Gwynn rushed to his daughter, kneeling down to her level so he could scoop her into his arms.

"Allie, what's wrong sweetheart?" he asked.

"Are you leaving?"

Gwynn stroked her hair.

"Not if you don't want me to," he said around the increasing lump in his throat. "I'll stay here and keep you safe if that's what you want."

"No, no," she shook her head violently. "You have to go. The bad man who isn't you will hurt you otherwise."

Gwynn looked to Sophia and Pridament for help. Both exchanged equally alarmed and confused looks.

"Allie," Pridament said, "what do you mean the bad man who isn't daddy?"

"The man who looks like Daddy, but isn't him. He's not a nice man-he wants to hurt Daddy. If Daddy stays, he will hurt him."

Sophia knelt down, wrapping her arms around both Gwynn and Allison.

"Did you dream this, Sweetheart?" she asked.

"Mhmm," Allison nodded.

The color drained from Sophia's face. Gwynn guessed his did the same.

"So you're saying..." Gwynn gulped some air, "you want Daddy to go?"

She pressed her face against his chest.

"You need to," she said, her voice m.u.f.fled.

Gwynn buried his face in her hair. There was no holding the tears back.

"Ok, Sweetheart," Gwynn said, "Daddy will go. But I'll hurry home to you, ok?"

Allison raised her head, a smile on her face, and planted a kiss on Gwynn's cheek.

Pridament cleared his throat.

"I'll stay here while you're gone. The munchkin and I have lots of lessons to go over anyway."

Gwynn nodded.

"Thank you. I'd feel better knowing Sophia had some help."

"You think I need help?" She scowled playfully at him. "I've gotten more than decent with guns and swords over the years. I think I'm capable of caring for myself."

"I'm fully aware." He kissed her forehead. "But if something happens, it never hurts to have a lightning G.o.d to help you out, right?"

She shrugged, signaling admission of her defeat.

9.

The Depths of Pride

Fuyuko checked her watch.

"It's time," she called to her team. "Our ride will be at the airport in thirty minutes."

"Cutting it a little close, aren't you chief?"

"Don't worry, they'll wait."

She worried their banter might sound stiff and forced. Fuyuko had spent the past few hours slipping discrete notes to her team, explaining her suspicions and warning them to prepare.

The ones who merely nodded she expected to survive. But there were a few so brainwashed by the glory of the Pantheon they couldn't fathom being betrayed by one of its members. She wouldn't mind being wrong this time-she hoped she was wrong.

Which meant the likelihood of her being wrong was close to zero.

Life rarely delivered on hopes.

And yes, she was cutting it close. The airport was a strategic a.s.set-meaning numerous defences. If they arrived too long before the plane, they'd be sitting in the middle of the tarmac with no cover and a.s.saults on all sides. But, if the attack happened too soon before their ride came in, the tower might divert the plane. Once Anubis showed his hand, every minute they spent on Egyptian soil would be a battle.

They arrived at the room where Jason was being held. Three armed members of Anubis' militia blocked the entrance.

"We've come to collect our prisoner for transport back to the Americas," Fuyuko said.

These three know something is coming.

She could see it in the bead of sweat running down the one guard's forehead, or hear it in the stammering voice of another who said he would have to call someone for authorization. The third one would be the first she'd put down when the fighting started. Unlike the other two, whose nervousness would make them sloppy, this one hummed with a near gleeful antic.i.p.ation.

"Yes," Fuyuko said, "go ahead and call."

He fished a cell phone from his pocket and stepped away from the a.s.sembled group.

For the entirety of her time at Suture, Fuyuko heard drawing power from the Veil referred to as "tearing the Veil." The issue with that approach was it alerted all but the dullest of Anunnaki. So she'd spent the past few years learning to draw on the Veil with the slightest touch. She'd never told anyone, but she referred to it as "grazing the Veil." She tapped the Veil for the tiniest shred of energy and focused it to heighten her hearing.

"Yes sir, they're here."

The militiaman whispered so low into the receiver, even with the Veil's blessings, Fuyuko strained to hear.

"You only need to stall them for one minute," came the reply. "The rest of our men are in position and heading that way now."

Fuyuko waited for the third guard to move back into striking distance.

She slammed her elbow into the throat of the smug guard, crushing his windpipe. The other two guards were dispatched just as quickly by her team. A satisfied smile curled around her lips. It was like being back on Ansuz-no need to communicate everything, just know the situation and react when the leader does.

