“W-What’s a daimon?” Gable asked.
“Quick and dirty explanation?” Deacon turned to him. “They used to be pures and halfs, and they became addicted to aether—that’s the substance inside of all of us that makes us who we are. Not good.”
His wild gaze flew back to the window. “Are there daimons outside now?”
Aiden laughed dryly. “If only we could be that lucky.”
Thunder cracked overhead, rattling the house, and yeah, that was a bad, bad sign. Especially when there was no lightning.
“And it doesn’t look like we’re going to get lucky,” Solos said with a sigh.
Gable looked up at the ceiling. “Is it going to storm?”
“Not the kind of storm California needs.” Alex flipped a dagger in her hand as she walked up to Aiden.
Kneeling by the bag, I pulled out a dagger and then a slender stake. I looked up. Josie stood there, hand out. My gaze connected with hers, and I looked away, jaw working. No doubt she was thinking about me. About what I’d done. I was no better than a fucking daimon. Just not as messy.
I handed her both of the weapons I held. “The slender one is dipped in Pegasus blood,” I reminded her.
She said nothing as she took the blade and then reached for the dagger. I held onto it, forcing her to meet my gaze.
“Are you ready to do this?” I asked. “There can be no hesitation. Something is coming, and whatever it is, we’re going to need to take it out. If you’re not ready, you need to hide.”
Her blue eyes darkened. “I’m ready.”
I hesitated for a moment and then let go. I grabbed the same weapons and then rose. Outside, the wind was picking up, and from the glass doors we could see the palm trees bending under the weight and force of the wind.
“What the hell is coming?” Deacon asked. “Storm?”
Luke laughed. “Again. As if we could get that lucky.”
I stayed close to Josie when she walked forward. She might want to stab me with one of those weapons, but my priority was her. In all honesty, I couldn’t give a fuck what went down with Gable at this point. My goal was to make sure that after whatever was coming our way, she was still standing.
Everyone else was on their own.
Like they were trained, a line was formed several feet back from the door, blocking Gable. Instinct had driven Josie to stand on Solos’s other side. She hadn’t been schooled in this kind of technique, how to form a line against an enemy. There hadn’t been enough time to drill years of training into her. I flanked her, fingers tense around each weapon.
Thunder boomed overhead, deafening as it shook the paintings on the walls. Somewhere in the house, something fell over and crashed. A loud crack followed, and a palm near the driveway broke in two.
Something stirred outside. My eyes narrowed as the wind continued to pick up in one area, near one of the SUVs. It spun and spun in a small area, like a mini-tornado.
“What . . . what is that?” Josie asked.
“Gable,” Aiden said, his voice level. “You need to hide right now. No matter what, you do not come out unless it’s—”
The cyclone shot forward, aiming straight for the doors. I prepared for it to come right through the glass, but it stopped before it connected, spinning in one spot. The cyclone was over seven feet tall and as wide as a person. I had a really bad feeling about what was inside that air mass.
“Um,” Deacon murmured.
A heartbeat of silence passed and then, clearly, the sound of the front door unlocking could be heard.
“What the . . . ?” Alex trailed off as the series of clicks stopped.
“Security systems fail,” I muttered.
The glass doors swung open and the cyclone shot inside. Wind whipped out as the cyclone slowed, unfolding until a figure became visible inside.
“This isn’t a friendly,” Solos said, stepping forward on his right leg as his arm cocked back. “No need to wait.” He let go of a dagger.
It flew through the air, hilt over blade, and went through the mini-tornado, embedding deep in the center. The moment it made contact, a rush of air burst out. A sonic boom knocked all of us back, like we were nothing but bowling pins.
I landed on my ass next to Josie. The Covenant dagger fell from her hand, skidding across the floor. She cursed, rolling onto her side as she scrambled toward it on her hands and knees.
“Really?” A deep voice boomed through the house, and I turned sharply. The tornado of doom was gone and in its place was a man. A very tall man with a head full of brown hair and shoulders bigger than Hercules’s. “You threw a dagger at me?” He tipped his head back and laughed as he reached down, grabbed the hilt, and then yanked the dagger out. He dropped it on the stone floor of the foyer. “This is going to be easier than I imagined.” Then he opened his eyes. They were all black.
The man before us was a Titan.
“Oh my gods,” Josie whispered as what appeared to be recognition flickered across her face as she sat up.
“It was mostly for fun,” Solos said, his hand tightening around the slender dagger. “Just wanted to see what it would do.”
The Titan tilted its head, expression perplexed. His skin, a mixture of many different pink shades, seemed to lighten and deepen in hue every couple of seconds.
“Which one are you?” I asked, rising to my feet. I slipped in front of Josie, who was now on her feet with her blade in hand. “Mo? Curly? Definitely not Larry, because he’d be pissing himself if he was in front of us right now.”
The Titan’s lip curled. “I am Atlas, Apollyon. I do not know these deities you speak of.”
