NOTE: This story contains violence and language. It is intended for mature readers.

Chapter 8 Before we got to Hollow Hill, we stopped at a department store so Selena could buy some new clothes. We were going to encounter resistance and traps at Hollow Hill, and she needed to be able to fight in something other than black prison scrubs or Liam’s clothes. My brother and I wore what we always wore: black shirts with long sleeves, black cargo pants, combat boots, and black holsters for our weapons. When Selena came back wearing the same thing, Liam couldn’t refrain from saying, “Dudes, we look like ninjas!” It was the last wise-crack we got in before the long drive up to Hollow Hill, which Normals knew as Topanga State Park. Legend said that thousands of years ago, when the gods had still ruled the human race, shrines and temples were built all over the world so followers could offer prayers and sacrifice to boost the spirit of their chosen deities. Most of them were built for a single god or goddess, but some places, like Hollow Hill, were created for those who worshipped every Olympian. They were the most beautiful temples, the ones the gods were said to have favoured the most. The Olympians loved these temples so much that they infused the earth with their own wards so that their followers were guarded from evil. Normals felt at peace and relaxed when they went there. Descendants felt like drug addicts on their first high. Even though the temple had been left to the elements and fallen into disrepair after thousands of lonely years, the echoes of old magic still lingered. The power was said to have come directly from the Olympians. It would never really fade, even as they slumbered. Less talented witches went insane when they gave in to the ancient power. Stronger witches would simply choose to become drunk on it. Like Thomas Areios had. Since the gods were sleeping, the magic was restless, trapped in the empty walls of the old temple. It had grown wild, dangerous, and impossible to control. It earned its name about the time the Paranormal Laws had come into effect. Witches with fully charged magic would enter the temple and would come out crazy, sapped of magic, and barely breathing. All of this was before Liam and I fought Thomas. Before I cursed the land and made the magic angrier by spilling my father’s blood onto it. I’d committed one of the greatest sins in the eyes of the gods, who were all about lineage and bloodlines. If I’d done it while the gods had been in power, I would have been slaughtered by the Furies on the spot. But instead, once Thomas had died, I’d felt the darkness sweep through the Hill and into the temple. When we had finally been taken away from the scene by the Inquisition and the Normal police, I had left with a sick, heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I hadn’t known exactly what I’d done, but I knew it had been more than just wrong. I knew it had been evil. If I ever came back to Hollow Hill, the curse would fix onto me and make me suffer. Whether it was from the traps before the temple, the allure of the magic in its walls, or the rate of draining it would pull from me, I couldn’t tell. But I’d pissed someone or something off when I violated the holiness of the ground by killing Thomas Areios. There was no way to reverse the curse unless I paid for it in blood.

The same curse was on Liam, though at half the capacity. Selena was the only one who was going to be relatively “safe.” I hoped this was going to be worth it. “Dude, we’re here. You can stop brooding now.” I glanced at Liam, who was sitting next to me in the truck’s cab with an impatient look on his face, but concern in his eyes. Beside him, Selena was staring out the window at the Hill above us. I gave Liam a bit of a glare to let him know I wasn’t lost in the past again, then grabbed my kit and hopped out of the truck. I’d parked at the base of the Hill, away from where most of the Normal hikers would be. It was too steep to drive up to the temple, so we were going to have to walk. I looked around the trees ahead of me, breathing it all in again. To a Normal, it just looked like a forest. A beautiful forest with tall, thick trees covered in green leaves. The dirt was covered with patches of moss and grass, some of the earth trampled on by hikers paving their own trails. It smelled refreshing and clean. There wasn’t a sound to be heard, even now in the late afternoon. To a witch, the trees provided cover and protection to Hollow Hill. The dirt covered the old gravel paths. It was too quiet because the power made all animals nervous. They wisely chose to stay away from this place. As soon as my boots touched the ground, the earth remembered me. I could feel it spiking against my magic, wanting to push me away. Testing me. I resisted it. I glanced over my shoulder to see what was keeping Liam and Selena. The Titan was taking her borrowed weapons and strapping them to her body. If she felt anything yet, it wasn’t showing on her face. She was busy strapping the kukri to her hip and adjusting the strings on the recurve bow I’d loaned her. Liam on the other hand, was less than relaxed. Like me, a kopis sword that hung at his side. A combat knife was strapped to his belt, two more in sheaths on his ribcage. My sword was at my side, next to a large combat knife. Another knife was sheathed against my left ribcage while a third was strapped against the front of my right shoulder. We’d taken flashlights, in case the Fates turned on us and kept us on the Hill during the night. I walked over to Liam and tried to get him to look at me as he stared at the mountain ridge behind me. “You okay, kid?” I asked. “Yeah,” he said, still not looking at me. “I just feel like the gods would crush me into mush if they were awake.” His eyes met mine. “You feeling that too?” I nodded. “Yeah.” “Oh, awesome. Here I thought I was the only one.” I patted his shoulder. “In and out, kid. Selena will try to sort out her Sight, and you and I will make sure that Thomas is dead. Then we leave.” “And never come back.” I gave him a nod. “And never come back.” Liam relaxed, his confidence growing again. I turned my head as Selena walked toward us. The kukri was now sheathed on her hip, the bow and quiver of arrows resting against her back. A belt with four silver throwing knives was wrapped around her waist. Selena had pulled her hair up into a tight knot at the back of her head. Her silver crescent moon pendant was tucked under the collar of her shirt. She looked less like the lost woman that had been on my porch a couple days ago, and more like a soldier. “Are you ready?” I asked. She nodded. “All right. It’s about an hour and a half of hiking time alone to get to the temple at Hollow Hill.” Selena frowned. “That’s it?”

Liam barked a laugh. “Yeah, sure, it’s nice and simple, if you survive all the traps up the way there.” Selena looked at me. “The temple isn’t just warded. The area surrounding it has elemental magic surrounding it. First fire, then water, then air, then earth.” “What about aether?” she asked. “The challenge for the most powerful element is in the actual temple.” “Okay, so what sort of traps and challenges are we going to face?” “Last time we were here, it was an bunch of fireballs, a river we couldn’t cross, a chain lightning trap, and an enchanted clearing. In the temple, we had to fight a demon.” Selena’s eyes widened. “When you were kids?” Liam smiled crookedly. “We were badasses then too.” She sputtered when she tried to laugh. “I don’t know if the traps will be the same or not,” I said. “Do you have enough precognition to tell when we’re coming up to them?” “Of course,” she replied. “Do you remember how to get past all of them?” “Of course.” I paused for a beat. “Are you still sure that you want to do this?” Selena gazed at me, then turned her head and looked up at the trees ahead of us. I tilted my head, now able to see the birthmark of Selene on her. It was a small, dark crescent moon on the back of her neck. I straightened my head when she looked at me again. “Absolutely,” she told me with confidence. I grinned, finding even more respect for her. “Okay. Then let’s get walking.” We weren’t ready for the first trap. We walked for half an hour without stopping for a single break. We had small bottles of water and protein bars (or “ass-bars,” as Liam called them) in our pockets to keep up our energy, but we didn’t use our magic to boost our endurance. It would be stupid to use it unnecessarily when we had so much to face on the Hill. Selena kept up a good pace. She never complained, never slowed down, never asked for a break. The same couldn’t be said for Liam. “Dude, I don’t remember it being so damn steep,” he panted. I kept walking, my eyes open for the first trigger. Since it was my element, I could feel the buildup of fire-magic in the air, pulling and enticing the soulfire in my body. “I keep telling you to eat healthier,” I replied without looking at my brother. “Hey, don’t blame this on my diet. Human legs weren’t made for steep inclines like this. It’s Mother Nature’s fault.” “I seriously doubt Gaia would approve of you saying that.” “Yeah, well she’s asleep, so I don’t think–” I stopped so suddenly that Liam bumped into my back. I put my hands at my sides. The fire-magic from Hollow Hill was practically screaming at the war-magic I possessed, like a heavy metal singer who was angry at his father. I scanned the trees, but couldn’t see anything. Liam stood next to me, searching the forest just like I was. “Was it here?” he asked. “Close,” I said. “Guys? Care to fill me in?” Selena asked from behind us. “There’s an elemental fire trap ahead of us,” I answered without looking at her. “I can’t remember where the trigger is.”

