“And how do you suggest we flush it out?”
“Explosions usually work pretty well.”
Her brows drew together. “You want to blow up the town?”
“Not the town. The monster.” I rolled my eyes at her. “Leila, I know how to make a lot of noise without destroying public property.”
“Your mission reports would suggest otherwise.”
I sighed. “Reports of my recklessness have been greatly exaggerated.”
“That’s not what Nero says.”
“Right now, Nero isn’t saying anything.”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind.” I shook my head. “Pretend I didn’t say anything.”
We’d passed beyond the base, into Inspiration. The town only consisted of about fifty makeshift houses—some of them on wheels—but it wasn’t a bad start to a new Frontier. There were several dirt roads through the town, a flower garden, and even a playground for the kids. This was the kind of place that had to be protected and nurtured so it could grow, spreading hope throughout the Frontier—and throughout the whole world, for that matter.
“What happened between you and Nero?” Leila asked me.
“What makes you think something happened between us?”
“When I mentioned his name, you looked like someone had just stuck a needle through your eye.”
“We had a fight.”
She waited for me to continue.
“He’s disappointed that my Fever cycle was not successful. And, well, I’m kind of relieved it wasn’t.” I glanced at the playground as we passed by it. “The world isn’t a safe place for children right now.”
“I understand.”
“My relief? Or Nero’s disappointment?”
“Both.” Leila paused for a moment, as though she were debating something with herself, then she pressed forward. “You know I was married once?”
“Yes.”
“He was a good man and a good friend, but I didn’t love him in that way. I was glad when the Legion granted us a release from the marriage they’d assigned to us. And yet…” Leila met my eyes. “A part of me still regrets that I never got to be a mother.” She sighed, and her proud stance slouched a little, like a heavy weight had pressed down on her shoulders. “It wasn’t only a small part of me either. The world is a dangerous place. I know this. Nero knows it too, you know. But that doesn’t stop us from wanting what we want. I suppose we hope we will be strong enough to protect our children.”
“Hope is a poor shield,” I said. Especially, when every deity in all the known realms would try to kill or control our child.”
“But love is the best shield you can have,” Leila told me. “And the best sword too. If that love is strong enough, it can weather any spell and topple any empire.”
A cautious smile stretched my mouth. “I never knew you were such a romantic, Leila.”
“I have my moments.” She pressed her finger to her smiling lips in a shushing gesture. “But don’t tell anyone.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but snapped it shut again when a low, deep humming noise drew my attention. I took a right at the next intersection and followed the noise to the end of the street. There were two twelve-year-old boys there, standing on a concrete slab inside a large supply yard. Stacks of bricks and piles of metal rails were all around them, along with countless other building supplies. With these parts, the town would be able to slowly replace their temporary dwellings with sturdy houses.
At the moment, however, the two boys seemed more interested in using the supply yard as a playground hideout than its value in building for a better future. They stood inside a chalk-drawn grid, playing some kind of game with a small bouncing ball.
A shadow was closing in on them. I couldn’t see the monster—or even its dark shadow. I could feel its presence, though, in the goosebumps that rippled across my skin. And I could hear it in the ominous hum that grew louder the closer I drew toward the boys. The monster was here. And it was very close. But where? I turned slowly, trying to find something, some ripple in the air or smell of blood and beast that would help me pinpoint its location. Because I was very certain of one thing: if I didn’t stop the monster, it would kill those boys.
“I need you two to walk slowly toward me,” I said to the boys in a quiet but commanding voice. “Then you need to take the street behind me and get out of here.”
“Hey, that’s Leda Pandora,” said the boy with the red cap.
The other boy’s eyes went wide. “Think she’ll sign my Legion card deck?”
“I will sign all the cards you want if you just do as I say.” I snatched up a handful of broken concrete chunks from the ground. “Come on now. Slowly.”
“Why?”
“There’s a monster in the area,” I told them.
Their eyes scanned the supply yard.
“I don’t see any monster.” Red Cap frowned.
“It’s a special monster. It’s invisible.”
“Cool,” gasped the Legion card collector.
I waited until the boys were behind me before I threw the first stone. It clanged against a pile of steel rods, but there was no sign of monster movement. I was aiming the second when Leila stopped by my side.
“Recruiting them a bit young, aren’t you, Pandora?” Her voice was peppered with amusement.
I snorted. “Get lost on the way here, Starborn?”
“I thought I heard something, so I followed it. But it was only the wind.” Leila watched me bounce a stone off another stack of metal parts. “I thought you wanted to lure them out with explosions.”
“Oooh, cool,” cooed Red Cap.
“I want to see you blow up lots of things,” added the Legion card collector.
I pivoted around and leveled a commanding stare their way. “I am not going to blow up lots of things.”
Red Cap frowned in obvious disappointment. “Why not?”
“Yeah, what gives?” The Legion card collector folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at me. “I thought you were Leda Pandora, the Angel of Chaos. The Angel of Chaos always blows up things.”
Leila’s face was blank, but laughter flashed in her eyes. I considered sticking my tongue out at her, but that wouldn’t have accomplished anything. And, besides, I couldn’t act childish in front of my fans.
“The Angel of Chaos does not blow up places where people live,” I told the boys, not altogether unconcerned that I was now referring to myself in the third person.
“No one lives in this supply yard,” Red Cap pointed out.
“And, anyway, you have blown up places where people live.”
“Like half of Storm Castle.”
“And parts of Purgatory.”
“And a whole airship.”
“And—”
“Ok, that’s enough, you smart asses,” I growled at them.
They responded with big, adoring grins, as though I’d just bestowed them with a blessing.
“I think you two should head home now,” I continued. “Your parents must be worried about you.”
“They’re not,” said the Legion card collector.