Page 28 of Living Legend

“You underestimate yourself, you know,” he noted, slightly under his breath. “I’ll give credit where it’s due.” I glanced over at him, my eyes skeptical.“You hold your sword with hesitation but given the right motivation, you could be a force.”

I smiled. “I’malreadya force, Nicholas. I don’t need swords to prove that.”

I didn’t say anything after that, but I knew he’d looked over at me. He’d realized he was looking too long and ducked his head down to look at his shoes.

“I’m literally going to fucking kill you!” I heard Reese shout from above. I looked up to see them circling each other, Elise trying to find a good angle to attack, while Reese stabbed towards her as he weaved around her sword.

“Reese, I told you to stop with the whole stabbing motion! That’s not how this works!” Nicholas shouted.

“Tell her that!” Reese spat back, continuing his sparring match.

Nicholas extracted his wings and pushed upwards into the air. He flew between them, dodging Elise’s blows and yanking the sword from her hand. I stifled a giggle as I looked out the window. Messenger angels were flying around, doing twirls and free fall drops at the tree lines just to soar upwards with silken ease.

Oh, now I have an idea.

“You said you had an idea? What is it?” Nicholas asked, leaning against the wall of the briefing room. I had pulled him to the side after Reese and Elise landed in one piece and showed no signs of lunging for each other. I told him I wanted a more secure place to speak about it; training rooms aside, I thought our companions had been confined to this room for longer than necessary. He had looked skeptical at my request, but he’d decided to hear me out.

“Someone would have to know how the portals operated to be able to destroy them, right?” I asked, casting my eyes on each of them. Nicholas crossed his arms over his chest and sighed, nodding his answer.

“Natalia knows all about them, but she had nothing to do with this. That’s information we are already aware of,” Nicholas answered, exhaustion lacing his voice.

I shook my head. “No, not Natalia. She may have created these new and improved portals, but she doesn’t use them. She doesn’t need to with the magic she has.”

“Your point?” Elise turned a chair around and sat down, leaning back.

“Maybe the issue isn’t making them, but who can use them. It at least could be a clue.”

Nicholas scratched his chin. “You think someone who has access to the portals knows who is threatening to destroy them? Who is sending demons through them?”

I tilted my head from left to right. “Maybe. At the very least, it might be a lead to the bigger picture. Natalia did say it was more than one being trying to wear the portal down.”

“Who do you suggest we interrogate for this information, huh?” Reese questioned.

I bit my lip, knowing they weren’t going to be thrilled. “There are only a few angels who have access to portals, and even fewer who have access to Purgatory or Hell.” I looked at both Nicholas and Reese, watching as their eyebrows began to draw up in realization. “Being down there means a higher chance of running into demons and…her, making them more susceptible to pretty much the unimaginable.” I made my voice low and sharp when I spoke of Lilith. “The only angels I know who can go in and out without supervision are messengers, right?”

Reese laughed, holding his stomach. “Sure, but you honestly think a messenger has something to do with this?”

“It’s just an observation.”

“It sounds like you’re trying to suggest angels haveanythingto do with this.”

I stood my ground, unintimidated. “That’s not what I said. I don’t appreciate the twisting of my words.”

“It sounds like you’re insinuating demons haveeverythingto do with this, Blondie,” Elise said nonchalantly from her chair.

Reese rolled his eyes. “Isn’t that obvious?”

“Just like an angel to assume they aren’t at fault,” Elise argued, shaking her head and pouncing up. “You all think you walk on fucking water. It’s pathetic how righteous you can be.”

“I’m sorry for assuming your kind would have anything to do with the fact that one of your own just walked through a fucking portal into Heaven’s Gate like it’s normal,” Reese argued, not even looking at her.

Elise pulled her fingers tightly into a fist at her side. “Would you like for me to blast you into a wall again? I seem to remember enjoying it an hour ago.” Reese blew steam out of his nose at her words.

“Everybody shut the fuck up, please, for the love of all that’s ethereal!” Nicholas shouted, holding his hands up at them. He turned to me, his eyes focused. “It does make sense for messengers to be your first thought, but there are a few flaws in your idea.” The sweat from our sparring match was completely gone from his face, but his skin still looked dewy. “Messengers don’t have the authority to bring demons through portals. Only executives and a select few sentries have the privilege.” He placed his hands on the back of one of the chairs.

Reese pointed at his friend, wiggling his index finger. “Makes perfect sense to me.”

“Doesn’t mean they couldn’t have some type of role in all this, malicious or not,” I retorted, causing Reese to narrow his hazel eyes at me.

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