“Sierra,” he said.
“Why do you bow before me, Calin?” I asked him. He’d been doing it ever since we’d first met, and no matter how many times I pleaded with him to stop, he just kept doing it.
“Because you are the Keeper,” he said. “You are our savior.”
I didn’t feel like a savior. I felt…lost. Like I’d inherited someone else’s destiny, like I’d been thrown into a war I didn’t even understand, a war that had been raging since the birth of magic.
“Sierra, we must hurry.” Calin took my arm, leading me toward the gateway to the Treasury. “They are coming. You need to don the armor and wield weapons of heaven and hell. You need to save us all.”
I woke up in a hospital bed, feeling like I’d been flayed, then left out to burn in the scorching sun. I was alone in a dark room. Outside, a full moon shone brightly over the city, mixing with city lights born from a million different sources.
I managed to sit up, but I had to fight for every inch. A hand brushed across my forehead. I turned my head to find Nero in the chair beside my bed.
“Hey,” I said, my voice shaking.
“Hey.”
We stared at each for a few minutes in silence—I because it hurt to talk, Nero because, well, he’s Nero.
“I got your message,” he finally said.
I managed a smirk—or at least half of one. “Which one?”
“All twenty-two of them. You must have really missed me.”
“Well, just look at what happens when you’re gone.”
Nero clenched his jaw.
“I take it you’ve heard of the changes Colonel Fireswift has made around here.”
“Yes.”
“Has Nyx?”
“Yes.”
“And? What is she doing to stop him?”
“Nothing.” The word sank like a stone between us. “He was following her orders to get her more higher level soldiers. Last night, forty-two were promoted.”
“And twelve people died,” I growled. “Not initiates, Nero. Established soldiers of the Legion.”
“Nyx didn’t specify how he should get her those higher level soldiers. He picked the people he thought most likely to survive, adding them to the promotion roster. And then he added those he saw as weak links.”
Lucy.
“Nyx is happy with the results,” Nero said.
“Happy?” I gasped, disgust burning in my raw throat. “She’s happy with twelve pointless deaths?”
“Colonel Fireswift took a risk, and it paid off for him. Nyx considers those acceptable losses.”
“How could she?”
I couldn’t help but feel betrayed. Colonel Fireswift was a cruel, toxic angel, but Nyx was supposed to be one of the good ones. At least I’d thought so.
“Never forget that Nyx is not like us,” Nero said in response to my unspoken thoughts. “She was born an angel, born with one foot in the world of the gods. And to the gods, those are acceptable losses.”
“Does that mean we can expect Colonel Fireswift’s ‘acceptable losses’ to become a regular visitor to this office?”
“I hope to be back here before then.”
“So you’re not back now?”
“Unfortunately not. I only came to check on you. I heard what happened when you drank the Nectar yesterday morning.”
“So it’s been nearly two days.”
“Yes.”
“That explains why I’m starving.”
He handed me a bar of chocolate. “Eat this. It will make you feel better.”
I bit off a small piece. It melted in my mouth, and I felt new energy fill me. Maybe after a few more bites, I’d begin to feel alive again.”
“What did happen yesterday morning, Nero? When I had Nectar before, it was so different.”
“Every time, every level, is different.”
“But not like this. I went from getting drunk on Nectar to passing out when I have it. And the Nectar tasted…different.”
“How so?”
“At first, it was the same, sweet and delicious. But then it went sour in my mouth, turning acidic. I felt like my whole body was burning in agony. Like I was being boiling alive.”
“The first time you had the Nectar, you threw up,” he reminded me.
“I remember. But this time was different. The Nectar was wrong. It tasted like there was something inside of it that didn’t belong there.”
“Poison.”
“But the Nectar is a kind of poison. How can you poison something that’s already a poison?”
“It’s not easy, but there are ways,” he said. “Ways known to few people.”
For some reason, my mind thought back to Captain Somerset’s promise that she would kill me if I ruined Nero’s life. And I’d been poisoned shortly after Nyx had reassigned Nero. Had Captain Somerset tried to poison me?
“You didn’t ruin anything,” Nero said, touching my face.
“You’re in my head again.”
“It hurts for you to speak. I’m just trying to help.” His face was perfectly serious, but I caught a flash of wicked delight in his eyes.
“Nero Windstriker, you are so full of shit.”
“I’ve missed your mouth.” His finger softly traced my lower lip.
“I wish you’d never left,” I said, pulling him down.
He kissed me softly. “When the First Angel commands you to go on a top secret mission for her, you don’t refuse.”
“What did she want you to do?”
“Top secret, Leda.”
“Oh, come on. Are you really going to make me go through all your files?”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
I held up the phone I’d swiped from his pocket. “I would.”
He grabbed his phone, giving me a look of pure disbelief. “You are nearly dead, and you are pickpocketing from angels?”
“Is this the part where you tell me in your deep, foreboding voice that no one steals from angels?”
“We’ve been through this song and dance many times before. It’s never done any good.”
“Then let’s not do good.” I clawed my fingers through his hair, drawing him in closer.
“You’re hurt.”
I winked at him. “I’m feeling better already. Promise.”
He gently caressed my face.
“You’re not actually considering taking advantage of the poor girl, are you, Nero? It hasn’t even been two days since she almost died.”
I watched as Captain Somerset emerged from the shadows.
“What is she doing here?” I demanded.
She frowned at me. “Nice to see you too, Pandora.”
“She thinks you were the one to poison her. On account of her ruining my life.”
Captain Somerset snorted. “You got yourself into this mess, Nero. Not Leda. Gods, the way you blasted through that stone monster.” She whistled low. “Now, that was a sight to behold.” She looked at me. “This wasn’t my doing.”
“You told me you would kill me if I didn’t leave him alone,” I reminded her.
She rolled her eyes. “And you always do what people tell you to do? I was playing you, Pandora. I was trying to convince you to sleep with Nero. He hasn’t gotten laid in ages, and it’s making him downright grouchy. If you’re up to it, I can stand guard at the door and give you two a few minutes.”
“A few minutes?”
“He’s not going to last any longer than that today, honey.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out.
“Thank you, Basanti. I’ll take things from here.”
“Always happy to help,” she said, slapping him hard on the back as she took a step back.