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“My sister is off limits. So proceed at your own peril.”

“That’s not fair,” he protested. “You didn’t threaten Colonel Sunstorm when he decided to pursue a romantic relationship with your sister Bella.”

“Because Harker doesn’t hit on every woman he sees.”

“Not every woman,” Alec replied. “I’m not hitting on you, boss.”

“Well, I am married.”

“I think he’s less concerned about your being married than he is about the person you’re married to,” Claudia told me.

“She’s not wrong.” Alec looked up. “I’m sure General Windstriker is watching us from wherever he is.”

The sky thundered again, as if in agreement. But it wasn’t Nero’s doing. Or at least I didn’t think it was.

“All right, enough fooling around, guys,” I chuckled. “Here’s the control room. Let’s get this no-running-water problem sorted. I haven’t had a shower in three days.”

“Ah, I was wondering what that smell was.” Alec winked at me.

“Ha. Ha.”

I stopped in front of a particularly boring cube-shaped building. Formed from raw, unpainted concrete, the cube looked only barely large enough to squeeze the four of us inside. A glowing layer of magic light, bright and blue, swirled across the building’s exterior, and when I reached for the door handle, it zapped me.

“I warned you that the control house is protected by some kind of magic barrier,” Alec said.

“Yeah, I know.” I shook out my tingling hand. “I was just getting a feel for how strong it is.”

“Strong,” he replied. “Five of us spent the better part of an hour hitting it with everything that we’ve got, and it didn’t so much as hiccup. That’s why I asked you to come, Leda. Angels can punch through anything.”

“Let’s hope you’re right.” I ran my hand over the blue glow, just barely scraping the surface of the spell. That elicited a growl from the barrier, as well as a burst of sparks. “Don’t be alarmed,” I told my comrades when they jumped back. “I have everything under control.”

“That would be a lot easier to believe if you weren’t called the Angel of Chaos,” Claudia commented, backing up even further.

I didn’t let her skepticism taint my confidence. I’d defeated far greater foes in my time at the Legion of Angels than a nameless, shapeless magic barrier.

“What methods did you already employ on this spell?” I asked Alec.

“Oh, the usual: explosives, corrosive potions, elemental bombardment…”

I tightened my hand into a fist and punched the barrier hard. The ground shook like I’d set off an earthquake, but the barrier didn’t budge.

“Yeah, we also tried punching the hell out of it,” Alec told me.

I punched it again anyway. Like Alec had said, angels could punch through anything. But instead of submitting to my authority, the stubborn sliver of magic punched back. The impact threw me clear across the street.

“Maybe we should call General Windstriker,” Claudia suggested as I extracted myself from the pile of broken boxes—and rotting banana peels.

“No,” I told her, striding back toward the barrier, doubly determined to kick its ass.

I could handle this. I was definitely not calling Nero to help me open a door, magic-locked or not. He’d never let me hear the end of it.

“I have an idea,” I declared.

Everyone took another step back.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, folks,” I grumbled, turning my cheek toward the barrier, close enough that I could feel my skin tingling, but not close enough that it caught on fire.

Behind me, Claudia whispered to Alec, “What is she doing?”