“I thought you liked that song,” I said.

“I did before last month. But they play it over and over again, hour after hour, day after day.” She dragged her fingers through her hair. “It’s enough to make anyone go mad. If this is the gods’ testing me, I’d rather just take the Nectar and be done with it.”

Drake and Ivy had been promoted to level two in last month’s ceremony. Witch’s Cauldron was a mental ability, and some of the Legion brats hadn’t thought my friends had it in them to be brainy. But Drake was an avid reader, and Ivy had turned out to have quite a knack for potions. She was working in the medical ward now, trying to find her true calling.

“Did Leda tell you about the mission we’re going on?” Drake asked her.

I turned to him. “You’re going too?”

“Yep.”

“Oh, I feel left out,” said Ivy.

“We’re guiding Pilgrims across the Black Plains,” Drake told her.

“The monster-infested wilderness?” She grabbed a piece of chocolate from the bowl on the coffee table. “On second thought, I’d rather stay here, even if it means listening to that wretched song over and over again.”

“Well, have fun with that.” Drake grabbed his jacket and pre-packed bag. “I need to help load up the truck. I’ll see you later.” He blew Ivy a kiss, which she caught in her hand.

“You going to hold onto that for a while?” I asked her when Drake was gone.

She looked down at her clenched fist. Her hand uncurled slowly, as though she could still feel the weight of his kiss in her palm.

“Air kisses aren’t as fun as the real thing,” I said, grinning.

“What?” She looked up at me, distracted.

“Never mind. I have to be going too. If I’m late, I’ll incur the wrath of New York’s favorite angel.”

“He’s back? When did this happen? Did he come to see you yet? Did you kiss?” The questions spilled off her tongue so fast that I could hardly follow.

“Yes, he’s back. I don’t know when he got in. He came to see me about a half hour ago when I was training with Jace. And, no, we didn’t get around to kissing.”

“But you expect there to be kissing?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s leading the mission to the Black Plains, but I think we’ll be too busy fighting monsters to make out.”

“Don’t be so sure, Leda. He was at the office all of five minutes last month, and he still found time to make out with you in the library.”

“I shouldn’t have told you about that,” I said, frowning.

“You didn’t.”

“Oh, right.”

Ivy had a talent for always knowing everything that was going on in the Legion. Hell, she even knew things about Legion soldiers she’d never met in offices she’d never visited.

“See you later.” I swung my pack over my back. “Try to stay out of trouble while I’m gone.”

“You too, Pandora.” She winked at me.

Chuckling, I left the apartment and headed for the staircase. The halls were busy like always, people coming and going between work and their tiny piece of privacy in an office of over a thousand soldiers.

Everyone I passed stared at me. I was neither popular nor unpopular at the Legion. Some people liked me, others disliked me, but everyone knew who I was. They knew me for my unparalleled ability to attract trouble wherever I went—and for Nero’s unspoken promise to make me his lover. Mayhem and sex, the perfect recipe for gossip.

“Leda,” Jace said, sliding into step beside me. “I hear you’re headed to the Black Plains with Colonel Windstriker.”

“News travels fast. It looks like you’re headed out yourself.” I glanced sidelong at him, noting his fitted jacket and pants, the Legion-approved uniform for sub-zero missions. Wherever he was headed, it was someplace cold. “I take it your meeting with your father went well.”

“As well as a meeting with him can go,” he said grimly. “He’s recruited me to join his latest mission.”

“Your father heads the Chicago office, right? Is it common to recruit a soldier from another Legion office to join a mission?”

“Not common, but it does happen if the soldier you want has special skills critical to the mission’s success.”

“And what are your special, mission-critical skills?”

“That I’m his son.”

“Ah.”

“We’re tracking down Osiris Wardbreaker. He’s part of Nyx’s inner circle, one of the first soldiers she trained to be an angel.”

“He’s gone missing?” I asked.

A dark look crossed Jace’s face. “He’s gone rogue. This is bad news, Leda. He’s the first angel to go dark in a long time. If he joins the demons, we’re all in a lot of trouble. We have to stop him.” He fell silent, not speaking again until we were on the stairs. “My father put me on this mission so I could prove myself to the First Angel.”

“I’m sure you will.”

“Why are you being so nice? Don’t you understand?” he demanded, frustration pulsing through his voice. “It’s hard to beat what you did, saving an airship full of witches. Capturing a rogue angel is about as big as it gets. He wants me to upstage you.”

I laughed. “And?”

“You are my biggest competition, and an angel is helping me. Don’t you think that’s really unfair?”