Crowds of curious people flocked to the shore in the aftermath of the magic tsunami that nearly drowned New York. To keep them away from the crime scene, Alec and Drake had set up heavy barriers that no mortal could lift. That didn’t stop the spectators from eagerly clicking photos as Claudia carried the water elemental’s headless body into the truck. I didn’t want to think about what that said about human nature.

Drake and Alec stood at the barrier, their thick, muscular arms folded across their chests. Between that and their black vests, leather pants, and thick boots, they looked perfectly terrifying. The crowds were keeping their distance from the barrier. The guys’ assortment of swords, knives, and guns was just the cherry on top of the badass package.

They were keeping the paranormal police out too, much to the chagrin of one of the police detectives. He was currently engaged in a heated debate about jurisdiction with Basanti. He shouldn’t have wasted his breath. He’d lost the battle before it had even begun. The Legion’s authority always trumped any other organization on Earth.

Ivy drove up on her motorcycle, dressed in a leather bodysuit. Heads turned as she took off her helmet and shook out her long red hair in the sunlight. It was like a scene straight out of a shampoo commercial.

She hopped over the barrier and beelined straight for me. “Wow, this looks bad.”

“It looked worse a few minutes ago with a thousand-foot tsunami towering over the city,” I told her.

“I’ll bet.” Ivy’s eyes panned across the dozens of water puddles that dotted the shore, tiny souvenirs left over from the wave.

“Did Nerissa send you?”

“Yes.”

Dr. Nerissa Harding was the leading scientist at the Legion’s New York office. She was also my friend. Ivy was one of her assistants.

“Nerissa thought I would be useful if you ran into any more crazed supernaturals trying to destroy the city,” she told me.

Ivy was good at talking people down from strong emotions. And she could do it without using any magic. She was just a natural.

“Nerissa really thinks there’s more of them?” I asked.

“There’s one thing I’ve learned in my time at the Legion, Leda: there’s no such thing as an isolated incident.”

I sighed. “I fear you’re right.”

“The other reason Nerissa sent me in her stead is because she needed someone to check out the scene of the crime. She said she’d had quite enough excitement at Storm Castle and had no desire for any more fieldwork.” Her lips curled up. “Especially not with you around because you are a magnet for trouble.”

I didn’t bother being offended because it was completely true. I might as well have been going around wearing a t-shirt that read: apocalypses, psychopaths, and chaos welcome here.

Ivy set her hand on my shoulder. “It’s not your fault that craziness erupts all around you. You’re just unlucky.”

Drake passed by, carrying another heavy barrier. I could barely have carried that metal monstrosity with both hands. He was using only one. Ivy met his eyes, then they both quickly looked away.

“What was that all about?” I asked.

“What was what about?”

“Nothing. Never mind.”

Ivy was really good at reading others, but she was as blind as a newborn kitten when it came to herself—and how madly in love she was with Drake. He was obviously in love with her too. Lately, they’d been stealing a lot of clandestine looks at each other. When Drake and his former girlfriend Lucy had gone their separate ways, I’d thought he and Ivy would finally get together, but neither one made a move. They’d been best friends since birth, so it must have been awkward. I was guessing there was a big, fat boulder of denial standing in their way.

Ivy watched her best friend as he planted the barrier in front of a pair of teenagers who’d tried to sneak past him and Alec. Alec saw Ivy looking their way and winked at her. He must have thought she was staring at him.

Reporters and photographers now stood amongst the growing crowd behind the barriers. Word had spread fast that the city was nearly destroyed. Claudia joined Drake and Alec to play bouncer. The paranormal police detective was still badgering Basanti. He was lucky she was so good-natured. Colonel Fireswift would have long since thrown him at the Legion’s Interrogators, the nightmares of the supernatural world.

“Why are we being kept off the battle site like civilians?” the detective demanded.

Basanti pointed out. “You are civilians, Detective.”

He frowned. I remembered that scowl well. He was the same detective I’d met last year, a few months after joining the Legion. I’d gone with Nero and a few others to the Brick Palace, the site of an attack that was coined the New York Massacre. The detective seemed less impressed with Basanti than he’d been with Nero. Well, when it came to sheer intimidation, it was hard to compete with an angel, especially one like Nero.

“Captain Somerset, I must protest—”

She gave him a flat look, cutting him off. “We’re done here. File your protest through the proper channels. I’m sure the Legion’s Interrogators would be happy to speak with you.”

The detective paled.

Basanti was really channeling her inner angel right now, that part all Legion soldiers had inside of us to some degree. The detective took an uneasy step back. Basanti was definitely changing, growing closer to becoming an angel. The recent events at Storm Castle might have had something to do with her change—that and her reunion with her angel lover.

“I wonder if I could have done that too, channeled my inner angel so well?” I commented.

“I think so,” replied Ivy. “You’ve been practicing your Nero Windstriker face in front of the mirror.”

“Oh, saw that, did you?”

“Drake and I both did.”

They were my roommates. I wondered if me living with them was holding back their relationship.

Ivy and I turned our attention to the scene of the battle. We scoured for clues, looking for anything that might explain how a water elemental had gained powers she shouldn’t have and tried to unleash them on the city. I’d already looked and found nothing but ocean debris and a few tiny sea creatures, but maybe we’d have more luck together.

“So how is Nerissa holding up after Storm Castle?” I asked.

Colonel Fireswift, the sadistic angel who’d temporarily commanded the New York office, had sent her there for hardcore training to punish her. He hadn’t liked the way she’d tried to protect soldiers from being forced into his promotion ceremonies, ceremonies he’d used to level up the best and to cull the weakest links.

“She’s been well. Thanks to Soren, I think.” Ivy smiled.

Soren was Ivy’s ex, but they were still friends. Ivy was on great terms with all of her ex-boyfriends. I didn’t know how she did it.

“Being with him is good for Nerissa,” Ivy said.

“And for the rest of us. As long as she’s happy, she has less time to gossip about others.”

“Speaking of gossip…”

I cut her off before she could grill me on my and Nero’s tattered appearance this morning. “You’re next, you know.”

Her gaze flickered to Drake. I didn’t even think she knew she was doing it.

“There’s always another one, Leda. The trick is finding the right one. The one who can handle the real me. Someone I don’t have to dress up for.”

The memory of our last movie night flashed through my head—Ivy, Drake, and I wearing pajamas and fluffy bunny slippers.

Ivy stopped. “I’m sure it’s right in front of my face.”

Just as I thought my friend had finally recognized her love for Drake, I realized she wasn’t looking at him anymore. Her eyes swept the crime scene.

“But I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.” She shook her head. “No runes, no glyphs, no strange machines, no potion bottles. Nothing. What caused the water elemental to lose her mind? There’s nothing here that would explain her behavior.”

“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.”