“The gods are more human than I expected. Especially Meda and Maya,” I said later as Nero and I walked down to the canteen.

“Don’t allow their superficial human behavior to fool you,” he replied. “They are far from human. That show they put on around us is just that: a show. They enjoy playing human. Never forget that they are far more dangerous. In fact, the sisters might just be the most dangerous of all the gods on the Council. They are fiercely loyal to each other and vote as one. For now, we amuse them. But if we get on their bad side, you will find them considerably less charming.”

“You’ve dealt with the gods before.”

“A few times. The first was in the aftermath of my parents’ supposed deaths. The loss of two angels drove the gods to call a hearing into the matter.”

The way he said ‘hearing’ was foreboding.

“It was more like wide-scale torture,” he told me. “For immortal beings who live forever, the gods are very impatient. They wanted answers now, and they didn’t care how many people had to bleed for them to get those answers.”

“Charming.”

“The gods might look like us, Leda, but they are not like us. Angels were once human, but the gods never were. They don’t see things in the same way.”

“They enjoy torturing others to make themselves feel more powerful. To feel above us all.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “We were fortunate that in addition to being merciless, they are also mercurial. They weren’t feeling particularly murderous today. That is why we survived.”

“I’m afraid I didn’t help. I should have kept my mouth shut.”

“Not this time. You…amused them. You especially amused the sisters. And Aleris.” A tiny, confused crinkle formed between his eyes, as though he still couldn’t believed that we’d survived. “I think that’s the only reason we are alive. That and Faris’s desire to annoy his brother.”

“Faris did seem to get a kick out of voting against Zarion.”

“Zarion is infamously paranoid. He perceives everything as a slight to him, as an attack on his divine rights. He considers himself highly holy, holier than the other gods. Even holier than Valora. I knew he would speak out against us. I have a feeling the Gods’ Trials were designed by him—and that he believes we made a mockery of him.”

“And Valora? Why did she vote against us? She seemed sensible.”

“She is, but as the head of the gods’ council, she must uphold the status quo, the gods’ laws,” he said. “And the truth of the matter is, we cheated on their test. It doesn’t matter to them that the test was unfair. Angels are forged in the fire of their own suffering. The gods want us tormented, apart from others. We fight one another; we hold no bonds stronger than those to the Legion, to our duty. We are equal to none. We are above others, serving as their protectors. Never as their friends.”

I touched his arm. “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

Nero lifted my hand to his lips. “I know. United we are stronger. It is the isolated, inhuman angels that we lose—either to their own sadistic cruelty or to the demons’ army.”

“I think Ronan realizes that.”

Nero nodded. “Yes. Nyx has made him more human. He sees things differently than he used to. He is less rigid, less concerned about the rules, about the semantics of every encounter. He cares more about what’s really important. It took losing Nyx for him to see the bigger picture.”

I wondered what had happened, but I figured it was not Nero’s place to tell Ronan and Nyx’s story.

“The rest of the gods do not have that connection to Earth. Not like Ronan,” said Nero.

“If the gods don’t care about us, why are they here? Why did they come to Earth?”

“They are here watching over us because they need to hold our world against the demons. It is just one part of a much bigger game.”

“These other worlds have gods and demons?” I asked.

“The gods hold some worlds, the demons others.”

“Just how many worlds are there?”

“A lot,” he told me. “We’re talking about hundreds of worlds. Maybe thousands. I don’t even know. I’ve never been beyond this one.”

So this was just one gigantic, cosmic war between light and dark magic. And we were only a small part of it, a tiny dot in the gods’ empire. It was no wonder that they saw us as insignificant.

We entered Demeter, the canteen, to the clink of plates and silverware and the hum of conversations. It was early in the morning, at the dawn of breakfast, but the tables were already packed. There wasn’t a free seat in the whole room. Except at the head table, where the officers level six and above sat.

“Follow me,” Nero said.

As I followed him across the room toward the head table, conversations died all around us. Everyone froze and stared—no gaped. Nero was wearing his new uniform with an archangel pin—wings and crown halo—the symbol of a general. It wasn’t every day that an archangel joined us for breakfast. Nero had extended his wings wide. They rustled and shimmered like a cloak of midnight magic.

Harker rose to his feet, the only person in the whole room who’d remembered protocol. The officers at the head table followed suit. Reminded by their example, the rest of the soldiers in the room all stood in respect. Nero and I passed rows and rows of soldiers at attention. I caught Ivy’s eye, who winked so quickly that I almost missed it.

I was wearing my new pin too, a paw print, the symbol of Shifter’s Shadow. We stopped in front of the head table. I swallowed hard, trying to clear my discomfort. I might have been an officer now, a lieutenant, but the head table was reserved for only captains and above. I didn’t belong here.

Harker saluted Nero. “General Windstriker.”

