Dragon's Storm (Legion Of Angels #4)(77)

“It’s complicated. Our Sanctuary is a special place. It’s a commitment to peace and living outside the black and white world of conflict. Everyone who enters here must purify their souls and magic.” He spoke with reverence. He clearly respected the Guardians.

“It sounds splendid, Zane. Really it does,” I said. “But your family misses you too.”

“I want to see you all again. I just can’t leave yet, not until my magic is balanced. If I leave now, I’ll have to start all over again.”

“But if you don’t leave now, you might never see us again. I saw Cadence’s memories, remember? She’s been at this for two hundred years, and she still hasn’t passed their tests. You aren’t immortal.”

“Cadence is an angel. She has so much light in her that the process of balancing her magic takes much longer. I’ll be faster, I promise.”

“I just wish I could see you.” I touched his face. “For real. Just to see that you’re ok. I joined the Legion of Angels so I’d have the magic I needed to find you.”

“I know. The Guardians have been watching you.”

“They told you that?” I asked, skeptical. The Guardians didn’t strike me as the sharing type.

“I might have eavesdropped a little.”

I beamed at him. “You scoundrel.”

“I fear my soul isn’t yet pure.”

“Well, if you’re going to be bad, might as well do it all the way.”

He sighed. “Why do I have the feeling you’re going to get me into trouble?”

Maybe because I’d been getting him into trouble since we were kids.

“Sneak out. Come on. Just long enough to visit home,” I pleaded. “You’ll be back before the Guardians know it.”

“As I said, trouble. Aren’t soldiers supposed to behave?”

“Where did you get a crazy idea like that?”

“I must have read it in a magazine.”

“Paranormal Teen?” I kept my face perfectly neutral. Not even an eyebrow twitch. Nero would have been so proud.

“Sorry, we don’t get that one here.” He winked at me.

“You can stock up when we get back home.”

“I can’t leave, Leda. The Guardians are helping me grow my magic. I’m doing things I only dreamt of before. If I leave, not only will I lose all that, the gods and demons will hunt me down. I’m not strong enough to fight them.” He grinned. “Not just yet.”

He was right. It hurt to admit it, but that was the part of my plan I’d never really worked out. Even if I gained the power to find Zane, how would I protect him from those who wanted to use him?

“Then I’ll come to you,” I said quickly. I had to see with my own eyes that he was all right.

“I don’t know the ways in and out of the Sanctuary. Only the Guardians do.”

We’d just see about that.

“I want to speak to these Guardians,” I told him. “You said they’ve been watching me? So that means it’s just a matter of screaming up at the sky and they’ll come running?”

“From what I overheard, you are exactly where the Guardians think you should be: out there, leveling up your magic.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said. “I can’t be where the Guardians want me to be. They believe in balanced magic, and I’m a soldier in the gods’ army of light.”

“And yet you’ve gained both light and dark magic,” he pointed out. “It seems to be working out exactly to plan.”

“Maybe,” I said, frowning. I didn’t enjoy being a pawn in someone else’s game, no matter how benevolent they were.

“I guess they’ll contact you when they see fit.”

Good or evil, all authority bodies were exactly the same. They decided and you waited.

“Listen to me, Zane.” I set my hands on his face. “I’m going to find you. I’ll break into this paradise if need be.”

“You sure do know how to make friends, don’t you, Leda?”

“From heaven to hell to Earth and everywhere in between.”

The field was fading. So was Zane.

“Say hi to Calli and the girls for me,” he said. His voice sounded so distant now.

“I will,” I promised.

And then I woke up.



I opened my eyes, staring up at the sun shining in through the stained glass windows, where scenes of angels fighting monsters sparkled with heavenly beauty. Beside me on the lounge chair, Nero leaned against one arm in a pose that nicely accentuated the supple, muscular curvature of his body. Ok, I’ll admit it. I stared. Ogled even. Last night I’d seen, touched, and tasted every part of him—and I was ready to do it all over again. He met my stare with a self-satisfied smirk.

“Good morning,” he said, kissing me softly.

His body was like an inferno against mine. A blanket covered us from the waist down, trapping in the scorching heat. He must have pulled it over us sometime during the night. A balmy breeze tickled my skin. It smelled delightfully rich, like dark chocolate and a slowly burning fire. And there was something else in there—a thick, intoxicating scent. No, a musk. And it was coming from me. Nero’s mark.