Dragon's Storm (Legion Of Angels #4)(53)

“How did you get out?” Nero demanded. The flames were burning so hot that the room’s drizzling rain was turning to steam.

Harker’s gaze shifted from me to Nero. “Leda didn’t tell you? She called the First Angel and asked for me.”

The look of betrayal on Nero’s face nearly broke my heart. Nero quickly recovered his hard shell, but I knew it was still there, buried beneath centuries of training. That was the thing about the hard choices we made for the greater good. They were often horribly dissatisfying.

“We don’t know where Colonel Starborn is,” I told Nero. “She is beyond our reach. We have no connection to her, no way to find her.” I looked at Harker. “But he does.”

“The connection between mentor and student,” said Nero.

That’s what the voice had shown me in the Fire Mountains—that Harker was Colonel Starborn’s protege, the person she’d trained to know everything she did.

“Harker is the person on Earth she has the strongest connection to,” I said. “I hoped he could help us find her.”

“I can,” Harker assured me. “Odd that Nero didn’t think of it.”

“I thought of it. And decided it wasn’t worth the risk of letting you out,” Nero said, his voice dangerously low.

Harker met his cold stare without a hint of fear in his eyes. “It seems Nyx doesn’t share your feelings. And neither does Leda.”

Nero’s face was impassive. Oh, no. Harker was not going to put me into the middle of their quarrel.

“We need Harker. Trust me when I say he’s a last resort,” I told them both.

Harker’s smile never faded. “Of course I am.”

The look in Nero’s eyes put the lava pools of the Fire Mountains to shame.

“An angel is being tortured by dark angels. One of our own, Nero. Despite everything that has passed between us recently, we must work together for Leila’s sake.” Harker held out his hand to Nero.

“Very well. For her sake,” Nero agreed, but he didn’t shake his hand.

“We were friends once, Nero. Like brothers.”

“No longer. Not after what you did.”

“You are so unforgiving.”

“Some things cannot be forgiven,” Nero declared.

“Guys, we need to work together,” I said. “Colonel Starborn is in pain, probably being tortured for secrets. Or they’re trying to turn her. Nero, we have to get her out. If they turn her, if they make her dark, there’s no going back. And if they don’t turn her, she’ll be broken, worse than dead. That’s why I asked Nyx to call in Harker.”

Gold flashed in his eyes. “You went behind my back.”

“I knew you wouldn’t agree to this, but it had to be done.”

A low grunt buzzed deep inside his throat. “Not long ago, you shouted at me for doing exactly the same thing. You might not be an angel, Leda, but you think just like one.”

My mouth dropped in outrage. I was completely ready to argue with him—but then I stopped. He was right. I was acting just like an angel.

No, this was different. This was about saving a life. Saving Colonel Starborn from death and suffering. It wasn’t the same as what Nero had done.

Or was it? Under the angels’ rules, if I was considered Colonel Fireswift’s property, Nero couldn’t even protect me anymore. He wouldn’t have the right. I would be Colonel Fireswift’s to protect. Or to harm. And he would harm me. I knew Colonel Fireswift, knew his cruelty, how he treated his children. He’d kill me to be rid of me if he could. Knowing that, could I really say that what Nero had done was any different than what I’d done?

These thoughts made me dizzy. There was no time for that now. I had to worry about saving Colonel Starborn. These moral conundrums, these philosophical debates, would have to wait for later.

“You did the right thing,” Harker told me. “The Legion cannot afford to lose another angel to the demons. We’ve lost too many already. Nyx has ordered us to set out immediately. I can sense Leila, but our connection is growing weaker. They’re breaking her.”

Nero’s face went cold. He was bottling his emotions to deal with the matter at hand.

“What happened? How did they get her?” Harker asked us.

I shared my visions of Colonel Starborn’s capture.

“She connected to you?” He looked surprised.

“Yes.” I didn’t tell him about the voice who’d spoken to me. “But I can’t hear her anymore. She’s gone.”

“She is on the wrong side of the wall. The barrier blocks most magic from passing. Our connection runs deeper than that, but it won’t last long.”

“Where is she?”

“The Sea of Ice,” Harker replied. “You said the dark angels invaded her sleep, controlling her dreams?”

“Yes.”

“They brought her through a dream dimension to move her beyond the wall’s protection,” he realized. “A loophole. I never thought of that.”

“We can discuss magic deviations later. It’s time to bring Leila home,” Nero declared.

Harker nodded. On that, they were obviously in clear agreement.



The road to the Sea of Ice brought us through the Wetlands. The Elemental Expanse’s water magic lands were pretty much what you’d expect: warm, wet, and marshy. A small rainforest hugged the banks of the great river that bordered the road.