I had the feeling she was trying to be helpful.

“You wear the Demigod’s mark,” the giant said.

“Yeah. Kieran Drusus, Valens’s son, found me, and… Well, it’s a long story. I love him, and I willingly wear his mark.”

“Valens…”

The viciousness in his tone was unmistakable. The ground tremored under our feet. Everyone had known Valens by reputation. He had not been a nice man, to put it mildly.

“Whoa, whoa.” I put up my hands. “I helped Demigod Kieran take Valens down. Kieran is in charge of magical San Francisco now, and he’s a fair and just leader. He wasn’t even going to take the job, but the people pushed it on him. His goal was to claim vengeance for his mother, that’s it. The rest has been like a snowball rolling downhill.”

“What do you want?”

I took a deep breath and leaned against the side of the wall. “I’m not going to lie to you: we came looking for help.” I gave him a quick recap of my situation and my parentage, finishing, “So unless I want to be kidnapped or worse, I need to help Kieran find some backup. We heard you were the best. I was hoping you would help.”

Silence descended, into which John said, “He’s rubbing his chin. Looks indecisive. I’d get ready to yank out his spirit, because it could go either way at this point.”

I held my breath. I’d trespassed and forced myself on a stranger who was just trying to protect his home. For that, I might need to rip out his soul to save myself and my friends. I was pretty sure I was the bad guy in this scenario—I’d started it.

The sweat on my brow turned chill, and a deep, thick silence filled Death Alley as we awaited the giant’s decision. I felt the Line pulsing power through my blood, preparing me to grab his soul at a moment’s notice. If this went tits up, it would come down to who was faster working with their magic. Could he pull the mountain down on top of us before I gained control of him?

The seconds ticked by. Minutes followed. Thane rolled his neck and then his big shoulders. He was preparing to change. He suspected this wouldn’t go our way.

Donovan, too, had braced himself, his eyes tight.

The pressure pressed down on me. Fear compelled me to talk.

“What kind of a life is this?” I asked, feeling the question in every fiber of my being. “It’s a beautiful view, but if you don’t have anyone to share it with, what’s the point? Would she want you to be living like this?”

“What did you say?” His voice was low and rough. Rocks wiggled in their spots. I’d struck a nerve. A very dangerous, possibly explosive nerve.

“He just stood up, and he’s pissed,” John yelled. “Watch yourself.”

The words tumbled out a lot faster now, my pulse racing. “You lost the love of your life. I can’t even begin to know what that would be like. But if someone took me from Kieran—which might happen, let’s be honest—I wouldn’t want him to hide away. I wouldn’t be able to stand it. I’d want him to kill the miserable sonuvabitch who killed me, that’s a given, but after that, I’d want him to live his life. I’d want him to be happy. Seeing you like this would probably kill her.”

A huge rock on the highest shelf rolled toward the edge, poised to shoot down and scatter all the rocks beneath it. If that thing let loose, all of us would go tumbling over the edge like bowling pins by the time I had his soul. He’d die, but so would we.

“I can ask her,” I said quickly, stepping forward into the sunlight. “I can call her to you and ask her.”

“What, and put her in one of those rotting corpses?” His voice boomed around us again, pinging off the walls. Fracturing. Coming together. Blasting me.

It had a physical force that made me step back.

“You are currently standing,” I yelled above the thunder rolling beneath my feet. “You have a homey little setup in there and a pile of bones deep inside, which is definitely the first sign of madness.”

“His fists are clenched,” John supplied.

“Your fists are clenched,” I repeated. “One of my spirit associates is in there with you right now. Has been for a while. Hold up two fingers, if you want.”

“It’s just one, and you can probably guess which one,” John said.

“Well, that’s not very nice. I can call her. Ask her whatever you want, and I’ll act as the go-between.”

“You’ll feed me lies.”

“Most people probably would, that’s true. But I have had this magic all my life, even if I didn’t always understand it. I’m used to doing this, to being a go-between. I can summon her. You’ll see for yourself. And if you don’t believe what I have to say, well then…we’re no better off than when we started.”

A great swell of fear and anger ripped through my middle. Kieran’s emotions drowned me, changing so fast that I couldn’t keep up—shock, surprise, love, rage, worry, rage—around and around they went, speeding up my heart.

“But we need to do this now,” I said, stepping forward again. “Kieran has just realized where I am, and he is not happy. We’re going to have a rage-filled Demigod on our hands in an hour or so.”

“He’s walking out,” John said.

I repeated his warning, and everyone behind me stepped forward, Thane and Donovan at my shoulders.

A man emerged, probably about six feet six, with broad shoulders, thick arms, and fists still balled at his sides. The sun shone on his shiny bald head, naturally tanned. His pecs pushed at his tattered and stained shirt, and his ripped and torn jeans were too desecrated to be stylish.

“I thought you’d be taller,” I blurted, then scrunched up my face and wished I could pull that comment back in. “Sorry. I just meant…everyone called you a giant. I was thinking…you know…” I lifted my hand, indicating someone incredibly enormous. “You’re just the usual tall, you know? Not giant.”

“Stop babbling,” Thane whispered. “You are on a very thin line. Watch your words.”

That was easy for him to say—he didn’t get nervous babbles.

“This Demigod you speak of…he doesn’t know you’re here?” the man asked.

“No. We figured you’d probably seen enough Demigods for a while. We didn’t want to show up with him and immediately sully the waters.”

“So you show up and grab the middle of my…” He brushed at his chest.

“Yes, well…desperate times, as they say.”

“You’re part of his first ring?” The man flexed, his cut muscles showing through the tears in his clothes.

“Is that like an inner circle?” I asked the area at large.

“Yes,” Donovan murmured.

“Oh. Well, the guys are.” I hooked a thumb at each of them. “I have a blood link with Kieran but didn’t do an oath. He offered me the link so I could be stronger, that’s all. A love token, kinda. Like the mark. Anyway, one of the spirits here is a past member of the inner circle who died in battle and now helps out in spirit form. The girls are just his employees. Oh, and the other spirits are kinda…along for the ride. They want to help.”