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18
Angelblood
The next day, when we arrived in New Orleans, Jace came up to the airship to greet us. He met us in the garden library.
“Colonel Pandora, Colonel Lightbringer,” he said, nodding to me and Cadence in turn.
I rushed forward and gave my friend a hug.
“Leda, I’m trying to uphold all due formalities,” he complained.
I stepped back, amused. “Oh, very well. Then you’ll want to meet my friends from Heaven’s Army.” I indicated the godly soldiers. “That’s Devlin, the team leader. Then we have Octavian, Arabelle, Punch, Patch, Theon, and I believe you’ve already met Stash.”
Jace bowed to them. “It is an honor.”
Octavian’s mouth twisted into a grin. “He’s a much better-behaved angel than you, Pandora.”
“You can go hang out with him instead if you want,” I told him.
“No,” replied Octavian. “I’m still waiting for things to get really disastrous here. We all know they will.”
“Patch and I have a wager going about the source of the disaster,” Punch said. “He thinks an unsavory character will try to crash the Angels’ Court. I, on the other hand, am betting on monsters attacking the airship. Maybe the ship will even explode.”
He looked far too excited by the prospect.
“I sure hope not,” I told him. “Nyx threatened to bill me directly if I blow up any more of the Legion’s property.”
Jace indicated the armed guards he’d brought with him. “I have brought twenty of my soldiers to guard this ship from unsavory characters, monsters, and explosions for the duration of your stay in my territory.”
I knew his offered soldiers weren’t just about my protection; they were also about keeping an eye on another angel in his territory. I had to hand it to Jace; he was a really great angel. He knew every greeting, upheld every formality. No wonder a few of the other angels had tried to turn him against me.
Jace then acknowledged Andromeda and Alice, going in order of rank. “Captain Singh.” Finally, he came to his mother. “Lieutenant Jones.”
Alice nodded back. “Lieutenant Colonel Angelblood.”
Jace did look happy to see his mother. A hint of that happiness broke through his cool and collected angelic facade
He gestured to his soldiers, who turned neatly on the spot, then went briskly off to their posts. Once they were gone, Jace’s shoulders relaxed a little. He didn’t need to put on a show for his subordinates anymore.
He joined his mother at the bar, asking enthusiastically about her health and her pregnancy. Seeing mother and son like this, I knew I had to act to preserve their perfect family.
“Could you give us a moment?” I said quietly to Cadence and Andromeda. “I want to speak to Jace and Alice.”
They looked curious, but they left.
“You guys too,” I told the soldiers from Heaven’s Army.
“We’re supposed to be protecting you,” Devlin protested.
“You can do that from outside the room.”
Devlin stood there for a moment. I thought he was going to argue, but then he left with the others. He must have realized I was right. Anyone who wanted to attack me would first have to go through that door—and through all of them.
I looked at Stash, the only one who’d stayed behind.
“I’m sticking to you like glue, sweetness. No one is going to hurt you.” He stared back at me, daring me to tell him to go.
I didn’t. Stash and I had been through a lot together, including the time he’d inadvertently tried to take over the world. Ironically enough, it was partly because of that incident that I trusted him completely.
