Psychic's Spell (Legion of Angels Book 6)

by Ella Summers

  Nero’s voice cut through my panic. I will help you hold up the ceiling. His voice was calm, reassuring. I won’t let it fall on you. I promise. Just start walking to me.

  Swallowing the fear bubbling inside of me, I grabbed my sisters’ hands and began to walk toward the doorway of fire. The marble and concrete chunks shifted, but Nero’s magic was right there to hold them back, even as my own strength faded.

  Behind him, the Dark Force had regrouped, their numbers swelling to strike back hard. Calli, Bella, and Damiel went to hold them off, but there were too many enemy soldiers. They wouldn’t be able to hold them off for long.

  Don’t worry about them. Focus on coming to me, Nero told me.

  I continued to walk slowly, holding tightly to my sisters’ hands. The debris grew wilder, restless. Nero’s magic knocked the pieces of broken rock aside.

  Keep walking.

  My hearing came back all at once. I heard the crash and smash of debris like rocks on a rooftop, the hiss of fire, the rattle and shake of my barrier. It was a storm of sensory overload. I heard every pebble trying to cut us, every boulder trying to crush us, every wisp of ash trying to suffocate us—like death taunting us from just beyond the veil.

  After what felt like an eternity in hell, we finally made it to Nero. He parted the curtain of fire to allow us to escape the dungeon. The flames snapped back in place behind us.

  Nero drew me into an embrace. He was here. He’d come all the way to hell for me.

  “Don’t you ever do that again,” he hissed harshly into my ear.

  “Go to hell?”

  “Yes.”

  “It wasn’t by choice, you know,” I said.

  He squeezed me tightly to him, but it didn’t hurt. In fact, I wished I could just collapse into his embrace. I knew he would catch me. He always caught me.

  But I couldn’t do that. I had an image to maintain, after all.

  “I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” he said.

  “That might prove difficult given our line of work.”

  “I’m not joking, Pandora.”

  He kissed me. It was a rough and desperate kiss—one loaded with his fear of my life, his powerlessness, his turmoil, his annoyance at me for running off and getting captured, and his relief at having me back again.

  He pulled back and faced the collapsing room. The debris in the dungeon dropped all at once to the ground. Nero’s magic held back the avalanche of marble and concrete. Everything crashed together in wild directions, reforming into thick columns of melded material to hold up the new ceiling that had formed. It was just in time too because if the dungeon had collapsed, our room would have been next.

  I just stood there and gaped, shocked at the scale of power he’d used.

  Damiel had built a barricade to block off the Dark Force soldiers. He walked over to us, looked at Nero’s columns and ceiling with a critical eye, and declared, “They’re not straight.”

  Nero folded his arms across his chest and gave his father a cool look. “Feel free to do it yourself next time, old man.”

  Damiel smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of denying you the opportunity to practice. You obviously need it.”

  Nero just glared at him.

  “You’re contemplating leaving him here in hell,” I said.

  “The thought had crossed my mind.”

  “You can’t do that,” I told him.

  “And why is that?”

  “First of all, he’s your father.”

  Nero snorted.

  “And he’s injured,” I added.

  Nero gave his father’s minor wounds a cursory glance. “He’ll heal.”

  Damiel’s blue eyes twinkled.

  “And he came all the way here to help you rescue me,” I said to Nero. “Leaving him behind wouldn’t be honorable.”

  Nero’s mouth hardened.

  Damiel chuckled. “She’s got you there.”

  “Thank you for coming.” I turned toward Calli and Bella. “But how did you get here?”

  “I did some research in the forbidden dark magic books Damiel got for me,” Bella explained.

  Damiel looked as modest as an angel.

  “I found a spell that can create a passage to hell,” Bella continued. “It was very complicated, but finally I managed to make it work.” She actually did look modest.

  “A passage that is closing soon.” Damiel pointed out the subtle, near-invisible flicker in the air. It was only a few feet from me, and I hadn’t even noticed it. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Calli picked up Gin. Nero picked up me.

