They pushed out the doors, the air buzzing with tiny holes torn in the Veil for their weapons.

Her senses heightened, searching for signs of retaliation. Reaching the doors to the library unopposed left her rattled. Why make it easy? Had they spotted Alpha and/or Charlie?

"All units check in."

"Alpha in position, waiting for breach orders," came the first reply. "Charlie ready," arrived immediately after.

"Any sign of opposition?" she asked. The casual way they'd checked in already answered, but she needed to hear the words.

"Negative... Negative."

If she allowed her ego to rage unchecked, she might've believed her years of training these teams had given them stealth mastery. But an ego like that led to failure and death. Besides, even if her team managed to remain undetected, Anubis' military forces would've made the accomplishment moot. A second line to capture any terrorists who broke through the front lines wasn't a bad idea. She just wished there were Anunnaki among its number. Some of the Pantheon embraced having Anunnaki as part of their forces. Others, much like Anubis apparently, saw these young bloods as compet.i.tion. She'd yet to decide if their stubborn paranoia would be their undoing or salvation.

"Set the charges," she instructed. "Breach in three, two...one!"

The charges obliterated the doors in a series of flashes and splintering gla.s.s. They were designed to not only shatter the gla.s.s, but to turn it into a weapon, propelling the shards forward like a million daggers.

She charged in, not waiting for the gla.s.s to settle.

Behind her, screams erupted from her team as shards of rock rose from the floor impaling legs and feet.

Wham!

The building shook with an explosion from the main library floor.

"Abort!" she screamed into the com. "Everyone withdraw."

Too late. The com emitted nothing but static.

She spun to join her remaining team, to try and free them from their bonds.

Before she could reach them, walls rose up out of the ground, blocking her off.

"What do you want?" she yelled.

After all, she was the only one left unharmed. Perhaps they thought holding her would gain them some leverage. Or maybe they intended to torture her to discover the capabilities of the North American Defence Line. Neither would be any use to them or any good for her. The Pantheon, Quetzalcoatl in particular, considered everyone aside from themselves to be expendable. And in terms of the defences, she knew nothing. She doubted anyone knew the full picture.

Things were safer that way.

"We just want to talk."

Her stomach clenched, responding to a memory even her brain hadn't processed.

They came into view.

Four of them.

If she'd known they faced only four terrorists, she would've been overconfident. But these four, she understood immediately why her team failed. She didn't know whether to cry tears of joy or to scream and tear each of them-no, him more than any of the others-apart.

Unable to sort her feelings, she stood in motionless silence.

"You look good, Fuyuko," Jason said. "I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner."

A tremor pa.s.sed through her. She bit her lip and tasted blood.

Jason approached, arms outstretched and hands open.

"We need to talk," Jason said. "We need your help."

Fuyuko laughed.

She laughed so hard, tears ran down her face.

"Seven years," she whispered. "Seven years mourning all of you, planning how I would avenge you, and you've been with our enemy the whole time."

"What?"

"Woten," she hissed. "The man who arranged the Cataclysm. The one who killed more people than I can count. I thought he'd killed you too, but here you are, fresh from Asgard. What did he give you? How could you possibly go back to him?"

"Whoa, whoa," Jason said. "Yeah, we came from Asgard, but we've spent the last seven years fighting Woten."

Jason sighed. "Adrastia, let's get to the next step, we don't have time to explain everything like this."

Another girl entered the foyer and approached.

"Fuyuko," Jason said, "this is Adrastia. She's one of the Ageless Ones. She's going to help me explain."

He nodded to Adrastia who seized both Fuyuko and Jason by the wrist.

Fuyuko loved the cold. But this sensation was like nothing she'd experienced. A cold splash seeping into her skin, forming icicles inside her, pushing deep into her core. She was freezing, dying, and yet alive all at the same time.

She had no concept of time pa.s.sing, she only knew at some point her lungs stopped clenching her spine and she was able to draw in a deep breath.

"Where the h.e.l.l are we?"

She tried to break Adrastia's grip on her wrist.

"Fuyuko, stop," Jason snapped. "If you break contact with Adrastia, you could die."

She froze, searching Jason's eyes for signs of falsehood. When she saw none, she drew a slow breath and allowed herself to relax. She hadn't seen him for seven years, but she still trusted her ability to read him.

"Fine," she said, "let's start with where we are."

"We're inside the Veil," Jason replied.

It took every ounce of control not to try and tear away again. Instead, she focused on her surroundings. They were in a small room, no more than six feet square. Aside from a single door, looking weather worn, the walls were an unmarred matte white.

"But they told us the Veil was..."

"Oh, it is," Adrastia said. "Vast and maddening. By keeping in contact with you, I'm able to create this s.p.a.ce for us to talk. If you let go, you'll be exposed to the Veil in all its terrible glory."

"Wade died that way," Jason whispered.

Seven years believing they were dead-too many nights spent in tears. She didn't realize how quickly seeing the four of them, Jason, Brandt, Caelum, and Marie, had her mind accepting they'd all survived. Her chest clenched hearing confirmation they'd lost someone.

"Who else?" she asked.

Jason sighed.

"We lost Wade and Natalie that day. Jackson is still on Asgard, lending some help to our forces there. Purisaz and Ehwaz were entirely wiped out. But what we didn't know was whether you or Angie survived."

Fuyuko bit her lip and closed her eyes for a moment, pulling up the image of Morpheus-broken and bloodied.

"I don't know what happened to Angie," she replied.

