“You’re going to punish me, aren’t you?” I said with a heavy sigh.

“I fear it won’t do any good.”

“That never stopped you before.”

A hint of amusement broke past his granite mask.

“Admit it,” I said, grinning. “You appreciate my sharp wit.”

“In private perhaps, but not in front of my soldiers. And most certainly not in front of outsiders.”

“All right.” I sighed again. “Give it to me.”

“When we get back, an additional twenty miles every morning for a week.”

As far as Nero’s punishments went, it was pretty lenient.

“Feeling magnanimous today?” I asked.

He shot me a hard look. “I can make it fifty miles instead.”

“No, twenty should be fine. Thank you. I’m already feeling very repentant.” I should have stopped there, but then I’d never known what was good for me. “Will you still punish me with extra laps when I’m an angel?” I asked him. I just couldn’t help myself.

“Do you think I’ll still need to punish you with extra laps when you’re an angel?”

“Probably,” I admitted.

A small smile touched his lips. “I hope so.”

“Oh? And why is that? Because you enjoy punishing me that much?”

“No, because it means you managed to become an angel without changing who you are.” He brushed his hand against mine. “I didn’t ask you to stay just so I could punish you.”

“Nero, I’m not going to make out with you in this tiny office. It doesn’t even have a proper lock. Anyone could walk in at any time.”

He laughed out loud. “You made out with me in the library. There wasn’t even a door.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks—and a few other places.

He lifted my hand to his lips, kissing my fingertips. “I didn’t ask you to stay here for that either. I just wanted to inform you about the unfortunate shortage of beds at the temple.”

“And this is where you generously offer to share your bed with me?”

He snorted. “That is one option, of course. But I was going to propose you go stay with your family.”

The sass sizzled out inside of me, washed away by an overwhelming surge of gratitude. “Really?”

“It is an appropriate solution to the problem.”

“Thank you.” I threw my arms around him. “Thank you so much.”

“I expect to see you here tomorrow at a quarter to six. Don’t be late.”

“I won’t be,” I promised, giving him a second hug before heading for the door.

“And Leda.”

I turned my head to look at him.

“I know it’s difficult for you to see the changes in this town since you left, but I must remind you not to interfere in local affairs. You are a soldier of the Legion now, sworn to uphold the gods’ justice. If you forget that, even I cannot save you from the gods’ wrath.”

“I know.” I drew in a deep breath. “I’ll remember.”

“Sleep well.”

I smiled at him. “You too.”

There was nothing better in life than dinner with your family. Being away from them for so long had reminded me of that one simple truth. Calli and the girls, Tessa and Gin, were there. The New York University of Witchcraft was closed between semesters, so Bella was home too. The only person missing to make this family dinner complete was Zane. I glanced at my brother’s empty chair, and a twinge of melancholy burned in my heart, a single black spot on this otherwise perfect evening.

“You will find him,” Bella said from beside me. She squeezed my hand. “We all believe in you, Leda.”

Calli lifted her glass to me. My sisters mimicked the gesture. We were only drinking water tonight, but I appreciated it all the same.

“So, how’s school?” I asked Bella as I shoveled sweet potato fries onto my plate. “Anything interesting happening?”

“Well, there’s no way I could beat the adventure we had, Leda, but I did score the top marks in my class on the semester finals.”

“That’s awesome,” I told her. “I knew you could do it.”

“That’s cool and all,” Tessa said, grabbing the bowl of corn. “But what I’m interested in is hearing about this ‘adventure’ you and Leda had.”

“Oh, it was no biggie. Bella and I just stopped a conspiracy from tearing New York’s witch community apart.” I looked at the bowl in front of Tessa. “Could you pass the green beans?”

“That doesn’t sound like no biggie to me,” Tessa commented, looking from me to Bella.

“You give me far too much credit,” Bella told me. “I merely played a small role in a larger plot that you and Colonel Windstriker unravelled.”

“Colonel Nero Windstriker, as in the hot angel from New York?” Tessa asked.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, dear,” Calli chided her.

Tessa swallowed, then looked at me with hungry eyes. “And? Don’t leave me hanging here!”

“I’m the one left hanging. I’m still waiting on those green beans,” I reminded her.

She passed the bowl to me. Her lips trembled with a hundred followup questions just waiting to be launched.

“Yes, that Nero Windstriker,” I told my suffering sister. “How do you even know who he is?”