The second Titan rose from the ruined table.
I wiped bile from my bloody lips.
You survived the crucible. This is nothing.
The first Titan let out a hideous screech and violently flung Fluffy Jr. off—he yelped as he rolled across the lawn toward me in a blur of white, then he stood up on all fours by my side.
Nyx hissed weakly from somewhere nearby.
Hunched over, I reached into my pocket. Bits of mangled metal filled my hand as I pulled out what was Augustus’s pager—it was completely crushed. I dropped the pieces onto the grass.
There was nothing left to do.
Both Titans stood taller, their bones crunching back into place.
Blindly, I grabbed at the extra holster Kharon had given me—I pulled out a Spartan gun with my left hand and a hunting dagger with my right.
Nyx slithered up and around my shoulders.
The Titans stalked toward us.
Acceptance washed over. I couldn’t go far, but I could still try.
“Domus,” I screamed, pushing my right leg out so that Fluffy Jr. was touching it, as I was stretched into a million little pieces.
I blinked—we’d leapt across the lawn.
Thirty feet away, the Titans ran into each other in a blur of talons as they swiped at where we’d stood a second before.
Squinting, I fired.
Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.
The Titans turned with confusion, black blood spraying as bullets hit them—they zeroed in on where I stood.
Wings unfurling, they leaned forward to fly at me but stumbled and looked back—their appendages were torn with bullet holes. Shaking their heads with frustration, the Titans hobbled forward at a rapid clip.
Well, this has been fun.
The pain in my back was unbearable; the ringing in my ear was now a high-pitched wail.
Might as well go out with a bang.
The Titans lunged for me at the same time—I pressed my leg against Fluffy Jr. and focused on a spot across the grassy park, one hundred feet away.
“DOMUS!”
The world shattered in agonizing darkness.
Crack.
I landed with my knees in the grass, a moan gurgling from my throat. Fluffy Jr. whined and sniffed at my face as bile dripped from my lips.
The Titans shrieked.
I was only fifty feet away, not as far as I’d hoped.
Everything was on fire.
