“Didn’t they tell you I was here?” he asked, letting the lightning fade away behind him. “I got here yesterday afternoon. Demigod Kieran is letting me stay in the non-ghost guest room until I get a new place lined up.”

“Yeah, they told me.” She slid the door shut and walked to a spot beside him, looking out over the ocean. “They told me you showed up, had a few beers, and let Kieran give you a blood oath. Now you’re trapped. What happened?”

Dylan sighed, turning back toward the railing. Then started chuckling. He couldn’t help it. This kid was like no other teen he’d ever met, and he’d met a lot of Chesters at this point. She quite clearly liked her situation and the people around her, but not to the point where she wanted to give them any authority over her. Only two people had her total and complete loyalty, it seemed—Alexis and the other teen, Mordecai. That was it. She kept a layer of distance with everyone else, even her scarred-up trainer, Zorn. If circumstances compelled it, Dylan bet she’d have no problem cutting off ties to this life and leaving with no one but Alexis and Mordecai to go with her. She wouldn’t say goodbye, and she wouldn’t look back.

He let the lightning rain down over the ocean. The bolts zigged and zagged and created loose and rather clumsy designs. He was incredibly rusty. He’d been nearly useless in that battle a couple of weeks ago. He had to blow the dust off his magic if he hoped to contribute to the team.

“I would’ve been a hunted man, thanks to you all,” Dylan said, trying to twist the lightning in the sky while also rolling a sheet of lightning across the ocean surface. Sweat beaded on his brow and the lightning dried up in the clouds. The distance was too great. He’d need to work back up to that.

“Cut the crap. That’s not why,” she said.

He grinned. “If you cut and run from this life, you’d still have family. I have no one. I couldn’t even properly use my magic. Being alone gets old after a while. It gets lonely.”

She didn’t respond for a while, instead watching him start up the lightning again. “Any regrets?”

He pushed back the thick black clouds, a dead giveaway that there was someone with Zeus’s magic on the scene. Instead, he tried to pull lightning down from a puffy white cloud. The bolt splintered and spiderwebbed across the darkness, mostly useless by the time it finally touched down. That might give someone a jolt, but it wouldn’t kill anyone.

“No,” he said, which had shocked him when he first realized it. “I used to always feel suffocated with Gianna. But even though Demigod Kieran said I’m in the probationary phase, and he’s exerting more of his will than usual to make sure I color within the lines, it’s nothing like I’m used to. Nothing. I barely notice his influence. I don’t feel put out at all.”

“Yeah, Kieran doesn’t lead by being controlling. He leads by example, and people generally want to please him. Don’t fool yourself, though. Just because you aren’t being watched through that link, however it works—”

“By magic.”

“—doesn’t mean you aren’t being watched. We live on a cliff made of rock—if you wander around, Jerry will feel you. Alexis will feel you if you’re within her range. Zorn has eyes in the back of his head. Henry just randomly shows up places, destroying traps intended for Mordecai. Mind your Ps and Qs, because right now, you’re set up to stay in the inner-inner circle. That’s the Six, Bria, Alexis—we’re the good circle. You want to be in this one. Jerry’s pretty much in, but the other new people—well, I barely even know what they look like. Kieran keeps them at a distance. If you’re looking for inclusiveness, don’t end up with those people.”

Dylan shoved the cloud away, annoyed with himself. He let out a hard sigh before taking a seat in one of the chairs. “How did Jerry get in the inner-inner circle?”

“Playing hard to get.” Dylan couldn’t tell if she was making a joke or not. She pushed away from the banister. “Alexis helped him with his life, and apparently people are like spirits in that they try to stick around after that. Well, I hope your life doesn’t start to suck. Or that Kieran doesn’t go crazy like his dad. Also, you owe me money.”

With that, she made her way back into the house.

Chuckling, he stared out at the horizon for a while, feeling the chill of fall. The area was temperate, but even still, there was a bite coming off the water.

This was his new life. These people. This area. The ability to use the full range of his magic, if he could wipe away the cobwebs. He never would’ve guessed he’d be answering to a Demigod of Poseidon. Soon, he had every belief that Kieran would marry Alexis and make her a co-ruler. That would mean Dylan was also answering to a mistress of Hades. A Soul Stealer, no less. His parents would be severely disappointed in him. Most higher-powered people of Zeus stayed with their own kind. He’d always been taught that was the strongest way, because Zeus was the strongest god. After witnessing how Kieran’s people had handled Flora’s… Well, their assurances of being the best wouldn’t help them much when Demigod Kieran dominated the playing field.

The problem was that Dylan didn’t have a clue how to combat people of Hades, and that was exactly what he’d need to do if he accompanied Kieran and Alexis to Demigod Lydia’s territory. Hades didn’t play by the rules—Dylan had always been taught that. They were underhanded, stacking the odds in their favor whenever possible. They said one thing and did another. They fed you sweet words and, when you turned your back, stabbed a knife through you. Hades, by and large, was not to be trusted.

Alexis was supposed to be their resident expert, and she didn’t have a clue about anything magical. Dylan wondered if Kieran was actually leading them to the slaughter. Was he too green—too new—to take on someone of Lydia’s caliber so soon?

Ready or not, though, it was happening. Dylan had only just returned to the magical world, but he was headed into a possible battle.

He’d best be ready.

25

Alexis

The sprawling palace lit up the desert like a beacon, all three stories well lit on this moonless night. The large drive up to the residence was flanked by flower-laden bushes that couldn’t be native to the area, what with their leafy green foliage and bright, sweet-smelling flowers. The palace itself was nestled amidst palm trees, artful landscaping, and strings of fairy lights.

Men wearing tuxedos waited at the top of the drive and in front of the large double-door entrance, their white gloves spotless and their souls as shriveled as old, dried-up prunes. Souls stood inside the doors—the second leg of attendants to our arrival, I had no doubt.

Our caravan of stretch limousines slowed and then stopped beside the men, the driveway now running parallel to the entrance and leading to an enormous garage that might be better described as a warehouse. I sat in silence. Although the limo was likely big enough for the entire crew, the only other passengers were Kieran and my kids. The rest of our main crew followed in an unnecessarily large number of matching limos, the name of the game clearly a display of wealth, both by Demigod Lydia and Kieran.

I’d felt out of place many times in my life, but this was competing for one of the most notable occasions.