“I gave him Titus’s fancy transmitter,” Orpheus said, letting go of Maelea and pulling his out of his pocket.
“It’ll only work if he’s still in Argolea,” Theron said.
“Does he have the Orb on him?” Zander asked as Orpheus tried to contact Gryphon.
“I don’t think so,” Maelea answered. “I didn’t sense it. But I can only sense the Orb if it’s being used, and it—oh, my gods.”
She gripped Orpheus’s arm, swayed on her feet.
He reached out to steady her. “Maelea? What’s wrong?”
Energy whipped through her. An energy with power like no other. A power that was definitely being used.
“The Orb,” she managed in a shaky voice. “Someone just used it to open a portal to the human realm.”
“Gryphon?” Orpheus asked.
She swallowed hard. Shook her head. Turned toward Zander, because the face she saw now in her mind was one she’d seen at the half-breed colony. “No,” she whispered. “Your son.”
***
Max wasn’t sure where to open the portal, so he picked the woods surrounding the old half-breed colony in Oregon. He knew patrols still ran in that area, looking for half-breeds who’d yet to move over to the new location. Hoped he’d run into one today.
Rustling in the trees at his back caught his attention and he whipped that way, only to freeze when the god stepped out of the darkness, heading right for him, a smirk across his menacing face.
Max moved back a step. He didn’t know who the god was, but he sensed his power. And a whole lot of darkness—darkness like Atalanta’s.
“You proved to be quite the Argonaut, boy. And completely predictable. Now I’ll take the Orb and we can both be on our way.”
Max’s mind spun. Then his eyes caught sight of the mark of the Underworld peeking out from under the collar of the god’s shirt.
Hades.
Max swallowed hard. And fear burst in his chest. What was Hades doing here? How did he know Max had the Orb? How did he…?
Lachesis.
Oh, shit.
He hadn’t once thought to question the Fate in the woods outside Tiyrns. He’d been too upset. But thinking back now, he realized the eyes were different from the last time he’d spoken to the Fate. The eyes, he realized now, were dead black shards of coal like those in Hades’s head.
The Orb burned hot against his flesh where it rested on a chain around his neck under his shirt. Infused him with power. He still wasn’t any match for a god, but he’d gotten away from Atalanta with nothing but the Orb. Maybe, if he played his cards right…
“You son of a bitch,” a female voice hissed. “You are not to go after my daughter.”
Hades’s head swiveled to the side. Toward the dark-haired female dressed in a black robe, also appearing from the darkness of the trees, hatred and retribution alive on her pale, perfect face. “My love—”
“Don’t ‘my love’ me,” she growled. “My daughter is not to be touched. You sent hellhounds after her again, you bastard.”
Persephone. Double shit. Max glanced between the two, his eyes growing even wider as he took another step back.
“She was not harmed,” Hades said, trying to brush off her anger with a roll of his eyes. “There’s no reason for you to be in such a tizzy.”
“I’ll show you a tizzy.” Persephone lifted her hands. Electricity arced out of her fingertips and hit Hades square in the chest. He flew back ten feet and slammed into the ground with a grunt. “That’s for attacking my daughter.” She lifted her hands again before he could get up, sent another current of electricity through his body that made him shake and writhe on the ground. “And that’s for interfering in my quest for the Orb. It will not be yours, husband. It will never be yours.”
She turned her icy glare on Max. And under her dead stare, every hair on Max’s flesh stood straight. “You.”
Before she could attack, Hades lurched to his feet and hurled a whip of fire out from the palm of his hand. It wrapped around Persephone, locking her hands at her sides, and yanked her backward. Her skirts flew up. She screamed as she was dragged toward Hades.
Her body slammed into his. He closed his arms around her. “It seems all your time on Olympus has made you forget who’s in control, little wife. I think it’s time I reminded you.”
He bit into her neck. And Persephone screamed again. But as her cries of protest turned to moans of pleasure, Max knew if he didn’t get out of here right now, he was going to be in even deeper shit than he already was.
He turned and ran. And hoped like hell they were too distracted to realize he was gone.
His heart pounded hard in his chest, was a roar in his ears, as he zigzagged around tree trunks and jumped over logs. He slipped on a wet patch of moss, hit the earth face-first. Pushed up again and tore off through the trees. Only when he was at least a half mile away did he slow and realize he could use the Orb to open a portal to a different location, far away from here.