Selena moved up to my side and knelt onto the ground. She scrutinized the earth, but made sure not to move a muscle. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. After a second, she opened her eyes. “I can’t focus on it,” she said, standing up slowly. “Usually I can use my precog when I’m tracking, but there’s interference.” She looked at me. “I think it’s coming from the Hill.” She was probably right. The spells and wards on Hollow Hill had been created to shelter it from most of the world. Only the most devout and brave believers would be able to find the temple without a problem. Other people like us could find it, but we would have a hell of a time getting our spells to function properly. “We have to keep moving,” I said. “There’s no other way up. Both of you watch where you step.” I took the lead, staring at the ground and hoping I would be able to see the trigger. I didn’t like moving this slowly, but last time Liam and I made the mistake of rushing. A mistake we nearly paid for with our lives. One I had no intention of making again. Then I heard Liam stop and say, “Oh, shit.” I froze and spun, looking at my brother. He was staring at the ground. He took a step back and gave me a guilty look. “It wasn’t there last time,” he said. Then he winced. “I think.” I didn’t have time to say anything smart or rough, because up ahead of me was a heavy woosh and the scent of burning grass. I whipped my head back around. Three fireballs the size of tractor wheels came barrelling down the bluff ahead of us at a frightening speed. “Run! Go!” I shouted at Selena and Liam. They didn’t need a lot of encouragement. We started running back down the hill, but I could hear and smell the earth being singed. The air was getting hotter behind me, but I never stopped running. I even pulled on a little reactive adaptation to make myself faster. That helped, but this was magic fire. It wouldn’t tire the way I would, and I needed to save as much magic as I could for later. I ducked behind a tree at the last second, two of the fireballs rushing past me. I saw Liam and Selena take cover, then noticed that the fireballs were deliberately pursuing them. They weren’t moving randomly. They were magicked to target whoever had triggered the trap, like a guided missile. Instinct made me duck as the third fireball slammed into the tree I was hiding behind. Heat swelled over my head and tree bark splintered, dropping searing ashes onto my back. I rolled away, spinning to see what the fireball was doing. It pulled back from the tree I’d been standing by and reformed, tumbling out from behind the tree and launching itself at me. This time I didn’t run. It was elemental fire, and since it didn’t come from another living witch, I could manipulate it. I swept my arms up, pulled on its magic, and shoved the fire away, like I was picking it up and throwing it. The fireball hurled into the trees on my right, crashing against the edge of a bluff. The fireball had flattened and was now burning the dirt of the bluff. I spun on my heel and found Liam and Selena. Liam was wrestling for control with the fireball chasing him. He seemed to have a good handle on the situation. But Selena didn’t. She threw a blast of moon-light at the fireball, hoping her magic would be enough to smother it. All her spell did was make the fireball falter and give her the chance to run again. The flame was too hot. It was evaporating her magic. Selena was soon surrounded by fire and had nowhere else to run. I raced for her as the fireball whipped around and slammed into the ground in front of her. She skidded to a stop so quickly that she fell onto her back. I reached out and used my magic to grab onto the tail of the fireball and yank it away from her. I swung it like it was a discus, sending the fire flying into the trees. It completely engulfed a thick tree, but reformed and headed straight for me. I held my hand out, calling on my soulfire at the same time Liam appeared at my side and did the same. We waited for the fireball to get closer, then we pushed. Our fire-magic was stronger and hotter than the fireball that chased us. It smothered the entire blast

until we called our magic back. There was nothing left but a cloud of black smoke. As we lowered our hands, we got a look at the forest. The fight had lasted maybe a minute or two, but it looked as if this section of the forest had been carpet-bombed. The forest floor was still burning rapidly. Everything smelled like smoke and burning wood. It wasn’t going to be long before someone called the police, and we couldn’t be here when that happened. The Inquisition would be called in when the cops found out that we were fugitive Rogue witches. Assuming the Inquisition hadn’t told them already. I looked at Liam. He was reading my mind. “Clear a path?” he asked. “Clear a path,” I repeated. He split off from me and raced up towards the fire. I went for Selena. She pushed herself up and looked a little dirty, but there were no burns or serious injuries. She looked past me and held her breath. I turned quickly to see what was happening to Liam. He had pushed in half and off the fire to the sides, making a clearing for us to run through. It was narrow, but the kid had done a good job. He looked like Moses parting the Red Sea, if the Red Sea had been made of tall, magical fire. “I didn’t know Liam could do that,” Selena breathed. “He’s strong.” I smiled a little to myself. Even as a kid, Liam loved to stretch his talents. He would form soulfire in his hand and try to make it into shapes. A kid who never had any toys had to make his own, after all. He would turn his soulfire into the shape of a great white shark and have it fight a lion, or put a samurai against a robot. He would always laugh at me because I couldn’t do it, but I never complained to Thomas about it. The moment our father heard or saw that Liam was using our blessed soulfire for fun tricks, he would beat Liam bloody. So it was our little secret, and I continued to admire my little brother for his skills. “Yeah,” I replied. “He is. But he can’t hold it for long. Come on.” We sprinted back up the hill past Liam and through the parted fire. I got to the bluff and jumped up. I had to pull on reactive adaptation to give me an extra boost, but as soon as I caught the edge of the bluff, pulling myself up was easy. I got to one knee and held my hand out for Selena. She grabbed it, and I lifted her up like she was no heavier than a bag of sand. As soon as she was able to climb up, I held my hand down for Liam. My brother was already running for me, letting go of his hold on the fire as he got closer to the bluff. He jumped up and grabbed my hand. I pulled on more reactive adaptation to make myself stronger and bring him up faster. Liam landed in a heap next to me while smoke rose up and burned the forest floor below us. I reached out and sent out a little more magic to smother it down to a dull burn. There was no way to reverse the damage, but I could at least keep it from burning down the entire hill. I sat back on my heels and looked at Liam. He relaxed his body, breathing steadily. He’d used a lot more magic than he should have and needed to rest so he could store what remained of it. We still had a long way to go. “You all right, kid?” I asked, giving his shoulder a squeeze. He nodded, pushing himself to his feet and giving me a thumbs up. “I’m awesome.” The three of us stood up and started to move up the hill. “We’re gonna have to move double-time,” I said. “Won’t be long before the Inquisition shows up.” “You think they will?” Selena asked. “They hate us and we started a fire in a famous park,” Liam said. “I think it’s kind of a given.” Liam said it with a sarcastic smile, but I hated knowing that he was right. Forty-five minutes later, we came to a wide river that ran across the length of the path. The water seemed harmless enough down below the decline, but I had experience otherwise. There was no way to

get around it. Liam and I had checked five years ago. The other sides of the river ran off the edges of bluffs and cliffs with falls too steep to survive. I sighed. Liam stood next to me. “They still haven’t built a bridge over it, huh?” Liam said. “Nope.” “What’s in the river?” Selena asked. “I can sense some magic, but it’s strange. It feels tricky.” “Nothing’s officially in the water,” I answered. “The water itself is enchanted so no one can get across. Not unless you like base-jumping.” I started walking for the river. I picked up a piece of log that had been near the shore and hurled it over the water to the other side. Nothing happened. Liam and I looked at each other. “Maybe the spell has changed,” Liam said, half hopeful. “Only one way to find out,” I said. I started down the slope and waded into the river. Liam stiffened, making a move to follow me but holding back when I held out my hand to keep him away. I didn’t want to risk him getting hurt, and delaying wasn’t going to change the spell. The last time we were here, we fought the current and its magic, and we only nearly drowned. This time I wasn’t sure we were going to be as lucky. The water was freezing around my shins. I’d never been to Alaska, but I imagined the water up there felt something like this. It was a bone deep chill that was threatening to immobilize me. I didn’t bother wasting any magic by using reactive adaptation to increase my body temperature. As long as I kept moving quickly, I could get out and warm up on land. At least that was what I thought until the water began to rise. After five steps, it was at my knees. Ten steps, it was at my waist. As the water rose, the temperature dropped even lower until I was almost shaking. It didn’t help that the magic of the water was clashing with my fire-magic. It tingled sharply like a thousand tiny needles, making me uncomfortable and want to get as far away from it as possible. Apparently I wasn’t moving fast enough for the magicked water that hated me, because it suddenly shot up around my chest, coiled around me, and dragged me under. What felt like icy hands gripped my limbs and refused to let me fight back. I blinked my eyes open and saw that Liam had been pulled down with me. I couldn’t see Selena. My lungs burned they tried to find air. I didn’t have enough fire magic to vaporize the water in the river, but I wasn’t the only witch out here. A blast of white light rippled through the water. I felt it hit my chest and flood my body with temporary warmth, shoving the freezing hands off of me. Selena had bought me time. All I could think about was Liam, how my recklessness and his utter loyalty to me was going to get us both killed one day. But I wouldn’t let that day be today. I swam for my brother, whose struggles were getting weaker. He was nearing unconsciousness. He must have been trying to fight the limbs off with magic, something he couldn’t spare. I wrapped my arm around his chest and pulled him to the surface. I gasped in a breath when we broke from the water and swam for the shore. Selena was already crawling onto the land. She was shivering and soaked, but she helped me pull Liam up the slope and onto the earth. My brother coughed up water and groaned, but he was alive. Selena didn’t hesitate in pressing her palms to his chest and working a healing-spell on him– Freezing hands wrapped around my ankles and yanked me down the slope, my chest slamming on the muddy rocks of the riverbed. I barely heard Selena shouting my name before I was dragged under the water again. This time I was pulled down even further, the magicked water holding me under and forcing itself into my lungs. My chest grew tight and my skull felt like it was being crushed between two massive hands. I couldn’t breathe, and the grip on my limbs was even stronger this time. There was another blinding flash of light above me. The water parted just over my head. The cold limbs gripping me suddenly vanished. I breached the surface and coughed out water before choking on air. It was like the river had been drained by an giant vacuum. It was now three feet deep instead of thirteen. I crawled up the