She didn't bother telling them she'd searched for her. That aside from the loss of Jason, Angie's unknown whereabouts tore at her more than the loss of her other friends. They didn't matter less, she'd just been so close to saving her. A few minutes more was all she'd needed. She could have saved Angie, and maybe Morpheus as well. Another Ageless One on her side. What a difference that would've made.

Jason nodded slowly, his eyes focused on some inner thought.

"If Angie isn't here, I think I know where she might be," he finally said. "It's partly the reason we need your help."

"If I can do anything to help Angie, I will."

"We need your father's formula," Jason said. "Woten has it, and so does your Pantheon. We don't have the resources to recreate it, and we can't do anything more against Woten until we have the antidote."

"But how does that help Angie?"

"On Asgard, our forces have been decimated by, of all things, lack of sleep. It started gradually, a year or two after the Cataclysm. Now it's gotten to the point where the only ones who fight it off are Anunnaki-and we don't have many of those. People aren't able to sleep because of...nightmares. We both know someone who had the ability to influence dreams, don't we?"

"But how does my father's formula factor into it?" she asked.

"Two ways," Jason replied. "One, it means we Anunnaki can carry out an a.s.sault on Valhalla without fear of having our powers neutralized. Second, we've heard administering the antidote to non-Anunnaki can sometimes...awaken powers within them. If we're going to win this war, we need more Anunnaki and we can't afford to lose even one of the ones we already have."

"And you think I have access to the Pantheon's reserves of the formula?"

"That was our hope," Jason answered.

"And then what?" Fuyuko asked. "Run away with you to Asgard? Join some rebellion?"

"Are you saying there's something keeping you here?"

Fuyuko shook her head.

"No, it's just...The only thing keeping me going these past seven years was the thought I would get to take down Woten. My father, Angie, all of you, there is so much he needs to pay for. But waiting for that day to come, having to serve the Pantheon... Jason, there are things I've done I'm not proud of. But worse things could've happened if I hadn't been here. I always tried to find the middle ground between obedience and decency. I'm not sure I can turn my back on this."

"Then don't," Jason's voice was terse. "I'm not asking you to give up your life here. Just to help the people who used to be your family."

"But if I do what you ask, and I get found out, my life here is done-both figuratively and literally. How would I even get the information to you?"

Jason looked at Adrastia.

"Because I'll be near. You're going to take me prisoner."

"What?"

"Look, I know I'm asking you to take a risk," Jason said. "So I'm going to take a risk too. You'll take me prisoner. Not only will it give you a way to deliver it, but it'll make you look better than if you return empty handed. When you have the formula, you'll deliver it to me and Adrastia will...rescue me."

Fuyuko shifted her gaze between the two of them. They both looked so convinced this plan would work.

"You do realize the Pantheon has warded their bases against incursions from both Folding and the Veil, right? The only way in is with permission, or fighting. No offence," she said toward Adrastia, "but regardless of how powerful you are, there's no way you can stand against Quetzalcoatl."

"That's my concern, not yours," Adrastia answered. "Because of things...beyond my control, I haven't been able to help these past seven years. I intend to correct that now."

Fuyuko looked to Jason.

"And are you prepared to die before I even have a chance to deliver the formula?" she asked. "Because after the death and destruction you've caused today, you're likely to be put to death."

Jason shook his head.

"I very much doubt that," he said. "First, they know me. And I'm pretty sure they'll be interested in what I have to tell them about Asgard and Woten. I saw the trap set at the Bifrost fragment. They're afraid. And they should be."

"You're determined to do this?" Fuyuko asked again. She hoped he would say no, or she'd see some hesitation to exploit.

"This ends one of two ways," Jason replied, "you take me in as a prisoner and help me, or one of your teammates takes me and I break to get the formula myself."

Her free hand slapped him across the face before she was even aware she'd decided to hit him.

"Idiot! Seven years you've been gone. Seven years I've cried and been alone, and now you show up and all you can do is tell me you're going to throw your life away. How could you be so cruel?"

He didn't rub the red spot on his cheek. Instead, he gave her the gentle smile that always seemed to make everything right all those years ago. It didn't reach his eyes the way it used to-there was a hardness she'd never seen.

"We live in cruel times," he whispered. "What I'm doing isn't fair. But at least I'm telling you what I have planned. That's the reason Adrastia pulled us into the Veil like this-because time works differently. In the time we've been here, not even seconds have pa.s.sed outside. I needed you to understand. I wanted to have a few moments to speak to you, even if it wasn't about something pleasant. Please, believe me when I say if there were another way, I would gladly take it. But you're right, Adrastia can't just steal the formula herself. She doesn't even know where to begin looking. The truth is, we're operating on limited information. Until a few hours ago, we didn't even know the location of a Bifrost fragment leading back here. You know this world and how it operates better than anyone else we know."

His shoulders dropped, and he took in a slow breath.

"So I guess what it comes down to is this-will you help us?"

"No time to think about it, huh?"

His smile was no longer soft-a heavy sadness weighed it down.

"It's now or never," he said.

Fuyuko studied their expectant faces. She wanted to say no. Not just because what they asked was likely a suicide mission, but because there were so many variables. A seven-year stalemate existed between Earth and Asgard, but also between the Pantheon members themselves. The balance of power was precarious at best. If, and it was a huge if, this plan succeeded, another party would become a bigger player. How would the existing players respond? She wanted Woten destroyed-the Ragnarok they'd promised her all those years ago. The Pantheon said they would shelter this Earth. If a new power rose, would, could, they keep that promise?

Prophesy was a fickle trickster. Zeus said she and her spear would figure in Ragnarok. Was this her moment? Maybe her role was to take this single step.

"I can't promise you it'll work," she said, "but I'll do my best to help."