“Atlas?” murmured Deacon. “Oh boy . . .”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke take the same protective stance in front of Deacon, and for once the pure-blood didn’t fight it.
Atlas’s sneer turned into a mocking grin. “You know who I am. All of you know who I am. And you know how this will end. Give me what I’ve come for and I will allow each of you to live. Deny me, and each of you will die.”
I sighed. “That’s so cliché.”
The Titan’s all-black gaze slid to me. “You may be the Apollyon and you may be surrounded by demigods, but you cannot defeat me. I am not Hyperion and—”
“I’m not just any demigod. I am the Hercules and you are—”
Atlas lifted his hand, and a second later Hercules was flying backward through the air. He slammed into the wall near the staircase, cracking the plaster. “You are nothing to me,” Atlas finished as Hercules hit the floor face-first.
“I’m kind of glad you shut him up,” Alex said, her body tensing. “But we kind of need him alive.”
“Why?” Atlas queried. “So he can continuously lead us to where the remaining demigods are? We knew you would leave. We can wait.”
Not surprising. They probably had shades near the University, waiting for us to come out. That was a risk we’d had to take and now we were paying the consequences.
Atlas sniffed the air as he stared at Alex. “You are a demigod, but your aether is not as pure. Not like the one cowering behind the staircase.” He paused, looking at Josie. “Or this one.”
“I’m not a snack,” Josie stated, and I smirked. “So stop looking at me like I’m dinner.”
“Oh, but dear, that’s exactly what you are.” Atlas smiled, and it was full-on creepy. “And the rest are completely expendable.”
Several things happened at once.
Atlas lifted his arm, fingers widespread. A rush of energy came across the room, aiming straight for Alex and Aiden. Both moved out of the way, spinning out to the sides before it connected. The Titan immediately shifted. The blast of energy cut over to Luke, tossing him up and back into Deacon.
Luke squeezed off several rounds from his Glock, but Atlas twisted and turned wicked fast, dodging each of the bullets. They smacked into the wall harmlessly, and then Atlas was in front of Aiden.
Dipping under Atlas’s arm, Aiden sprang up behi
nd him and spun, kicking out, but the Titan was unbelievably fast, more so than Hyperion. He swung back with his arm, catching Aiden across the chest, and up he went, ass over teacup.
And that pissed off Alex.
She rushed the Titan, launching off the ground a foot in front of him. She spun in the air, about to deliver a brutal spin kick.
It never connected.
Atlas twisted around again and caught her leg. He swung her like a damn baseball bat, throwing her right into Aiden as he regained his footing. They went down in a tumble of arms and legs.
“Holy balls,” muttered Solos.
“Fuck getting close.” Spinning around, I launched my Covenant dagger at Atlas’s head, mostly for a distraction. It worked. The Titan moved to avoid that as I summoned the element of fire. A ball of amber flames formed above my hand. I threw that like a baseball.
A burst of energy rippled from Josie. She’d tapped into fire a second after me, adding another burst of flames to the mix.
Atlas whirled on us. The flames fizzled out before they reached him, as if they had smacked into some kind of force field. “Don’t tire yourself out, girl. I’ve got big plans for you later.”
I did not like that.
Neither did Josie.
“Sorry. I’m busy later.” A burst of power rippled through the air, washing over my skin, and I could feel it inside me, beating at me to get free. A bolt of akasha left Josie in a brilliant blueish white bolt of energy. It slammed into Atlas’s shoulder, knocking him back a step.
“Ouch,” Atlas said, shaking his arm. “That wasn’t very nice.” He lifted his arm, and suddenly Josie was skidding across the stone floor, her arms wheeling as she tried to gain control of her body, but it was like an invisible hand was dragging her toward Atlas.
Cursing, I shot to the left and snagged her around the waist, throwing her to the floor and breaking the connection. I twisted, taking the brunt of the fall as we landed, her on top. I rolled before Atlas got the upper hand. My knees hit the ground between hers. Our eyes met for a fraction of a second, and then I was in the air. I braced myself for impact.
Hitting the table, I crashed through a potted plant. Soil flew in my face as wood broke under me. I caught myself before I ate stone, landing on my side. I looked up and saw Hercules.
He was on his feet, and he hauled ass across the foyer, his heavy footsteps rattling the table. Slamming his shoulder into the Titan, he tried to bring him down, but that didn’t work. Atlas wrapped massive arms around Hercules’s chest, lifted the demigod up in the air, and then slammed him into the floor, power-driving him down. Stone cracked under their weight.
Atlas rose, spreading his arms wide. “Who’s next?”
“Gods.” Solos whipped out his Glock and fired several rounds. Like before, the Titan dodged them and headed straight for the Sentinel. Solos tossed the Glock aside, bracing himself for hand-to-hand.
