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Strider stomped to him and gripped his chin, his dagger pressed against the man’s cheek. “You’re alive for a reason. What is it?” Wait. Precautions first. “If you dare try and utter a word of challenge, I’ll cut your throat before you can finish. Understand?” He wouldn’t put something like that past his Harpy. She was a wily little thing, determined to leave him behind.

Well, too bad. Rhea would strike at him the moment she spotted him, but he didn’t give a shit. He wasn’t supposed to hurt her, because hurting her would hurt Cronus—literally—and Cronus would then eat him for lunch. Neither thought bothered him. He was going to be there for Kaia. Was going to shelter her from the god queen at all costs.

For the Paring Rod, yeah. For his demon, yeah, that, too. But mostly because he was desperate to finish what they’d started inside the bar. If he didn’t get that lithe little body under him, and soon, he would implode.

What happened to waiting until after the competition?

Stupid plan’s been ditched. I want her now.

“Yo-you are the one named St-Strider?” the human asked.

He gave a stiff nod.

“I’m—I’m supposed to tell you n-not to worry. The g-girls have everything under c-control.”

Sabin moved to Strider’s side. “That’s all?”

The human flinched. “N-no. If you follow them, if they catch sight of you, they’ll let themselves be d-disqualified.”

Strider and Sabin shared another look, far past oh-shit and now entering oh-fuck territory. If anyone was willing to cut off her nose to spite her beautiful face, it was Kaia.

“Thanks for relaying the message,” he told the Hunter—just before finishing him off.

He expected the angels to admonish him, but they remained silent as the human’s head lolled forward, his worthless life now expunged.

Sometimes, Strider let his enemy walk away, hoping they’d learned a lesson about the shades of gray between good and evil. This time, no, that wouldn’t be happening. The man had attacked Kaia. His fate had been sealed already.

The victory was mild and Defeat barely reacted.

“Come on,” Strider said, cleaning his blade on his jeans and jabbing it back into its sheath. “We’re not too far behind them.”

Zacharel tilted his head to the side in thought. “You are willing to risk—”

Strider shut him up with a glare. “We’re going. We’re just gonna have to make sure we aren’t seen.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

THE PORTAL TO THE HEAVENS rested exactly where the text had promised, a shimmery pocket of air between two iced-over, moonlit mountains. Kaia’s team was crouched on a cliff high above, watching, waiting. Dreading.

Kaia lay on a slippery ledge, the cold seeping all the way to her bones. Normally, such frigid temperatures did not affect her. This time, she shivered, her teeth chattering. Her wound might be infected, her body slightly feverish, but at least there was no pain. The cold had numbed the stupid, still-gaping injury.

To heal from this kind of injury, she needed Strider’s blood.

Actually, she just needed Strider. She wasn’t sure how she’d ever gotten along without him. Naughty girl that she was, she wouldn’t get him. Not anytime soon—and maybe not even after that. Hopefully, he’d gotten the message she had left him and had charted a course to Buda. His well-being came before her understandably great need for him. But only a little!

She twisted the dial on her binoculars for a closer look at the surrounding area. White, white and more white, but so far, she’d spotted no other Harpies. No misty air to reveal the telltale sigh of heated breath. No bright colors slinking down the rocks, inching ever closer to safety. No clicks in the breeze as arrows were notched. Even still, she expected foul play. At least until they reached the bottom of the mountain. The moment her team stepped through the portal, they would be on neutral territory. No one would be able to strike at them.

The problem, however, would be reaching bottom.

“I think we’re good,” Taliyah said, confiscating the binoculars and panning the higher peaks. “And really, we can’t wait much longer. You and Tedra need to be tended, and we can’t do that here.”

Bianka confiscated the binoculars from Taliyah and peered down at the flatlands. “If Lysander were here, he could fly above and—”

“Again with this crap?” Kaia reclaimed the binoculars and tossed them over her shoulder. For the past hour, Bianka had recited all the reasons they’d be better off if the men were here. As if Kaia didn’t already know, damn it.

“Hey!” Neeka gasped. “That hurt.”

Kaia twisted, grimaced at the twinge in her side. The beautiful girl was scowling and rubbing at the lump now sprouting below her left eye. “I’d say sorry, but it was totally Bianka’s fault because she—”

“Shh!” Bianka clamped a hand over her mouth, silencing her. Her twin pointed to the shimmering portal with her free hand. “Look.”