“But when it kicks off, Alexis, give it everything you’ve got.” Kieran covered my shoulder with his large hand, the heat of his touch grounding me. “The Demigods of Zeus can be some of the greatest war lords outside of Ares. They can handle some chaos, but there are very few who can efficiently maneuver in an absolute clusterfuck.”

“I can do clusterfuck,” I said, suddenly out of breath, adrenaline throbbing. “I can do clusterfuck better than most.”

“Yes, you can.” He squeezed my shoulder. “I love you.” He stayed with me for a moment longer, not even flinching when another thick bolt of lightning slammed down what must’ve been a hundred yards away, a distance I’d once thought respectable.

Kieran moved away, taking the lead again. Strings of lightning spiderwebbed through the clouds above, shedding light onto the world for an instant. The tree canopy flickered like a projector. Smoke curled up in the distance, barely seen through the trees. Thunder growled all around us, cutting out all other sound, making it impossible for us to communicate over it.

Jogging now, Jerry designing our route to get us around the Demigod’s team without being seen by them. We eventually cut back in, heading back toward the solitary soul whom Jerry had thought was backed up against a cliff and that was why he wasn’t moving on. And while there was a cliff face a ways behind him, that wasn’t keeping him here. As we got closer, more souls pinged onto my radar. Dylan was standing in front of six tightly clustered. I recognized two of them as the older woman and man from the café. Somehow they’d gotten mixed up in this mess, and Dylan was trying to make sure they didn’t go down with the ship.

My heart ached for him. He’d come here for a quiet, peaceful life, trying to get away from the pain and suffering of the magical world, but the magical world had come for him.

A shadowy figure stood in a clearing with others loosely gathered at her back and sides, facing the way in which we were quietly working. Light from above flickered on creamy skin and carrot-tinged hair. The woman had her hands out, palms facing each other, as though she were ready to clap. Something horrible would probably happen the moment she did.

I gritted my teeth as Kieran ducked between two hemlocks, Jerry after him, neither of them disturbing the reaching branches of needles. My band of zombies would crash through it, probably taking half the branches with them and making it rain pine cones or whatever else existed on that tree.

The rolling thunder cut off as though a switch had been flicked. I froze and forced the zombies to freeze with me, not an easy task when their normal operating procedure was to jerk and convulse. The lightning above dimmed. A woman’s voice rose into the uncomfortable silence.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Amell,” she said, her tone deep and commanding and brimming with arrogance. This whole situation was clearly a waste of her time. “I know about your past. It wasn’t pretty, and I understand why you’d run like a coward. But this isn’t the answer, living out here with Chesters like some wild mountain man of little status. This existence is beneath you. You were made to be great. You were made to be the right hand of a Zeus Demigod. I will make sure you find your rightful place.”

Dylan’s voice rang out. “What happens if I don’t want to take what you think is my rightful place? If I don’t want a job in the magical world at all?”

She laughed, the sound condescending and haughty. I balled my fists, doing everything in my power not to grab her soul.

Thane stared at me from five feet away. He jerked his head just a little, signaling for me to walk on.

“And waste a Zeus-given talent like yours? Ridiculous,” she spat. “But have no fear: you will want for nothing. I will make sure you can slowly acclimate to your new life. Your duties will be light. Your body will be your own.”

I shivered in disgust, thinking of the alternative.

“If you come peacefully, I will not hurt those repugnant Chesters,” she said, and her soul moved forward a few feet, indicating she was advancing on him. “They will be free to go.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Sadly, if you do not come quietly, there will be casualities. It cannot be helped.” She obviously meant she’d kill them out of spite. “You will lose, Amell, we both know that. You are a marvel, but I am a Demigod. You are no match for me.”

I took a step, and my foot crackled in the dried underbrush. I froze and grimaced, looking at the shadowy figure with the red hair, standing erect with her hands out, at the ready. She didn’t look back.

“How’d you hear about me?” Dylan—or was it Amell?—shouted. Thunder rolled overhead, and I jogged into the trees, branches slapping me in the face as I worked closer to Dylan. I made my zombies jog after Bria.

“That child of a Demigod isn’t as locked down as he thinks. He’s made enemies out of those he thinks are loyal, and enemies talk. He’s nothing. He’s already run from here like a little coward, in fact. He is no match for me. The descendants of all other gods bow before the line of mighty Zeus.”

I rolled my eyes. She was mighty hard to listen to.

Silence drifted through the scene, my senses saying it should be peaceful but for the ominous flickering of the lightning overhead and the expectation for violence pounding silently through the unsaid words.

My heart thumped as Thane slowed. He stepped back, motioning me on again. Dylan’s soul waited fifty feet away.

“Come out, Amell, don’t make me come in,” the Demigod demanded, losing her patience.

A bolt of lightning seared my eyes as it dropped down, smashing into a rock not far in front of where I knew Dylan waited. The boom of impact rattled my bones. I took a step back, my primal senses telling me to run, the zombies trying to break free.

Body shaking, ears ringing, I felt Thane’s strong hand on my arm. He escorted me past Boman and behind Red and Donovan looking out through the branches, and to a waiting Kieran at the front with Jerry just off to the side.

Instead of staying close to me like Kieran had directed, I was momentarily distracted as I felt Bria move in the opposite direction, through the ranks of zombies and beyond, out of my range. I looked back, but the trees obscured my vision. Where the hell was she going? Had Kieran changed her role in this?

Before I could inquire, I caught sight of the large cliff face Jerry had mentioned. Rough rock rising high into the sky, there was no way to climb it without serious supplies. A small shelf stuck out near the bottom, and around it were piled various-sized boulders and rocks, creating a small alcove. Within that alcove waited all six souls Dylan was clearly guarding.

“Come out, Amell. I won’t give you another chance,” the Demigod called.

Twenty feet in front of the alcove, hunkered down within a collection of trees and rocks, sat Dylan. If not for the placement of his darkened, smoldering soul, I would’ve missed him completely, so still was he within the branches and immobile rocks. With a start, I realized that the plane of his face was pointed directly at me. Although we’d been careful not to attract attention, sneaking up from the side, he knew we’d come.

I hoped he didn’t mistake us for the enemy, because we had nowhere to hide.

“Don’t I get to the count of ten?” Dylan called, and something had changed in his tone. His soul throbbed, a flash of beautiful brightness, before reducing back to smoldering ash.