“Just wait until you consent to taking those cats around with you,” Harding murmured, finally looking away. “You’ll take strange to a whole new level. Death on a pale horse is for losers—give me a cat lady in her pajamas any day. You can ride next to Poseidon’s Demigod on his goldfish steed.”

Bria crossed her arms and looked strangely uncomfortable, and since she couldn’t hear Harding, I wondered what she was reacting to.

Amber and Donovan cut toward us before I could ask, though, through the trees, moving fast. Clouds built on the horizon, flashes of light interrupting the boiling dark mass. A peal of distant thunder rolled through the sky.

“Someone is making a move,” I said, standing. Kieran and the others moved my way. Expectancy fell over our group.

The fire within me, kept contained all day, emerged with a roar, filling me to bursting.

I cracked my muscles and pulled power from the Line. “It’s time to see what Zeus’s people are really made of.”

17

Alexis

“She’s got dogs looking for him,” Amber said as she ran toward us, out of breath. Kieran had just come around the cabin.

Donovan had sweat running down his face, clearly in worse shape than Amber. “She’s trying to flush him out. Demigods of Zeus can sense their kind, just like the Lightning Rod. She’s on horseback following the dogs. All she has to do is get close.”

“He’s moving.” Jerry braced his hands on his hips. “He’s left the rock chair I made and moving out of my range. I need to head that way to get traction on him again. There are over two dozen others that I can feel, too, moving slowly. They don’t seem to be disturbing many rocks. They must be on the hunt.”

“Can you feel if people are magical or not?” I asked. Jerry shook his head.

“She’ll use townspeople,” Kieran said, ducking into the cabin before reemerging with a leather vest to match the leather chaps he was already wearing. He was preparing for fire. “If they die in the crossfire, she’ll shower the town in money while talking about their bravery in bringing a dangerous magical person to justice. This town is tiny, not influential, and the people here already hate magic—their lives mean nothing to her.”

“Or she can blame everything on us and wash her hands of it,” Amber said. Kieran nodded his agreement.

“They mean something to Dylan,” I said, remembering his bright soul when he was around them. Remembering how warmly the woman and man in that café had greeted him.

“He’ll play the Zeus hero card if those he favors are in harm’s way,” Amber said.

“He’ll light this mountain up,” Thane said, gathered with everyone else.

I felt Jack sectioning the spirits off into groups. The stronger ones were organizing into lines, while the others gathered into a cluster out of the way.

“We’re going to have to stay fluid out there.” Kieran crossed the group and exited the other side, seeking open space. Confidence and determination surged through the soul link. “We’ll be running over rough terrain, and we’ll be playing for keeps. They will not hesitate to put you into the ground. Get them first. Do not kill innocents if you can help it, however. Keep this a magical fight wherever possible. Now that Dylan is on the move, it’s only a matter of time before he’s discovered. The second we can extract him, we will. Got it? Our goal is to join forces with him.”

Everyone nodded or murmured their assent.

“We’re outnumbered, but that’s nothing new,” Kieran continued. “Alexis and Bria will load up the cadavers right after this. Everyone else will get into their battle gear. When we’re all ready, we’ll head off together, led by Jerry and myself. Bria and Red, stay near Alexis. I won’t be able to feel your positions, but she will. If one of you does something that looks shady, I have faith that Alexis will happily turn you into another cadaver. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” Red said without hesitation. Bria hooked a thumb into her pocket. Kieran looked at her hard for a moment.

After a moment he continued. “Thane, you’ll fight with steel until I say otherwise. After that, you will go Berserk. You will be aiming away from the town before you change form. You know the drill.”

Fire lit Kieran’s eyes as he surveyed all of us, his large shoulders squared, his posture powerful. Although he stood in the wilderness with only a handful of his people around him, his aura of unblinking authority said he could’ve been standing in front of a golden throne speaking to the masses.

Confidence wound within me, shared through the soul link, bolstering my spirits. This situation wasn’t new, anymore. Loading up cadavers and marching into danger wasn’t an unknown experience. The terrain had changed, but the people I fought with remained the same. We had something Flora couldn’t dream of—love and loyalty for one another. This tight unit fought for one another more than we fought for ourselves. We were stronger because of it. Even Jack, who had taken a fall, had insisted on joining us. He planned on taking a body for the first time since he’d lost his life.

“That Demigod of Zeus has no idea the hornets’ nest she has kicked,” I said softly, fire eating through my middle. “This will be the last time she tries to roll up on us, throwing her weight around.”

A grin pulled at Thane’s lips. Zorn shifted his weight, nodding slightly. Donovan outright laughed.

“Get it, girl!” he said, and clapped. “Show that ol’ Demigod of Zeus how gross Hades can be.”

“Way to ruin a good thing, Donovan,” Jerry said quietly, looking away with a small grin.

I laughed and hurried toward the spirits, now completely organized and staying in their formations.

“Bria, a word,” Kieran said behind me, his tone hard and rough. “I’ll send her to you when I’m done, Alexis.”

I frowned at him, not sure what that was about, but turned and hurried toward those spirits. Kieran was an excellent battle commander—he saw things in people they sometimes didn’t even see in themselves. He was probably warning Bria not to step out of line during this battle or risk lightning crashing down on her. It was a good warning.

Nervousness stole my breath as I reached the small clearing. Jack greeted me with a resolute nod.

“How terrible is this going to be?” he asked.

I looked at the bodies tied on the backs of two small flatbed trailers Bria and Jerry had towed through the trails on four wheelers. They looked somewhat fresh, with mostly no missing parts or obvious rot.

“Not as terrible as it could be,” I answered, and Chad, standing directly behind Jack, shook his head. He clearly didn’t agree. He probably always thought it was terrible. “Okay, everyone, buckle up. I’ll slap you in and shove you off. We’re about to wage a battle with lightning.”

An hour later, the clouds were thundering overhead, flashes of light streaking the sky between them. The moon only rained down in small patches, just enough for us to see.

When Bria and I returned to the cabin, Kieran and crew were waiting for us in the front yard, most of them having donned the leather vests and chaps. Mordecai waited with them in wolf form, but Daisy sat in the lone chair off to the side.