Nero and I fell through the floor, sand and severed machine parts raining down with us. I landed hard on my butt. I squinted, trying to penetrate the darkness, but my now-human senses weren’t up to the task. The air was thick with dust. I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it. It was hard to breathe down here.

Then, suddenly, lights glowed to life all around me, illuminating the darkness. We’d fallen into a grand chamber. The floors were marble—pale white, like a sheet of ice. Runes were scattered across the icy marble surface, painted in glittering, shimmering strokes of gold pixie dust. The walls were covered in gold and green emeralds. Light shone from within the walls, basking the room in sparkling light. It looked like a king’s treasure room.

Glass display counters kissed the room’s perimeter, filled with more treasures than I’d seen in all my life. I rose to my feet, my bones creaking in pitiful protest. When this was all over, I was taking a long, hot soak in a bubblebath. I’d never felt more human than right now. Getting my ass kicked was even less fun when I was mortal.

I’d gotten so used to depending on my magic. The Legion was my life now. I was not human. Not anymore. Standing here now, feeling weak and helpless, I realized that I could never go back to being human again.

“You told me once that I was always meant to join the Legion, that my path would lead me to it,” I said to Nero.

“Yes. It is who you are.”

I squeezed his hand. “I think… I think despite everything that has happened, until now there was still a part of me that never truly believed it.”

“But you do now?”

“These changes, gaining these powers—this isn’t about becoming something else. It’s about becoming who I am. I didn’t realize it back then, but I’d never really felt whole until I joined the Legion. It was as though something were missing from my life.”

“As though a part of you were missing.”

I nodded.

“I felt the same before gaining my powers. It is a common sentiment amongst the children of angels,” he told me.

“But I am not a Legion brat. I didn’t have even the slightest hint of magic before joining the Legion, not like the children of angels do. I was completely ordinary.”

He chuckled. “You might not have had magic, but you are far from ordinary, Leda. There is magic in your soul, shining through.”

“What am I?”

“I do not know.”

“I need to know. I know it won’t change anything. I am what I am. But I just have to know.”

He set his hand over my heart. “We’ll figure it out. Together.” His voice was both fierce and gentle.

“Together.” No other word in all the worlds held so much power. I closed my hand over his.

Then we turned to face the display cases full of trinkets and treasures.

“What is this place?” I asked. “A treasury of some sort?”

Nero scanned the contents of the cases. “A magical treasury of powerful artifacts. All of them have names.” He pointed at a pure white bow. “Surefire. It is said that an arrow shot from this bow never misses.”

I moved on to the next case, which held a cloak that shimmered like a pot of liquid gold. Its magic was fluid, shifting with the light. “What about that one?”

“The Invincibility Cloak,” he said. “When you wear it, weapons go right through you without hurting you.” He indicated the next treasure, a pair of leather boxing gloves. “They’re called Meteor Shower. A strike from them is said to feel like a barrage of meteors.” His eyes dipped to the shelf below, where a necklace of a hundred diamonds lay.

“I’ve heard of that one,” I said. “Divine Tears. It heals any injuries or sicknesses, no matter how dire, of the person wearing it. I thought it was just a myth.”

“These are the stuff of myths and legends, lost long ago, but they are very real,” replied Nero. “They are all the work of the immortal magic smith, Sunfire.”

“These were made by the greatest magic crafter of all time?”

“Yes. These are powerful items,” said Nero. “Some of the most powerful in all the worlds.”

“So this is the gods’ treasure trove?”

“No. If the gods knew about this place, they’d have taken the treasures far away, not left them here for the angels they sent on their trials to find. These artifacts are too powerful. The gods crave power above all else. They could not resist using these objects of power. This is a treasure trove of the original immortals, the powerful beings who preceded gods and demons.”

“The Guardians,” I whispered.

He gave me a strange look. “You broke the seal to this room. You read the symbols. Their language.”

“I told you, I don’t know how I did it.” The sparkle of the immortal artifacts drew my gaze. “There is magic in these treasures.”

