And I needed to find a way to fill several pages with text. I didn’t have anything to tell Harker. I had no clue what Angel Fever was, no clue how it had started, and no clue how it was spreading. On top of all that, I also had no clue how to stop it. How the hell was I going to expand that to five pages? I was definitely going to need a really big font.
One thing I did know was the infection was spreading. And if supernaturals were purposely putting themselves in its path, soon Angel Fever was going to get out of control. If we didn’t have a cure before then, more people were going to die.
19 Angel Fever
I woke up early to run the next morning. Two hours later, I still didn’t have any new ideas. My bug in the Sea King’s office hadn’t yielded anything more interesting than a planning session he’d held late last night to organize New York City’s annual Water and Ice Ball. The meeting had included a whole lot of tabletop decorations and menu options—but no deep, dark secrets. I was this close to bugging the office of every supernatural leader in the city.
I poked my scrambled eggs in frustration. I was eating breakfast alone this morning. The breakfast rush hadn’t yet started.
“Leda.” Harker sat down opposite me.
“Good morning,” I said brightly. My foster mother Calli had always told me to start off each morning with a smile.
Harker wasn’t smiling.
“Well, don’t you look cheerful this morning?” I commented. “What’s wrong? Didn’t you get enough sleep?”
“I read your report before bed.”
“That explains it,” I said seriously. “Did my vivid descriptions of the battles give you nightmares?”
“Your report was colorful.”
“I aim to please.”
“Colorful but without substance,” he continued. “It read like a teenage soap opera.”
“That’s what it was in that meeting hall with those supernatural leaders. It’s like high school. No, that’s too mature for them. It’s like a freaking kindergarten.”
“Fix this,” Harker told me. “Use that creative, out-of-the-box thinking you’re famous for.”
More like infamous. The Legion was very much in the box—in their box.
Harker stood, repeating, “Fix this.”
As he walked away, Ivy and Drake sat down beside me. They weren’t holding hands or kissing. They were acting like they were still in denial—in other words, the new status quo for them. It seemed nothing had happened after I’d left them last night. I was going to have to resort to extreme measures.
Except I didn’t have room in my brain right now for romantic schemes. It was already overloaded trying to figure out Angel Fever. Yep, Marina had been right. The name was spreading fast. And I’d been right too. The angels didn’t approve of the term. They didn’t appreciate being compared to wild, out-of-control supernaturals.
“How is Charlotte?” I asked Ivy.
“Our witchy guest eventually fell asleep this morning. We gave her a strong sedative to keep her that way. It’s worked so far.”
“Nerissa must be happy. She said the witch’s banging against the barrier was driving her crazy.”
“It was driving us all crazy,” said Ivy. “You could hear it across the whole floor.”
“We could even hear it in the gym last night for target practice with Alec,” Drake added. “It’s louder than gunfire. That’s just not natural.”
“Where is Nerissa now?” I asked.
“In her lab. She kicked me out again. Said I was distracting her by breathing or something. But she’s still testing Charlotte’s blood. She’s determined to find something.”
I grabbed Ivy’s arm and looked it up and down. “At least she didn’t give you Dragon Pox.”
“She still might.”
Drake rose from his seat. “See you later, ladies. I have to go change for a mission.”
“You already have a mission: working for me,” I told him.
“Sorry, Leda. Harker’s orders. He says it’s your job to grill the city’s supernatural leaders. He’s sending a bunch of us in teams of two to scour the city, looking for wild supernaturals. We’re bringing along Magitech traps.”
I poked my eggs again. “Well, at least he listened to my idea.”
“I figured it was your idea. Those generators aren’t exactly portable. I guess that’s why no one else thought of using them as traps. But we managed to make them portable. Somewhat.”
“Ah, you’re carrying them. You’re the muscle,” I realized.
“You know I am,” he replied, grinning. “But those generators are so heavy it takes two of us to carry one. Alec and I are one of the teams.”
“Have fun.”
“You know I will.”
Ivy caught his hand as he stepped back. She met his eyes. “Be careful.” When she realized she was holding his hand, she hastily dropped it.
Drake gave her a smile and left.
I smirked at Ivy.
“What?” she asked me.
“You two sure are acting strange this morning,” I told her.
“No, we’re not.” Her voice broke. “Not at all.”
“Ok.” I went back to eating my eggs.
“There’s nothing strange going on,” she insisted.
“I said ok.”
“Your lips say ok, but your eyes say something else.”
I shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a complicated person.”
“I’m not going to argue with that. And speaking of complicated, your angel is coming this way.”
I turned in my seat. Sure enough, Nero was heading straight for me.
“Hello, stranger,” I greeted him as he stopped beside our table.
“I need to speak to you.”
“Ok. Sure.”
“Come with me.”
I stood up, dropping off my tray on the way out of the canteen. We walked the halls in silence.
“I know you’re feeling lost, not being familiar with the players in the supernatural community,” he finally said.
“They’re certainly a lot to take.”
“I did this for years. Getting them to behave is a challenge. How are they acting?”
“Petty,” I replied.
“They are always petty. What else? Are they scared? Excited?”
“The Sea King is definitely worried about something. Something he doesn’t want the other elemental clans to find out about.”
“How do you know?” he asked.
I folded my arms across my chest and smiled. “A magician never reveals her secrets.”
He stared at me for a moment, then declared, “You bugged his office, didn’t you?”
My smile turned upside down. “How did you know?”
“I know you better than you think.”
Magic swept across my body, tingling my senses. I couldn’t tell if it was his magic or mine.
“What else?” Nero asked me.
“The vampires have been trading insults with the witches. The elementals have been trading insults with one another. And Stash doesn’t seem to know anything. The shifters obviously just sent him because they had to send someone. He tries to make the others get along, but there’s no hope of that.” I paused. “And I hear news has gotten out to the general public about Angel Fever.”
“You shouldn’t use that name,” he said sternly.
“I actually kind of like it. Angel Fever.” I let the words roll off my tongue. “I was wondering if I could catch it.”
He stopped walking. “Pandora, you already have.”
I felt something strange, a hot breath whispering his words across my skin. I realized it was him. His magic. And he wasn’t referring to the contagion. He was talking about a different kind of Angel Fever.
I leaned in to him, speaking against his lips, “You know, I think you’re right.” I looped my arms over his shoulders. My fingers stroked through his hair, hair almost as soft as his feathers.
He captured my hands in his and gave me a hard look. “What do you want?”