casual, approachable, like someone you could trust.
“I’m glad it pleases you,” he said with a bow.
He continued to smile, waiting, his eyes twinkling with private delight. I had the sinking suspicion that he knew exactly what we were going to say. Maybe he did. He was telepathic after all. I’d been blocking my thoughts, but I wasn’t sure if Bella and Calli could do the same. Zane had always been too polite to read our thoughts without permission, but most angels possessed no such moral scruples.
“I’m sure you’ve heard of the recent tragedy that has befallen the Legion in Memphis,” I said.
“Yes. The Pioneers have been restless lately, their random acts of terror growing bolder each week. I told Nyx she should have had me hunt them down months ago.” Damiel looked at me, his bright blue eyes reflective. “Your sisters are among the Pioneer’s prisoners who are still missing.”
He really did know everything that was going on at the Legion. I suppose it wasn’t surprising considering he used to be the head of the Interrogators.
“You think this has something to do with your sisters’ special magic,” Damiel continued. “You think the Pioneers took them for the same reason the warlords hunted them all those years ago, when your foster mother Callista found them.”
Calli folded her arms across her chest, giving Damiel the sort of look that, when I was younger, had prompted me to make myself scarce. Except Damiel was a several-hundred-year-old angel. He didn’t scare easily. He just countered her look with an amused one of his own.
“You’re reading our minds.” Calli didn’t look happy about it.
Damiel continued to smile. “Not this time. I’ve been watching the supernatural underworld for some time. I have focused especially on looking for sources of powerful magic.”
To help him in his quest to find Cadence.
“I first heard whispers of two very special girls many years ago, when the warlords of the Jaded Jungle were fighting over them,” said Damiel.
“What do you know of their powers?” I asked him.
“That they are supposed to be unlike anything in this world.”
“So we’ve heard. But what does that mean?”
“Your sisters come from other realms.”
Just like I’d thought.
“What kind of magic do they possess?” I asked.
He shook his head. “The rumors weren’t that specific. After the warlords lost them, no one ever heard another thing about them. They just disappeared, as though they’d never existed. No one could find your sisters. Until now.”
“Could you identify their magic if you saw it?”
He gave me a smug look.
Of course he could identify their magic. Sorry I’d ever doubted his supreme archangel majesty.
“Can you help us find my sisters?” I asked.
“Perhaps. Tracking is tricky magic, you see. There are so many people on Earth, so many streams of magic. It’s all very busy, very crowded.”
“But it’s not a problem for a legendary Tracker like you.”
Damiel chuckled. “Nero told you about that, did he?”
Nero had told me that Damiel was the best Tracker there was. He was the best Tracker and the best Interrogator. He could hunt down anyone the Legion wanted to find and extract any information out of them.