by Lisa Kessler
The Titans would be meeting Ted at the small amphitheater where the Order used to gather for rituals. Mikolas couldn’t shake the guilt weighing on his shoulders as he led the group through the woods to the location. He’d never been a believer in the Order’s mission to free the Titans, and he tried to stop the off-shore drilling, but that didn’t change the company he had kept when he’d arrived in Crystal City. It had made him suspect to this group, and it was tough to pretend he wasn’t being judged—or that he didn’t deserve it.
He stopped when they got to a small clearing. “We’re about a quarter of a mile from the Order’s meeting spot.” He looked over at Mason and Clio. “How long does it take you to shift?”
Mason met Clio’s eyes before answering. “Shifting into a wolf is fast and painless. It’s gettin’ back that’s tricky.”
Clio took his hand. “I’ll help you find your way back.”
“I know you will.” He bent to kiss her forehead. “See you soon, darlin’.”
Mason disappeared, deeper into the forest, and Mikolas turned to face the others. “If Kronos is still at Crystal Peak, he won’t be able to freeze time on Mason. As long as Trinity is nearby, I think I can shield us from his magic, too, but I can’t be certain.”
Reed crossed his arms over his chest. “Just to be sure I understand… We’re going to rile up a Titan to chase us into the woods where he can be ambushed by a Lycan wolf.”
Trinity stepped forward with a nod. “And Clio will stay with Mason, so the second the Titan with the spear shows up, she’ll be in danger, and Mason’s Herculean strength will kick in. If luck is on our side, Iapetus’s head will pop off as easily as Philyra’s did.”
Reed didn’t look convinced. “That seems awfully easy.”
“If you have a better idea, now’s the time.” Mikolas rubbed his shoulder over the mark from Rhea’s blessing. It itched, burning like his birthmark did when Trinity was in danger. He didn’t know what it meant, but he didn’t have time to analyze it right now.
Reed shrugged. “I’m not a fan of putting Erica in harm’s way just to fire up my powers.”
“Then we finally agree on something.” Mikolas ground his teeth. “I hate it, too, but Zeus stacked the deck. We either work together with our muses or go at this with no superpowers. Your choice.”
Reed glanced in the direction Mason had gone. “I have an idea.” His gaze shifted to Mikolas. “You’re sure Kronos will be out of the picture?”
“When Ted shows up to the meeting empty handed, Kronos will go after Melanie and leave Iapetus to deal with Ted.” Mikolas rolled his shoulder back, trying to shake the burning under his shirt.
Reed nodded. “That Titan with the spear will smell a trap if we all show up at once. Cooper and I should stay here with the muses while you lure him to us.”
Trinity shook her head. “No way.” She locked eye with Mikolas. “What if he catches you? We’ll be too far away to help, and your gift isn’t going to come alive without me there. I’m going with you.”
“No. Reed’s right.” Mikolas took her hand. “Can we talk?”
She sighed but nodded, following him a few paces from the group. He kept his voice hushed. “Rhea gave me her blessing, remember? It’s burning right now. I think my power might work without putting you in harm’s way.”
A crease lined her brow. “We have no idea what her blessing did to you. You’re just guessing what power it has. It’s is too risky, and you know it. Let’s stick to the original plan.”
He brushed his finger over the smooth skin at the top of her hand, staring into her dark eyes. “Trin, Reed’s idea makes more sense. If we all go, Iapetus will be defensive. The fight will start before we can get him to Mason.”
Worry shone in her eyes. “Don’t do this, Mikolas. It isn’t your destiny.”
“It is. Because my nona was right.” He squeezed her hand. “Love is the only thing worth fighting for.”
Her eyes widened, and she searched his face. When she spoke, her voice was determined. “No. Don’t you dare tell me you love me and then walk into a battle you can’t win.”
“I don’t have to win. I just need to stay ahead of him when he chases me.” Mikolas embraced her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “And I do love you, Trin.”
“No.” She shoved against his chest, stumbling back a couple of steps. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t be changing the plan and facing the God of Mortality alone. Love is a partnership. You don’t get to make life-and-death decisions without me.”