muddy slope and made my way up to the forest floor. Hands fisted themselves in the back of my shirt and helped me up. I coughed up some more water, my back suddenly flushed with warmth. Liam was in front of me, his bright blue eyes filled with worry. He pressed his head to mine, breathing in deeply. “You’re an idiot,” he said. “I know,” I told him. “But at least we made it across.” He stifled a laugh. “You are such an idiot.” I grinned and he backed away, sitting on the grassy floor. I sat back on my heels and looked at Selena. Her hand was still on my back, the warmth of her healing magic flowing through me. “What did you do?” I asked. Selena’s magic stopped, but her hand remained on the middle of my spine. It was a gentle, soft touch that kept my heart pounding. She gave me a sly smile. “The last challenge was your element. This one was mine.” I grinned. “Thanks,” I said. She smiled. “You’re welcome. I guess we should get moving?” “I think we should stay here and relax,” Liam said, shaking out the water from his head. “These death-traps are even less fun than I remember.” “Nice try, kid. This was your idea.” He sighed, shaking his head one last time. “You’re never gonna let me hear the end of that are you?” I smiled a little at him. “I’m your big brother. You know that I won’t.” Liam rolled his eyes and stood up. Selena got to her feet, wringing out her ponytail with both of her hands. I straightened, looking at the birthmark on the back of her neck and trying not to think about how startlingly bright her eyes were when she’d used her magic to heal me. I checked my kit while Liam shoved lingering water off his body. None of the weapons and kit were damaged by water, so once we’d collected ourselves, we moved on. We had to play the next obstacle smarter because there was absolutely no room for error. One screw up, and we were irrevocably dead. The extra hour of hiking and lying in the late afternoon sun dried us off somewhat, but my clothes still felt heavy as I trekked up the hill. I stopped at the next clearing. Liam and Selena leaned against a set of trees behind me, breathing heavily. Liam looked at the clearing, then let out a groan. “Dude, I really don’t want to climb anything right now.” “Climbing?” Selena asked. She looked at me suddenly. “Why are we climbing?” I picked up a tree branch and hurled it into the clearing. As soon as it hit the tall grass, bright white electricity snapped around the branch and charred it until it was black and brittle. “That’s why. This is the air trap,” I said. “How far does it reach?” Selena asked, moving up to my side. “If we climb the trees to the next bluff,” I said, pointing ahead, “we’ll be out of range.” “How do you know the spell hasn’t changed?” she asked. “It feels exactly the same as the last time we were here,” I said. “If there are any changes, I can’t sense them. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be careful.” I looked at my brother and the Titan. “I’ll go first,” I said. “How about no?” Liam said, stepping up to me. “I’ll take the lead this time.” “Liam–” He ignored me and walked towards the first tree. He picked up a tree branch and tossed it against trunk to make sure it wouldn’t electrocute him. Then he started to climb. I watched my brother move quickly up the trees as if he was part spider monkey. Once he was

twenty feet up the tree, he looked down at us. “What are you still waiting down there for?” Liam called. “Let’s go!” I rolled my eyes then looked at Selena. “Ladies first,” I said. She gave me a sardonic nod then started climbing up the tree as Liam had. I watched her move gracefully up the trunk, then had to look away before she noticed me staring at parts of her I shouldn’t have been staring at. Once she’d gotten a decent height on the tree, I grabbed onto the lowest branch and started moving up the tree behind Selena. The branches were sturdy, but the bark was chipped and rough under my hands. Every time I stood on one, it creaked and groaned under my weight. I kept calm, remembering how intimidating this trap had been the first time. Each time a branch had complained under me, I thought it was going to snap and make me fall. Liam and I had rushed the trap, but there had been a couple slips that I were sure would have been my last. This time it was daylight, and we didn’t have anyone to race to the temple, so we could move slowly. For now. By the time Selena and I reached the twenty foot marker, my brother was already jumping to the second tree. He had great balance and perception, but he was moving fast. Every time he jumped around on the branches I was scared he was going to fall. Watching Liam being electrocuted on the ground twenty feet below me was something I hoped never to see. Selena made the same leaps, but didn’t catch them as well as Liam did. She still did the jumps with elegance and grace, but there were some close calls. Liam was getting away with it because he was using some reactive adaptation to assure his landings. I was doing the same thing. Selena didn’t have that ability, and was relying solely on her skill at free-climbing. As we kept making our way across, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. It was taking concentration and skill to jump along the treetops and keep our balance, but it still felt too easy. Last time it had been a challenge for Liam and me, but Selena was right. All the traps so far had been amplified in the five years since the incident at Hollow Hill when I cursed the land. When we got halfway across the clearning, the rest of the trap sprang. Liam had just landed on the branch of a tree that cracked under his weight. He clung to the trunk and steadied himself, looking back at us. “Oh shit,” he said, “The branches are getting weaker.” He looked at us nervously. “I’m not sure how much more weight they’ll support.” Meaning if Selena jumped onto the branch Liam was on, it might break under her and she might fall. If she didn’t, I would jump onto it and definitely fall. But we couldn’t go back. Like the other traps, this one spanned the whole area. There was no way around. I looked down the tree trunk, where there was significantly less to hold onto. “Kid, do you think the branches will support Selena’s weight?” “I don’t know, maybe.” He glanced at her. “I mean no offence, but you’re way smaller than me and Derek, so you’re probably not as heavy, but,” he looked at me, “why am I asking her this?” “She’s going to follow the leaps you take.” I nodded to the branches below me. “I’m going to take the branches down there.” “Dude, there’s like half the amount! We don’t know how far the trap stretches!” “If I go lower I have a chance. If I follow Selena, the branches will definitely collapse.” I took my eyes away from Liam and looked at Selena. She wasn’t being as vocal as my little brother, but she looked just as unhappy. Hearing that she might fall to her death if she wasn’t careful wasn’t very encouraging. “You have to move fast,” I called to her. “As soon as you have the chance to jump, take it.” Selena swallowed anxiously, then nodded. She pulled herself up and steadied herself on the tree branch, getting ready to make her jump. Liam was muttering something, probably about me being reckless and stupid, but I was dropping down the tree, sliding down the trunk until I was fifteen feet from

the forest floor. Liam had been right. The electric trap was definitely higher than it had been last time we’d been here. I could feel it tingling and snapping at the bottom of my feet. It was a new set of hands that wanted to drag me down to a painful death. I looked up, seeing that Liam had taken off from his branch and moved onto another tree. Selena was following him as fast as she could, but with every jump they landed, the tree branches splintered, becoming weaker. The cracks were deeper under Selena’s feet. They weren’t thin branches, they were just spelled to be easily breakable under pressure. I jumped to the next tree, using reactive adaptation to launch myself further. I made my landing and wrapped my arms around the tree trunk, but I could feel the branch straining and creaking under my weight. All the trees were spelled this way. I had to move, and I couldn’t afford to miss my jumps with so little for me to grab onto down here. I kept moving through the trees, swinging and jumping and reacting to the situation I was in. I was using more magic than I wanted to, but I didn’t have any choice. If I fell, I would have to drain all my magic to harden my skin and run out of the trap. That was assuming my reactive adaptation was strong enough to last that long to keep me from being electrocuted by the ancient air-magic at all. We were about three trees away from the end of the trap, but the branches kept getting fewer and weaker. They started snapping as soon as my feet lifted off of them. A branch suddenly fell in front of my path, almost making me slip. I made my latest jump and clung to the trunk with both arms, reactive adaptation giving me a better grip. The branch landed in the electric trap below me, crackling and burning in the long grass. I looked up. Liam had made it to the last tree and jumped across the gap to the ledge. He’d had to use a fair amount of magic to make it to the edge of the bluff, but he tucked and rolled to safety. The tree branch he’d leaped from was the one that had collapsed in front of my eyes. It left Selena unable to make her way across. She didn’t have the ability to cheat the jump like we did. Even if she did, it might not have worked. Reactive adaptation would make us go further and higher, but it wouldn’t make us fly. Selena was clinging to the branch she had just landed on, but it was bending under her weight. She wasn’t going to be able to hang on much longer. I started climbing up, using my reactive adaptation to make myself faster. She stood on the branch over my head and gripped the tree trunk, trying to find a way to get across. But it was way too far. She would never make it. The branch continued to groan under her feet. She looked around frantically for something to do or use. Then the branch snapped, and she fell with a scream. I wrapped one arm around the tree trunk and held my arm out, grabbing her arm when she was in range. She cried out in surprise when she jerked to a stop below me, kicking when she felt the magic biting at her feet. My shoulder and arm strained painfully, but I didn’t let go. Selena looked up, her silverblue eyes wide with surprise and fear. I held on tightly, but even with my extra strength I couldn’t keep the grip for long. Her shoulder was probably on fire right now. It was probably almost dislocated, like mine was starting to be. “Grab onto my back when I pull you up,” I shouted to her. Selena nodded. She stopped kicking and gripped my hand with both of hers. I watched a flash of pain go through her eyes as she stretched her wounded arm. She wasn’t very heavy, but I used a little extra magic to pull her up faster. She latched onto my back, wrapping her arms around my neck. I could feel her heart beating quickly against my back, her breath coming in short pants. “You okay?” I asked. I felt her nod against me. “Thank you,” she whispered. I nodded back. “Listen, I’m gonna get us to the other side. Don’t let go of me, no matter what.”

