“Frodo is right, though he got that cliché wrong,” Daisy said, and it was a nice little trip down memory lane to hear her throw Lord of the Rings insults at Mordie. “We do everything together, including training. We aren’t organized at all, but that seems to work for us. It always has in the past, anyway.”

“Agreed,” Jerry said.

“We stick together.” Zorn adjusted the machete strapped to his back. I wasn’t sure he’d gotten the memo that we weren’t supposed to kill people.

I stared down the empty path. “Okay.” Chaos stood in the middle of the walkway, stock-still, staring at something to the side. His tail twitched, and then he pounced, two front paws smashing into the bushes. Havoc sat behind him, watching. Nothing scurried away. “Do we take the walkway or go guerilla style through the trees?”

Silence greeted my answer. No one wanted to weigh in on that one.

“Fuck ’em. Let them come to us,” I finally said, starting forward. “Let them think they’re being sneaky and hiding. I’ll feel them before they can see me.”

“Beware the more open areas,” Dylan said. “You don’t have the farthest reach.”

“I have a much farther reach, and there are plenty of rocks in this lackluster garden. We’re good.” Jerry’s tone held both confidence and disgust, and I remembered his fiancée used to have plant magic. Apparently her gardens had far exceeded this one, which was hard for me to imagine.

“Speaking of a good reach, do you feel anyone?” I started forward, my heart beating faster than normal, pumping adrenaline through my body. I did better in the thick of things—this slow burn of anticipation was eating me alive.

“Yes. Many. They are mostly in clusters with ample space between them. The clusters are moving slowly, almost like they are scared to engage.”

“They probably are. I’m scared to engage,” I mumbled.

The second Mordecai shifted into his wolf form, the cats turned to stare, their glowing eyes eerie in this beautiful place. He trotted out to meet them, playing sentinel. I let him, since he was well within my range and I’d feel someone before they happened upon him.

A few minutes trickled by, then several more. Nothing happened as we walked. No one emerged or even moved in our direction. The clusters Jerry could feel continued to slowly move through the trees, avoiding conflict.

As we approached a bend, though, my senses went on high alert. A group of souls were lying in wait in the trees and bushes ahead of us. They were completely hidden from view, and it would’ve been an excellent surprise attack if I hadn’t felt their souls burning brightly.

Jerry must’ve sensed them, too, and slid a look my way, probably making sure I had.

“Up ahead,” I whispered, trying not to move my mouth.

“What?” Donovan asked, leaning closer. Clearly I needed to work on the subtlety thing.

The cats slowed and Mordecai jogged back to us, his hazel eyes on me.

“Anyone speak shifter?” I asked, wishing Jack were here.

“He’s alerting you that someone is in those trees,” Daisy whispered, her voice as strong as iron. If she were in any way nervous, she did not show it.

“And the cats are alerting the people in those trees that we know about them,” Zorn growled.

One of the souls shifted, the rustle giving them away. So they were better at hiding than stalking.

A little closer and I could tell they were mostly weak level fives and high level fours. Which meant they didn’t belong to any high-status Demigods—or if they did, these were considered lackeys.

“I’ll make us disappear.” Boman pushed up through the group and took Donovan’s position. His Light Bender magic wrapped around us like a curtain, hazing our view. The cats had been left out, still standing and looking at the hiding enemy.

They could defend themselves.

“What should we do, just walk along until they jump out?” The Line throbbed just off to my side. I could make them run, easily enough, but I wanted to keep my magic under wraps. People knew, broadly, what I could do, but some of my abilities would come as a surprise. I wanted to preserve that element of surprise for when the more advanced teams came at us.

“I can break a leg with a rock, if you want,” Jerry whispered.

“I can break a branch off and take out a mouthful of teeth,” Donovan murmured.

“I can go stick knives in all of them,” offered Red, who’d remained silent up until now.

“Red, you go.” I motioned her on. “Boman, cover her until she’s out of sight.”

In a flash, Red was running to the side, slipping into the trees under Boman’s Light Bender magic. We walked along a little more, and another soul shifted position, edging closer to the path. I heard a scrape of a shoe.

“They’re useless,” Zorn said. “They shouldn’t be in this place. They’ll be killed in no time.”

“Or maybe we shouldn’t be in this garden with all the kindergartners,” Daisy said, tapping her fingers against the throwing knives strapped to her left leg.

“That’s probably more like it.” Donovan cracked his neck, his eyes hard, preparing for battle.

I felt Red moving around the others, coming at them from behind. In a moment, she burst into their cluster.