“The First Angel has assigned me to evaluate your performance. I will be watching you.” Nero’s eyes flickered to me. It was a silent signal to Harker that he wasn’t only watching Harker for Nyx. He was watching him to protect me too.

Harker nodded, looking resigned. Some of the spark went out of his eyes. He had to know Nero would be hard on him in his evaluation.

As smooth as a summer breeze, Nero circled around the table and took the seat next to Harker. It was the one reserved for the First Angel when she visited New York. He waved me forward, toward the empty chair beside his, the seat usually occupied by Captain Soren Diaz. Soren must have been out on a mission right now. I moved toward the chair, the weight of several hundred pairs of eyes on me.

Sit down, Pandora, Nero spoke in my mind.

I did as he asked. Every other person in the room was still standing, including several Legion officers who held a higher rank than I did. Including an angel. They all continued to stand, waiting for Nero’s signal. Nero was obviously playing this game for a reason.

Nero raised his hands in the air, then motioned for everyone to sit. All the while, Basanti was watching me from her seat on the other side of Harker, looking positively amused.

I could hear the whispers in the room. The conversations were divided between shock over where I was sitting and excitement over Nero’s promotion. A trio of female soldiers at a nearby table stared at him in wonder. From the long, leisurely looks they were casting down the length of his body, I bet they were picturing him naked. I met their eyes with a wide smile and stroked my hand across Nero’s.

Mine, I broadcast silently to them.

The women hastily looked away. Nero captured my hand in his. He’d obviously liked my show of outright, territorial force. Such were the ways of the angels.

“You two are creating quite a stir,” Harker commented. “Everyone is staring at you.”

I smirked at him. “They are just admiring Nero’s wings.”

Nero’s new wings were simply stunning, even more gorgeous than they’d been before. New patterns had formed in the tapestry of black, blue, and green feathers. He’d explained to me earlier that Nectar changed the swirls and patterns in an angel’s wings. Great battles and bursts of powerful magic could change them too. They were the story of an angel’s magic.

Harker chuckled. “At least some of that attention was for you, Lieutenant.” His eyes flickered to the pin on my jacket. “I must say that the gods’ magic becomes you. You’re positively glowing. And I’m not the only one who’s noticed.”

He glanced at a group of male soldiers who were casting appreciative looks my way. Nero met their eyes with a cold stare, and they all suddenly became very interested in their breakfast plates.

“You can’t blame them, Nero,” Harker said. “Look at that halo. She is practically lighting up the whole room.” His eyes slid over me with appreciation.

“She is mine.” Nero’s voice was deceptively calm.

Harker met his eyes. “Oh, you’ve made that abundantly clear. Your mark is screaming at me. You are anything but subtle, Nero.”

He’d marked me again upstairs, burning his archangel magic into me. I could still feel it pulsing, absorbing into my blood and magic. When I’d marked him too, he’d given me a very satisfied look and told me that my mark was growing more powerful with my magic.

“Your magic is growing beautifully, Leda,” Harker continued. “I look forward to helping you grow it further.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you hear?” He smiled at me. “I am in charge of training you now.”

Nero was very quiet. He was watching Harker like his former best friend was going to pull out a vial of pure Nectar at any moment and force it down my throat.

Don’t worry. I can take him, I told Nero.

Do not underestimate him, Leda. He is an angel now. He is much more powerful than before.

I looked at Harker. “Your training me—this is Nyx’s orders?”

Harker braided his fingers together, looking very pleased with himself. “This comes straight from the Gods’ Court.”

It seemed our little meeting in heaven had caused the gods to take an interest in me. That wasn’t a good thing. As Nero had reminded me earlier, the gods saw us as little more than cogs in the cosmic machine. Their interest had nothing to do with helping me and everything to do with using me. One of the gods was already interested in using my connection to my brother Zane to hunt him down. That was the god who’d given Harker pure Nectar and instructed him to make me drink it, not caring if I died in the process.

But which of the gods was pulling Harker’s strings? Which god was trying to manipulate me to find Zane? Was it the same one who’d tried to poison me with Venom? It could have been one of the gods who’d voted for me and Nero to live so that I could fulfill that purpose.

But then again, the gods were deviously divine. Harker’s patron god might have voted against me and Nero because he knew how the votes would fall. Or she. Could it be Valora? She did what was best for the gods, humanity be damned. I could totally see her commanding Harker—and him following her commands. She was the Queen Goddess, after all.

Then again, it could be any one of the seven gods. It could even be a god not on the council.

“You are speechless,” Harker said to me.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about him training me. We’d once been friends. I wanted to trust Harker, but he’d already betrayed me. And I would be naive to think that he wouldn’t do it again. Fundamentally, he was a good person. I knew he was. But his ambition was too strong; it drove his actions. What I really wanted was for Nero to train me. I trusted Nero.

The doors to the canteen swung open with a bang, and a soldier stormed into the canteen, running to the head table. He stopped before Harker and declared, “The ocean is rising fast. It’s going to flood the city.”