The skies were gray and overcast. Clouds were thick. A fine drizzle coated the ground and the vehicles. The slight chill in the air warned that autumn was well on its way. Perses had wanted to travel with the rest of the AOA, but none of them trusted him enough to let that happen. Gods only knew what he’d get himself into.

“Do you think Jisoo will talk the entire trip?” Lisa asked, hoisting a small bag of weapons and tucking several small coins into a pocket on her leg. It was a depressing necessity after what had happened to Rose, and they all carried them now. Just in case. “I’m betting at least five thousands wons that she does until she passes out.”

Seolhyun laughed. “I’m not betting against that. On the way here, I thought Heechul was going to strangle her.”

“I would’ve if she hadn’t fallen asleep,” Heechul said, coming out from behind them. “Or at the very least, I would’ve knocked her out.”

Lisa giggled. “Want me to get that?” She gestured at Seolhyun’s bag of things made to stab and mutilate.

“Nah,” she said. “I got it.”

Smiling at Heechul, Lisa headed toward where Jensoo stood behind a black SUV. Jisoo spun around and pulled Lisa into a dance you’d see in a ballroom while Jennie took the bag of weapons from her. A laugh escaped Seolhyun’s lips as she watched Jisoo dip Lisa over her arm.

“She’s something else, isn’t she?” Heechul folded his arms. “In spite of everything, she’s…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “She’s just Jisoo.”

“That’s what I love about her.”

Heechul glanced at Seolhyun, his expression unreadable. Several seconds passed. “Are you ready for this?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she admitted, wiping the fine sheen of rain off her forehead. Jimin appeared with Perses, heading toward another vehicle. Her stomach tipped over. She hadn’t seen Jimin since she’d left her in the cemetery last night.

Jimin glanced over to where Heechul and Seolhyun stood. Their eyes met for a second and then she looked away, saying something to Perses.

“You haven’t transferred the power yet,” Heechul said.

“No. We’re going to do it when we get to Seoul.” Taking a deep breath, Seolhyun forced her gaze away from Jimin and turned to her uncle.

The lines around his eyes appeared deeper than they had been yesterday. Gray hairs liberally sprinkled his chestnut-colored hair. Seolhyun hadn’t noticed them before, but they had to have been there. His eyes were sharp with keen intelligence and clear with foresight, as usual.

In a second, she saw him as he’d been the first day she’d returned to the Ephensy. He’d sat behind that shiny desk of his, full of stiff, unyielding authority, and his displeased stare had made her dislike him immediately. A lot had changed since the day he’d almost kicked her out of the Ephensy. He’d changed. So had she.

Somewhere in the last year, he’d gone from being the Dean to becoming her uncle. And Seolhyun never would’ve believed that last year. She honestly hadn’t believed that he cared one bit about her, but she knew now he always had. He may’ve had a hard time showing it, and she’d just made it even harder for him to do so. She’d been such a brat.

His lips tipped up at the corners. When he spoke, it was as if he knew what she was thinking. “I’m not sure I’ve ever told you this, Seolhyun, but I am proud of you.”

Seolhyun’s eyes misted over, but she blamed the rain. “You never thought you’d say that, huh?”

“No, I always knew that one day I would say that,” he replied, his slight smile softening his features. “I’d just hoped it would’ve been when you graduated from the Ephensy.”

“Same here,” she sighed.

“You make sure you come back here.” His voice thickened. “After all, you haven’t technically graduated yet, and there are a few courses you need to finish up before you can.”

Seolhyun laughed, but the sound caught in . “Okay. Deal.”

Heechul nodded and unfolded his arms. He started to turn, but he stopped. An emotion Seolhyun couldn’t quite pick out flickered across his face, and a second later he hugged her. Her uncle gave the most awkward hugs in history. But in a way, they were the best.

Closing her eyes, Seolhyun inhaled the faint scent of his cologne and hugged him back.