  When I protested, he leveled a hard, commanding stare at me. “Have you seen what you look like?”

  “No, actually. I haven’t had the chance to look in a mirror recently.”

  I glanced down at my body. The battle arena hadn’t been kind to it—and my battle with the dark angel had only made things worse. Gashes, deep holes, and cuts marred my skin. Parts of my flesh were missing—burned, torn off, or both. There was blood everywhere. Most of my clothes were missing too. My tattered shorts had once been full-length pants, my jacket was gone, and my tank top was hardly more than a sports bra now. I didn’t even have shoes on anymore.

  “I look like a zombie,” I said glumly.

  “No, you’re far too pretty to be a zombie,” Nero stated.

  There was nothing romantic about the matter-of-fact way he said it, but it still made my heart melt. I leaned my head against his shoulder, just happy to let someone else worry about how we were getting out of here for once.

  Damiel lifted Tessa into his arms. A few weeks ago, she’d have blushed and gushed like a silly, angel-obsessed schoolgirl. Now, she simply thanked him for coming. Remembering her past, living through the torture Soulslayer had inflicted on her and Gin, had made her grow up fast. I just hoped the experience hadn’t destroyed who they were.

  And what about me? When I’d battled Soulslayer, a monster had come out, taking me over. Had I changed too? Or was I just starting to become who I’d always truly been deep down inside of me?

  For me and my sisters, our origins had come knocking, ripping away the bandages that concealed the past, exposing what we truly were. As we escaped hell, I wondered how things could ever be the same.

  30

  Immortal Destiny

  I stood on the balcony of the apartment I shared with Nero, a great suite which sat atop the sparkling white obelisk that held the Legion’s east coast headquarters. It was the perfect angel residence. The view over New York was simply breath-catching, but I didn’t have much breath left in me to spare. I was still catching it from our dash through hell. That had been two days ago, and even though I’d slept every moment since then, I was still tired.

  Bella stood next to me. She was dressed in one of her school outfits: a high-collared, cream-colored blouse with a black opal brooch at the collar; and a pencil skirt with a cute ruffle along one side. Her ankle-high brown leather boots matched the belt around her waist. Her nails were brushed with pale pink polish, her strawberry-blonde hair braided and pinned to her head, milk-maid style. A leather handbag hung from her shoulder, large enough to hold a few spell books.

  “Calli visited while you were sleeping,” Bella said. “She’s feeling guilty. She tried so hard to protect Tessa and Gin from the pain of their past. She had Zane wipe their memories to give them a fresh chance at life, but she only made it worse. She says she left Gin and Tessa helpless, without the memories of their magic or how to use it to protect themselves. I’m not sure Calli will ever forgive herself.”

  “Parents often make horrible mistakes while having the best of intentions.”

  I looked back to find Damiel standing in the open doorway between the living room and balcony. “Aren’t you supposed to be hiding your face?”

  Magic rippled over Damiel’s masculine body, shifting it into something else entirely—something decidedly more feminine. A tall and sexy supermodel now stood before me wearing a black ba
ndage dress and silver stilettos. Her glossy dark hair shimmered in the sunlight like black diamonds.

  “Better?” the model said in a sultry voice.

  It was a good disguise, a seamless magical spell of shifting magic. Even knowing I was looking at Damiel, I could only see through his spell if I concentrated really hard—and concentrating that hard gave me a spectacular splitting headache.

  I didn’t know how many people knew Damiel was still alive, but I doubted the knowledge extended far beyond the First Angel. He was Nyx’s secret weapon, someone she used to take care of all the unspeakable things even the Legion couldn’t admit to doing.

  That was assuming Damiel continued to help Nyx once he got what he wanted, which was to save his wife Cadence. Angels were a bit self-serving like that. And Damiel had been waiting to save his wife for two hundred years. Nero didn’t completely trust his father, but I had a feeling Damiel would pull through in the end. He was a better person than either of them could admit.

