Then there was the issue of transportation. Kieran needed to move large quantities of people at possibly a moment’s notice. That would require vehicles on call. But a single person purchasing a fleet of buses or vans would be noticed, not to mention he’d need a warehouse to store them all in. He had to figure out the best way to camouflage his actions.
The ocean was another problem. A Demigod grew in power the longer they lived. Though Kieran and his father were both immortal, Kieran was practically a baby in comparison—Valens had been alive for centuries. One on one, his father would almost surely beat him. Age had made Valens stronger in Poseidon’s magic. Faster. More adaptable. He did things on their “leisurely” swims that widened Kieran’s eyes. Kieran had a lot to learn, and through micro-aggressions and power plays, his father loved to remind him of that fact. If at all possible, he needed to stay on land. That, or he needed to post people in the ocean.
He massaged his temples. A million things needed his attention, but his mind kept slipping back to one.
He tapped his fingers against the arm of the chair.
For one heart-stopping moment earlier, when he’d read Alexis’s text incorrectly, he’d thought his father had sent someone after her. That she was the target.
Fear such as he’d never experienced had deluged him, and he’d nearly jumped up and run for the door. It would’ve been rash beyond belief. She could’ve easily protected herself against minor threats, and if the spy had taken her into custody, he could have devised a plan to get her back.
But where Alexis was concerned, he lost all sense of logic. All reason. Nothing else mattered—not his duty or his vengeance. Just her.
The bell chimed, pushing him out of his reverie. Sodge, his father’s ancient butler, who would probably rather go to bed than stay up to take care of his master’s disappointment of a son, was surely on his way to let Zorn in.
Sure enough, a few minutes later Sodge slowly walked into the room, his loose jowls shaking and his lips slightly turned down. Zorn followed.
“Sir,” Sodge said, his tone flat. “Master Zorn is here to see you.”
“Yes, thank you, Sodge. That’ll be all.”
“Of course, sir.” Sodge turned, paused for a moment, then left the room. He was an odd one, and would surely be delighted when Kieran was out of the house for good. So would Kieran.
“Sir,” Zorn said, staying where he was.
Kieran rose from the cream-colored chair. “Let’s speak outside.”
He led the way to the double doors that opened out onto the back deck. The moonlight shone down, highlighting the dark waters of the ocean far below. The salty breeze ruffled his hair and sang to his heart, asking him to dive down deep and swim until he forgot all his woes.
If only that were possible.
Before Zorn could speak, he altered the winds and the violence of the ocean below. Any words loud enough to be overheard would be whisked out to sea. Not that his father or Sodge would concern themselves with him. They both thought he was useless.
“News?” Kieran asked.
“Nothing new from our efforts, assuming you read Henry’s last report about Valens’s spies in the non-magical government?”
He nodded. Yes, he certainly had. Over a dozen of his father’s people had infiltrated all levels of the non-magical San Francisco government, one as high as an advisor. Had the mayor decided to fall in league with Kieran, that advisor would’ve been in on the ground floor. Kieran’s battle would’ve been over before it had begun.
His father excelled at the long game. For years, he’d been weakening the non-magical sector of San Francisco from the inside out. His spies in the government reported any shortcomings to him, so he always knew when to step in with aid. In the guise of keeping the region strong, he had skillfully created a dependency. One day, all he’d have to do was pull away the aid, and the non-magical government would come tumbling down.
The man had absolutely earned his cunning reputation. His strategy was just shy of brilliant. His spies were everywhere.
If Kieran hoped to take him down, he could make no mistakes.
“I assume your father is otherwise engaged?” Zorn asked as he lowered onto the patio couch.
“Yes. He’s having someone over tonight. He asked Sodge to ready the…party room. He’ll be in his bathroom, freshening up.”
The party room was basically a sex room with good air freshener and regular cleanings. It was the only room in the house Kieran had never entered.
He expected Zorn to say something about the woman who’d followed Alex and Bria from the bar. Instead, he straightened his spine and said, “The results from the test came in. I got a call right before I had to go bag Bria.”
After discovering Alexis’s true magic, which meant she could only be the child of a Demigod in Hades’s line, they’d taken a DNA sample from her to discern which of the three Demigods had fathered her, a large undertaking since they didn’t want anyone to know of her existence. They’d had to make a lot of new friends, many of whom had not been cheaply bought.
“Who is it?” Kieran asked.
“Our worst nightmare. Magnum.”
The breath left Kieran’s lungs in a whoosh.
Magnum came from a time when the norm was for children of Demigods to rise up and attempt to tear their fathers down. That was, of course, Kieran’s goal, but he was after good, old-fashioned revenge rather than power and territory. Magnum thought he could prevent any such uprisings by killing his offspring. And so far, he hadn’t been wrong, which was why he’d never changed his stance. Have his baby, and he’d kill the kid. Everyone knew the stakes, and because of that, he had remained child-free for decades.
Crazy didn’t just go away.
“You’re sure?” Kieran asked quietly.
“Positive.” Zorn paused. “What are you going to do?”
Kieran shook his head. “He doesn’t know about her. I’ll need to keep it that way.”
“You can’t keep her from this fight. You know that. And when she opens up and uses her magic, everyone will take notice. Everyone. In the world.”
Kieran leaned forward against the wood railing. “I can force her to hide.”
“Like your father did your mother?”
Rage blistered through Kieran. “It wouldn’t be like that.”
“The intent might be different, but the result would be the same.”
“It’s the only way I can protect her.”
“No, it isn’t. And, excuse me for speaking plainly, but you can’t fully protect her. Not her. She and her wards won’t step down. They don’t care that they’re half-trained and mostly ignorant about the magical world. They have convinced themselves they’ll be the turning point in the battle, and without them, you’ll lose.”
Despite the situation, laughter bubbled up. “You have to admire that confidence.”
“You do. And yet, they aren’t totally wrong. The only way you can protect Alexis is to teach her to protect herself. That’s the best leg up you can give her. Then fight beside her when everything goes sideways. She’s a damn fine asset to have.”
Kieran stared out at the ocean for a quiet moment.
“She…made some strides today,” Zorn said.