I jumped up, ripped from that nightmare. The sounds of battle still echoed in my ears. Slowly, they faded away as consciousness found me. I looked around, but I didn’t recognize where I was. I was in a bed not my own, covered in blankets that smelled of daisies and lemonade. This wasn’t my room, and it definitely wasn’t the Legion’s medical ward.

I touched my neck. The skin was smooth, the wound completely healed. All of me was healed. I threw off the blankets and stood, but a wave of dizziness hit me, shoving me back into bed.

“Relax. Take it easy,” Harker said. “Your body just healed some pretty severe injuries.”

I looked across the dark room to find him sitting in the chair in the corner. “You healed me.”

“Yes, you were in bad shape. If you hadn’t tasted the gods’ first gift, I wouldn’t have been able to save you. That resilience was the difference between life and death.”

I’d come so close to dying, to destroying any chance of saving Zane. So close. I had to get stronger.

“Thank you,” I told Harker, getting to my feet more slowly this time.

He smiled. “You’re welcome.

“But I’m still angry with you.”

His smile faltered. “I had to tell the Legion where we were going. It’s dangerous to go alone into a situation like that without backup. There’s a reason this isn’t standard procedure, and it’s not because the Legion wants to annoy Leda Pierce. And I’m glad they came and managed to fight through the vampires. Without their help, we would both be dead.”

“You killed Rose,” I shot back. “What happened to mercy? I know you didn’t have to kill her.”

“That was mercy. Punishment is slower. A lot slower.”

I’d heard about the Legion’s punishments, but I’d never seen them myself. I was pretty sure I didn’t want to.

I sighed. Harker was loyal to the Legion through and through. I should have known better than to bring him along. And now, because of my decision, Rose was dead. What was I going to tell Ivy? Sure, maybe Rose would have died anyway. She wasn’t exactly playing safely with fire. But if I hadn’t acted as I had, she wouldn’t have died because of me. I wasn’t sure Ivy would forgive me. How could she when I didn’t even forgive myself?

I looked around, noticing that big canopy over the bed for the first time. I was in Harker’s apartment. In his bed. And I was wearing shorts and a tank top, not my uniform.

“Why am I wearing these clothes?” I asked him.

“Your uniform was cut through and drenched in your own blood.”

I blushed.

“I was a perfect gentleman, I assure you. I asked Bianca to change you.”

“And why am I here instead of in the medical ward?” I asked.

“After that last battle, the medical ward is full. You healed faster than the others. Faster than you should have been able to.” He gave me a funny look, one I couldn’t quite decipher. Either he was intrigued or appalled. In either case…

“I should be going,” I told him.

He caught my hand as I passed by, turning me to face him. “I really like you, Leda.” His voice dipped lower, and a small smile twisted his lips. Intrigued it was then.

“Ok…”

That was my eloquent response. Truth be told, I didn’t know what to say to him. I liked him too, but he was just so…perfect. He didn’t break the rules, not ever. That’s why he’d told the Legion about our little scouting mission tonight. He just couldn’t help himself. He was a good boy.

But I wasn’t a good girl. I was going to break the rules and lots of them to save my brother from the gods and demons and whoever else might want to use him for their own gain. I didn’t think Harker would be ok with that. In fact, I knew he wouldn’t be ok with that. My utter disregard for authority went against everything the Legion of Angels, hand of the gods’ will, stood for. Everything Harker Locke stood for.

So his next words nearly stunned me to silence.

“Do you want to save your brother?” he asked.

I knew he’d remember that. “Yes,” I said cautiously.

“I can help you.”

I blinked in surprise. “How?”

“With this.” He pulled a glass vial from his jacket, setting it in my hands. It was filled with a sparkling fluid—blinding white, shining like liquid diamonds.

“What is it?” I asked.

“A one-way ticket to level nine.”

“Ghost’s Whisper,” I whispered.

“Yes.”

“Where did you get it?”

Confusion crinkled his brow. “What?”

“I’m pretty sure the gods don’t leave that stuff just lying around.”

“No, it’s heavily guarded. But I have a friend.”

I sighed. “Please don’t tell me you stole from the gods.”

“Ok, I won’t tell you that.” He grinned at me. “It’s for you. I got it for you, Leda.”

I’d been so wrong about him. He was as wicked as I was, trouble in so many ways. I looked down at that tiny vial of sparkling fluid.

“What are you waiting for?” he asked. “Isn’t this exactly what you wanted? This is how you will save your brother.”

He was right, but standing here, staring down at that magic in a bottle, I couldn’t help but hesitate. Drinking this would make me an angel. It would give me powers I’d only ever dreamed of, but it would also change me. Irrevocably. Was I ready for it?