It had been several months since we’d faced Stash on the Black Plains. Nero hadn’t completely forgiven Harker, but things were slowly getting back to the way they’d once been, back when they’d used to be friends.

“I can feel your eyes burning a hole through the back of my head, Nero,” Harker said.

“Gods, I hope that’s an exaggeration,” I said. I was running between the two of them. Any laser stare would cut through me first.

“If you don’t feel comfortable with me behind you, we could switch places,” Nero told Harker.

“So you can accuse me of staring at Leda’s ass? I think I’ll dodge that bullet.”

I chuckled.

“Leda,” Nero warned.

Uh-oh. I knew that tone.

Harker supplied Nero’s words, the words I knew were coming. “If you can laugh, you’re not running fast enough.”

I was the reason for the rift between them, so it was only fitting that I was the reason for the mending of their friendship. They were united in their commitment to level up my magic by thoroughly kicking my ass.

Nero gave me a little psychic nudge in the butt, pushing me to move faster.

“How long have you been waiting to do that?” I demanded. If I hadn’t been worried about tripping over my own feet at this speed, I’d have shot him an irked look over my shoulder.

“Ever since I first saw you in that running suit this morning,” he told me.

“You can proposition her later, Nero. The First Angel wants Leda ready by the time the Crystal Falls Training comes around.”

Harker was still leading the New York office, and he was still officially in charge of my training. Ronan had turned him into a double agent. He had to report back to Ronan on everything Faris told him.

“She’ll be ready for the Crystal Falls Training,” Nero said.

Nero was now Nyx’s second in command. I called him the Second Angel, but he didn’t seem to appreciate the title. I couldn’t imagine why.

The Legion’s New York office was his main home, but he wasn’t here as often as I would have liked. He was meeting with Nyx all the time and going on lots of trips all over the world. He visited the Legion’s offices in Nyx’s stead to make sure things were running smoothly—and to assess the angels’ loyalty to her. He also put out supernatural fires from time to time. And for those missions, he could select soldiers from any Legion office.

“She can’t go to the training until she’s gained psychic magic,” Harker pointed out. “It’s levels six and seven only.”

“She’ll be ready,” Nero repeated.

“We’ll need to increase her training sessions to up her psychic resistance.”

Harker—and Nero when he was around—had been training my psychic resistance by blasting me with telekinetic spells. I’d ended each and every session with broken bones—and I hadn’t felt any more resistant than I had on day one. There was always the chance that I’d survive my next dose of Nectar anyway, but I didn’t like playing the lottery. And neither did the two angels training me.

“Maybe we need to try a different approach,” I said.

“Like what?” Harker asked.

“I’m not sure.”

“Less talking. More running,” Nero told me. “If you get stronger, your magic will get stronger too. You just need a little push.”

And with that said, he pushed me again with his psychic magic. I stumbled forward but recovered my stride. This wasn’t the first time he’d done that, and it wouldn’t be the last. I had two choices: I could either get more resistant to psychic attacks and not let his magic throw me off balance, or I could get faster so he couldn’t psychic-punch me. As far as Nero was concerned, either case was a win. In either case, I got stronger. He was practical like that. I wondered if he realized how much like his father he truly was.

Damiel was now Nyx’s advisor and private Interrogator. He questioned people she didn’t want anyone to find out about. He seemed happy to get out of the ‘gilded cage’ Nero had put him in.

Stash sometimes worked with Damiel and Nero on their missions. He was keeping his true identity a secret. It was safer for him. As long as the truth stayed buried, Faris couldn’t use him to play war with his brother Zarion. Nyx and Ronan were training Stash in secret, growing his demigod powers. As Nero gave me another psychic nudge, I wondered if they were torturing Stash as much as Nero and Harker were torturing me.

Finally, we completed our final lap. Nero glanced at the time on his watch. “Nearly a minute faster than the last time we all ran together.”

We hadn’t all run together in over a week, not since Nero had left for his last mission. I’d been training alone with Harker. He wasn’t easy on me either, but at least he didn’t blast me with psychic energy when I was running. Or when I was lifting weights. I rubbed my head, remembering the loaded barbell I’d dropped on myself thanks to Nero.

“A minute faster.” I grinned at them. “Pretty good, don’t you think?”

Harker shot me a blank look, clearly unimpressed. “You need to shave another five minutes off that time.”

Oh, great. Now there were two of them. All those people who fantasized about spending time alone with two angels didn’t know what it really meant: pain. And more pain. If they’d known the truth, they wouldn’t have made all those crude jokes to me.

I tossed Nero and Harker each a water bottle. Even angels needed to stay hydrated. I made a conscious effort not to aim the bottles at their heads. They were trying to help me. I had to remember that, even when it felt like they were trying to kill me.

I put on a big smile. “I’ll get there. Don’t worry. With you two by my side, how could I possibly fail?”

Harker took a long drink from his bottle, then said to Nero, “Haven’t you warned her about tempting fate?”

“Leda doesn’t believe in fate.”

“That’s right. I don’t. I believe we all have the power to make our own way and to choose our own destiny.” I set my hand on his arm and gave it a squeeze. “The power to do the right thing.”

“Everyone can be saved?” He looked highly skeptical.

“Yes.”

“What about Colonel Fireswift?” Harker asked.

I winced. “Ok, almost anyone.”

Nero snorted.

“I guess I should amend that to: anyone who wants to be saved can be saved,” I said. “Colonel Fireswift included.”

“Funny you should say that.”

I grimaced. “I don’t think I like where that sentence is headed, Harker.”

He draped a towel over his shoulders. “Because he’s coming to New York next week.”

“Do either of you have a mission that will take me out of New York next week?” I asked the two angels.

One of Harker’s brows arched upward at me. “What happened to redeeming Colonel Fireswift?”

“I’m going to concentrate on saving the younger Fireswift first.”

“Jace Fireswift. He’s good.” Harker looked at Nero. “Almost as good as you were. And he’s determined. He also has a thing for your girl.”

“That’s not true,” I told him. “Jace is my friend.”

Harker laughed. Nero’s eyes narrowed.

“His father had him go on a string of difficult missions during the past few months. Captain Fireswift has already gained psychic magic.” Harker shot me a meaningful look. “You’re falling behind your ‘friend’, Leda. He has the benefit of his natural magic and the fact that he’s been training since he was a baby. If you don’t get your act together, he’ll beat you to the prize.”

“What prize?”

“He’ll be the first of you two to become an angel.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not a competition.”

“Tell that to Jace Fireswift,” replied Harker. “He’s determined to become an angel before you.”

“That’s his father’s influence, pressuring him.”

“That might be part of it.” A devilish gleam shone in his eyes. “But I’m sure he’s also heard that you have a thing for angels.”

Nero’s water bottle burst inside his fist.

“Don’t listen to Harker,” I told him. “He’s just trying to mess with you.”