“After you’re finished with the salmon ladder, hop down onto the landing platform. Then run ten laps on the track before you get in line for the course again,” Captain Somerset finished.

She put half of us in line in front of the obstacle course and assigned the other half to run laps as they waited. I was third in line. I watched two others struggle through the obstacles before me. We were all still working on mastering our vampire abilities—some of us more than others. After all, it hadn’t been so many weeks ago that we’d received the gods’ first gift. When the Legion didn’t have a job for us, we trained the whole day long. Lots and lots of training. The key to surviving the gods’ gifts of magic was willpower, so every training session we did was designed to force our bodies and minds to the breaking point.

I pushed through the course, refusing to give up even as it tested my muscles in new and excruciating ways. I had to make it through, to make my body accept all the magic I’d been given. It was not automatic. You had to master one gift before you got the next. That was how the Legion of Angels worked—and I had eight more levels to go before I could gain the power I needed to find my brother.

I’d made it past the insanity of the exploding walls and was halfway through the final challenge when Nero stepped into the gym hall. He looked fresh out of the shower, every drop of water visible on his mostly dry hair. I watched him walk across the room to Captain Somerset, and my distracted mind cost me. My hands slipped, and I nearly fell off my bar. I could have sworn I caught a hint of amusement on his lips before it was swallowed by his usual marble expression.

Cursing that arrogant angel, I powered through the rest of the course, then hopped down. I closed up beside Ivy on the track, and we ran our ten laps together. As we entered the line for round two, Drake was just entering the obstacle course. Ivy’s eyes were glued to him, so of course I had to tease her about it.

“Enjoying the show?” I asked her, keeping my voice low so Nero didn’t hear me. If he realized I was chatting, he’d assign me more laps.

“Are you?” Ivy shot back with a grin, her eyes darting between me and Nero.

His stare honed in on us, as though he’d heard us. He opened his mouth, but his phone rang at that moment, saving the day.

“Not that I blame you,” Ivy added, sighing. “That angel looks good enough to eat.”

“Nah, I’d choke on all the feathers.”

The corner of Ivy’s mouth drew up into a smirk. “He’s really helped you, Leda. You’re getting faster and stronger every day.”

“Tell that to my ribs,” I said, pulling up my shirt to show her the bruised skin on my side.

“Those are impressive love marks, honey.”

“You can see the imprint of his fist. I’d hardly call that a love mark.”

Ivy shrugged. “He’s an angel.”

It was her turn to take on the obstacle course, so she hurried forward.

“No, I’ll handle this myself,” Nero said into his phone, walking toward me. He slid the phone into his jacket. “Pandora,” he said, using his nickname for me. “Fireswift, Ravenfall.” He motioned to Jace and Mina, two of the Legion brats. Apparently, there was some unspoken Legion rule that stated the children of angels got to be called by their parents’ esteemed surnames—those magical names bestowed upon Legion soldiers when they became angels—rather than being stuck with mocking nicknames like the rest of us. “Come with me.”

We followed Nero out of the gym hall, leaving the others to deal with Captain Somerset’s obstacle course. Hellish as it was, I had a feeling it was harmless compared to whatever Nero was about to have us do. He didn’t leave the office to rescue cats from trees or to parade down the street for the delight of the city’s residents.

“There’s been an attack on the city,” Nero said, not slowing for a second as he led us down the corridor toward the Legion’s garage.

“What kind of attack?” I asked.

“Every single person in a ten-story building suddenly dropped dead.”

3

The New York Massacre

When we arrived at the Brick Palace, the site of the attack, the paranormal police were already there. We got out of the truck, following Nero past a dozen police officers, every single one of them gaping at us as we entered the building. Well, we did look menacing in our black leather uniforms, but that was the point. The Legion was able to maintain order on Earth because everyone was afraid of us. That fear started with the black battle leather and weapons, but the outfits weren’t everything. During the drive over here, Nero had lectured us on the importance of maintaining a menacing demeanor. No laughing or smiling or joking. We were supposed to walk around like we were ready to kill anyone at anytime. That was what gave the Legion its true power. The magic we had just allowed us to follow through on that silent promise.

We walked up the stairwell, passing forensic teams and corpses I was trying really hard not to see. Bodies were everywhere, so many bodies, their faces frozen in the moment of their death. I’d seen dead people before, but I’d never seen so many in one place. There were no wounds on their bodies, but just because this wasn’t a bloodbath didn’t mean it wasn’t a massacre—or a harrowing experience. One moment these people had been walking around, and then the next they were dead, just like that.

Tightness tugged on my heart. I wanted to weep for these poor strangers, to let them know that someone cared about their passing, but I couldn’t. I had to keep up my menacing appearance. The Legion didn’t approve of breaking down into tears at the scene of a massacre. Nero’s eyes, as hard as green diamonds, panned coolly across the corpses, not a hint of emotion in them. Jace and Mina weren’t as cold as Nero, but they didn’t appear to be on the verge of tears either. Their Legion parents had probably taught them to detach themselves from their humanity.