“I know you will look for your father when you get there,” he said, his voice low. “I know how much finding him means to you, but you need to be careful. There will be time afterward to find him.”

“Okay,” Seolhyun said, even though she wasn’t sure she meant it.

Heechul pulled back, and Seolhyun swore his eyes were shiny. He muttered something about helping Jennie and stalked off. After saying goodbyes to Dawon and Head Minister Seohyun, she waited off to the side while Hyejeong spoke to her uncle. No doubt she was getting some over-protective warning, because when Hyejeong joined her, Heechul was a shade or two paler.

Seolhyun’s brows rose. “You okay?”

“Heechul can be really scary when he wants to be.”

“Yeah, he can.” Seolhyun grinned.

Hyejeong took Seolhyun’s bag from her, placing it in the back as Jisoo shimmied across the seat and situated herself between Jennie and Lisa.

“You haven’t seen Apollo, have you?” Seolhyun asked, chewing on her lower lip.

Shutting the door, Hyejeong shook her head. Seolhyun had told her about Apollo’s promise to bring in the rest of the Gods and she’d also told her that, obviously, she hadn’t transferred the power from Jimin, but she’d left out the blowing up the statue part.

“While I think Apollo wants to help and get involved, I don’t think the others will.”

“That’s such crap.” Familiar anger simmered in. “It’s taking the absentee landlord theory to a whole new level.”

“I know.” Hyejeong dug the keys out of her pants. “But throughout history, they’ve all really only gotten involved once before, and that was with the Titans. Any other time, most of them don’t get involved.”

“This is different,” Seolhyun grumbled, “this is one of their own– their problem.”

“Maybe Apollo will surprise us.” Hyejeong bent down, brushing her lips over Seolhyun’s forehead. “Either way, we have this.”

Car keys dangling from her fingertips, Jimin passed by them. “If you two can stop making doe-eyes at each for a few minutes, we’re all ready to go.” Behind her, Perses inspected the vehicle with a distrustful scowl. One of the other SUVs in their little section of the convoy revved an engine, and the Titan transferred his scowl to the other vehicle.

Hyejeong straightened, gaze narrowing on Jimin’s back. “Jealousy is an ugly thing.”

“So is blind ignorance,” Jimin shot back, rounding the front of a Jeep.

Tension rolled off Hyejeong as she turned to Seolhyun. “I really do dislike her most of the time.”

“Yeah, well…” What could Seolhyun say? The two of them would never be friends. “Ready?”

“We are!” Jisoo shouted from inside the car. “I’ve already got the first road game picked out, so freaking hurry!”

Shaking her head, Hyejeong smiled.

The next couple of hours, Seolhyun switched places with Hyejeong and then Jennie, giving all of them time to rest up. As expected, while awake, Jisoo kept them somewhere between entertained.

When they entered Seoul, they followed Jimin’s vehicle, keeping to the back of the massive group of Linuses and Guards. She checked in periodically with Hyejeong from where she rode in one of the lead vehicles. They hadn’t run into any problems, but there was no way Ares didn’t know they were coming. Any number of people they passed on the way here could’ve been spies, Mortal or not, even though they were traveling in small clusters of SUVs and cars so as not to stand out.

But the fact that they reached Seoul without incident had Seolhyun squirming in her seat, restless and unnerved. How could it be this easy?

Upon entering the mountainous back roads, her unease tripled to paranoid levels when the vehicle in front of them rolled to a stop. She exchanged a nervous look with Hyejeong. Ahead, Perses’ arm appeared out the window, waving them forward.

“Why don’t they use a phone?” Jennie asked, peering over her seat.

“Does Perses even know how to use a phone?” Lisa asked.

Seolhyun snorted while the knot of anxiety worked at giving her an ulcer in record time. “He seems like a quick learner.”

Hyejeong slipped the SUV into park and glanced back at her sister. “Stay in the car.”

