DARIAN

The forest presses in around me, rain slicking the leaves and mud beneath my boots. Every nerve in my body hums, taut and alive. I know he’s here, my brother, the one who’s haunted me all my life with that smug arrogance, standing somewhere in the shadows, waiting.

“Darian,” a low voice slips through the mist, calm and cruel. “I knew you’d come. You can’t stay away. So obsessed with me, huh?”

My jaw tightens. “Zeus,” I growl, stepping into the clearing, eyes scanning the gloom.

“You think you can stop what’s coming?” he taunts, stepping into the thin drizzle. “Our father’s dead, your world’s falling apart, and you?”...