Selena nodded again, clasping her wrist and tightening her grip around me. I took a deep breath and started jumping. The branches creaked angrily under my feet, clearly not liking the extra hundred pounds I was putting on them after my own two hundred and twenty-five pound bulk. I couldn’t make myself lighter. I could only make myself faster. I jumped from branch to branch like a monkey on speed. Selena gripped me so tightly that I almost couldn’t breathe. At least I knew she wasn’t going to slip. I climbed higher and came to the bluff. I glanced at it, knowing I couldn’t jump from the top branches liked Liam had. The ones I had left were collapsing behind me. I heard them crackling in the tall grass underneath me. I smelled them burning as the electric-trap disintegrated them. The side of the bluff had vines resting lazily against it. I took our chances with that. Leaping from the branch just as it collapsed under our weight, I flew at the bluff. I slammed hard against it, my fingers digging into dirt as I scrambled for grip. The thin vines I grabbed onto wouldn’t hold us, tearing out of the soil wall and dropping into the clearing. Earth crumbled around me as I slid down the bluff. I spotted some thicker vines and wrapped my hands around them. I was sure that these ones were going to be torn out too, but instead they tugged us to a stop. I held on just long enough to make sure the vines didn’t have a spell on them, then let out the breath I’d been holding. Selena’s weight started shifting off my back. “What are you doing?” I asked. “I’ll can climb up myself.” she said, suddenly appearing at my side, gripping a set of sturdy vines. “What about your shoulder?” She rolled it in its socket and gave me a smile. “I healed it as soon as I grabbed onto you.” She glanced at the ground below her, then at me. “I hate heights. Want to race to the top?” I grinned. “You’re on.” She smiled, then started climbing the vines. We moved as fast as we could, and I didn’t even use my magic to cheat. I liked to win, but I also wanted to be behind Selena if she fell again. Liam was waiting eagerly with his hand outstretched to pull Selena up the ledge of the bluff. Both of them helped me once they were at the top. Selena was smiling gently at me. Liam looked like he wanted to hit me. “Next time we go to a jungle gym, how about we go to one that won’t kill you if you miss a bar?” he said angrily. “We made it, kid. We’re fine.” I stood up. “I’m too young to be having heart attacks every time I think you’re going to die.” “Thanks for the faith, Liam. You make me feel so loved.” Liam punched me in the shoulder and stalked off. I grinned. Despite nearly dying every hour or so, we were making good time. We would make it to the temple before nightfall. Making it back down at night was what worried me. After getting onto the ledge, the hill had flattened out. We wouldn’t have to climb the mountain to get to the temple. We were close, but we couldn’t see it through the thick, clustered trees ahead of us. The smell of moss and soil grew heavy as we trudged along. Twenty minutes later, we made it to a clearing with a heavy curtain of thick, leafy vines hanging from a pair of enormous trees. We stared at the entrance to the earth challenge, breathing in the humid air coming from behind the vine-curtain. Liam filled his hand with soulfire and looked at me. “Should we scorch it all?” he asked. “I’m not so sure that would work. It might only start the spell earlier.” I said. “Besides, you should save your magic. We’ll need it.” Liam looked at me then shrugged, closing his hand into a fist and snuffing the soulfire out. “Your show, dude.”

I glanced at Selena, who was closer to my side than I remembered her being. She was probably exhausted, but her face held nothing but determination. “Stay close,” I said. “We’ll have to move through this one fast.” Selena only nodded. I pushed the heavy curtain aside and walked into the trap. All I could see was green. The grass was thick and up to our ankles. The trees circled the clearing and bent downward, trapping us in a dome. Hundreds of vines hung limply over our heads, brushing our skulls as we walked through. The air was so thick I almost choked. My throat felt like it was being coated in tar. We were panting as we walked, every step becoming sluggish. Sweat coated my back and dripped into my eyes. I was used to the heat, but this felt like walking through an oven. We were halfway through when the forest turned against us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the vines starting to move as if they were blowing in the wind. Except there was no wind. They were moving from the spell placed on them. The vines snaked toward us, dropping lower towards our heads and slithering for our feet. I ducked out of their way. The forest was toying with us right now. It would turn savage as soon as I showed it aggression. Something I wasn’t going to have to worry about much longer. The teasing tickles along my face, the sudden whip lash along my back, the wrap around my ankle that jerked me off balance but was gone just when I struggled free. It was all getting on my nerves. Still, I held back the urge to cut down every vine I saw. The longer I could delay the fight, the more magic and strength I could preserve. The forest got bored way faster than it had the last time. Vines suddenly darted out from the tops of the trees and the forest floor, spiralling around my throat and legs. They squeezed brutally, cutting off my air and circulation. I tried to kick and fight back, but they only pulled tighter. No one was moving to help me, because they were in the same situation that I was. Liam was on my right with a vine spiralling around his leg, his hands still free enough for him to swing his sword and cut down a few of them. On my left, Selena held out her hand to build a ball of light in her palm, but the spell was quickly snuffed out when a vine snared her wrist and pulled her arm down. She grimaced but couldn’t scream. The vine around her throat was preventing that by strangling her. The vines around my neck hauled me higher in the air, turning into a noose. I pulled and fought, but the vines matched my strength. I pulled on them, but they circled my wrists and tightened to the point where my hands started to turn blue. I latched onto some soulfire and let it flow through my palms. The vines hissed as they burned, slipping away from my body. All but the noose around my throat. While I tugged on it to take some pressure away from my neck, I looked over to see Liam being hauled into the air. He used his soulfire the same way I had, and was dropped from the trap of vines. I saw him land hard on the grass, then I looked to my other side to see Selena. She was trapped in the air, a huge vine coiled around her body like a giant python. One of her arms was free, and she had managed to grab a throwing knife from her belt. She stabbed it into the vine, making it shiver but not let her go. I could almost hear every one of her choked breaths. I couldn’t throw soulfire at the vines on her body without hurting her, so I threw it at the ones above her. They burned and pulled back sharply, dropping Selena onto the ground. I saw her land on her back, only to see more vines slither toward her and pin her onto the grass. I grabbed the vines at the back of my neck and poured soulfire over them, freeing my throat and dropping me onto the ground. My neck felt bruised as I coughed in air, then looked up to find my brother. Liam was spinning with his sword, slicing through vines that tried to swarm him. When the vines got too close, he threw out soulfire. The vines cringed away from him, wanting to snatch him up again, but nervous about getting close. I took the kopis from my side and scrambled toward Selena. I burned away the vines pinning her to the ground. I pulled her up and kept her close to me, pushing out with soulfire and slashing with my