Jisoo rolled her eyes. “Yes, Capt, because I couldn’t possibly be of any help.”

That statement was ignored as Hyejeong and Seolhyun stepped out of the car and made their way over to Perses’ side. Three Linuses from the other vehicles joined Seoljeong.

“What’s going on?” Hyejeong asked.

Perses stepped out of the vehicle, his all-black eyes fixed on the thick tree line ahead. “Something’s not right, girl.”

“Other than the fact we’re stopped?” Seolhyun asked, folding her arms. The air was chilly in the mountains, especially where the sun didn’t break through the trees, and her black shirt didn’t offer a lot of warmth.

His lips curled up at the corner in a sardonic twist. “I sense something abnormal among us.”

Seolhyun peered in through the car at Jimin. She just shrugged. “Details?”

“There’s violence in the air; the smell of battle that has yet to begin,” Perses said, stretching his arms above his head. Bones cracked. The twist of his lips spread into a real smile. “Bloodshed is pending.”

Seolhyun’s brows rose as she glanced at Hyejeong. “Well, that’s not freaky or anything.”

“Yeah,” he said, his gaze darting over the tree line and the empty, narrow lane.

Jimin shut the Jeep down and climbed out. “I don’t feel anything, but then again, I’m not a Titan.”

Perses chuckled deeply as he walked toward the front of the vehicle. “I am never wrong about these things.”

Doors opened and closed behind them. “What’s going on?” Jennie called, joined by Lisa. Both had daggers in their hands. Linuses from the other cars were close behind them. “Are we just taking a break or something?”

Hyejeong turned toward them, opening to respond just as the ground beneath their feet trembled. She looked down, brows furrowing. “What the…?”

The vibration continued, growing in intensity, shaking the vehicles and rattling the trees that crowded the road. Asphalt cracked like an ear-piercing gunshot. A fissure spread along the side of the road, spreading toward the guardrail. Seolhyun whipped around, following the progress of the crack as it widened along the land, splitting open. Loose soil pebbled and rolled as giant elms shook until thick roots poked up from the ground.

“Jisoo!” Hyejeong shouted, spinning. Her sister was already out of the car, eyes wide. “Stay near Jennie!”

“Earthquake?” Lisa asked, one hand braced on the hood of the SUV.

Seolhyun shook her head. “I have a really bad feeling about this.”

“Really bad,” Jimin said, joining them.

The trembling eased off and the earth seemed to settle, along with Seolhyun’s stomach. The reprieve lasted seconds. From the wide crack in the ground, rich, dark soil spewed into the air like from a volcano. The earthy scent was overpowering as the dirt arced up and shot back down, landing in twenty or so different piles.

“Yeah,” Perses drawled the word out. “That crap isn’t normal.”

The piles of dirt swirled along the ground in circles, then rose up, rapidly taking form. Legs appeared, thick and well-muscled, followed by torsos, broad chests and shoulders, and finally heads.

Seolhyun blinked once and then twice. “What in the hell?”

The things resembled human males, human males who could’ve easily been pro wrestlers in another life. Soil traveled down their arms, taking shaping over the hands. Axes appeared in their hands, blades sharpened into deadly edges. Like, axes bigger than what Seolhyun imagined Vikings used to carry once upon a time.

These things… they were made of dirt, but the axes were very, very real.

“The Spartoi!” shouted Perses. “Warriors born of soil– sons of Ares!”

“Oh, ,” Hyejeong said, eyes flaring with recognition.

Seolhyun had no idea what the Spartois were, but seeing that full-grown men made of dirt had just popped out the earth heavily armed, and seeing that were sons of Ares, she was going to assume this was a very bad situation.

Their mouths opened in unison, letting out a heart-stopping battle roar that was matched only by the sound that came out of Perses’ mouth. He launched himself forward, over the crack in the road, and met the first Spartoi head-to-head.