She retrieved the keys to the room from the crumpled soldier at her feet.

"Marks, Thoms, Stats, take their guns and ammunition. I suspect Anubis can lock down this whole facility with a Prometheus field. We'll probably need conventional weapons until we can clear the building. Everyone else take cover in the room. You three, shoot anyone who comes down the hall. Go for head or knees-bullets from those guns won't pierce their body armor."

Fuyuko cursed. They'd had to pack the majority of their gear after the operation to maintain appearances. Marks, Thoms, Stats, and herself, managed to keep their own armor under the guise of being the prisoner escorts.

Inside, she used her combat knife to smashed the four cameras. She pulled out her cell and dialed the extraction team number she received at the start of the mission. With Anubis' treachery confirmed, she needed to warn them. The phone refused to connect.

Are they jamming the signal?

She took a moment to look at the faces around the room. Most looked ready, determined. But the few who'd doubted her, showed fear and confusion. She couldn't deny she liked most of these people-they'd been her team for years. After losing Ansuz, she'd kept them at a distance-never becoming friends. But did that mean they were disposable?

I'm not thinking straight. I should've just left Jason and gone straight for the vans. How many of my team will die because of saving his one life?

But could any of them promise her revenge? She couldn't turn her back on fulfilling seven years of desire.

A pang of guilt sat mid chest.

I'm becoming as bad as Woten.

She felt sick.

Gunfire from the door shook her loose. She couldn't be filled with doubts now. She'd chosen this path whether it was the wisest course of action or not. Now she had to demonstrate strength and resolve-to lead with the att.i.tude she needed the others to have.

Jason looked at her with glazed eyes. His cheeks were purple with bruising.

She undid the restraints and removed his collar.

"Are you with it enough to heal yourself?" she asked. "Because if you are, you better hurry, or you'll lose your chance."

A tug in her gut-the Veil being torn-pulling toward Jason, was his reply.

When the heaviness of a Prometheus Circle activating pressed down on her, Jason's eyes were clear, but the bruising had yet to heal.

"Look at me," she said, loud enough so her entire team could hear. "You have two choices, fight along side us, or I put this collar back on and leave you to die. What's your choice?"

Jason stood up from the chair and rubbed his raw wrists.

"Just give me a gun and tell me who to shoot," he said.

The doubting looks of her team weighed heavier than the effects of the Prometheus Circle.

I should've told them, she thought. Maybe they would trust him better if they understood.

"Stats, what's it looking like?"

"No sign of enemies since the first wave. I count about twenty-five men in all."

"All right," she said. "Stats, go left, Marks, right."

She split her remaining team into two, instructing the first group to follow Stats to gather weapons and the rest to do the same behind Marks.

"What do you want me to do?" Jason asked.

"Stay close to me. The others won't trust you enough to cover their backs."

His eyebrow raised.

"And you do?"

"More than anyone else. But not because of our past. It's because I know you need me."

He turned away, unable to meet her gaze.

"Doesn't it seem odd," he said, "they aren't sending more troops? I mean, even though there might be high casualties, they could easily overwhelm us."

"It does. You don't think he would..." Her eyes widened. "Everyone move!" Her feet were already propelling her forward at top speed. "Run toward the garage!"

She and Jason had just turned the corner in the hall when a blast threw them against the wall. Dust reduced visibility to zero and falling pieces of debris and concrete inflicted bruises and wounds.

Fuyuko's ears rang. She couldn't hear properly but felt the reverberating pounding of approaching boots through the floor.

She stumbled to her feet and pulled her two combat knives from their sheathes.

Plunging into the haze of dust, she collided with the first of Anubis' incoming troops.

Fuyuko drove one knife up into the skull of the first soldier, spinning and slashing another across the throat. She left her knife imbedded in the one man's skull, using the handle to pivot the corpse as a shield and distraction. Another cut throat. A knee blown with a punishing kick. Then true casualties began to rack up as she sheathed her one knife and grabbed the corpse's a.s.sault rifle, hanging from its strap, and strafed the hall in front of her. She grabbed a concussion grenade from the dead solider's vest and tossed it down the hall.

The sound of the explosion's rumble and the satisfying groans of wounded enemies filled the hall and signalled the return of her hearing.

"Fuyuko."

Jason stumbled out of the dust that had finally started to clear. Several others of her team-too few-followed behind him.

"Is that everyone?" she asked.

Jason coughed.

"I think so," he said. Then added in a quieter voice, "I'm sorry."