“Because you come up with them,” he replied.

“We’ll just have to be stealthy.”

I pulled on a black cap, stuffing my hair inside of it. The rest of our clothes were black too. We looked more like we were getting ready to rob a bank than save powerful ancient weapons from falling into the wrong hands.

“Captain Somerset is covering for me back in New York, and everyone thinks you’re off by yourself on a secret mission,” I continued. “No one is expecting us.”

“I think you’re underestimating the paranoia and viciousness of angels,” he told me.

“You realize you are an angel, right?”

“So I know all about being paranoid and vicious.”

“I prefer your other qualities,” I said with a smirk.

“Oh?”

“Yes, I’m especially fond of your smile.”

He gave me a hard look.

“That’s the one.”

Dominic plopped down on the sofa opposite us. A man in his early thirties, he wore a long coat of light brown leather over dark denim pants and a chocolate brown dress shirt. A gun was strapped to one hip, a knife to the other. He looked like he would be right at home at the Frontier—or on a pirate ship.

“Colonel, when were you going to fess up to me that you hang out with swindlers?” I asked with a coy smile.

“I like her, Nero. She’s such a sweet-talker.”

“You should hear how nicely I follow orders,” I told him.

Dominic burst into laughter. “I’ll bet,” he said, rising. “All right. We’re coming up on Purgatory. We’ll be landing soon.”

He went back to the front of the ship, leaving me alone with Nero, who was looking at me like I was dying.

“What’s wrong? I guess you don’t appreciate my humor as much as your friend does?” I said.

“I’m not feeling much like laughing right now.” He paused. “I nearly drained you dry. I couldn’t stop.”

“But you did.”

“I lost control. I never do that.”

“Around me you do. I can see that perfect control breaking in the twitch of your eyebrows, of your lips—every time I talk back, every time I use a water bottle or car antenna in a fight, every time I don’t act like a pompous stiff soldier of the Legion.”

Nero’s eyebrows crinkled.

“Yes, that. Exactly that. You like my spunk.” I shot him a saucy smile. “Admit it.”

“You are incorrigible.”

“Admit it.”

He tucked a loose strand of hair into my hat. “I like your spunk.”

“Of course you do,” I told him, looking down over Purgatory.

It looked so different from up here. The wall dwarfed the town, casting a dark shadow over the small houses. I could see the districts clearly, like they were pre-cut slices of a pizza pie. A tall, slender tower sat in the middle of each district. That was where the men who called themselves lords looked down upon their territory. Their gangs were not out tonight. Instead, paranormal soldiers patrolled the streets. Hundreds of them, all over the city. I wanted to believe the government had finally made a move to take out the crime lords, but I wasn’t feeling delusional tonight.

Nero’s phone rang through the silence, like a heavy stone dropping into a tranquil pond. “Basanti, what do you know?”

“They figured out Leda was gone,” I heard Captain Somerset say through the speaker. “Sorry, Nero. There was only so long I could hold off the doctors. And since Leda wasn’t checked out or cleared for duty, everyone is on the lookout for her.”

“Colonel Fireswift?” Nero asked

“He’s issued a statement that Leda was weakened by her close call with death and that she probably wandered out while in a state of delirium.”

“Delirium, my ass,” I ground out.

Captain Somerset continued, “Colonel Fireswift furthermore stated that she is dangerous. He believes she will return to Purgatory on her way to the Lost City, and everyone is to keep on the lookout for her. For her own safety and the safety of others.”

By now, I was swearing so loudly that Colonel Fireswift could probably hear me all the way in the Lost City.

“All the paranormal soldiers in Purgatory are on the lookout for her, Nero,” Captain Somerset said. “Watch your backs. Both of you.”

“Thank you, Basanti,” Nero said.

“Thank me by giving your girlfriend a kiss.”

“I can hear you, you know,” I told the phone.

“I know you can, sweetheart.” Captain Somerset made a loud kissing noise, then hung up.

Nero tucked his phone back into his pocket.

“The paranormal soldiers should be guarding the wall from monsters,” I said, anger simmering in me. “Or how about keeping the people of the town safe from the crime lords? Instead, all those resources are being put into one of Colonel Fireswift’s dominance games.”

“These are the games of angels, Leda,” Nero said. “If you want to play in our ranks, you need to learn to deal with it. Fast.”

“Ok, how do you suggest we win this game?”

“This is your town. You tell me.”

Wow. He was leaving it up to me? The fact that he trusted me to come up with the plan meant more to me than he realized. It meant so much, I could have kissed him—if we weren’t so busy right now.

“We can’t get past the wall as long as they are watching,” I said, talking it through. “There’s only one gate, and we can’t fly out because this ship is too easy to spot in the sky.”