Deity

They flanked Hades, snarling and snapping at the air.

We were so screwed.

“Meet Death,” Hades gestured at the black dog, “and Despair. Cerberus is a proud papa to his two boys.”

“Nice names,” I croaked, and then released the two sharp edges of the sickle blade.

“You wa

“Not really.” I wasn’t sure which of them I should keep an eye on.

“It’s really nothing personal,” Hades said. “But we ca

Trying to kill me was as personal as it got. I saw Hades’ chin go up about an inch and I jumped to the side just as Despair charged me. Darting down the candy aisle, I hoped that Solos was able to protect Deacon. I grabbed hold of a rack and threw it to the floor. Despair went right over the numerous candy bars, his claws ripping through wrappers and chocolate. Hanging a quick right, I glanced over my shoulder.

Despair lost his balance and slid into the standup cooler, crashing through the glass. Bottles of soda flew through the air, fizzing upon impact. Taking advantage of the situation, I spun around and brought the sickle edge down on the closest head.

The blade went clean through muscles and tissue, and a yelp later, Despair became a two headed dog… until the stump started to grow into another freaking head. Fully restored, Despair bared his fangs and pawed at the ground.

I backed up. “Nice doggy. Good doggy.”

Despair crouched, each of his mouths snapping at the air.

“Bad doggy!” I took off ru

And Hades, well, he was just standing there in his big bad god glory.

“Go for the heart!” Solos yelled over the chaos. “The heart in the chest, Alex!”

“Like I don’t know where the freaking heart is!” I just didn’t want to get that close to the thing. I picked up speed when I saw the dining area, getting an idea—not a good one, but better than ru

I leapt over the set of chairs and landed on the table. Spi

Tipping my hips, I rolled Despair and sprang to my feet. Despair flopped on his back, legs flailing in the air. Pushing down the urge to vomit, I jumped on the seat of the chair. My weight sent the metal spokes down, piercing the protective plate of bone.

A second later the dog was nothing but a pile of shimmery, blue dust. Lifting my head, I whirled around. “One down…”

Hades let out a roar of fury that shook the shelves and sent overpriced items of every shape and size falling to the floor.

And then he vanished.

“Well, that was easy.” I flipped the blade, watching Solos dodge one of Death’s heads. “Did you see that? Hades totally just chicken— oh crap”

Shelves flew through the air, chairs and tables slid across the floor, flung aside by an unseen force. The floor shook under my feet as I backed up. That was about when I remembered that Hades could become invisible. Terror washed through me like a dark, oily wave of heat.

“No fair,” I said, and then whipped the sickle blade through what I hoped wasn’t empty space.

An invisible hand caught my arm and twisted. Crying out in pain and surprise, I dropped the sickle. Hades reappeared. “Sorry, luv, all is fair in war.”

A blinding light filled the store, followed by a popping sound. Then something zinged past my cheek. I caught a glimpse of silver before Hades released my arm and snatched an arrow out of the air.

“Artemis, that wasn’t very nice.” Hades snapped the arrow in two and tossed it aside. “You could take an eye out with one of those things.”

The soft feminine laugh that followed sounded like wind chimes. A few feet behind us, legs widespread and a silver bow in one hand, stood Artemis. Instead of the white chiffon many goddesses were known for, she wore straight-up combat boots and hot-pink camouflage pants. A white tank completed her badass ensemble.

She reached behind her, pulling another arrow from her quiver. “Back down, Hades.”

Hades’ lips thi

She placed the arrow on her bow. “You will not catch the next one, Hades. And you will not take her.”

I slowly backed away from the god smackdown-in-progress, having no idea why Artemis would come to my aid. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Death finally go down. I picked up my sickle blade.

Hades stepped forward, tile peeling and smoking under his boots. “Why are you intervening, Artemis? You know what will happen. All of us are at risk.”

“That is my twin’s lineage standing there and she belongs to us.” Artemis pulled the arrow back, tossing her waist-length blonde hair over her shoulder. “Which means she is my flesh and bone. So I will say it one more time just in case Persephone has befuddled that brain of yours— stand down’’

My mouth dropped opened. Apollo’s lineage? Oh no…oh, hell to the no…

“I do not care if she is the heir to the bloody throne, Artemis! We must prevent the First from gaining complete power!”

Artemis’ fingers twitched. “She is not to be harmed, Hades. That is it.”

An incredulous look settled over his darkly handsome face. “I would not harm her… not really. I could take her to the Underworld. It would not even hurt. Artemis, we ca

“And I ca

“So you would risk more destruction? Did you see what Poseidon did today? Or were you too busy hunting and playing with your consorts?”

Artemis smirked. “You really do not want to piss me off right now, Hades. Not when I have an arrow pointed between your eyes.”

He shook his head. “You know what Zeus will do if the First becomes the God Killer. You risk it all—the lives of our offspring and the mortals—and for what? Watered-down familial bonds?”

“We will risk it all for everything,” she responded quietly. “You know what the fu

“That they are always changing?” Hades sneered. “Or that they are nothing more than a load of rubbish?”

Any other time I would’ve clapped, but seeing that Hades wanted to kill me, I wasn’t about to celebrate our shared opinions when it came to the oracle.

Artemis cocked back her arm. “So be it.”

Fury rolled off Hades in swamping waves. Swallowing down rightful fear, I took a step back. I expected an all-out royal rumble between the two.

“I should never have allowed her soul to be released,” Hades spat. “Apollo promised me that it would never come to this.”

“There is still hope,” Artemis said.

Those words sparked something in me. There is still hope. Was there? I’d seen the look in Seth’s eyes, how far gone he’d been when he’d pulled the akasha from me and taken aim at the Council. Poseidon had leveled the Covenant, and there would be more that would go down. More i

I glanced back at the doors, seeing Aiden’s pale face beside Marcus’. I’d been created, like a pawn, to give Seth complete power. There was nothing that could be done about it. None of us could spend our lives hiding. It wouldn’t work. I would Awaken in little over a day. Seth would find me. And everything would be over.