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“Love you too.” I tilted my head back and gave him a wink. “So how shall we do this?”

“Pandora, I’d love to have you join us, but you seem to have forgotten something.”

“Oh, I didn’t forget to put on underwear. That was on purpose.” I wiggled my eyebrows at him.

Nero snorted. “No, not the underwear.” His voice dropped to a deep, rumbling caress when he added, “Though thanks for that.” He slid the last of the magic metal rings into his pack. “I was actually referring to the meeting you have with your assistant in under an hour regarding the ongoing office renovations.”

I blinked. “Wait, how do you know my schedule better than I do?”

One eyebrow curved upward at me. “Do you even need to ask that question?”

Not really. Nero was way more organized than I was.

“The builders are awaiting your next instructions,” Nero reminded me when I didn’t say anything.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I know.”

It all sounded so small—so pedestrian—compared to stealing an immortal artifact from Zarion in order to prevent a war.

Nero’s backpack was full, so I handed him mine. “I guess you need this more than I do.”

“The Legion’s building renovations are important.” He tried to sound excited, but I could tell he felt sorry for me.

“Yeah, they’re important. And boring. But I suppose someone has to see to them.” I squared my shoulders and put on my ‘determined’ face. “Any chance you could open a portal for me back to Purgatory?”

“Wait.”

I turned at the sound of Cadence’s voice.

“Before you go, we need to tell you both something.” She glanced at Damiel. “We have big news to share with you.”

I broke out a smile. “Well, that certainly sounds ominous.”

“Not ominous,” said Damiel. “But important.”

“Any idea what they’re talking about?” I asked Nero.

“No.” He watched his parents, his face blank.

“Well, then I’ll just go out and say it.” Cadence inhaled sharply. “This is our final mission. We are leaving the Legion of Angels.”

“Oh.” I frowned. “That was not what I’d expected.”

“What were you expecting?” she asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe that Nero would have another baby brother or sister soon.”

“You thought I was pregnant? Again?” Cadence appeared taken aback.

“No, not really. At least not until you started talking about your ‘big news’.”

“Angels are lucky to conceive once a century,” Damiel told me.

“Right, so Cadence being pregnant would certainly qualify as ‘big news’, wouldn’t it?” I pointed out.

“Yes,” Cadence agreed.

“So you are pregnant? And that’s why you’re leaving the Legion of Angels?”