“She mentioned monsters. She said they’re here.”

“Here in New York? I haven’t seen any fur, scales, or claws. Or any other signs of monsters, for that matter.”

I shrugged. “Maybe she meant demons. Could she have been possessed by a demon?”

“Demon possession leaves a mark on the host’s body. The water elemental had no unusual marks anywhere. Besides the missing head.” She cringed. “And all the bullet holes. What happened?”

“That was all Claudia,” I told her.

Alec was pretty upset he hadn’t gotten to use his Hellfire. The gun had been pulled into the ocean when the elemental made it swallow him and Drake. He’d later retrieved it from the water.

“I counted eight bullet wounds in the elemental’s body,” Ivy said. “Three in the chest. Those wounds should have killed her, but it took decapitation to do that?”

“Yes. Her magic was unlike any elemental’s, unlike anything I’ve ever seen. She wasn’t just powerful. She used powers outside the elemental spectrum. That’s why I wondered about demons.”

Ivy shook her head. “It’s not possible. She has no mark. The gods have put a spell on the Earth so that any demon who tried to possess humans here would leave a mark on their victims.”

I knew I was grasping at straws. I knew that the elemental’s magic was light magic, not dark magic. Not demon magic. I could feel it when the water tried to pull me under. Light magic vibrated differently than dark magic. So if this wasn’t the work of demons, then what was going on here?

“The best we can do is bring the elemental to Nerissa and see if she can find the cause of her odd powers,” Ivy said. “Whatever happened with the elemental, it didn’t start here. And it won’t end here either.”

Upon our return to the Legion office, we gave Nerissa the elemental’s body to analyze. She was happily doing that now. She really was in her element in a lab, not in the field. I hoped Harker let her stay there instead of antagonizing and pushing her like Colonel Fireswift had. Keeping Nerissa in the lab wasn’t just best for her; it was best for the Legion too.

After our detour to Nerissa’s lab, we’d headed straight for Harker’s office. We were standing before him now, dripping water all over his beautiful cherrywood floor. His eyes took in our soggy appearance, his mouth a hard, thin line. I didn’t think he cared about the water as much as the report we’d just given him.

After what seemed like a century of silence, he finally spoke. “The Legion of Angels is charged with upholding the gods’ laws and protecting the Earth.” He paced in front of us. “When supernaturals attack at the scale that water elemental did today, there’s usually something bigger going on behind the scenes. That is why we capture and interrogate rogue supernaturals.” He paused before Claudia. “But because you killed the water elemental, we cannot figure out what caused her outburst.”

Nero stood beside Harker’s desk, watching us all without the slightest hint of emotion on his face. This was his role as observer.

“You should have handled this better,” Harker told us.

“At least we saved the city,” I pointed out. “And no one on the team died. Nor did any innocent bystanders. Given the situation, that’s much better than things could have gone.”

Harker was looking at me like I’d completely lost my mind. “That isn’t how the Legion of Angels functions.”

I was tempted to remind him that he’d once killed a crazy supernatural too, but I held my tongue. He’d killed her out of mercy, so his heart had been in the right place, even though the Legion hadn’t liked it. I didn’t want to punish him for that small act of kindness.

Basanti stepped forward. “I take full responsibility for Lieutenant Vance’s actions.”

“You’re not going to get her off the hook, Basanti,” Harker replied.

“I realize that, but as team leader, her actions are also my responsibility.”

They were all crazy. Claudia had done the right thing, and it had saved us all. But clearly Harker didn’t see it that way.

“Both of you are off this assignment. In fact, I’m pulling you off all combat missions,” Harker told Basanti and Claudia. He swiped his finger across his phone screen. “I’m assigning you two to babysit our latest batch of initiates. They are waiting for you in Hall Two. Go.” He waved toward the door.

It was a punishment, but not a big one. As far as Legion punishments went, it was the mildest I had ever seen. This whole thing was still completely ridiculous. They hadn’t done anything wrong.

With Basanti and Claudia gone, the full force of Harker’s stare turned on me, Drake, and Alec. “Pandora, I’m putting you in charge of the mission. Don’t screw it up.”

“Me?” I gasped.

That was a surprise. Why had he picked me instead of bringing in someone new, someone higher up in the Legion?

“Yes, you,” he said impatiently. “You are an officer of the Legion now. It’s about time you learned how to lead a mission instead of running off by yourself like a rogue, doing whatever you feel like.”

I opened my mouth to protest that I never did such things, but I closed it again immediately. He was right. I’d done exactly that many times over.

“Figure out why that water elemental went crazy,” he told me. “Take Poison Ivy with you. You need some brains to complement all the muscle you have on your team.”

I wasn’t sure how to take that. Was he calling me the muscle too?

“Don’t just stand there and gape at me, Pandora,” he barked. “Get this sorted out. Now.”

13 Love and Magic

After that spectacular meeting with the Legion’s newest angel, we all headed back to our apartments to change into something less soggy—Alec to his apartment, Drake and I to ours. Ivy was waiting for us in our living room.

“How did it go with Harker?” she asked.

“Pretty much how I expected it to go,” I told her. “He was miffed that we didn’t bring in the water elemental alive, so he took Claudia and Basanti off the mission.”

Drake smiled. “And he put Leda in charge.” He patted me on the back.

Ivy nodded slowly. “Interesting. I didn’t expect that.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“Oh, you know what I mean, Leda. You’re just so new.” Ivy gave me a reassuring smile. “But you’ll do great.”

I smirked at her. “That would have sounded more convincing if you weren’t crossing your fingers behind your back.”

She lifted her hands in the air, wiggling out her fingers. “I did no such thing.”

“I know. I was just messing with you.”

Ivy gave me a long, assessing look. “You’re nervous.”

“Of course I’m nervous. I’ve never been in charge of people before.”

“Sure you have. Back on the Black Plains after the vampires took Nero, you took charge,” she pointed out.

“That doesn’t count. I told them to stay in town and watch our prisoners while I went off on an unsanctioned solo trek across the Black Plains to rescue Nero.”

“It wasn’t unsanctioned. Nero left you in charge. And you saved his life.”

“Then why did his gratitude hurt so much?” I winced at the reminder of those hundreds of laps around the track and all the extra training Nero had assigned me as punishment.

“He’s an angel,” Ivy said. “I think their gratitude always hurts.”

Drake peeled off his soggy jacket. Ivy’s eyes widened.

“What is that?” she gasped.

His brows drew together. “My firm and muscled physique?”

“No, not that.” She pointed at the enormous bloodstain on the front of his shirt. “That. What did you do to yourself?”

“It’s fine.”

“Fine?” she hissed. “No, it’s not fine. You’re bleeding through your shirt!”

“It’s nothing. I hardly feel it. The one in my leg is much worse.”

Ivy’s nostrils flared in anger. “How many wounds do you have?”