“Must we play these games?” the Demigod answered.

Kieran gave a thumbs-up. Nothing happened for a moment, but then I caught Dylan flashing a handsome smile in the flickering light from above. He mimicked Kieran’s gesture.

Kieran countered with five fingers, counted them down, and then made a fist. I wasn’t sure what he was trying to relay, but Dylan seemed to understand, giving Kieran another thumbs-up.

“It’s on,” Kieran said, turning to me. “Time is ticking. Cause havoc, Alexis. Bring out the big guns.”

“When? Now?” I asked, putting my hands out like I was bracing for something. Truth was that I fell into a momentary slide toward terror. He was turning me loose? Did he know how easily I could mess everything up?

“Go—”

“Sure, if you want,” Flora said, and a dirty, frayed lightning bolt lit up the sky. When my ears stopped ringing, I barely heard, “One.”

“—go, go, go!” Kieran’s hand was at my back, urging me on.

I hurried in the direction of the zombies, expecting to feel Bria pop into my radar, for her to be with them and waiting for me. As I neared, though, she was still nowhere to be felt or seen. It was like she’d slinked away when she thought I’d be distracted.

Confusion stole over me. That wasn’t like her. There had never been a battle where she wasn’t in the thick of it with me. If Kieran had told her to be somewhere else, if it wasn’t on the front line, she would’ve gone against his wishes by now. She didn’t have a blood oath—he couldn’t control her. Not now, not ever. Her slipping away right when things were getting hairy wasn’t her MO.

Flora’s words seemed to echo in my head.

He’s made enemies out of those he thinks are loyal, and enemies talk.

18

Kieran

Kieran watched Alexis hurry away, her face screwed up in terror. The fireworks were about to begin, and she would send this whole place scrambling in a way no one else could.

“Wait for it,” Kieran said to Jerry, putting his hand on the giant’s shoulder. “What she did on the mountain was nothing. Wait for…”

He paused as a flash of power rolled through his flesh and bone. The lightning cracked down, this bolt a little closer to Dylan than the last. Great god of the sea, the Demigod of Zeus had some mighty power with that lightning. It felt like it was drawn directly from the heavens and aimed together with Mother Nature herself. The spectacle set him on edge.

Then again, dealing with a Demigod of Hades, cloaked in invisibility, had been terrifying in its own way. He’d gotten used to that. He could get used to this.

“Wait for her signal,” Kieran continued, “walk away from us so we don’t get blasted with you, and then turn this mountain into your playground.” He held up a finger. “If you can lock those non-magicals into a stone safe room a Berserker can’t break through, I’d be grateful. One thing, though…”

The next flash and boom were a little closer to Dylan, the countdown its own warning. Dylan watched Kieran, not moving, not even showing concern. The descendants of Zeus did arrogant indifference in their sleep.

“If you think Demigod Flora will force you to shift back—”

“She can’t force me to do shit,” Jerry said, his voice a deep growl. “What’s the signal?”

“Absolute chaos. You won’t be able to miss it. ”

Jerry grunted and stepped forward, moving deeper into the trees, his skin mottling as he did so, turning to stone.

It had been damn lucky getting that giant. He’d made things ten times easier than Kieran could’ve imagined. No wonder he’d been so sought after.

“Thane, the second you think Flora might regain control of the situation, go Berserk.”

Thane nodded and jogged back through the trees. He’d find a trajectory that set him directly against the enemy, ensuring he didn’t get distracted by his own people.

“Boman, bend your light around yourself and Alexis to keep both of you hidden. Alexis can work through the haze. Spirit will help her see.”

Boman nodded and took off.

“Donovan.” Kieran paused for the next flash and explosion of lightning. Electricity built in the air and sizzled across his skin. Dylan was preparing to act, Kieran would bet his life on it. Hopefully the guy didn’t try to take Kieran out with the other Demigod. He seemed smarter than to try, but a cornered man was a desperate man, and Kieran didn’t totally trust him. “Stay with me. You might need to rip me out of the way of lightning. Flora’s lightning is powerful enough to punch down multiple feet into water before it spreads out. I might not have feet, especially not at first. Shove or yank me out of the way. Whatever it takes.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Zorn—” Kieran paused again for the lightning. Dylan kept his eyes on Kieran. They needed to start soon. Zorn waited patiently for his instructions—his magic was incredibly useful and didn’t get the credit it deserved. Had he been nobility and able to grant wishes, his magic would’ve been as sought after as Alexis’s. “Take out as many as you can. I doubt they’ve dealt with someone like you. Keep out of sight until you need to strike, and then kill them as fast as possible. Getting hit with lightning will kill you in your gaseous form, too.”

He nodded without comment.

“And Zorn, if she forces you to change—”

“She won’t.” Zorn curled his lip and pulled out a precision knife. His body blinked out, shifting into his gaseous state, only visible if you knew the signs, which most people did not.

A clap of thunder from the side made Kieran flinch. No lightning followed. Flora had a Thunder Clapper, annoying but not much else. It wouldn’t compare to what Dylan could do.

A cut-off scream made Kieran’s small hairs stand on end. The next scream crawled up his spine and turned his blood ice cold. A ball of white light flew into the sky and exploded, sending out fissures of electric shock. Alexis was messing with someone’s soul, and the feeling of it was sending them into hysteria. It never got easier to hear. It would never be easy to beat. The love of his life was a fucking boss on the battlefield.

Thunder clapped in a constant stream, the sound echoing off the cliff face, the originator running through the trees and laughing manically. Alexis apparently had control over that one. Another ball of light went into the air, the scream turning grating, the voice box fraying as surely as the soul’s casing, Kieran had no doubt. Something popped and fizzed. Another scream, this one earthly. It wasn’t an injury of the soul but the flesh.

“Report!” Flora yelled. “What is happening?”

Kieran called down the rain, the storm clouds heavy with it. He scattered the clouds, breaking apart their energy. With air, he turned the rain into stinging pellets that slashed and wounded exposed flesh.

Yells rent the night. Electricity dissipated somewhat from the air.

“What—” A weak blast of lightning streaked sideways, and Flora was clearly caught by surprise. The bolt hit a tree off to the right, exploding the trunk.

The mountain bucked like a great beast, trees and plants rising into the sky as the rocks and soil rose beneath them, and then falling as both of those things gave way. The great roots of oaks and hemlocks and beeches pulled up out of the earth, sending the massive trunks thrashing toward the ground.