“That’s what I thought when the Legion sent Eva to Storm Castle, but then her letters came less and less frequently. And now I haven’t heard from her in weeks.”
“Eva is a flake,” Allegra said with a dismissive flick of her hand. “She always was and always will be. You’ll be getting so many letters from me that it will fill your new fancy angel bedroom. You’ll have so many of my letters piling up that you won’t be able to walk. You’ll have to swim through them. It will get so bad that you’ll have to order me to stop writing to you.”
She grinned at me.
And I laughed. Allegra had been a lieutenant when we’d met. I’d leveled up more than she had, but she’d never acted resentful or jealous of me. In fact, she’d always told me that I was good luck. That some of my magic and good fortune rubbed off on her. That I helped her level up faster than everyone else.
“You’re a good friend, Allegra,” I told her.
“You bet I am. Now how about you order your very good, incredibly awesome friend another cocktail? If I’m still walking straight when we leave the bar, I’ll consider this outing a failure.”
“Definitely.” I raised my glass, then ordered a new drink for each of us.
While I waited for them to come, I thought about friends. Sure, I hoped to make new ones wherever I was going, but people had a hard time seeing past my name, past my father. And now that I was an angel myself, now that I’d receive an angel name of my own, making new friends would only get harder.
Of course, there was always the chance the Nectar would kill me rather than make me an angel, a danger we Legion soldiers faced with every promotion ceremony. And then I’d be too dead to worry about friends. How was that for a silver lining?
But no one seemed to think that would happen. I’d come this far, demonstrated powerful magic, and I was the child of an angel. My future was all-too-certain.
Allegra’s phone chimed. She glanced at the screen, then laughed.
“What?” I asked her.
She showed me a photo on her phone. It was of the grand hall of Berlin’s Legion office.
“General Silverstar isn’t sparing any expense when it comes to your ascension ceremony,” Allegra commented.
I sighed. Red roses were everywhere. Literally. Dad must have cleaned out every florist within a hundred miles of the city to pull together that many flowers. And then there were the other decorations. My father was obviously on a mission to single-handedly drive up the price of gold.
I zoomed in on the corner of the photo. “Are those diamonds hanging from the gold trees?”
“According to Sergeant Gills, there are also trees with rubies and some with sapphires,” Allegra told me.
“I wish he wouldn’t go overboard.”
“It’s only because the General is so proud of you.”
“His way of showing how proud he is of me is why no one can stand me,” I sighed. “They think I’m some princess getting special treatment.”
“Hey, don’t you worry about them. You got where you did because of what you can do, not because of what your father can do.”
“But it is because of him, don’t you see? He sent me to take charge of the mission in the Black Forest to rescue Colonel Beastbreaker. Because he knew that such an act was the key to my getting promoted.”
“Of course he knew. The General isn’t stupid. Yes, he sent you there to give you a chance. But once you were there, it was you who proved yourself. He didn’t do that for you. You did it all yourself, Cadence.”
“According to him, I almost ruined that chance.” I lowered my voice. “He is not happy I used my unusual skills back in the Black Forest.”
Allegra’s eyes lit up. She knew of my ability to absorb magic. She’d seen it years ago, when we’d been on a mission together, and she had kept my secret all this time. That was just another example of why she was a true friend.
“Were there any witnesses?” Allegra asked me.
“No. The Dark Force soldiers were on the other side of a rather large debris pile. Captain Walker was unconscious, and Colonel Beastbreaker and the rest of our army had already escaped through the tunnel.”
“So how did your father find out about it?” Allegra asked me.
“Because he knows everything. As soon as I gave him my report, he picked it apart and declared that I couldn’t have escaped the Dark Force’s barrage unscathed. He told me that if he’d figured it out, another diligent Legion soldier could do it as well.”
Allegra stirred her electric-blue umbrella inside her electric-blue cocktail. “He’s right.”
I frowned at her. “Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“I am,” she assured me. “General Silverstar might be scary as hell and tough on you, but we both know that when it comes to looking out for your best interests, he’s got your back, Cadence. You need to be more careful. If the demons got wind of what you can do…” She added in a whisper, “Or even if the gods got wind of it.”
I sighed. She was right. And my father was right. I had to be more careful when it came to hiding my weird powers.
Allegra promptly changed the subject, obviously sensing my discomfort. “Any idea where you will be assigned once you become an angel?”
I shook my head.
“I hear East Australia is available,” she said. “Pray that you get that territory.”
“Why?”
“Because the angel who commands West Australia, the neighboring territory, is a hunk.” She wiggled her eyebrows up and down.
“I’m sure the First Angel has more important criteria for choosing my new post than the hotness of the angel commanding the adjacent territory,” I laughed.
“I fear you’re right about that,” she said with a dreamy sigh.
No, I did not know where my new assignment as an angel would take me, but I wouldn’t be staying here. Two angels weren’t ever posted to the same territory. Angels didn’t get along all that well. They were territorial by nature, and if they were too close to each other for too long, they started fighting for dominance.
Angels required designated borders and responsibilities. They needed a clear hierarchy. Otherwise, they started fighting one another rather than fighting the real enemy. The Legion of Angels had learned that early on in its history; keeping too many angels too close to one another had contributed significantly toward so many of our own defecting to the Dark Force. Clashing egos, raging tempers, territorial instincts enflamed. At least that was my father’s theory. It was not a widely-accepted theory, but still, everyone knew putting two angels in the same territory was, at best, a recipe for disaster.
So I would end up somewhere else in the world. My promotion would take me away to some new place, some new adventure. And I’d be leaving all that I knew behind me.
My watch beeped.
I glanced down at it. “That’s my friendly reminder to get my butt back to the office.”
I rose from my seat. My future awaited.
4
New Angel
I stood inside the glass observatory, which sat at the top of the highest tower in the city. The building was home to the Sydney office of the Legion of Angels, the gods’ army on Earth. The Legion’s sapphire spiral building towered over even the tallest skyscraper, an unmistakable reminder to humanity that the Legion towered over all. Far below, bridges arched over the crystal harbor that embraced the city, but I wasn’t looking at the view. My eyes were fixed on the angel in front of me. Nyx, the First Angel.