A slow, steady clap echoed in the empty room, punching through the silence. I turned to see the angel walking toward me and the two sleeping beauties at my feet.

“Thanks for helping,” I said with a fake smile, tossing the saucepan aside.

He looked from me, to the unconscious vampires, to the debris of glass and fire all across the club. “What the hell was that?”

I stomped down a flame on one of the vampires. “That’s how I fight.”

He was shaking his head like he’d never seen anything so inappropriate. So uncouth.

“We don’t have time to argue about my fighting style. We need to help the woman in the back.”

I hurried to the bathroom, surprised when he followed me. I knelt down in front of the woman, feeling for a pulse. She still had one!

“Move aside,” the angel told me.

I did as he asked, and he lowered down beside her. As he set his hands on her stomach, magic glowed from them, washing across her whole body. The woman’s wounds healed before my eyes. She blinked down a few times, her eyes slowly focusing.

“An angel,” she gasped, adoration washing across her face as she stared up at the glowing angel.

She was positively mesmerized, so much so that if he’d asked her to stab herself in the chest, she’d have done it without hesitation. Honestly, I didn’t see the appeal of the man. Sure, he was handsome—ok, so he was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen—but he was also an asshole. I didn’t tell the woman that this beautiful angel had been prepared to just let her die. She had suffered enough for one night. She deserved a moment of happiness.

The angel stood, leaving me holding the woman. I helped her to her feet.

“Are you all right?” I asked her as the object of her undying devotion left the bathroom.

She glanced down at the sleeping vampire on the floor and shuddered. “Fine.”

“You should get out of here,” I told her.

She nodded and walked toward the door, giving the vampire a wide berth. I shot the bloodsucker at my feet a look of pure loathing. He’d tried to stain my hair red with my own blood, and he’d nearly killed a woman tonight. Scum like this deserved to have his head smashed in with a fire extinguisher. Instead, I dragged him out of the bathroom. The angel in the other room had plans for him.

I continued to drag the vampire, making my way down the hall, wishing I were strong enough to throw him over my shoulder. But I wasn’t, so I just kept pulling him along. Finally, I made it to the edge of the dance floor, where I deposited him next to his two buddies.

My angelic audience was waiting there, watching me struggle. In fact, he’d probably heard me struggling the whole time and hadn’t lifted a finger to help.

“There were three vampires,” I said. “You told me there was one.”

“Yes, I did.”

“That was a test?” I growled.

“In the Legion, you will often be put into unknown situations. You will have to adjust,” he replied with calm indifference.

I glowered at him.

“There’s no need for that,” he said. “You managed adequately enough, though your methods were…unconventional.”

“I told you I wasn’t armed to take on vampires. In fact, I wasn’t armed at all. You should be pleased by how well I adapted.”

“You are indeed scrappy.” He said the word as though he didn’t know how he felt about it. “Is that from your time as a vagrant on the streets?”

I marched right up to him and stared him in the eye. “This is all a game to you, isn’t it? Humans are just toys, props.”

“It is our job to protect humans.”

“But you don’t really see us as the same as you, do you? I saw the cool way you looked at that woman, like you were healing her because it was what you were supposed to do. You don’t care about us.”

“If you’d seen what I have, you’d learn to stay detached,” he said. “Too much death, too much pain. If you don’t turn it off, you go mad. You will learn that.”

“Never,” I hissed. “Compassion is what separates men from monsters.”

He looked down at me. “So you think I’m a monster?”

“Yes.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” he allowed. “Perhaps, you can only survive the Legion if you lose a piece of your humanity. But this is what you’re signing up for. Are you sure this is what you want?”

I saw Zane’s face in my mind, as clearly as if he were right in front of me. He needed me. He was counting on me to save him. I was the only one who could.

“Yes,” I told the angel. “I am sure.”

His voice dipped low, and I felt that same magic swirling around me, trying to mess with my head. “Why are you joining?”

I shook off his magic. It hurt when it broke against my skin, but I wouldn’t let him see that. I kept my face hard, my tone cool as I said, “To save people. And I’ll do it without losing who I am, without losing what makes me human.”

He held my gaze for a moment longer, then he pulled out my application form. He set it down on the counter of the bar, signing it before handing the paper back to me.

“Congratulations, initiate. Welcome to the Legion of Angels.”

“I’m in?”

“You’re in,” he confirmed. “Bring that form with you when you return to your new home in two hours.”