Dragon's Storm (Legion Of Angels #4)(42)

A wicked smile spread across her lips, pushing out the melancholy. “I’m just trying to prepare you for your date with Nero.”

“Date? I’d hardly call tracking down an angel who might have gone dark a date.”

“Then you haven’t been paying attention, Pandora. This is the Legion of Angels. Grab life by the horns and pray you never fall off this wild, wild ride.”





13





Charging Into Oblivion





That night, I dreamt I was once again drowning in lava. The lava hardened and froze around me like a shell, lodging me in solid rock from the waist down. I looked up to find Nero standing over me. He reached his hand toward me.

I woke up before I’d decided if I was going to take it.

Yeah, I knew what that all meant. It meant I still didn’t know what to do about Nero. I could have at least dreamt a little longer to learn what my mind wanted. But I’d woken up instead.

Better yet, it was Nero who’d awakened me. He stood over my bed just as he’d stood over me in that volcano. Maybe the universe was trying to send me a sign. But if so, what kind of sign? I sure as hell didn’t know.

I sat up, pushing the hair out of my face. “How did you get in here?”

“Put on some clothes, Pandora,” he said, then opened the door and left my room. I thought I caught a hint of humor in his eyes.

He’d probably gotten in here by overriding the magic lock on my door, I decided as I pulled my clothes out of the closet. We were headed for the Fire Mountains today, so I opted for my hot weather set: the tank top, shorts, and trekking boots. I splashed my face with cold water, braided my hair, then headed out.

The castle was still asleep—and so was the sun. I moved quickly and quietly through the halls. Nero was waiting for me just outside the castle gate.

“Did anyone see you?” he asked.

“A few of the castle guards tried to get the jump on me, but I was too fast for them. I left them tied up in the linen closet,” I drawled.

“Very funny.”

“They didn’t think so.” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “Are we doing something we shouldn’t?”

“No, but due to the sensitive nature of this mission, it’s best to be discreet.”

“I can do that.”

“Basanti will tell anyone who asks that I took you out onto the Elemental Expanse for extra training,” Nero said.

Everyone would believe that too, especially after my epic failure on the obstacle course yesterday.

“Let’s go.” He walked to the edge of the mountain. “The sun will soon rise.”

“You aren’t flying?” I asked as he began to climb down the cliff alongside me.

“You can’t fly.”

“I know. I just figured you would fly down and stand there, watching me in judgmental silence.”

“Do you want me to do that?” he asked.

“No.” I had a thought. “Is this all part of your new training?”

I could tell he’d been doing a lot more physical training lately. The question was why. Level ten was a test of magic, not physical strength.

“Worry about your own training,” he said when my foot almost slipped.

I concentrated my efforts on climbing—and not falling. “This would have been easier with climbing gear,” I muttered to myself.

Of course he heard me. “That would be cheating,” he said.

“I knew you were going to say that.”

He merely grunted in response, and we passed the remainder of the descent in silence. At the bottom of the mountain, we took the same car Captain Somerset and I had brought here. Nero drove us toward the Fire Mountains, the lands of fire magic. A warm wind blew across the burning field of grass, carrying along the scent of frying bananas. The smell was pleasant, if not unexpected. I didn’t see any bananas anywhere.

“The new look is good,” I told Nero.

“What new look?”

“This windswept look.” I waved my hand to indicated his hair. “Tousled hair and all.”

“It wasn’t intentional.”

Ok, then.

“So, how was your flight to the castle yesterday?” I asked him.

“Next thing you’ll be commenting on the weather.”

“I will not.”

“You are making smalltalk to fill the awkward silence.”

“There is no awkward silence,” I told him.

“Not on my end.”

“Have you ever considered the possibility that I genuinely can’t shut up?”

He snorted. “Now that I believe.”

Nero appreciated silence, moments of reflection. I liked to talk. He’d chastised me on more than one occasion about chatting when I should have been training. Or about my battle banter when fighting. He thought I was splitting my attention. He didn’t realize that talking helped to calm me. It helped me keep my wits about me. Silence calmed him. Talking calmed me. In so many ways, we were total opposites.

“So how was your flight?” I repeated.

“Rigorous. It was good training.”

Of course it was.

“Tornados, lightning storms, rain,” he listed off.

“The storm last night was perfectly dreadful.”