Aiden came out of nowhere, rushing the Titan from behind. He launched into the air and landed on Atlas, hooking his knees at Atlas’s hips. Aiden grabbed the Titan’s head and twisted sharply. The crack of bone breaking echoed through the room a second before Atlas reached around, grabbing hold of Aiden’s shirt. Atlas threw him over his shoulder, sending him flying through the air. Aiden crashed into the floor, rolling several feet before he came to a stop on his back.
“I could’ve told you that doesn’t work,” I said, clenching the poisoned blade, trying to figure out how to get close enough to Atlas to use it.
“Thanks,” Aiden groaned, rolling onto his side, “for the heads-up.”
Luke was the next to go down. He was tossed like a damn football after rushing Atlas. Deacon tapped into the fire element, drawing Atlas’s attention as Josie sent another bolt of akasha at him from the other side.
I ground down on my jaw, ignoring what felt like a slumbering giant waking up in my chest as I also tapped into akasha. Before I could let it go, Atlas smiled again as he lifted his arms. A high keening cry echoed from outside, and then black smoke poured into the house, breaking off into several streams. Shades.
Shades were everywhere.
“Holy crap,” Josie shrieked as one went straight for her. She dipped and spun around. Stumbling back into the wall, her wide eyes met mine. It was written on her face, how bad this was.
“Gods.” Alex hit the ground, narrowly avoiding one of them. “They smell like the River Styx.” Rolling onto her side, she used her legs to power back onto her feet. “So freaking gross.”
“Keep out of their grasp,” Aiden ordered, picking himself back up. “There’s nothing we can do about them.”
Josie darted to the left, scowling as one grabbed at her long hair. “We need a furie. Like, stat.”
Yeah, and like always, those bitches were nowhere to be found when you actually needed them.
It was chaotic, engaging with Atlas while avoiding the shades. One stream of black smoke grabbed hold of Deacon and lifted him all the way up to the ceiling, and that caught Luke and Aiden’s attention. They rushed across the atrium, and the tugging in my chest returned as Aiden sent a bolt of akasha at the shade. It dropped Deacon.
Right on top of them.
Atlas stalked across the atrium, heading for the stairwell. I shot in from the right. Beyond him, I saw Josie also heading for him. I wanted to warn her back, but we had the poisoned blades. He was halfway to the staircase when Solos came running up from behind Josie.
The Titan whipped around so fast that by the time any of us realized what he was doing, it was too late. He caught Solos by the arm with one hand and then hit him in the chest with the other—no, not hit. His hand went through Solos’s chest.
Josie screamed as blood sprayed out from Solos’s back.
I skidded to a halt, stunned as Atlas jerked his hand back. Red was everywhere, and in Atlas’s hand was something that belonged inside of Solos’s chest.
His heart.
Blood drained so quickly from Solos’s face as his legs crumpled under him. He folded like a piece of paper. Hit the floor and didn’t move. Down. Done. That was it.
“I am so done with this,” Atlas said, his hand closing around the organ, destroying it.
All of my restraint broke.
Rage tore through me, ripped me right open. I shouted, the sound echoing through the room, and out of the fury and the grief I reached out, throwing my arms out to the sides. I dropped the poisoned blade as the monster in my chest fully woke up. It recognized all the power in the room—in Alex and Aiden, in Hercules and even in Gable, but especially in Josie. It whispered to me to take. It dug in deep and demanded revenge and promised retribution.
I let the monster take over.
My lips moved and I spoke the words I’d heard before, words that would unlock the ultimate power—words that Alex spoke once before. I didn’t understand how this worked. I also didn’t care. “Θάρρος.”
Courage.
A shock rippled across my body, followed by a wealth of warmth. Determination poured into my chest.
“Δύναµη,” I said.
Strength.
Another jolt of power hit me, charging me up. The warmth turned to heat, invading my muscles, breaking them down and rebuilding them rapidly.
Someone shouted, a high-pitched scream. There was a yell, a rougher and heavier gasp.
I kept going as I stepped forward, through the shades circling Atlas. “Απόλυτη εξουσία.”
Absolute power.
Amber light radiated through the room. Screams pitched higher as every cell in my body hummed with power. Glyphs appeared on my skin, swirling fast. The shades flew backward, revealing a transfixed Atlas.
I finished it. “Αήττητο.”
Air punched out of my lungs as static charged the air around me. Cords of light appeared all over the room. One. Two. Then three and four. Five. Six. Seven. The bright luminous cords came from everywhere, slamming into my chest, knocking me back into the wall and then up in the air
. Inside of me, power shifted and pulsed. A fire lit me up, hot and cold all at once. Power filled every cell.
My feet were on the floor again, and my head was thrown back. Out of the corners of my eyes I saw bodies withering, but I focused on the source of my rage. Every sense became hyper aware. Vision sharp. The smell of burnt pizza mixed with the metallic tang of blood and the scent of sweat. I heard multiple inhales of breath.