“I have everything to live for, and I have the blessing of the Mother of the Gods.” He shook his head. “This will work. I can feel it.”
“You dare to come to me empty handed?” A furious roar blew through the trees, shaking the ground.
Kronos.
Mikolas tensed. Ted must’ve arrived. The clock was ticking. As soon as Kronos left, their plan would roll into action.
He turned back to Trinity. “This is the only way.”
Without waiting for a reply, he spun around and raced toward the sound.
Trinity started to follow him, but Erica caught her arm. Trinity’s eyes narrowed on her best friend. “Let me go.”
Erica shook her head. “What are you going to do, Trin? Not even a bullet is going to stop that Titan. You’re going to get yourself killed, and then Mikolas will die trying to save you.”
Hearing Erica say ‘Mikolas will die’ out loud broke the barrier around Trinity’s heart. “What if his plan doesn’t work?” Her voice hitched. “What if he dies?”
Reed came up beside Erica, but his attention was on Trinity. “I’m the first to admit that I hesitate to trust the guy, but I’ve seen the way he looks at you, the way he tries to protect you. He’s already stopped Kronos once, and this time, he just needs to lure that thing back to us. He can do this, Trinity.”
He narrowed her eyes at them. “What if he needs help?”
Sympathy lined Erica’s eyes. “Come on, Trin. What are you going to do? We can’t stop a Titan with music.”
“No. But there’s a flare gun in Cooper’s first aid kit.”
She broke free of Erica’s grip, bumping Reed aside with her shoulder as she marched back toward the Cooper and Lia. None of them understood. After Ted’s betrayal, she’d shut down her heart. While one by one, her muse sisters had fallen in love, she had compartmentalized her emotions. She’d been happy for every one of them; they deserved men worthy of their gifts, their hearts. But she did not. Not after Trinity had given her heart to a man who had hunted them, who had brought on two of their deaths.
Fear and regret had kept her from trusting another man, from making another mistake. But Mikolas had shattered her well-built defenses. His patience, his confidence, and his gentle strength had broken down her barriers. Never pressuring her, always giving her the power, his love had come with no strings or expectations, and it had started to restore her faith in herself, in her judgment. If she lost him now, she’d never recover. He’d awakened her from the emotional wasteland of numbness, and she didn’t want to go back.
What if she had finally found the other half of her soul and the gods cut his life short before she got to tell him how much he’d changed her life, how much he meant to her? He had walked into her world with the quiet power of a summer storm, washing away all the hurt and betrayal, and giving her a fresh new start.
Trinity straightened, her jaw set in determination. If the gods thought they could steal that from her now, they had another think coming.
Mikolas stalked through the darkness toward the amphitheater. The pain in Trinity’s eyes haunted him with each step, but he’d make it up to her when this was over. There was no other way.
As he neared the clearing, he spotted Kronos and Iapetus standing over a body. Mikolas squinted, trying to get a better look. It was a battered and bruised Ted. In that instant, Mikolas understood what he’d seen earlier tonight with Ted and Trinity. He had been saying good-bye. He had made his choice
to defy the Titans he’d spent his life trying to free. And they would kill him for his disobedience.
Iapetus raised his spear above Ted’s body, and Mikolas stared up at the stars, struggling to convince himself there was nothing to be done now. This was Ted’s destiny, his redemption.
“Wait.” Kronos grabbed his brother’s arm. “This is too quick. He deserves a long, painful torment before we grant him the peace of death.”
Mikolas glared at the immortals through the foliage.
Ted slowly lifted his head. His face was bloody and swollen, but there wasn’t a trace of fear in his eyes. “The longer you toy with me, the more likely it is that Melanie and Guardians will see my text and escape. They could be anywhere by now; you’ll never find them.”
Iapetus reached for Ted’s hand and stretched his fingers apart until the knuckles popped and the skin tore. Ted let out a shriek as the Titan tossed his pinkie finger into the dirt.
Fuck. An honorable death was one thing, but this? A slow torture? Mikolas couldn’t hide in the darkness and witness it. This wasn’t redemption. Even though this was going to fuck up the plan, he had to do something.
