“Can’t you feel it?” Typhon asked. His left arm was wrapped around Echidna, but his right stretched outward, gesturing to the surrounding forest.
Evander’s brow furrowed as he looked around. The spirits were there, just as they had been before.
Then, he realized—the woods were silent and still. There were no whispers or murmurs. No haunted sounds flitting around the wood.
The spirits before him were no longer wayward. They had found their home. The path before them was finally clear, and they could know rest.
They stayed… forhim.
To repay their debt.
Evander’s chest swelled, and he grinned at Typhon. Echidna burrowed closer to her lover, her eyes closed and a small smile on her face. Typhon laughed, the sound deep and vibrant as it carried through the forest.
“Lead the way, old friend,” Typhon said. “Today, we fight as brothers in arms. One last time.”
ENTRANCED
CYRUS
He has takenthe form of a siren.
The words echoed in Cyrus’s mind, making him go numb with horror and dread. He was just about to ask which Titan had done this when several deep, thundering blasts shook the ground.
Cyrus instinctively grabbed Prue, his hands on her arms as he pulled her against him. The rumbling continued, and Cyrus looked around, eyes narrowing as he tried to identify the new threat.
“It’s footsteps,” Mona whispered, crouching close to the ground, no doubt so she could avoid toppling over from the earthquake.
“Yes,” murmured the siren beside them, still using Evander’s voice to speak. “More than one Titan has altered himself.”
Cyrus’s blood ran cold. “Speak plainly,” he said impatiently. “Tell us what has happened.”
“Of the three Titans,” said the siren, “one has become a siren. Another, a Cyclops. And the third, a chimera.”
“Good gods,” Cyrus breathed in horror, his flesh tingling from unease. It was unnatural. It was shocking.
And…impossible.How had the Titans managed this?
“Did they acquire more magic to do this?” Mona mused, clearly wondering the same thing. She seemed more curious than horrified, and Cyrus wondered if the revelation hadn’t fully registered for her yet. Beside him, Prue’s face had turned ashen, her mouth twisting into a grimace.
“I am not sure,” the siren admitted. “We sirens cannot sense magic on other creatures.”
“Are you bonded to one of them?” Prue asked. “The Titan who is a siren—if we hurt him, will you be hurt as well?”
“No. Not even Titan magic can forge a bond between sirens. He isnotone of us.” The siren spoke with venom, warping Evander’s voice into something unrecognizable.
Prue exhaled, her eyes closing for a moment before she met Cyrus’s gaze. He saw relief on her face, and he knew she was hesitant to attack a Titan if she knew it would hurt the entire pack of sirens.
But Cyrus would not have hesitated. Regardless of his wife’s sympathy toward the creatures, he would not have batted an eye at the casualties lost if it meant he could erase the Titans from existence.
Prue seemed to notice the hardness etched on his face. Her expression turned stony, and she looked away. The thundering footsteps continued, drawing closer.
Mona looked up toward the sky, her brows drawingtogether.“This is one of them,” she murmured. “I can smell his magic from here.”
Cyrus inhaled deeply, and there it was. The pungent aroma of Titan magic. He hadn’t noticed it before—perhaps because he often smelled it on himself, thanks to his Titan powers.
“He approaches,” the siren warned, rising so it stood on its talons. It tilted its head toward the sky, black eyes flashing. “The one who poses as my kind.”
Prue frowned. “Thesirenis—” She broke off as another loudboominterrupted her. “It’s makingthosesounds?”