kopis. The three of us ran for the edge of the forest, the vines right at our heels and backs. I pushed Selena in front of me and forced her to run. Liam was taking the lead, using his magic to make himself faster when he saw the exit to the clearing. I could have matched his pacing, but it would mean leaving Selena behind to be torn apart. So I moved at my normal run, cutting down vines on my right with my sword and blasting soulfire at the vines on my left. But there were hundreds of them. The air became thicker and it was even harder to breathe. Selena was slowing until I put my hand on her back and forced her forward. Over her shoulder, I could see another curtain of vines peeling back, showing us the exit. We were about five feet away– My outstretched hand was suddenly snared and jerked from her back. The force of the pull sent a ripple of pain up my arm. Another set of vines grabbed my ankles and tugged me down. I rolled until I was on my back, grabbing the vine that lunged for my throat. I used my soulfire on it, burning it away from me. I shook myself free and rolled to my feet, seeing that Selena had been grabbed and pulled down again. The vines had wrapped around her joints, and she wasn’t able to fight them off. Liam had made it out of the clearing, and saw that we were still trapped inside. I read the hard look in his eyes and knew what he planned to do. I dashed along the floor, burning the vines off Selena again, then used my body as a shield to cover her as much as I could. One second later, I felt the air above me catch fire. The humidity combined with the heat from Liam’s soulfire made me actually think I was boiling. I knew Liam wouldn’t make his soulfire hurt me, but I couldn’t hold back on the reflex that kicked in reactive adaptation, hardening my skin and protecting me from the heat. Just as soon as it began, it was over. The heat from Liam’s soulfire faded, and the air was slightly more breathable. I didn’t waste time seeing what happened. I got to my feet, taking Selena’s hand to pull her up and after me. We raced out of the clearing and threw ourselves out onto the grass. We landed hard and sucked in fresh, cool air. It tasted good on my aching lungs, and from the expression on Selena’s face, it tasted good to her too. I sat up and looked at Liam. Behind him, the two trees near the exit were completely consumed by magic fire. It blackened the branches and made the vines curl away. The fire had spread into the clearing, charring the vines that had been over our head. Liam held out his hand and controlled the fire, dulling it until the fire was gone. The trees were still smoking, but they weren’t going to keep burning. “Nice work, kid,” I said. “Yeah, but I feel guilty. I like trees.” He helped me to my feet. “Those ones didn’t like us. I think you can find a way to forgive yourself.” I turned and held my hand out to Selena. She took it and rose to her feet. Red rings circled her throat from where she had been strangled. I frowned at them. “I’ll be all right,” she said as if she were reading my mind. “The marks will fade.” She gently rubbed her throat. “I’m not going to waste magic healing this. Isn’t there an aether challenge we have to get past?” My frown deepened. “Yeah. In the temple.” Selena lowered her hand. “How far is it from here?” “About two hundred feet,” Liam said in a detached voice. I glanced at my brother, but he was staring past me. Selena and I looked in his line of sight. The anger of the land washed through me again, but it was small compared to the pang of fear that shot through my heart. We’d arrived at the temple at Hollow Hill.

Chapter 9

The temple looked different than I remembered it, and not just because it was dusk rather than nightfall by the time we made it there. The last time Liam and I had been here, the temple had been a crumbling ruin. This time it was in a state of repair. Construction scaffolding stood on either side of a building that looked like a cross between a Greek temple and a plantation house. The building was about a hundred feet tall and shrouded in a clearing behind thick, towering oak trees. Large, white columns were being constructed under a grey peaked roof. Two heavy, marble doors were hiding in the shadows beyond the pillars, beautifully carved with images of the Twelve Olympians. The columns were chipped and gouged, supported by metal beams. Under the roof was a curved, half broken balcony, supported by the same beams that held the pillars up. The stone staircase was the only thing that seemed to be fully furnished. Leading to the staircase was a gravel path. Memories rushed back as I stared at the temple on Hollow Hill with new eyes. The rain pounding down on my beaten, burning body. Liam bleeding to death only feet away from me. Thomas laughing as magic and pride swirled around him. The feel of the sword in my hand when I gripped it and drove it into my father’s heart... I snapped out of it. The magic throbbed angrily at me. It demanded I come forward, that I give myself over to it in repentance for what I had done. I fought the tempting impulse. I looked at Liam. His hands were fisted at his sides, his face so tight I thought it might crack. I couldn’t see his eyes, but from the way he was staring at the temple, I could tell he was remembering the same things I was. I carefully put my hand on his shoulder. He jumped out of his memory and looked at me. Once again, I saw a terrified thirteen year old boy in place of a strong, eighteen year old man. “You holding up okay?” I asked quietly. “Yeah,” he said. Then he looked away. “No.” He glanced at the temple again, then looked around the gravel. He was staring at the exact places where he had almost died, where I had nearly died, and where Thomas had died. It took him a minute to snap back into himself. “I can’t feel anything. Can you?” I took my hand away from his shoulder and faced the temple. I sighed in a breath, dropped my defences, and let the curse hit me. The weight of it was crippling. All the pain the temple and the land felt from how I had violated it wrenched my heart, pulling on it until I was sure it was going to be torn from its eyes. Then there was the rage, that I had the audacity to come back here after killing my father and destroying the most sacred temple known to exist. It crashed into my head like a wrecking ball, slamming around my skull until blood was pounding in my ears. The grief and rage was stronger than I ever imagined, but it wasn’t killing me. It wasn’t making me drop to my knees and scream in agony like I thought it would. I focused on my memories, turning my head to the spot where Thomas had died. I didn’t feel anything. Most of the anger and sorrow was coming from the temple, but not that patch of dirt. Fear lanced through me, but I shoved it away. That couldn’t mean that Thomas was still alive... Could it? Quickly pushing away the hatred that Hollow Hill had for me and getting rid of the pain, I relaxed and looked at my brother. “I just felt it all hate me,” I said. “But... Nothing from there,” I said, pointing to a spot of gravel on the left. Liam quickly glanced at it, then looked at me. It wasn’t the guaranteed answer that we wanted it to be. Neither of us knew how to interpret it. There had to be more clues here. Something had to tell us the truth. Liam took a deep breath. “I’m gonna get closer,” he said. My brother walked away from me to the spot where his father had died. I didn’t follow him.

“I never realized how much power was here,” Selena said in amazement beside me. I turned my eyes to her. She was staring at the temple in awe, the way a person would look if they were staring at the gods themselves. “Don’t let it pull you in,” I warned her. “However it makes you feel, don’t give in to it.” Selena nodded, but she wasn’t looking at me. “Selena,” I said. I was grateful when she finally looked in my direction. She saw that Liam wasn’t standing with me, and looked around until she found him. Deep sadness filled her eyes. She didn’t even ask what was wrong before walking toward him. I watched her crouch next to him and whisper something I couldn’t hear. I slowly walked after them. Selena gave Liam some instructions. He nodded and she placed her hand on the gravel. Liam did the same. I stood behind them, wishing there was something I could do. I wanted to know if Thomas was alive, but Liam needed to know more than I did. Selena was the only one with enough precognitive talent to see if someone had come back to resurrect him. After a couple minutes, Selena opened her eyes and took her hand back. She looked at Liam sympathetically. “My Sight was blurred,” she said. “Blurred? What does that mean?” he asked. She sighed. “It means that someone wanted to cover up what happened to Thomas’ body. I can’t tell if it was left here, or if someone took it away. I’m very sorry, Liam.” My little brother raked his hands through his hair. The way he was crouched reminded me of Atlas, doomed to hold up the weight of the world. I clapped him on the back. “Come on, kid. Maybe there’s something in the temple that will tell us more.” He let go of his hair. “Sure. I love walking into my worst nightmares to find my even worse nightmares.” He stood up, took one step, then turned around and faced me and Selena. “Sorry. This whole thing just fucking sucks.” “You’re not wrong there,” I said with a half-hearted smirk. Liam’s face was still tense, but his eyes relaxed a little. “I love it when you tell me I’m right.” I stifled a laugh. “Don’t get used to it, kid.” He grinned at me mischeviously, then looked at Selena. “Thanks for trying, Sel.” The gorgeous Titan descendant smiled at him. My brother straightened his back and started walking to the temple. Selena was going to follow him, until I touched her shoulder and made her stop. She turned around, electrifying silver-blue eyes sending a welcome shiver down my spine. She was covered in mud and grass stains, her hair was slipping out of its ponytail, and the bruise around her throat looked like an ugly necklace. But the fading light seemed to absorb into her skin, making her glow with life. To me, she still looked amazing. “Thank you,” I somehow managed to say. “For trying to help him.” Selena smiled at me. I melted at the sight. “Liam’s a good kid,” she said, shrugging. “He makes me wish I had a little brother to look after. I couldn’t help myself.” She was making it more and more difficult not to kiss her. Obviously I knew better, but every time I looked into her silver-blue eyes, I could feel my defences weakening. I was letting her get closer, and I wasn’t sure how much longer it would be until I couldn’t push her away. I didn’t remember moving until I saw her expression change, and how she was suddenly a lot closer to my chest than before. Was I really that impulsive? I thought I had more self-control. I had to give myself something else to look at. Her eyes would be the death of me otherwise. I looked at the bruise on her neck. I slowly raised my hand and pressed my fingers to the injury. Selena never flinched, backed away, or told me to stop. Her skin was silky and heated under my