Ted sobbed, spittle flying from his lips as he struggled to stand. He clasped his injured hand and shouted, “Tear me apart, you inhuman assholes. Killing me will save the muses. Trinity will live. That’s all I care about.” He held up his bloody hand. “I’ve got nine more fingers. Let’s do this.”
Kevin straightened his suit jacket with a growl. “I’ll go collect the muse. You finish this, Brother.”
Iapetus nodded, all his attention on his prey while Kevin strode toward the parking lot. Ted had done it. He’d separated the Titan brothers. Mikolas hadn’t realized Ted possessed so much courage or fight.
Then it hit him. Ted had fucked things up on a monumental scale, but this, this moment proved Nona’s declaration once more. Love was the only thing worth fighting for. Ted truly had loved Trinity.
Iapetus grabbed Ted’s hand, wrenching his arm up, and Mikolas bolted into the clearing. He rammed his shoulder into the Titan’s back so hard that both Iapetus and Ted fell to the ground, Iapetus’s spear dropping with them.
Mikolas picked up the legendary weapon and pointed it at its owner, pinning him to the ground. “Let him go.”
Iapetus smirked, but there was a flicker of something else in his eyes. Not fear, but wonder, perhaps. “No mortal can grasp the Piercer’s spear,” he boomed.
Mikolas ignored him, instead speaking to Ted. “Run. Go!”
Ted scrambled to his feet, grasping his wounded hand. His disfigured mouth warped his speech. “Kronos is going to—”
“I know,” Mikolas cut in. “Thank you. You’ve done enough here. Go!”
Ted nodded and turned toward the parking lot, lumbering forward with a broken gait.
Mikolas pressed the tip of the spear harder against Iapetus’s chest. “Get up.”
“I don’t take orders from mortals.”
A thin trail of blood trickled from the spot where the spearhead pierced Iapetus. Maybe the spear can kill an immortal!
No way to know unless he tried…
Mikolas leaned all his weight on the weapon, and the sharp point sank through the Titan’s skin, lodging deep in his chest.
Iapetus just laughed, grasping the spear with both hands. He jerked it free of his chest, as well as Mikolas’s grip. Blood ran down his abdomen as the cavity filled before Mikolas’s eyes.
Fuck.
Mikolas scrambled, putting distance between he and the God of Mortality as Iapetus lifted his spear. But Iapetus didn’t throw it. Instead, his jaw dropped, his lips forming a silent O. Ted was standing behind him, his chest heaving, and sticking out of the Titan’s neck was the jeweled dagger Mikolas had once used to make a blood oath with Ted.
Behind the wounded immortal, Ted staggered backward, but he wasn’t fast enough.
The Titan spun around and buried the spearhead in Ted’s abdomen. Blood trickled from Ted’s mouth as his wide eyes searched for Mikolas. “Save her. Protect Trinity.” He gasped, his eyelids fluttering as he forced out one last breath. “Run!”
Ted’s final command snapped Mikolas into action. He pivoted and sprinted toward the forest. Before he reached the woods, though, fiery pain seared through his thigh, slamming him to the ground. The impact with the hard earth knocked the air out of his lungs. He coughed and tried to inspect his leg, despite the agony. His heart sank. The Piercer’s spear had gone all the way through his thigh. He’d never make it.
Trinity’s voice echoed in his memory: Don’t you dare tell me you love me and then walk into a battle you can’t win.
No. Giving up wasn’t an option.
He gripped the spear, screaming as he yanked it out and tossed it aside. Stars danced at the edge of his vision, but the second the weapon left his skin, the pain faded. His eyes widened as he checked the wound. It was gone.
But there was no time to think about that now. He scrambled to his feet and ran. Iapetus slowed, probably to retrieve his weapon.
Shit. Mikolas should’ve taken it with him.
But it wouldn’t matter if he could just get Iapetus back to the others, Mikolas reminded himself. Mason’s mammoth Lycan wolf would finish the Titan. Mikolas had to push through, had to pump his legs faster.
