‘Be careful.’
I scratched under his chin and kissed his snoot. “Always am.”
Outside, the courtyard buzzed with activity. At least a dozen shield teams were loading into transport vehicles, several sleek black SUVs with the Assembly insignia on the doors. Director Waverly stood in the center, clipboard in hand, coordinating the chaos.
The Nightfall Shield was already waiting by our assigned vehicle, looking lethal. Percy was checking his comm unit, Aiden was inspecting his blades, Eris was adjusting the fit of his reinforced gloves, and Draco was scanning a digital map of Philadelphia.
“There she is,” a familiar voice called. Tye jogged over, also dressed for combat. “You’re with Sunbreak too?”
I blinked in surprise. “You’re coming?”
He grinned. “We’re being deployed as support teams. Lydia’s with the Dreadwatch.”
I spotted her across the courtyard, standing close to Rafe. She caught my eye and gave me a thumbs up.
“We’re gonna kick some bane ass today.” Tye swept me up in a hug that pulled me off my feet, and I laughed despite the raging exhaustion. But then, through the bond, I was hit with a spike of intense rage.
“You better set me down before my shield tears you a new asshole, Tye…”
He looked over my shoulder and laughed. He set me down and I followed his line of sight to where all four men stood watching us with varying degrees of loathing directed right at Tye.
“Black,” Director Waverly approached. “A word.”
I followed her a few paces away from the others, though I knew the Nightfall Shield was watching closely.
“This deployment is as much a test as it is a mission. The Assembly wants to see how your bond functions in the field. But more importantly, they want to see whatyoucan do.” I gave her a bland look. “Your portal capabilities,” she clarified. “They believe you might be able to seal incursion points permanently, not just temporarily like other zodiacs.”
I stared at her. “That’s... I’ve never tried anything like that.”
“Which is why you’ll be shadowing Sunbreak. Their axis, Cassandra, has the strongest abilities of any active shield, except for you, potentially.” She handed me a small device. “This will help you track the energy signatures of the incursion points.”
Before I could ask more questions, she was already moving on to the next team. I rejoined the Nightfall Shield.
“What was that about?” Percy asked.
I tucked the device into my pocket. “They want me to try sealing portals.”
All four of them stared at me.
“That’s impossible,” Aiden said. “No one can permanently seal a bane portal.”
“Apparently I might be able to,” I replied, not feeling nearly as confident as I tried to sound.
Our conversation was cut short by the arrival of the Sunbreak Shield—five warriors in their late thirties, each radiating the kind of confidence that only comes from years of successful field operations. Their axis, a tall woman with close-cropped blonde hair, stepped forward.
“Nightfall,” she greeted with a nod. “I’m Cassandra. This is my shield.” She gestured to the others, a burly man with a beard, twin women with identical red hair, and a slender handsome man with dark hair.
Cassandra extended a hand to me. “You must be Jupiter.”
I shook her hand. “That’s me.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you. The Assembly has been talking about nothing else for weeks.”
“Great,” I muttered.
She clapped her hands once. “Let’s move. We can do introductions on the way.”
The ride to Philadelphia took just under an hour, during which the Sunbreak Shield briefed us on the situation. Multiple bane incursions had been detected across the city, small atfirst but growing stronger over the past week. Humans couldn’t see the bane, of course, but they were feeling the effects like increased fatigue, unexplained illnesses and a general sense of dread.
