Dragon's Storm (Legion Of Angels #4)(37)

“Female soldiers of the Legion are infertile most of the time, having a fertile cycle only once every few years,” Nerissa said. “For female angels, it is even less frequent.”

“So they just have to keep going at it. For years.” Alec grinned. “Doesn’t sound so bad.”

“When a female soldier of the Legion has a fertile cycle, she knows it. Her libido jumps,” Nerissa said. “And when a female angel has a fertile cycle, everyone knows it.”

“We had that at my old office last year,” said Lieutenant Gardner from LA. “They had to send her off into isolation, far away to another region.”

“Why?” I asked him.

“Her presence became disruptive.”

“A fertile female angel puts off hormones that drive everyone, male and female, into a sustained state of heightened agitation,” Nerissa explained. “They become more violent, more aroused, depressed, excited, reckless. The whole emotional range. It’s like everyone is high on Nectar, all at once. Fights break out. There are crying fits, heated arguments, fights.”

“Orgies?” Alec asked.

“It’s been known to happen.”

He grinned.

“It’s not pretty,” she told him. “Breaking down the control of hundreds to thousands of highly-disciplined Legion soldiers has disastrous results. People have died.”

“I know the guy the Legion mated to the female angel I mentioned,” Lieutenant Gardner said. “The Legion sent him off with her for a week. He said it was the best week of his life, so good that he could barely walk without it hurting for the rest of the month.”

Gods, what had the angel done to him?

Nerissa must have seen the shock in my eyes. “Sex, Leda. Lots and lots of sex.”

The guys at the table let out a collective sigh.

“They are insane,” I commented to Nerissa.

“No, they’re just men.”

“Are we playing or not?” Jace demanded. He was the only guy here who didn’t look excited by the prospect of being screwed until he couldn’t walk.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, Fireswift. We’re playing.” Alec set two cards facedown on the table.

We all did the same.

“How long after a woman becomes an angel does this…phenomenon happen for the first time?” I asked Nerissa.

Alec flashed me a grin. “Thinking of becoming an angel, Pandora?”

Lieutenant Gardner cast a long, leisurely look down the length of my body. “She would make a fine angel.”

There were some grunts of assent from the male delegation. That’s what I got for wearing a bikini to a pool party full of soldiers high on Nectar. I should have worn a robe. Or a suit of armor.

“Is that your own hair?” Darren asked me, reaching across the table.

I batted his hand away before he could touch my hair. “Yes, mine. My hair. My space. Invade it and I’ll break your wrist.”

The guys kept on grinning. Apparently, Legion soldiers saw threats of violence as foreplay. They really were just like angels. But that meant…so was I. Before joining the Legion, I’d never threatened anyone with violence. I’d instead plotted what pranks I could use to get back at them. Whether I liked to admit it or not, I was changing. And I didn’t like it.

“Each level of the Legion we gain, we get a progressively larger dose of Nectar,” Nerissa told me. “The jump to becoming an angel requires Nectar twice as potent as the previous level. It spikes the poison in your system so high that you’re not fertile for years, maybe even decades.”

Thank goodness. Maybe it was a stupid thing to worry about this far out, but I was determined to become an angel and acquire the power to find my brother Zane. I didn’t have time for games and wonky hormones. I wanted the powers, but not any of the nasty side effects. Nero would have called me a hypocrite for thinking that, and maybe he was right. But I wasn’t just going to wait around and pray for someone else to save my brother. I was taking matters into my own hands. I’d save him and worry about the angel side effects later, when I had time.

Everyone else at the table had already flipped over their two cards—and lost to Alec’s twin captains.

“Ok, let’s see what you’ve got, angel.” Alec blew me a kiss.

I flipped my cards. His smile melted when he saw my angel and Sea Dragon.

“It can’t be.”

“And yet it is,” I said cheerfully, claiming the pile of chips that I’d just won.

“You lost every round before this. How can you win?” Alec demanded as I dealt out our new cards.

“It’s not about the battles,” I told him. “It’s about winning the war.”

Darren laughed. “She is as cunning as an angel.”

Alec blinked. He still couldn’t believe it.

“I wasn’t playing those rounds to win. I was playing them to see how everyone else played, how you ticked, how you responded to different cards. I’ve got you figured out, Alec Morrows.”

“I’m not that predictable,” he stated, setting a card face down on the table.

“You just played a strong mid-level card, either a captain or major.” I watched the flicker of his eyes. “No, a Dragon.”