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27

Calamity

Ok, so technically the Silver Shore didn’t have any monsters. Something about the place repelled them. It was, however, smack dab in the middle of the Black Forest, a region of many little forests, all of which were completely overrun with monsters. I’d recently paid the area a visit. Truth be told, I hadn’t looked forward to returning any time soon. Or ever.

I’d also well, accidentally, lost the last airship the Legion had given me not far from the Silver Shore, due to the aforementioned monsters. So I wasn’t surprised that Nyx was watching me with a wary eye as the airship trudged along toward its destination. The Silver Shore was all the way across the ocean in Europe. This journey would be a long one, especially with Nyx glaring at me.

“It wasn’t my fault,” I said to the First Angel, for what seemed like the millionth time.

We were alone in the garden library tonight. All of the other soldiers were busy, and Arina had finally had the good sense to lie down and take a nap.

“Not your fault.” Nyx shook her head very slowly. “So you say.”

Angels had short tempers but long memories.

“Monsters attacked that airship,” I told her. “Lots and lots of monsters.”

“You also crashed an airship only a month after you joined the Legion.”

“That wasn’t me,” I protested. “A bunch of crazy, vengeful shifters set off bombs all over the airship.”

Nyx was clearly not impressed by my defense. “In fact, you’ve crashed every airship you’ve ever been on.”

“That’s not true. I didn’t crash the one Nero and I once took to Purgatory.”

“If you’re referring to the time you and Windstriker went rogue and snuck off to the Lost City, Pandora, you aren’t helping your case.”

I didn’t know I was on trial.

“Well, it all worked out in the end,” I said with a smile and a shrug.

Nyx shook her head in exasperation, then walked out of the room, leaving me alone in the garden library. I was pretty sure Nyx’s exasperation had as much to do with her being stuck here as it did with my apparent talent for crashing airships.

With no one to talk to, I returned to my knitting. Since I wasn’t allowed to rush into dangerous situations—or do anything particularly athletic right now—I’d decided I needed a new hobby. Something safe. Something that came with the Legion’s stamp of approval for expecting angels.

I’d have chosen bantering, but that wasn’t necessarily safe, particularly if my opponent didn’t like what I had to say. Also, bantering wasn’t something I could do alone. There wasn’t always someone around, especially at this hour. I glanced at the clock. It was two in the morning local time, but my mind was too busy to sleep right now.

Stash was waiting in the hall, just outside the room. He was keeping true to his promise to guard me. I could have bantered with him, but he’d been rather quiet lately. He slept even less than I did.

So with bantering off the table, I’d picked knitting as my hobby. A mother really should know how to knit. I’d once read that in a book.

There was a rustle of movement beyond the potted plants.

“That’s lovely, dear.”

I looked up from my knitting as Grace sat down beside me on the sofa.

“What is it going to be when it’s finished?” She glanced down at my knitting project.

“I’m not sure yet. Maybe a onesie. Or a baby bootie.”

There was another rustle of movement.

“Those are two completely different things,” Faris said, sitting down on my other side. “You can’t just start knitting randomly and then decide what it is when you’re done.”

I kept knitting, determined not to let his sour mood ruin my project. “Why not?”

“Because that’s not how things are done,” he said sternly. “Plans must be made. And followed.”