I shook her hand. “Leda.”
“And I’m Drake. So lovely to meet you, Leda.” The man took my hand, kissing the top of it.
Ivy elbowed him in the side. “You’ll have to excuse Drake. He fancies himself a prince.”
“Or an angel?” I asked, arching my brows.
Drake grinned at me. “We all have to aim high.”
“First, we have to make it through the initiation ceremony,” said Ivy.
I dropped my voice. “What can you tell me about it?”
“No one knows.” Ivy smirked at the brats. “For all their flair and show, they don’t know any more than we do. Even though they pretend that they do. The Legion keeps everything super secret. Speaking of the rituals is strictly forbidden. Their parents wouldn’t tell them. The Legion treats information leaks like a virus.” She pounded her fist against her palm. “They annihilate them.”
“Why did you join?” I asked them.
“Drake and I have known each other for forever basically,” Ivy said. “Or at least since we were babies. Our mothers are best friends. They even gave birth on the same day. So Drake and I grew up as best friends. We’ve hardly ever been apart.” Her cheerful facade slipped. She teared up as she looked at her friend.
“What is it?” I asked.
Drake took Ivy’s hand. “Ivy’s mother is dying of cancer. There’s nothing any magic or medicine can do for her.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Ivy wiped the tears from her eyes and put on a brave smile. “Don’t be. It will soon be over either way.”
“The witches’ magic can’t help her, her pleas to the Legion for healing have gone unanswered, but if she can reach the seventh level of the Legion, she can save her mother with fairy magic,” Drake said.
“I only hope I survive and can make it to that level before the cancer kills her.”
“Why doesn’t your mother petition to be turned into a vampire?” I asked. “That would heal her.”
“Been there, done that,” said Ivy. “Or tried to anyway. The list to become a vampire is a mile long. The only way to make it to the top is to know someone on the inside.” She sighed. “Which we don’t. Oddly enough, the list to join the Legion is never long.”
Because they kept crossing names off of that list. When the initiates died. No, I couldn’t think like that. I had to believe I would make it. I was Zane’s only hope.
So I put on a smile and looked at Drake. “You’re a good friend to come with Ivy so she doesn’t have to do this alone.”
“Nah, I told you. I want to become an angel to get the ladies.” He laughed, but the way he was standing over Ivy’s shoulder spoke for itself. He would protect her with everything he had.
Ivy laughed. “Is that what you put on your application form?” she asked her friend.
“Of course.” He mussed up his short black hair with a smile. “It’s not like they ever reject anyone. They figure if you’re weak or crazy, you’ll end up dead and not be their problem anymore.”
“Why are you here?” Ivy asked me.
I liked Ivy and Drake, but I couldn’t tell them. The truth about Zane had to remain a secret. From everyone, friend or not.
“To stop rampaging supernaturals from hurting people,” I said.
Ivy laughed. “Good old number one. That answer has been written so many times into application forms that it’s practically stenciled into the clipboards. I can’t believe they actually believed you.”
“They didn’t,” I told her. “The guy who interviewed me basically told me I was full of shit.”
Drake snorted.
“Yeah, they like to cut through the crap here,” said Ivy.
Drake nodded in agreement. I was grateful that they didn’t pry any further into my reasons for being here. They seemed to understand that I didn’t want to share them.
“Still, Leda, you should tread carefully,” Drake warned me. “The Legion doesn’t like secrets. They demand our total obedience, secrets and all. If you provoke them, they will push harder.”
“So I guess it wasn’t a good idea to mouth off to the angel who interviewed me?” I commented.
Their mouths dropped.
“What? That bad?” I bit my lip. “I was nervous. When I get nervous, my mouth runs away with me.”
“An angel interviewed you?” Ivy said in obvious shock.
“Yeah.”
Drake was shaking his head in disbelief.
“Is that bad?”
“Well, it’s either very good or very bad,” Drake said. “But since this is the Legion, I’m going to go with very bad.”
“Why?”
“Because angels don’t interview initiates. Like ever,” he told me. “It’s beneath them. You must have done something to catch someone’s attention.”
“I didn’t do anything. I just filled out the form, then went to that room. Maybe I mouthed off a little, but that was after the angel came in. I was a model initiate before that.”
Ivy gave me a wry look.
I sighed. “Ok, maybe only ninety percent model initiate. I think we’re just blowing this out of proportion.” I hoped. I did not need to have the Legion watching my every move. “What did you two have to do for your interview?”
They looked confused.
“Uh, what?” Drake asked.