“Yes, powerful magic. But there’s no way for us to channel that magic to restart the Magitech generator. We could not break these artifacts, even if we wanted to. They are indestructible.”

“If we could channel the magic from them…” I sighed.

If only we had Lightning Spear, the lightning rod of magic kept at Storm Castle. It was one of the immortal weapons made by Sunfire. It had the power to absorb magic. We could have used it to channel the magic of these artifacts into the Magitech generator.

But we didn’t have the Lightning Spear. And, as Nero had pointed out, we couldn’t break these immortal artifacts either. Why had Damiel told us the answer was here? What did he think we could do with the artifacts?

And then it hit me. Damiel had been there when I’d controlled the weapons of heaven and hell, which were also immortal artifacts. He thought I could control these too, that I could direct their magic into the generator. I stared at the display cases full of immortal artifacts, willing them to obey my commands.

Nothing happened.

“It’s not working.” I turned to Nero. “I can’t control them.”

“It’s not your fault. You don’t have any magic right now.”

“No, it isn’t just Ronan’s potion. That magic, whatever it is, is different. It just won’t come to me again. I wasn’t able to control the weapons of heaven and hell after our return from the Lost City either.” I sighed. “Either Damiel overestimated my abilities, or there must be something else down here that can help us.” I looked past the display cases, to a large door at the back. “What about that?”

Made from the same pattern of gold and emeralds, the door was wide enough to drive a car through. It was exactly the kind of door that led to a walk-in vault.

“A treasury within a treasury? Whatever is behind it must be very powerful. Maybe we can use it to infuse magic into the generator.”

I walked up to the door and brushed my hand across the surface.

“It’s hot,” I said. “Like there’s a fire raging on the other side. I wonder if there’s something powerful inside.

Nero touched the wall, tracing his fingers across the rippled surface. “The answer isn’t what’s beyond the door. It’s the seal itself. There is more magic in this seal than even the First Angel can wield.” He pointed out the glowing symbols that had appeared on the door in response to my touch. “I have an idea. Don’t go anywhere.”

He took a running start and jumped up through the hole in the ceiling. I hoped there weren’t any more monsters up there.

Glowing runes continued to pop up across the door. They looked familiar, not quite the same as the symbols I’d drawn upstairs, but close.

“What are you hiding?” I whispered to the door.

It whispered back, speaking in a language I didn’t know. I leaned in, trying to make it out. What was it saying?

“Leda.”

I jumped back in surprise at Nero’s voice. “Oh, hi.” My heart still racing, I looked at the thick cable in his hands. “What is that?” My eyes followed the path of the cable up through the hole, where it disappeared into the darkness.

“We don’t need the Lightning Spear,” he told me. “We’re going to channel the magic directly into the Magitech generator.

“How?”

“A powerful spell sealed this door, the likes of which I’ve felt only once before.”

“In the Lost City on the Black Plains,” I remembered.

“Yes. In the Lost City, you broke the seal to the vault that held the weapons and armor of heaven and hell. Break this seal, and we’ll use its magic to restart the city’s Magitech generator.”

“I’m not even sure how I broke the other seal.”

“You can do this. I know you can.”

I took a deep breath and set my hands on the door once more. The seal’s magic simmered beneath the surface. It was singing to me. I brushed my hands across the door, trying to find the way in. The gold and emeralds melted into a smooth, shiny surface. The runes shuffled around, burning brighter.

Metal crashed behind us. I stole a glance over my shoulder. Three large machines stood under the hole in the ceiling. They shared as much in common with Mr. Muscles as a lion shared with a truck. They looked less humanlike, more cobbled together.

“I think the monster machines are drawn to the generator,” I said. “To this place of tainted magic and corrupted technology.”

“I’ll handle them. You worry about breaking that seal,” Nero told me.

I leaned my head against the glowing door. I saw a city of magic and steam, its buildings towering high into the sky. Airships, dozens of them, flew overhead. And down below, trains shot in and out of the city. The doors to the train station opened, and people streamed out onto the city streets. I followed them to the power building. Except back then—whenever then was—it hadn’t held a Magitech generator. Sunlight streamed through a stained glass ceiling that depicted winged warriors.

