“Ares’ compulsion?” Marcus asked, and when Seth nodded, my uncle sighed. “There’s no way to break a compulsion from a god, is there?”

“Not unless you take out the god, or so we assume,” Apollo said. “Dionysus has confirmed that the mortal encampment is several miles out from the Catskills.”

“We would have to get past them, and then get through the walls of the New York Covenant, which are guarded by Sentinels.” Seth tapped his finger along what appeared to be an uneven brick wall, squinting. “But that’s not all. Ares is heavily guarded.”

“Guarded by what?” I asked.

“Daimons,” Seth said, looking away. “And you know how he’s controlling them.”

My stomach roiled. I did. He was feeding them pures and probably halfs—dinner in exchange for loyalty. I remembered the days when the Council didn’t believe daimons could reason. Now the daimons had most likely drained those Council members dry.

“And the automatons.” Athena glanced at Apollo. “Hephaestus has completely lost control of them.”

The god sighed. “Don’t start.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I warned all of you that using them was a bad idea. We had no idea what god was responsible for this, and using a creature designed for war without such knowledge was a poor plan.”

It was. The half-machine, half-bull fire-breathing creatures had turned on us and were now under Ares’ control.

“So not only will your…” Her nose wrinkled. “Your Army of Awesome have to get past the mortals, they will have to face Sentinels, daimons and automatons before even reaching Ares.”

Aiden folded his arms. “That is, if he doesn’t come after us the moment we set foot out of the University.”

“He won’t.” Athena tapped her finger down on a square, which I assumed was the Covenant building. “He knows how heavily entrenched he is, and moving an army would make him vulnerable to attack. Before the First left him, he would’ve risked it. But not now that he knows the God Killer is coming for him. He will remain where he is and wait for you to come to him. He knows you will suffer losses in the process.”

The truth weighed heavily. We would suffer losses.

“Getting past the mortals will not be hard,” she continued. “The loss of their lives will be unfortunate, but we have to sacrifice the few to save the many. Then there are the Sentinels, daimons and automatons, but it is fighting Ares that will take everything.”

“We can’t just zap him with a God Killer bolt and call it a day?” I asked.

Athena arched a brow. “It’s not like he’s going to stand still and allow you to do that, and we know what happened last time you faced off with him.”

“Thanks for the reminder,” I muttered.

“It is only to serve a much-needed point. None of you are trained to battle a god, let alone Ares. Even I couldn’t prepare you, not effectively. He can and will outmaneuver and out-plan you, and he knows that.” Athena waved a hand over the map, and it disappeared. Neat trick. I was jealous.

“So are you saying that we cannot defeat him, not even with the God Killer?” Marcus asked, and the crinkled skin around his eyes appeared more noticeable.

“No.” She faced us and hopped up on the desk, demurely crossing her legs. “War is partially strength, partially skill, and partially psychological. We have the strength in the Apollyons and the Sentinels, but we do not have the skill, and we do not have anything that will put Ares at unease. Without the last two factors, we will not succeed.”

I frowned. “Are you also the goddess of depressing facts?”

Apollo snorted.

“I am just being realistic,” she stated coolly. “But I do have an idea.”

Here we go. A bit of excitement thrummed through me. An idea was better than everything else she’d been spouting, because right now, I didn’t need Phobos and Deimos inside my head to believe we were embarking on a suicide mission.

“It is a risky idea, but we really have no other choice. If the God Killer fails, it will be an all-out war, and we know what happened the last time the gods went to war,” Athena said.

Aiden shifted his weight. “Thousands died.”

“And it will be millions this time.” Apollo studied the goddess. “What is your idea?”

A small smile appeared. “We use Perses.”

Apollo stiffened, and I didn’t understand the reaction. “The demigod? Are we going to go slay Medusa or something?”

“No. Not Perseus. Perses.”

I stared at her. “Okay. I’ll admit, I slept or doodled through most of my classes. I have no idea who you’re talking about.”

“That is a lovely discovery.” Marcus pierced me with his Dean of Academics stare. I withered like a poor little flower left out in the sun without water.

“Perses is the god of destruction and war,” Apollo explained, eyes wide. “He was nearly indestructible and nearly unstoppable.”

I shook my head as I glanced at Aiden, relieved to see he looked just as clueless as me. “Okay. Is there another god of war that I’m unaware of?”

“You guys populate like rabbits,” Seth added, grinning slightly. “It could be possible we haven’t heard of him.”

Deacon’s lips twitched, but Athena’s next words knocked the smile off his face and silenced the entire room.

“No,” she said. “Perses is not an Olympian. He is the Titan god of destruction.”

CHAPTER 11

I gaped at the goddess in what must have been the most unattractive manner known to man. “A Titan?” I squeaked out. “A mother-freaking Titan?”

Athena nodded. “A Titan.”

“Whoa.” Aiden ran his hand through his hair before clasping the back of his neck. He turned sideways, shaking his head. “Wasn’t expecting that.”

“I don’t think anyone was expecting that.” Apollo stepped toward Athena. “Let’s break down this idea step-by-step. How would we be able to use Perses? The last time I checked, he was in Tartarus.”

“He is still there.” Athena tipped her chin up. “And as you know, he is not dead. He is only entombed.”

“And how do you think we’re going to release him?” Apollo demanded, brows slashed. “Zeus would never agree to this.”

“I am Zeus’ favorite child.” Her smile beamed.

Apollo’s blue eyes rolled. “That’s something to be proud of.”

She tsked softly. “I can get him to agree to anything, and he’s desperate, Apollo. You know that’s true. The last thing he wants is a full-out war.”

“The last thing he wants is to do anything. That lazy son of—”

“True.” Athena raised her hands. “But I will get his backing.”

“Okay. So if you get his backing, what about Hades? He will never agree to releasing Perses,” Apollo argued.

“He will if Zeus demands it.”

Apollo laughed deeply, and the sound shook the chairs. “Hades controls the Underworld. He will deny it just because Father demands it.”

“I’m sure you can get Hades to understand and agree. That will be up to you.” She tapped her manicured fingers on her bent knee. “And you know how Hades likes to make a deal.”

Last time I’d seen Hades, he’d wanted to kill me. This idea was going downhill fast.

“All right, let’s say we get Hades to agree to release Perses. How in the world would we be able to control him?” Apollo asked.

“Perses is just one Titan. He is powerful and a bit…crazy, but Ares nearly died by his hands during the war, if you remember correctly. Perses can train the God Killer. He could train hundreds of our people to fight. We will have the skill, and we will have the psychological upper hand.” She smiled again. “Besides, Perses will do anything to be free. Any of the Titans would. Put the fear of gods in him, or whatever it is the mortals say. Make him behave, and in return, Hades can give him better accommodations.”

“Oh, this is rich.” Apollo laughed.

“You’re serious about releasing a Titan?” Seth blinked slowly, as if coming out of a daze. When Athena simply nodded, he turned to me. “Ares would never expect it.”