“Yeah, screw this,” Jimin said, lifting her hand. The marks on her skin brightened and Ether blasted from her palm, striking one of the manifestations in the chest.

The second Spartoi exploded outward, but all the tiny, million particles froze and then snapped back, reforming. The thing laughed, spewing tiny pebbles from its open mouth.

“Oh crap,” Seolhyun said, dropping open.

“The heads,” Perses grunted, engaging his sickle blade. “You must remove their heads!”

Seolhyun unhooked her sickle blade as the man threw his axe. It whipped through the air, narrowly avoiding Hyejeong, and smacked into a tree across the road, embedding deep. A second later, a red film covered the majestic elm tree, completely and utterly swallowing it whole. When the red haze disappeared, nothing of the tree remained.

“Holy crap,” Jennie muttered.

Another axe appeared in the Spartoi’s hands.

Perses whirled, cleaving the head off of its body. The creature collapsed into itself, the axe disappearing along with it. The Titan’s laugh was disturbingly joyful.

Second Spartoi charged forward, and Seolhyun used the air element to fling him back against the trees. The thing shattered and came back together within seconds. Jimin shot forward, avoiding the broad sweep of the axe as she brought the sickle around sharply, catching it under the chin.

“Two down,” Hyejeong said, springing to the side as another axe flew by their heads.

Jennie grunted as she shoved Jisoo back toward the rear of the SUV. “Stay back, baby.”

Jisoo responded, but it was lost in the invasion of the Spartoi. One was heading straight toward Seolhyun, a trail of soil chasing after it. Seolhyun dipped down, engaging the sickle part of the weapon with a shake of her wrist. She sprung up behind it. The thing twisted as it swung the axe down. Heat flew off the weapon, causing her to jump back.

Third Spartoi lurched at her. Darting to the side, Seolhyun reached up and caught his arm. It fell apart under her hand, crumbling in a sheet of dry dirt. Ignoring the grossness of that, she swung it down and twisted hard, causing the creature to lose its grip on the axe. As it fell to the ground, she brought the sickle blade against the back of its neck.

“Three down!” Seolhyun shouted, feeling a familiar adrenaline rushing inside her.

Lisa spun gracefully, relieving another of its head. “Four!”

Was it twisted that they were counting? Seolhyun guessed not, because within a few minutes, they were down to ten. Even Perses was calling out numbers, but he seemed to be having a hell of a lot more fun than they were. A wide smile was on his face as he stalked a Spartoi, easily avoiding the axes lobbed at him.

Turning at the waist, Seolhyun found herself nearly losing her own head when one of them swung an axe. She had two of them, coming from both sides. She started to summon the air element again, but Hyejeong appeared in front of her.

In a graceful move, the Linus spun and lopped off the head of one of the Spartoi. Seolhyun wanted to take a moment to recognize the beauty of the way Hyejeong moved, but another was running straight for her. Rushing forward, she met it with the sharp side of the sickle.

“Get down!” Jimin’s voice shouted in her head.

Without thinking twice, Seolhyun hit the ground half a second before Jimin’s blade cut through where she’d been standing, taking out a Spartoi that had been really close to putting the hurting on her. None of these things could kill Jimin or Seolhyun, or at least that was what she was counting on, but they could put them down long enough for Ares to swoop in.

Rising, she nodded at Jimin. “Thanks.”

Jimin said nothing as she joined Jennie in cornering two more of the creatures. Looking around, Seolhyun saw that Jisoo was safe and Hyejeong was now a few yards in front of her sister. Nothing would get past her.

Seolhyun started toward another Spartoi when a ball of flames landed about two feet from her. Fire over the ground. Startled, she spun, and her stomach dropped. Cresting the hill above them was one of the worst possible things they could’ve seen at this moment.

Horns, dark haired, and long, flat snouts that sloped into mouths full of strong teeth came into view. Their thick thighs and large hoofs made of titanium were next.

Automatons.