touch. I felt her pulse racing under my fingertips, almost making her shudder. I focused on making a healing-spell, and watched the bruise fade into nothingness. The mark was gone, but I couldn’t pull my hand back. Selena’s eyes were fixed on mine, trying to read everything that was going through my mind. I wondered if she could see the desire burning in them. That I couldn’t seem to let go of it, even if I wanted to. The same sort of look flashed through her eyes, so quick that I almost missed it. Then she moved closer, pushing herself up, getting closer to my lips– “Hey, Derek, the door’s locked!” Liam, you have the worst timing ever. Whatever had been growing between Selena and I was suddenly gone. She took a far step back, and was suddenly so far away. The air in front of me was so much colder now. My hand hovered in the air for a moment longer before I remembered I was here to get information, not attempt kissing the woman who had brought endless trouble into my life. “Be right there,” I called back to him. I looked at Selena again. She looked at me with conflicted eyes, probably thinking she had made a huge mistake. I took a deep breath and tried not to let it get to me. I gripped my sword and started to walk to the temple. Selena kept her hands loose at her sides and followed me. “Who do you think’s been repairing it?” Liam called as I got closer. “It was a pile of bricks once we were done with it.” “I don’t know, kid. But I don’t think we can count them as friends.” He snorted. “Of course not. That would be too helpful and crap.” He turned around, frowning when he looked at me. “Dude, are you okay?” “Yeah.” Liam didn’t believe me. He looked over my shoulder at Selena, and it seemed to click for him. He opened his mouth, then wisely shut it. I didn’t know what my problem was when it came to Selena, and this wasn’t the time to find out. I kept walking to the steps. As soon as I set foot on the white stone staircase, a swell of magic flooded into me. It was so powerful it almost knocked me over. I stopped and tried to steady my racing heart. The power of ancient gods teased my nerves, lighting them up and promising me more than I could ever dream, if I paid my dues and gave myself over to it. I could feel how strong I would become if I gave in. I would be the most powerful warrior on the planet. I would be unstoppable in combat. No one would dare cross or challenge me. I would crush my enemies with a single swing of my fist, earn all the respect denied to me with a single cut of my sword. I would become more than Derek Areios. I would take up the mantle of my distant ancestor, my BloodFather. I would become the reincarnation of Ares, god of war. “Don’t, Derek,” said someone beside me. I turned to see who would question my power, my birthright, and found myself looking at a young man and a beautiful woman. They seemed vaguely familiar, especially the young man. I struggled to place them in my memory– I pushed the power out of me. Liam and Selena watched me the way they would watch an open flame next to a stick of dynamite. “I’m fine,” I said. “The pull is stronger than before. It took me by surprise. That’s all.” I almost sounded convincing. None of us wanted to take one more step, but we had made it all the way here. We were not going to leave until we got the answers we came here to find. Feeling only slightly more confident now than I had a minute ago, I edged closer to the engraved doors of the temple. The magic coming from the temple became stronger and heavier, dogging my every step. It whispered for me to give in while cursing me for the blood I had spilled here. I didn’t know if the temple hoped I would give in, or die on the steps. A definite headache was on its way.

“Wards are still up,” Liam said, looking at the door. I narrowed my eyes, pulling on some reactive adaptation to see them better. They were barely visible, but I managed to see the glimmer covering the door like a sheet of freshly cleaned glass. It was intricate, delicate work and would be tricky for us to get past. Not deactivating it properly would give us a nasty shock. “Any suggestions, kid?” My brother stared at the door for a minute. He turned his head back to me. “A grenade.” I gave him a sarcastic look. Liam just sighed. “Fine, fine, fine. Let the wizard through.” I stepped back, Liam taking my place. He reached for the knife sheathed on his hip. Selena stood next to me, and I forced myself to forget that one, soft moment between us. “What’s he doing?” she asked quietly. “These wards require an offering of blood,” I answered. “Usually from a believer.” Selena glanced from Liam to me. Suddenly she moved forward, clasping Liam’s wrist before he could cut open his palm. “Uh, hi, Selena,” he said, confused. “Kind of about to injure myself for the greater good here.” She pushed his hand down, drawing one of her own throwing knives. I took a half step toward her, but Selena was already cutting open her palm. Her silver-blue eyes met mine, sending another warm shiver through me. “Neither you nor Liam believe in your god,” she said. “But I believe in mine. I love her. My blood will be make this easier.” She looked at Liam, giving him a sweet smile. “No offence, Liam.” He grinned and shrugged. “None taken, Sel. You can show off once in a while, too.” Her smile grew. She turned back to the door, pressing her bloody palm to it. I could see the wards quivering and dissolving like a white burning veil, peeling back and granting her access. The wards seemed to move faster than they had when Liam and I had taken them down. But like Selena had said, she believed in her goddess. She was the blood of a Titan. Liam and I were nonbelievers of a god we didn’t have the heart to respect. To check that the wards were safely down, I walked up beside Selena and pressed my hand to the door. This time there was no shock. I grinned down at her. “Impressive.” Selena grinned, shrugging one of her shoulders. “I know.” She turned on her heel and walked back to the main steps. Liam took her place, slapping my chest with the back of his hand to get my attention. He was grinning and waggling his eyebrows. “Dude, I know she’s hot and badass, but priorities.” I glared at him. “Shut up,” I grumbled. Liam laughed, then looked at the doors and focused on it with conviction. We stood on either side of the door, our swords drawn and ready. I glanced at Selena again, who took the bow off her back and loosely nocked and arrow. Liam and I pushed against the heavy stone doors, making them slowly creak open. They weren’t as heavy as they looked, but I wish they were quieter. Instead, the doors groaned and grumbled against the floor. There was no chance we’d avoided alerting who or whatever might have been inside, but when Liam and I stepped back, nothing jumped out of the shadows and tried to kill us. I stayed in the doorway for a second, watching the dark blue shadows from the coming nightfall painting the interior. All I could sense was the old power from inside the temple. I walked in, Liam and Selena coming up to my side. Hollow Hill’s temple was beautiful when it had been whole. A dozen marble columns stood on either side of the hall, each one carved to represent one of the Twelve Olympians. Zeus. Hera. Poseidon. Demeter. Athena. Apollo. Artemis. Hephaestus. Aphrodite. Hermes. Hestia. Dionysus. And of course, Ares.

The floor was shiny and smooth marble intricately detailed with a Victorian style painting of the old gods in their elements. Zeus holding up his lightning bolt. Hera seated on her throne. Poseidon riding his sea-chariot. Demeter in a field of wheat. Athena standing strong in her armour. Apollo playing his lyre. Artemis hunting with her bow. Hephaestus working with metal over a fire. Aphrodite curving sensually in her sea shell. Hermes running with his winged shoes. Hestia nestled by a hearth. Dionysus dancing with wine. Ares in ruthless combat with his sword and spear. Up ahead, the hall curved in a half circle where ten foot tall bronze statues of the gods sat in high, golden seats. There were golden fire braziers on either side of the god statues with their elemental runes and symbols carved into them. It had been designed to make normal humans feel small, to remind them that there were forces and beings that could overpower them with a blink of their eyes. Liam and I had levelled the entire temple in our fight with Thomas. Whoever had been fixing the place up had done a decent job, but there was still work that needed to be done on the inside. Some of the pillars and columns were half chopped off, there were cracks in the painted floor, and some of the statues were dented and melted from the soulfire we had been throwing around. The temple looked lonely and sad instead of grand and proud. Still, as I stood and looked around the wide temple, I felt just as small now as I had back then. My eyes drifted over to the statue of Ares, seated in his golden chair. He wore his Spartan helmet and armour. He gripped his spear tightly in his right hand and his shield in his left. A heavy kopis sword hanging from his waist. His eyes had been carved to show his ferocity, a nature so savage in battle that it bordered on insanity. Just like last time, I stared at the statue with a mix of respect and disgust. I’m one of his Blood-Children, but I’m not him. I’ll never be like him. Yes you will. A voice that sounded like Lilith’s tickled the back of my mind, but I ignored it. This place was taking advantage of my conflicted mind and tugging me back and forth. To give in and become a psychotic demi-god, or to give in and go mad with remorse. Neither option appealed at all. I looked away from the statue of Ares and scanned the temple for any signs of life. We’d be coming across the aether-trap soon. That was something worth concentrating on. “I’ve seen this place before,” Selena said as we walked deeper into the temple. “With the Sight.” She looked like she was focusing on something on another planet. She was here, but she wasn’t here. “What did you see?” I asked. Selena met my eyes, coming back into herself. “It’s just a fragment, but Lilith’s presence is here.” My blood temperature dropped. I gripped the hilt of my kopis tight. “Can you see what she does?” She shook her head. “I just see an image of her smiling.” Selena frowned. “And I can feel her. I don’t know where she is, but I can feel her moon-magic.” But I couldn’t, not with all the power floating around. Which either meant that I couldn’t focus, or that Lilith was purposefully concealing her power to everyone but Selena. Maybe I should’ve been more surprised to hear that Lilith was poking around Hollow Hill, but I wasn’t. No witch as evil or power-hungry as her would be able to resist this place. She would try and best it, control it, and bend it to her will. I could only hope that the Hill was stronger than she was. “Uh, we might want to put Lilith on the back-burner right now,” Liam said. I looked at my brother. “Why?” “ ‘Cause that’s the aether-trap,” he pointed. I followed his finger, and saw it. Black mist had begun to creep out from the edges of the temple walls, moving down the pillars and forming a huge heap of smoke. It started to take shape, thick limbs sprouting out of its shadowy body. It didn’t look like anything in particular, just a giant humanoid shadow at least seven feet tall. There were no eyes or nose or mouth on its head, but it wouldn’t need them. It didn’t have fingers or toes, but it didn’t need those either. One of its hands held a club. The thing didn’t