His stride widened, even though the dim moonlight barely cast light on the trail. Bushes rustled and branches snapped behind him. He didn’t bother looking back; he knew Iapetus was coming. As he neared the others, Mikolas slowed. He hated leading the God of Mortality right to the woman he’d only begun to know, to love, but they needed their Guardian gifts to kick in. Whatever Zeus’s reasoning had been for requiring the muses to be in danger of the gifts to surface, it meant that to have any chance at eliminating Iapetus from this world, they had to work together.
Wind whistled past Mikolas’s ear, and pain lit across his shoulder, the spear grazing his skin before piercing a tree ahead of him. But he kept running. He was almost there. Each step became more labored, his shirt more and more drenched in blood. The Titan would have probably already caught him if he hadn’t had to stop and retrieve his spear.
Why wasn’t he healing?
Suddenly, Trinity stepped into the clearing, both arms raised to eye level, her hands gripping a flare gun. Mikolas stumbled past her, and she fired straight at Iapetus. The flare lodged in the Titan’s chest, the red fire casting an eerie glow on his face.
Iapetus clutched the spear in one hand, and reached for the flare with the other. He roared as he wrenched it free and dropped it to the dry earth. As he turned to face them again, an impossibly large wolf burst from the underbrush, racing toward the Titan. Time seemed to slow as the Lycan launched into the air, his jaws open, lips curled back in a deadly snarl. But Iapetus raised his spear, slamming the tip right through the Wolf’s chest. A pained yowl escaped the animal as the Titan flicked the spear, sending the wolf vaulting into the shadows. His body hit the ground with a hollow thump.
Clio screamed, but Erica held her back from running to the fallen wolf. Cooper and Lia rushed in to pull the muses back from the fight. Mikolas squinted. Where was Trinity?
“Fuck!” Reed rushed forward in front of Erica and Clio, and suddenly, boulders came free of the earth, flying at Iapetus.
Reed’s gift. They still had a chance.
The Titan laughed, batting the massive rocks away with one hand while the other clenched the shaft of the spear, still gleaming with Mason’s blood.
Mikolas fought the fatigue. He had to help Reed, but he could barely lift his head.
Trinity rushed in and knelt beside him. Thank the gods she was safe for now.
“We need to get you out of here.”
Reed hit the Titan with another boulder. Iapetus roared in fury, crushing the granite with his bare hands.
“I don’t understand.” Mikolas reached up, touching his wounded shoulder. “I healed before. His spear went through my leg, and I healed instantly.�
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Movement caught his eye. Clio, Cooper, and Lia skirted the fight to tend to the wolf. Mikolas groaned. The plan was crumbling as easily as the boulders in the hands of a Titan.
That was it. He needed to touch Reed with his hands, to magnify his power. But his shoulder was still bleeding out, his life with it from the cursed spear. He was too weak to stand.
Mikolas gripped Trinity’s wrist. “Get me up. I’ve got to get to Reed.”
Trinity looked at him, disapproval and fear swirling in her expression, but she hooked his uninjured arm over her shoulder anyway. She struggled to get him upright, but when she did, they stumbled toward Reed together. Mikolas ground his teeth to fight the exhaustion the spear’s wound was bathing him in.
Reed glanced at them over his shoulder. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Giving you enough power to decapitate a Titan.” Mikolas placed a heavy hand on Reed’s shoulder. “Aim for his head.”
CHAPTER 14
The time had come. He’d waited a millennium for destiny to converge on this moment, this lifetime, and now the future of the entire world rested squarely on his shoulders. He’d learned much since the last time he’d faced his father. He’d tasted the humility of being forgotten, written into fiction like Homer’s Iliad or transformed into a glowing cartoon on the big screen while the muses sang about Hercules.
But this time there would be no theatrics—no thunderbolts, no cyclops, no Olympians coming to his aid. The fate of the world would not be fought on a public stage. Not this time. But before the showdown, he had one last thing to do.
Zack knocked on the door.
Nate, the police detective and Guardian of the Muse of Tragic Poetry, opened the door with his gun drawn.