  A small smile twisted Damiel’s lips. “How many times must we remind you, Leda? We aren’t people. We’re angels.”

  He was reading my mind again, but I didn’t tell him off. I just chuckled. This time, I’d let him listen in.

  Since our return from hell, I’d been keeping my mind carefully closed. I didn’t want to confront what I’d learned about my origin. I was having trouble coming to terms with it all myself. I needed to process it. Maybe it would get easier with time.

  The other reason I was keeping my thoughts under lock was I didn’t want anyone to know what had happened in that dungeon—that I’d crushed the dark angel’s mind and body. And that in my power high, I’d dreamt of ruling supreme over all the known realms.

  Bella smiled at me. “It’s good to see you laugh. You’ve been so serious since we returned from… Returned home.”

  She didn’t say ‘hell’. Clearly, it was tough for Bella too. After all, she’d only recently learned that she was a demon’s granddaughter.

  If only she’d known what I was, the daughter of a demon and a god. I was a magical anomaly, a monster. When I closed my eyes, I saw the dark angel’s mind cracking under the force of my power. I heard his screams. I saw his head hitting the ground and the lifeless look on his face as he lay there dead.

  My wounds were healed on the outside, but inside I was broken.

  Bella hadn’t asked what I was, though she must have realized that I’d found out. She was giving me time to be ready. I wondered if I ever would be.

  “I’m going to find Calli’s friend,” I said, changing the subject. “The one who led her to all of us” I kept talking. Everything would be fine if I could just keep talking. “I have to know why he wanted Calli to take us in.”

  “You’ll find him,” said Bella. “You always do.”

  Nero stepped onto the balcony. He stopped as soon as he saw Damiel in the body of a woman. A hint of surprise flashed across his face, but it was soon swallowed up by hard, cold composure.

  “That’s not funny,” he told his father.

  Damiel smiled demurely. “Your lady asked me to put on a disguise.”

  Nero opened his mouth, but before he could speak, a knock on our apartment door drew him back inside. Damiel summoned a tube of lipstick out of thin air and began applying it to his mouth.

  “You’ve got some on your teeth,” Bella told him helpfully.

  Damiel’s teeth squeaked as he wiped away the excess lipstick with his index finger. “It’s not as easy as it looks.”

  “Being a woman?”

  Damiel pulled out a mirror and tried in vain to wipe off the wayward lipstick. “I should have just shifted into a tiger,” he grumbled.

  Nero and Harker stepped onto the balcony. Harker saw Damiel—and he just froze.

  “It’s Damiel,” Nero told him.

  Harker blinked. “It looks just like her.” His eyes panned across Damiel’s disguise. “Right down to the—”

  Nero elbowed him in the ribs.

  Harker lifted his gaze and glanced over at Bella and me. “Eyes.”

  Damiel giggled. It was a distinctly non-angel sound, contrasting starkly with his previous assertion that he was an angel, not a person. He certainly was making an effort to stay in character.

  “Who is Damiel supposed to be?” I asked Nero and Harker. They obviously knew her.

  “Sergeant Jordan. She was our trainer back when Nero and I first joined the Legion.” Harker added with a smirk, “Nero had a huge crush on her.”

  Nero’s face was unreadable, but I was pretty sure that right now he was fighting the urge to murder his best friend. He watched me for my reaction.

  But I didn’t even feel jealous. Maybe this ghost from the past didn’t bother me, or maybe I was just still too numb from everything that had happened recently.

  My gaze flickered from Nero to Harker, finally settling on Damiel. “She has nice eyes.”

  Harker coughed, swallowing an emerging laugh. Nero’s face remained impassive.

  “How is it you can so perfectly replicate a woman from nearly two hundred years ago?” I asked Damiel. “You weren’t even around here back then.”

  “I might have been in hiding, but I always kept an eye turned toward Nero.”

  Nero didn’t look impressed. The silence stretched on. I could practically picture the tumbleweed blowing across the balcony.