look too menacing to anyone who didn’t know anything about aether-magic, but I knew that club would feel more than real if I let it hit me. The shadow took one lumbering step then swung the club at us. Liam and I jumped off to the side, Selena backing up and missing the club as it slammed onto the floor and cracked the marble. Yup. Definitely a real club. But if it stayed corporeal, then it could be killed. I pulled on my soulfire, letting it flow down my arm and ignite my hand. I hurled a blast of it at the shadow-monster, catching it square in the shoulder as it turned. It made no noise because it had no mouth, no discernible face of any kind. But I could tell I had pissed it off. It swung its club at me again. I ducked and felt the air rush over my head, tendrils of aether-magic biting into the back of my neck. I danced out of range, leaning as far back as I could when it swiped the club at me again. It tried to grab me with its other hand, but a whip of soulfire snapped around its wrist and yanked. Liam was pulling on the soulfire-whip he’d made, trapping its hand. The shadow-monster hammered down with the club, making Liam jump away. Dust and pieces of broken rubble flew up into his face, temporarily blinding him. I darted for my brother, readying more soulfire. An arrow filled with white light crashed into the shadow-monster’s back, knocking it away from Liam. Selena beat me to the punch. The monster whirled on her, swinging its club wildly. She ducked low and rolled out of range, readying another arrow and firing again. I gripped my kopis tightly and filled it with soulfire, turning the blade red-hot. Then I charged the shadow-monster’s back, and drove the sword into it. The thing felt real enough when I stabbed it. My soulfire burned red against the shadow-monster’s black skin. It arched and swiped back at me. I ducked again, narrowly missing its strike. It swung at me with its club, the blunt weapon slamming into my side and sending me flying across the hall. I pulled on reactive adaptation at the last second to prevent my ribs from being completely shattered on impact. I lost my grip on my sword. Colliding with the marble floor still hurt and I would be getting some nasty bruises, but I was alive. The shadow-monster stomped towards me as I got to my feet. I backed up just as another blazing white arrow lodged itself into the side of the shadow-monster’s head. It whipped its head at Selena, who continued firing magicked arrows from her bow. While the shadow-monster’s back was exposed, Liam hurled another lance of fire at it like a spear. It hit the monster’s spine and sent a flare of magic through it. We weren’t doing anything but anger the creature. Despite our strikes, it wasn’t taking any serious damage. We couldn’t keep wasting magic on it. Not if Selena was right and Lilith was here. I started running. I had to get my sword back. The shadow-monster lost patience with Selena and Liam. It drew up into itself then threw out its arms. Coils of shadow shot out from its hands, stretching them out like elastics, swarming over Liam and Selena before they had a chance to escape. Then they were gone. They were totally consumed with the darkness. Just as I became totally consumed with rage. I threw my hands forward and shot out two heavy blasts of flame that crashed into the shadowmonster’s chest. I kept the magic up until I was close enough to get in range of my sword. It pulled its hands back to its body, letting go of Liam and Selena. They tumbled back onto the floor, and I couldn’t see if they were all right, because the shadow-monster was wrapping its huge, dark arms around me. I reached down and grabbed the hilt of my sword just as the darkness swallowed me whole. It felt like drowning again. There was nothing to see, nothing to hear, taste or smell. There was just a cold, suffocating blackness that squeezed every inch of my body. I felt my bruised ribs crushing inward to my lungs and robbing me of breath. My bones strained. My head felt like it was about to implode. I pulled up my sword and poured soulfire into it. I swung my arm in a wide arc and made the fire swirl around me in the darkness, creating a blazing red tornado that was keeping me safe while it burned the shadows away. This time I could feel the shadow-monster’s fear. It was being controlled by powerful dark magic. It was strong. But so was I.

I pushed my sword forward and used it as a conduit to pour the tornado of soulfire into the darkness. It was swallowed by the blackness, but stuck into something solid. I didn’t wait to see what, focusing on the wound I made in the monster and burning it from the inside out. Its smoky flesh became lined with orange and red cracks from my soulfire. Then the shadow-monster dissolved into a shapeless, black mass. It peeled back along the floor to wherever it came from, leaving only trails of cinders and smoke from my soulfire behind. I don’t know if I had killed it or mortally wounded it, but I did know one thing: I had made it scared of me. I stood my ground, gripping my kopis in my hand and stilling my raging heartbeat. I had used up more than half my magic with that little stunt, but better me than Liam or Selena. Their magic was stronger than mine, despite my trick. A hand slapped on my shoulder and almost made me jump. I turned and faced my brother, who didn’t look hurt. He was wearing a mix of shock, awe, and horror on his face. I was just relieved that I wasn’t going to be scraping pieces of him off the floor. “Dude, what in the name of Hades was that?” he demanded. “Nothing,” I said innocently. “Just a little trick to get past the aether-trap. You could have done it, too.” Liam shook his head, looking very serious. “No, Derek. I couldn’t have.” I blinked. “Sure you could, kid. Your magic’s stronger than mine.” “Yeah, usually. But it was never as strong as what you just did. I haven’t seen you do anything like that since...” Since Hollow Hill. When Liam had been dying that night, I’d been in an intense magical combat with my father. We’d thrown all our war-magic at each other, neither one of us refusing to let up the attack. Our fires had clashed and burned the temple, the force of it so strong that it broke the temple around us. I should have run out of magic way earlier in the fight, but I had been beyond furious. Something had awoken in me that night five years ago, something I hadn’t even thought about because I just hadn’t cared what it meant at the time. I’d just wanted to stop my father and save my brother. I had unleashed a wave of soulfire so strong that it cracked and broke the entire temple. It had thrown Thomas thirty feet. It was the only reason I had been able to beat him. Maybe it was the pull of magic this place had. Maybe it was because I couldn’t think of any way to stop the shadow-monster. Maybe it had been seeing Liam and Selena being swallowed up by darkness meant to crush them. All I knew was that I had let go. I’d given up control and gone with my instincts, the buried ones that told me to destroy everything and everyone who stood in my way. I didn’t like the nervous look Liam was giving me, and when I looked over my shoulder at Selena, I found her wearing one just like his. I had scared them, almost as much as I had scared myself. Steady clapping caught my attention. I whirled and pushed myself in front of Liam and Selena, holding my kopis out in front of me. She came out from behind the shadows behind the statue of Ares, looking just as beautiful in person as she had in my nightmare. Her slinky black dress was now a black silk toga that was basically two strips of silk draped over the front of her body and wrapped around her lower back. It was held up by a silver belt around her hips and another belt under her breasts. She wore a silver headdress with spikes and thorns sticking out from it. Her eyes were just as black as the silk, her lips blood-red and wicked. Trails of swirling smoke followed her footsteps, her aether-magic combined with necromancy. The pull of her magic was even more potent now that she was here in flesh and blood. Behind her was the man who has escaped us at the warehouse. The Mercenary. He still wore his dark leather getup, his hood still covering his face. He stood behind Lilith like a rugged shadow, making no move to kill her.

