I gave him a thumbs-up.

“Follow my lead. We’ll do it together,” Nero said, his green eyes glowing greener as he stared across the plains at the approaching herd.

They changed direction like an ocean wave, heading for us. I reached out with my magic, sensing for their minds. They were like one mind, and I could feel Nero controlling that mind. I hitched my wagon to his magic, so we could work together, a link made easier because we’d so recently exchanged blood.

As the beasts surrounded us, engulfing us, Nero turned on the motorcycle. We drove away inside the herd. The beasts were so huge and running so close to one another that I doubted anyone had noticed us hiding in the wave. And Nero drove tightly to them, his reflexes amazing, reacting to every step, quick but never jerky.

Together, Nero and I compelled the herd of monsters, directing them where to go. It felt a bit funny, really cool, and extremely exhausting. We traveled with the beasts until we were out of sight of the wall, then we sent them off in another direction, releasing their minds as we turned down the road toward the Lost City.

I yawned. Compelling the monsters had taxed me.

“Sleep,” Nero said. “I’ll wake you when we get to the ruins. Or monsters attack.”

“You sure?”

“Would it make you feel better if I made it an order?”

“Nah, I’d probably just disobey it.”

“Sometimes I think you are just trying to incite me.”

“If I wanted to incite you, angel, I wouldn’t be wearing underwear right now.”

Nero grunted. “Go to sleep, Pandora, bringer of chaos.”

I smiled against his back. “You won’t let me fall off?”

I felt a gentle pressure wrap itself around me, holding me to his back. “I’ve got you. I won’t let you fall.”

15

Glamour

I slept more soundly than I’d thought possible on the back of a motorcycle. I didn’t wake up until we came to a stop at the edge of the Lost City. Nero informed me that no monsters had attacked us along the way. I guess we didn’t look like tasty targets.

“I wonder who my parents were,” I said as we secured the motorcycle, hiding it from sight. The last we needed was a nosy patrol to find our ride and go tattletale back to Colonel Windstriker.

“Were they also in the Legion? Did they know Aradia? Are they really dead, or did Aradia take me from them? I have so many questions.” I’d have to look in the Legion’s records when we get back to New York. Maybe there was something in Aradia’s file that would shed some light on all of this.

“Some of your answers might be closer than you think.” Nero tapped his finger on my forehead. “There are memories inside of you, memories that are not your own.”

“How did I get them?”

“I’d guess someone buried them there. It’s no coincidence that they are coming out now. I believe they were triggered by the Nectar, by your growing abilities, your growing magic. If I’m right, as your power grows, more memories will surface.”

“And whose memories are they?”

“You had memories of this city.”

“Yes. From the final battle here.” Which happened over two hundred years ago. How could they possibly be linked to my parents?

“Memories from one person or from many?” Nero asked.

I thought about it, sifting through what I remembered from the flashes. “More than one person, but they are all jumbled up. And I can’t control them. They just come at random.”

“You need more discipline.”

“This is hardly the time for a lecture.”

“It’s not a lecture. It’s an offer of help. Let me help you.” He set his hands on my cheeks. “We exchanged blood earlier tonight, Leda. We’re linked. I can help you.”

“How?”

“Just like the last time when I helped you see your brother. Close your eyes,” he instructed me. “Is there someone you see more often than the others in your visions?”

“Yes, an angel named Sierra.”

“Focus on her.”

I pictured the red-haired angel with the silver wings.

“Did she have the relics?”

“Yes,” I told him.

“Picture them too.”

Her armor was silver too. I could see it shimmering in the light of the moon. She held a flaming sword. But it wasn’t like other fire swords. Its flame wasn’t orange; it was blue.

“Good,” Nero said. “I can see it in your mind. Now follow Sierra to the treasury.”

Images flickered past, flashes of memories. Faster and faster in dizzying, whirling loops—and then it all stopped.

Sierra walked down the underground city, but it hadn’t been under the ground then. Moonlight melted with the city lights, bathing the streets in an almost ethereal glow. Sierra stopped in front of the small house and touched the angel symbol. The wall shifted, the gateway opening.

The memory bled away, and I found myself facedown in the dirt. I pushed myself up, and immediately began pacing, trying to sort through what I had just seen and make sense of it.

“Sierra touched the symbol of the angel, and it just opened. But how? How did she do it? What’s the trick?”

“Recite the line for me.”

“ ‘For in the midnight hour, the sun and moon will shine, and a new hero will rise, his mind unlocking the secrets within.’ ”

“It’s a metaphor,” Nero said. “This isn’t about the sun and the moon. It’s about a person. Someone who embodies the balance of darkness and light. Someone like you.”