  “Leda,” Harker said, finally breaking the silence. “This is for you.” He handed me a leather-bound folder. The gold Legion of Angels monogram on the cover made it look very exclusive.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “Your registration packet for the Crystal Falls Training. It commences next week.”

  Already? I’d lost so much time in hell. The Crystal Falls Training was upon me, a long and intense magic workshop for level six and level seven Legion soldiers. I wasn’t sure I was ready to dive back into training just yet.”

  Nero walked around behind me. He set his hands on my shoulders and gave them a supportive squeeze.

  “One of the level seven soldiers from this training will become an angel to fill the void left by Colonel Battleborn’s death,” Damiel said lightly, as though we were discussing tea parties and cupcakes, not angels and death.

  The Crystal Falls Training was supposed to be one of the hardest the Legion had, and it would be even tougher for me. I was a new level six, and I’d be training alongside hardened soldiers who’d been at level seven for years—soldiers who would do anything to become an angel. If they wanted to succeed and gain their wings, they couldn’t afford to lose to anyone, especially us level sixes.

  “Nerissa told me tales I wish I could forget, stories about soldiers poisoning and sabotaging the competition.” I looked at Nero for confirmation that it wasn’t true.

  “Don’t eat anything another candidate offers you,” he said.

  “And always sleep with a knife under your pillow,” added Harker.

  Laughter burst from my lips. “You two aren’t any help at all.”

  Damiel stretched out his arms, yawning loudly. “Well, children, I’d best be going. The First Angel’s prisoners won’t torture themselves, you know.”

  The completely casual way that he said it made me hope he was joking, but I wasn’t counting on it.

  Damiel transformed from the brunette model into the sunset-haired angel Leila Starborn. Then he jumped over the handrail and flew off across the city on gorgeous white and gold wings.

  After he was gone, Bella turned to me and said, “I have to get back to the university now.”

  Harker stepped forward. “I’ll walk you out.”

  Their light chatter trailed them as they left our apartment and entered the stairwell. The last thing I heard was Bella diplomatically rejecting his latest attempt to ask her out. Something about that made me laugh. After everything we’d all just lived through, I guess it just felt good to see a sign that some things were back to normal.

  We stepped back inside, Nero wat
ching me every step of the way, just as he’d been doing since our return from hell. As promised, he’d never let me out of his sight. He’d never been further away than the next room, close enough to storm in and grab me if a portal to hell spontaneously opened up under my feet. Gods, I loved him.

  “You know you can’t come to the Crystal Falls Training with me,” I told him.

  “Says who?”

  “I’d imagine says Colonel Dragonblood, the angel in charge of the training.”

  “I outrank him.”

  “So?”

  His voice dipped lower. “So he can’t tell me what to do.”

  “You make it sound so simple.”

  “It is as simple as this: if Colonel Dragonblood has a problem with my presence, he can take it up with me.”

  “But the rules—”

  “Since when have you cared about the rules, Pandora?”

  Fair point.

  “I love you,” he declared solemnly. “And I’m not ever letting you go.”

  His hand curled around my neck, drawing me in closer. He swooped his mouth over mine, capturing my breath. Hard and hungry, his tongue thrust between my lips, ravaging the inside, drowning me in his magic. He was pouring all of his emotions—all of himself—into that kiss. I’d never experienced anything like it before.

  “I should have been there for you.” His lips brushed against mine. “I should have kept the deserter from taking you.”

  “It’s not your fault. I ran into that.”

  His hold on me tightened, like he was afraid to let me go. “I could have saved you from that suffering.”

  I’d told him and the others about how Soulslayer had tortured me in the arena and hurt my sisters, but I’d stopped there. I hadn’t told them what I was. I hadn’t told them how I’d killed the dark angel by crushing his mind. And I hadn’t told them the worst of it all: that a part of me had fed off of that rush of power. That part scared me most of all.

  But I had to share it all with someone. The weight of this secret was crushing me.