Dragon's Storm (Legion Of Angels #4)(43)

The corner of his mouth drew up. “I knew you’d comment on the weather.”

“I didn’t…” I stopped and took a deep breath. “You tricked me.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The look on his face was so deliciously evil.

I changed tactics. “Why have you been doing so much extra physical training lately?”

“I am simply preparing myself for the trials.”

I allowed my gaze to trace the contours of his body. “What kind of trials?”

His brows swept his hairline. “Are you checking me out?”

“No, I…” I caught a spark of mischief in his eyes. “Maybe a little.” I grinned at him. It was either that or blushing as red as a cherry.

“Good,” he replied, to my surprise.

“Good?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you want me to check you out?” I asked, almost afraid of the answer.

What he said surprised me. “Because if you’re checking me out, it means a part of you doesn’t think I’m a monster.”

“I don’t think you’re a monster,” I told him. “We’re just different. Our cultures are…different.”

“So you said.”

“Because it’s the truth.”

“Your life is changing, Leda. You are changing with every sip of Nectar you drink, with every magic level you gain. You are slowly becoming more like an angel. Sooner or later, you will have to deal with that. Much sooner, given your progress.”

It wasn’t a judgment. He wasn’t telling me what to do. He was just telling me how it was. And he was probably right. Captain Somerset had held onto her humanity, but she didn’t have any aspirations to become an angel. I did.

“I know,” I said. “And I’m trying to deal with it. Some things are just a lot to take.”

“I am a lot to take.” He didn’t look offended or upset. It was just another statement of fact.

I smiled. “Yeah, you are. You’re just…an angel.”

“I don’t blame you for feeling like that. We can’t stand one another either.”

“I have witnessed your interactions with Colonel Fireswift, you know.”

“He is just…an angel.” Nero shot me a wicked look.

I laughed. “He is indeed.”

It felt so nice to be with him, laughing like this. The stress had lifted from my shoulders, if only for the moment. I preferred this Nero to the cold, distant one who had come to Storm Castle last night.

But my mind kept returning to my conversation with Captain Somerset—and her comments on what being with an angel did to you. Nero’s hand was so close I could feel his pulse. And I could feel my own pulse syncing with his. I wanted so much to reach out and take his hand, but what then? What would happen to me if Nero and I got together? Would I go crazy with jealousy like Captain Somerset had once felt with Colonel Starborn? Would I become more like an angel? And why did that suddenly not sound so bad?

It was already starting. I was falling too fast and hard for him. Soon, I wouldn’t be able to come back from this. I wasn’t sure I was ready to give up my humanity. No, I couldn’t think about this right now. I had to keep my head in the game. We had to find Colonel Starborn. If she’d truly gone dark, a lot of people could be in danger.

“Do you know Colonel Starborn well?” I asked Nero.

“Fairly well. She was my mother’s protege.” He looked at me to gauge my reaction.

I didn’t have time to react. A deep howl thundered across the expanse. My skin went cold, my body stiff. I looked toward the Fire Mountains. A pack of wolves stood in front of the burning rocks. There were dozens of them, each one as large as a pony. Their eyes burned as red as the mountains’ five fiery peaks.

A streak of orange lightning flashed across the expanse, then slowed to match the truck’s speed. A dragon-like lizard was running alongside us. Seven more giant lightning-fast lizards surrounded us. One of them slammed its spiked tail against the truck, and the vehicle jumped like it had hit a massive pothole. The wheels slammed down on the road again, the impact nearly throwing me from my seat. Another lizard readied its tail to hit us, but Nero spun the truck away from the beasts.

“Monsters?” I gasped. “The wall is supposed to keep them out. They shouldn’t be here.”

“No, they shouldn’t,” he agreed, turning the truck to dodge another lizard. They were much smaller than the wolves, but still too big to run over.

Speaking of the wolves, they were charging at us. They ran so fast, their paws were on fire. Or maybe that was just their magic. I drew my guns and fired. But for every wolf I hit, two more joined the fray. They spilled out of the Fire Mountains like a river of fire. I was going to run out of bullets long before the mountains ran out of monsters.

“It’s like trying to sow a field of corn using only a hairbrush,” I commented. I pulled out my lightning whip and snapped a lizard off the hood of the truck.

The monsters’ numbers were swelling too fast. Enormous rats had joined the wolves and lizards. This was quickly becoming a horde.

“I wonder,” Nero said.

“About what?”

Without bothering to answer, Nero turned the truck down the road that led into Desert Rose, the earth elemental lands. The grass, bushes, and sand—everything really—were in constant motion, always shifting, never resting. As we sped away from the Fire Mountains, the monsters slowed.