Lilith continued clapping as she smiled at us. “I’m impressed,” she said in her seductive, purring voice. “You gave in to the deepest parts of your power, and you came out victorious.” She took a step closer. “It felt good, didn’t it? To have all that strength, and knowing you’ve just scratched the surface of what you can do.” I glared, my eyes shifting from her to the Mercenary. “So he’s with you, huh?” I said. “That’s why he was able to find Selena. You told him who to look for.” “Don’t look too surprised,” Lilith said with dark, playful sarcasm. The Mercenary took a step closer to Lilith, ready to move past her. I held the sword up higher, pointing it at him. He stopped, but I couldn’t see his expression. I doubted he was afraid of me, and that was fine. I just wanted him to understand how serious I was, and that I would cut him in half if he put a hand on Liam or Selena ever again. “Don’t even think it,” I warned. “Not for a fucking second.” Lilith laughed, chilling me to the bone. My eyes moved back to her. “You really are so much like him, Derek. As stubborn as they come.” “I’m not like my father, and I’m not like Ares. You never knew either of them, so don’t try and bullshit me.” Lilith raised her eyebrows as if she were nothing more than a virtuous little girl, instead of a real life siren. “True, but the similarities won’t go away just because you wish them to.” Lilith tilted her head, her eyes sliding past me to Liam. She put a layer of seduction on her smile, and I heard Liam breathe in sharply. It was taking a lot of self control for him not to run over and grovel at her feet. “You’re strong too, aren’t you, Liam? Stronger than your brother when he controls himself. You have such potential, and it shouldn’t be wasted–” “Stop talking to him, bitch,” I snapped. Lilith turned her black eyes onto me so suddenly that I thought she was going to throw a pain-spell at me. But then she smiled. The smoky aether around her snaked around her towards us. “As you wish, Derek. You aren’t the one I’m here for, anyways.” The aether she’d been manipulating shot out at us so fast that I didn’t know it had moved until it gripped my chest and threw me across the temple. I slammed hard into one of the columns, feeling something fracture in my side. I pushed myself up and shook my head. Across the hall from me, Liam was getting up from being thrown as well. He seemed to be in just as much pain as I was. Selena stood in front of Lilith, her hand at her hip next to her kukri. But the blonde moon-witch didn’t back away from her dark cousin. She stood her ground, knowing she wouldn’t be able to run even if she wanted to. Then Selena went very, very still. “I see it now,” Selena breathed. “It’s clear. I know what you’re trying to do.” Lilith smiled. “Don’t look so horrified, Selena Kythian. You have to admit, it’s a wonderful idea.” “Waking the old gods is anything but wonderful!” Selena shouted. “You know what they would do to the Normals!” “The Normals are far from saints, cousin. They call us witches. They torture us and burn us at stakes. Tell me what about them is worth saving.” “Not all of them deserve to die!” Selena cried, pointing at the Mercenary. “You were going to use his war-magic to build a summoning-spell and turn them into slaves! You would create chaos! The gods would feed off souls and steal whatever they wanted!” Lilith’s smile became vicious. “And wouldn’t it be fun?” Selena was not amused. She tightened her grip on her kukri. I slowly made my way toward Selena, keeping my eyes on the Mercenary more than his mistress. Lilith was powerful, but the Mercenary was

the wild card right now. I could feel him watching me, even if I couldn’t see his eyes. “Waking the gods would destroy them,” Selena argued. “You’ve heard how bloodthirsty and greedy they can be. They won’t show mercy on the Normals. They’ll drain them until there is no one left to worship, and then the god themselves will die because no one will be alive to give them strength.” “You assume too much,” Lilith replied impatiently, “and you hold the Normals in too high a regard. They fear us. They refuse to understand. Behind all their fake smiles, they wish the Inquisitors would kill us all.” Even from this distance, I could see the hatred burning in Lilith’s pitch black eyes. “Those who have chosen to murder us will be the first to suffer at our hands. Their deaths will set an example for the rest of the Normals. It will teach them the true fear and respect they always lack when they worship their new gods.” Selena and Lilith’s conversation was so passionate that they forgotten about the rest of us. They were completely oblivious to Liam and me slipping closer that no one was ready for the sudden spear of soulfire that Liam threw at Lilith. No one but the Mercenary. He shot out to the right, pushing out his hand and sending a blast of soulfire that completely engulfed Liam’s fire-spear, snuffing it out. Two seconds after that, the Mercenary was on him. The Mercenary spun a kick at Liam’s head that nearly connected, but my brother blocked it with his arm and came back swinging with his sword. The Mercenary twisted so the blade thrust past him, then drove his elbow into Liam’s chest and kicked him in the stomach. He pulled Liam’s sword out of his hand as my brother landed on the ground, spinning it once in his grip before slashing down at him. As soon as the fight had started, I had been moving. I wasn’t going to waste any more magic, not when I had a perfectly good sword and a desperate need to make the Mercenary bleed for what he’d done to us at the plant. My sword clashed with his, the screech of metal on metal echoing through the temple. The Mercenary snapped his head up at me. I still couldn’t see his face, but at this point I didn’t care what he looked like. I just wanted him dead. I pushed our swords back, up and away from Liam. I punched at him with my free hand, but he blocked me with his forearm. I kicked his sword away then swung and hacked at him with my blade, but the son of a bitch was fast. He reached toward his back and drew out a small metal tube. It took me one second to realize that his spear was retractible. As soon as the thought finished crossing my mind, the Mercenary swung the spear at me. I ducked as the weapon snapped open over my head. I pushed up, stabbing for his stomach. He stepped back and kneed me in the face, making my head spin. He forgot about me when Liam came back into the fight. He’d gotten his sword back and was fighting with a ferocity that wasn’t common for him. The Mercenary whipped his spear at Liam and kept him at a distance. When I stood up again, Liam was losing his patience. My brother’s kopis caught the Mercenary’s spear in a high block, leaving his chest wide open. Liam pulled some soulfire into his free hand, shoving the fire-magic toward the Mercenary’s chest. He caught Liam’s hand around the wrist, engulfing his own hand in my brother’s elemental fire. There’s really no way to accurately describe just how blazingly hot soulfire is. If it didn’t come from you, touching it was like shoving your hand into molten lava and holding it there until your skin melted off. Only crazy people touched soulfire that didn’t belong to them. The Mercenary was obviously insane. But he shocked the living hell out of me and Liam. The Mercenary wasn’t screaming in pain, and disbelief Liam had frozen in place. The Mercenary took advantage of his shock. He pulled Liam in and drove his head into my brother’s face, rocking his head back. Then filled his own hand with soulfire and drove it into Liam’s chest. My brother screamed as the fire-magic melted his

shirt into his skin. Before the Mercenary could do more damage, I drove my sword for the Mercenary’s neck. He ducked and kicked my knee so I buckled, then drove his foot into my ribs. He kicked Liam’s chest to get him away, then focused on me. I ducked when he shoved his spear towards my face, feeling the harsh metal scrape and cut along the back of my neck and my spine. I grabbed the shaft of the spear and pulled on it as I stood up, flushing it with soulfire. The Mercenary let go of his spear and I tossed it away, swinging upward with my sword again. The Mercenary weaved and dodged every move I made. I could feel the Berserker Rage building in me again, and I moved in to use it. The Mercenary let me get way too close, grabbing my sword arm and jerking it up painfully. He slammed his forearm against my chest, drove an elbow into the side of my head, then kicked my feet out from under me. As I was falling, the Mercenary hammered his elbow into my solar plexus. Pain shot through my chest and I struggled to breathe. The Mercenary took my sword away from me and held it above my throat, ready to drive it down. “That’s enough.” Lilith’s voice cut through the silence like a knife. The Mercenary held the blade just above my neck, the sharp point of the blade poking against my skin. I glared venomously up into his hooded face, shadows obscuring him yet again. It pissed me off. I wished I could see the face of man who had just moved to the top of my “Need-To-Kill” List. “Remember that we need someone to take the fall for what we unleash here,” she said. She smiled at me. “I can think of no one better.” The Mercenary stood up and backed away from me. I kept my eyes on him and felt someone picking me up. Liam. I glanced at him to see that he was okay, despite the bruises and the savage red blister on his chest. He’d used some magic to heal the worst of the damage, but it was probably still incredibly painful. I looked over at Lilith, seeing what had prevented Selena from helping us. The aether-smoke Lilith controlled was wrapped around Selena’s arms and legs, one tendril covering her mouth. She was unable to move or shout, though I could see from the fierce anger and desperation on her face that she had tried. “Let her go, Lilith,” I said, some of the Rage seeping into my voice. She just smiled at me. “I don’t think so. She has yet to serve my purpose, and you haven’t finished your reunion yet.” Reunion? My head snapped to the Mercenary. He drew his hood back. Oh, fuck. I’d been hoping she was wrong. That she had been lying to us. I never wanted to consider that Selena would be right with her vision. I wasn’t ready for her being right. But there was no denying who it was in front of us. It had been five years, but he looked just as severe and deadly as he had in all the time I’d known him. His eyes were vividly blue, just like mine and Liam’s. The only difference was the glint of madness in them. Death hadn’t changed them. My heart beat against my ribs, fear numbing me to the core. I struggled to breathe. I forced my body not to shake, but it took every ounce of my willpower. I blinked rapidly, only to know that this time I wasn’t dreaming. My nightmare had become real. He must have liked the terror he struck into our hearts, because he laughed and smiled wickedly. “What’s the matter, boys?” he said. “No words for your long dead father?”

© 2014 Amy Braun. All rights reserved.