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Cadence set her hand over her heart. “We will serve the Legion as is befitting of an angel.”

“Oh, I know you will,” replied Nyx. “But because this is a delicate matter, especially concerning Dragonsire’s past, I’ve decided to do things differently. Lightbringer, your title will be the Angel of East Australia. And Dragonsire will be named the Angel of West Australia. But the two of you shall command the two territories together. That arrangement should smooth over any complaints.”

Nyx meant complaints from the other angels. Two angels had never before commanded any territory jointly. That was because angels didn’t share well with others. I didn’t think sharing would be a problem for Cadence and Damiel, though.

“It’s a pretty clever solution actually, Cadence and Damiel ruling together. Because she is legendary…” I winked at Damiel. “…and he is notorious.”

“Careful, Pandora. All these compliments will go to my head,” Damiel warned me.

“I’m not worried. Your head is already full of so much hot air that there isn’t even room for it to grow any bigger.”

Damiel howled with laughter.

Nyx scowled at me. “Fireswift was supposed to teach you to deal with other angels.” Her gaze snapped to Colonel Fireswift.

“I do know how to deal with other angels,” I said quickly, before Fireswift could complain about me. “But not all angels are the same. Damiel likes it when I tease him.”

“She’s not wrong.” Damiel’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

“So does Colonel Fireswift,” I added. “He’s just too proud to admit it.”

“I most certainly do not enjoy being teased,” Colonel Fireswift said with indignation.

I smiled. “Nice try, Colonel. But we can all see you blushing.”

Colonel Fireswift’s face had turned decidedly red, though it was more likely out of fury than anything else.

Damiel chuckled. Even Nero’s lips curled a little.

But Nyx was all business. “In any case, Pandora is correct.”

I perked up.

“About Dragonsire,” Nyx clarified. “But do stop poking Fireswift, or he might bite back.”

Jace cleared his throat, swallowing the laughter that he’d almost allowed to escape. He’d joined us for breakfast, and I was glad. As much fun as it was poking fun at his father, Jace was actually fun.

“From a PR perspective, Dragonsire cannot rule alone, even though he has been cleared of all wrongdoing. You have all accepted him…” Nyx glanced at Colonel Fireswift. “Most of you have accepted him.”

Colonel Fireswift looked like he’d sooner accept me as an angel than he would accept Damiel.

“But many of my other angels are not so welcoming of his return,” Nyx said. “And we cannot afford to be weighed down by in-fighting. Not now. And so Dragonsire will rule with Lightbringer. If anyone has a problem with that, they can sit out our war against the Guardians locked inside a Legion dungeon. Times are dangerous, and we’re short on angels. The Legion needs Dragonsire’s experience and magic.”

Nyx was explaining herself much more than usual and her temper was short. She must have already had this conversation many times already, with one angel after another. She did look particularly tired this morning. Her hair wasn’t swirling around in the air as weightlessly as usual.

“I don’t have a problem with Damiel,” I spoke up. “He makes the world’s best pancakes.”

Nyx laughed, which was exactly why I’d said it. I could tell that she’d really needed a good laugh.

“All right, back to business.” But most of the tension had gone out of her voice. “Where are we with Gaius Knight, Pandora?”

“Neither Arina nor I have had any luck contacting him or tuning back in to the visions the Vault was sending me,” I said. “We have no idea whether it was indeed the Guardians who interrupted our conversation with Gaius, nor whether they have taken him prisoner and now control the Vault. We only suppose that this has happened.”

“So you have no idea how much time we have until the Guardians unleash their plan to gain magic and make a move to steal your daughter?” she asked.

“No.”

And it made me sick to my stomach. That wasn’t just pregnancy hormones making me queasy. It was dread.