Perses shouted another battle roar, and the rush of adrenaline coiled tight around Seolhyun’s heart. She spun and darted out, reaching the Spartoi closest to her. The thing dove forward, but she ducked under its arm. Swinging around, she swung the blade down, dispatching another one of the freaky creations.

Something inside her clicked off as she ran toward the cars, dodging the axes and fireballs. They had to get rid of the Spartoi first. There were only a few left, so that was completely doable, and Perses was charging toward the bulls to keep them at distraction for a while.

Hearing pounding footsteps behind her, Seolhyun whirled and jerked to the side, narrowly avoiding another axe. Springing into the air, she spun and delivered a nasty kick that would’ve been so damn good if her foot hadn’t sunk through the thing’s chest.

They went down in a burst of dirt and rocks. Dust flew into Seolhyun’s mouth and nose. She gagged, trying not to think about the fact that she just swallowed some of the Spartoi as she rolled away from him. He swung his axe through the air and brushed her thigh. A slice of pain shot down her leg as a thin slit formed in the pant leg. The creature roared to its feet, heaving the axe like a Viking straight from Asgard.

Summoning air, Seolhyun blew the thing back, slamming it into the Jeep. She popped to her feet and raced after it, taking it out. Through the smoke and clouds of dirt, she saw Hyejeong engaging an automaton. Like the Spartoi, the heads had to be removed.

One of the automatons lit up from the inside, like a blue x-ray, before exploding in a shower of sparks.

Or Jimin could use Ether. That would work, too.

With the automatons coming closer and closer, the AOA was scattered. Perses was making short work of the monsters, but the falling flames were making it difficult to pay attention to any one thing.

A burst of flames shot from where Hyejeong and Jisoo were, smacking into the nearest automaton. Flames spread across the ground, and Seolhyun darted around the blaze. Springing up, she caught a Spartoi before it launched its axe at them.

Perses slammed the pointed end of the weapon into the chin of an automaton. Silvery blood sprayed the Titan in the face and chest. He didn’t even blink as he yanked the blade to the side. He turned, and his smile was gory with blood.

In that moment, Seolhyun understood the Olympians’ distaste of Perses. To enjoy battle and war was one thing. Twisted, yes, but there were a lot of aggressive people out there. Perses didn’t just enjoy it, though. The Titan got off on the violence and bloodshed.

A little sickened, she joined Jimin and tapped into primal, raw energy. Power rushed through her, and her skin tingled with the appearance of the marks. Using Ether, intense blue light erupted from her. Arcing through the air, it struck its target, reducing it to nothing but a pile of shimmery dust.

Out of the corner of her eye, Seolhyun saw Lisa dart to the side to avoid an incoming fireball. Her heart kicked in her chest as a Spartoi let loose his axe. She shouted at her, as she pushed off the ground, rushing toward her.

In her head, Seolhyun was screaming, but she wasn’t sure any sound was making it past her lips. A horrible, terrifying feeling of dejavu settled in her stomach. In a split second, she saw Rose in her head, but this wasn’t Rose.

No… no, no. This couldn’t be happening again.

A flicker of recognition shot across Lisa’s face a second before the Spartoi’s axe struck her in the chest. She hadn’t even tried to move. In that tiny second, she knew it was already too late.

“No!” Seolhyun screamed, and then she screamed again.

Lisa stumbled back a step. The red film spread out from her chest, quickly slipping over her. In a heartbeat, she was gone.

Another hoarse scream tore through Seolhyun, scratching and darkening a part of her soul. Lisa was gone. She was gone. Just like that. Nothing in this world left of her.

Jennie shouted as she spun on her Spartoi, dispatching it, and then whirled back to where Lisa had been. She kept the saying the same word over and over again, the same word that was repeating itself in Seolhyun’s head.

No. No. No. No.

Jisoo rushed forward, but Hyejeong caught her around the waist. Tears streamed down