I took the glass elevator down to the basement, to the treasure room. A magic smith stood in front of the vault door. I couldn’t make out his face, like it was cloaked behind a thick haze. Magic flowed around him, shaping the metal. Bands of golden light intertwined with the gold and emeralds, melting into them.

The magic smith touched his hand to one of the glowing runes, the symbol that represented wings. He moved the wings rune across the door’s metal face. The door clicked, and a golden knob slid out.

A growl of rage and pain jolted me out of the vision. One of the machine monsters was in pieces, but two still remained. And Nero lay on the floor between them.

I grabbed my axe off the ground and smashed it through the display cases. I reached inside and grabbed the boxing gloves, hurling them at the machines. Then I tossed the necklace at them. I threw each and every immortal artifact in that room. Mesmerized by their magic, the machines jumped and dove to get to them. They forgot all about Nero. I ran to him, helping him up.

“More are coming,” he said, snatching a glowing hammer off the floor, one of the immortal artifacts. He slammed it into a machine monster. It shattered like a broken mirror. “Get that vault open.”

I ran back to the vault door, scanning the glowing wall of runes for the wings. I found them, way up at the top. Of course they were. I hopped up. It took me three tries, but I finally caught the symbol on my finger and slid it lower. It clicked into place. I grabbed the golden knob that had appeared, turning it.

The door emitted a loud pop, followed by the creak of turning gears. The seal broke, and a white light flashed across the door, shooting down the magic cable Nero had connected to it. It glowed like a rainbow of liquid glitter.

Upstairs, the Magitech generator revved up again. Magic exploded, shattering the glass roof—and every window in the building. Through the broken windows, I saw the golden lights sparkle across the city wall. As the Magitech barrier rolled up around the City of Ashes, a magic shockwave shot through the streets, obliterating every monster inside its borders.

Its seal broken, its magic spent, the vault door groaned. The runes flickered out. The door swung open, and treasure spilled out like a raging river. Gems, gold, jewelry, weapons, armor—the river of treasures knocked me and Nero over, carrying us across the room.

As we collapsed onto the mountain of treasure piling up under the hole in the ceiling, I felt the gods’ potion strike its final blow.

“Are you ok?” I asked, taking his hand.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’ve lost your magic.”

He caressed my cheek, his touch soft, his face free of pain. “But I didn’t lose you.”

“See? I told you we could do it,” I said. “We make a great team.”

“Yes. We do.” His voice was serious, laden with things unspoken. He dipped his mouth to mine, his kiss slow and sensual. “Leda.”

“Less talking, more kissing,” I said against his mouth. My hands curled around the back of his neck, drawing him in closer. I’d never been happier to be alive.

He captured my hands, pinning my wrists to the mound of treasure. “Leda, this isn’t the time for this…”

“Coward,” I taunted. I arched beneath his steel grip, my breasts straining against my torn tank top.

His gaze dipped to my chest. “You fight dirty.”

I smirked at him. “Always.”

His mouth came down hard on mine. His kiss was rough, possessive. Desperate. Like I’d just returned from the dead, and he wasn’t ever letting go of me again. That was fine by me.

Magic flashed, engulfing us in white light. When the air cleared, we weren’t in the treasure room anymore. Nero, the mountain of treasure, and I had been transported into an open chamber even more grandiose.

Climbing roses curled up the tall, white columns that reached into the endless sky. Every thorn, every petal, every leaf was exactly where it should be—as though a master artist had painted the scene. The chamber had no ceiling, no walls. Blue skies and fluffy wisps of clouds lay beyond the columns.

Nero pushed himself off of me, then we stood, sliding a little as we descended the pile of gold, gems, and immortal artifacts. In front of us, seven steps led up to a platform where seven gorgeous people sat on seven gorgeous thrones. Their bodies glowed with ethereal light. I was staring into the faces of the gods.

Ronan, Lord of the Legion, looked down on us from his throne and declared, “Welcome to heaven.”