Sin & Surrender (Demigod of San Francisco #6)(34)

“There is no recording in the battlegrounds,” Henry said.

Daisy huffed and Zorn shook his head.

“You were sharper when you were thinking for yourself,” Zorn said. “Amber doesn’t know everything. We’ve passed two cameras so far.”

Henry looked upward. “What? We weren’t told there would be surveillance.”

“It’s better if people don’t know they are being watched,” Daisy said.

Henry dug out his phone, probably to text Amber. They’d want to try to hack into the system. Something told me it would be much harder here than it had been at Demigod Lydia’s mansion.

“Battling Flora on an unknown mountain in the middle of nowhere was ten times more dangerous than this.” Daisy shook her head exasperatedly. “That garden would be a much better place for the more experienced fighters. The environment is another unknown, and if manipulated correctly, it could be as deadly as the enemy. You could hide in the branches or in a hole, or lay a tripwire in the bushes. That is a real test. This is just a well-regulated training exercise. No one is battering down walls here, I bet. It’s lame.”

“Tripwires?” Thane asked. “Like the kind the Chesters use?”

The hallway we walked ended at another. Henry pointed right, toward the edge of the building. We turned that way, only momentarily hindered by Bria running into the corner again and getting the cart stuck.

Once we successfully took the corner, Dylan answered, “Yes. When I was in the Chester lands, one of my acquaintances was a former special ops in the…Army? I can’t remember what branch of the military, but he was special forces and taught me all manner of tactical non-magical warfare. Some of the things he could rig up for an enemy were crazy. I thought Daisy might need all the combat knowledge she could get, magical and otherwise, so I’ve been teaching her what I know.”

Daisy ran her fingers across the strap of her crossbody bag.

“Wait…” I braced my hand on her shoulder. “Are you telling me that you have explosives in that bag?”

Her wide eyes and innocent look told me all I needed to know.

“No.” I put my finger out. “No explosives.”

“Why not?” she, Zorn, and Henry chorused.

“Because you could kill people! Because we don’t need it. Because you’ll ruin these lovely unmarked walls.” I could see I wasn’t getting through to them. I had to get creative. “Because…don’t you want that to be your secret weapon if you get in dire straits in the real world? If you use it here, people will know to expect it.”

Everyone turned thoughtful. Henry finally nodded. “That’s a good point. Magical people don’t use Chester tactics, thinking it is beneath them. But those who can do magical tripwires are heavily sought-after. Seems silly when any Tom, Dick, and Jane could create them.”

“Who are they?” Jerry asked.

“It’s a figure of speech, Jerry,” Donovan said.

“Missed the context of that one, eh, Jerry?” Thane murmured, his bearing hunched a little, like he was expecting danger to pop out at any moment.

A soul popped onto my radar up ahead. Dylan put out his hand, his forearm connecting with my chest like a mother slamming on the brakes and trying to protect her child in the front seat.

“Zeus?” I asked him.

He lowered his arm, slowed, and everyone slowed with him. “Yes. Five of them, all strong.”

More souls popped up after he said that. His magic had a better range than mine, but he could only sense Zeus types. “Eight people total, off to the side. In a room, I would gather.”

“Awesome. It’s go time.” Daisy rubbed her hands together excitedly.

“No, you’re not—”

“Only a few Demigods would have that many Zeus types working for them,” she said. The cats rubbed against her legs, clearly on her side, whatever that side was. “So Zander or Flora, but we put a big hole in Flora’s ranks, and she hasn’t had time to assemble a new, stronger staff, so I’m guessing this is Zander’s crew, on the outskirts of things and taking a break. Otherwise they’d be in the center of the hall yelling, You shall not pass, right, Mordie? Like your friends in Lord of the Rings?”

“What’s the best course of action?” Zorn asked her.

Adrenaline coursed through me. “Really? We’re taking a break from a dangerous situation in order to engage in a training session?”

A growl rumbled deep in Chaos’s throat, and I got the distinct impression he was telling me to be quiet.

Daisy ran her lower lip through her teeth, thinking. “We’ll obviously barge in and scare the bejesus out of them, and then we’ll take them out for the remainder of the day. That’s a given. How is the question.”

“Thoughts?” Zorn prompted.

“We want to make a positive impression on Zander, so we can’t use Lexi to take them down through the wall. Zeus people would think that’s cowardice. They might have a defense against Dylan, so we need to send the giant in first, in rock form. He’ll take the brunt of their attack. Then we send Red and Bria around him to stab a bitch. Get one in the neck. That bleeds a lot. I’ll throw some knives as well, just to treat them like pincushions. Mordecai, rip into a throat, just don’t kill. Tear out a stomach if you want—let’s give it some flourish. Who else— Oh! Boman, flash some light and blind them. Dylan, do the thunder. What a ruckus. Henry and Thane, hang back and look pretty. The room is only so big. Chaos, you rip up a… Where are some cool places to have scars? Because your shit doesn’t heal. Sorry, Lexi, I get to swear in battle. That’s a given.”