The man before us was a Titan.

“Oh my gods,” Josie whispered as what appeared to be recognition flickered across her face as she sat up.

“It was mostly for fun,” Solos said, his hand tightening around the slender dagger. “Just wanted to see what it would do.”

The Titan tilted its head, expression perplexed. His skin, a mixture of many different pink shades, seemed to lighten and deepen in hue every couple of seconds.

“Which one are you?” I asked, rising to my feet. I slipped in front of Josie, who was now on her feet with her blade in hand. “Mo? Curly? Definitely not Larry, because he’d be pissing himself if he was in front of us right now.”

The Titan’s lip curled. “I am Atlas, Apollyon. I do not know these deities you speak of.”

“Atlas?” murmured Deacon. “Oh boy . . .”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke take the same protective stance in front of Deacon, and for once the pure-blood didn’t fight it.

Atlas’s sneer turned into a mocking grin. “You know who I am. All of you know who I am. And you know how this will end. Give me what I’ve come for and I will allow each of you to live. Deny me, and each of you will die.”

I sighed. “That’s so cliché.”

The Titan’s all-black gaze slid to me. “You may be the Apollyon and you may be surrounded by demigods, but you cannot defeat me. I am not Hyperion and—”

“I’m not just any demigod. I am the Hercules and you are—”

Atlas lifted his hand, and a second later Hercules was flying backward through the air. He slammed into the wall near the staircase, cracking the plaster. “You are nothing to me,” Atlas finished as Hercules hit the floor face-first.

“I’m kind of glad you shut him up,” Alex said, her body tensing. “But we kind of need him alive.”

“Why?” Atlas queried. “So he can continuously lead us to where the remaining demigods are? We knew you would leave. We can wait.”

Not surprising. They probably had shades near the University, waiting for us to come out. That was a risk we’d had to take and now we were paying the consequences.

Atlas sniffed the air as he stared at Alex. “You are a demigod, but your aether is not as pure. Not like the one cowering behind the staircase.” He paused, looking at Josie. “Or this one.”

“I’m not a snack,” Josie stated, and I smirked. “So stop looking at me like I’m dinner.”

“Oh, but dear, that’s exactly what you are.” Atlas smiled, and it was full-on creepy. “And the rest are completely expendable.”

Several things happened at once.

Atlas lifted his arm, fingers widespread. A rush of energy came across the room, aiming straight for Alex and Aiden. Both moved out of the way, spinning out to the sides before it connected. The Titan immediately shifted. The blast of energy cut over to Luke, tossing him up and back into Deacon.

Luke squeezed off several rounds from his Glock, but Atlas twisted and turned wicked fast, dodging each of the bullets. They smacked into the wall harmlessly, and then Atlas was in front of Aiden.

Dipping under Atlas’s arm, Aiden sprang up behind him and spun, kicking out, but the Titan was unbelievably fast, more so than Hyperion. He swung back with his arm, catching Aiden across the chest, and up he went, ass over teacup.

And that pissed off Alex.

She rushed the Titan, launching off the ground a foot in front of him. She spun in the air, about to deliver a brutal spin kick.

It never connected.

Atlas twisted around again and caught her leg. He swung her like a damn baseball bat, throwing her right into Aiden as he regained his footing. They went down in a tumble of arms and legs.

“Holy balls,” muttered Solos.

“Fuck getting close.” Spinning around, I launched my Covenant dagger at Atlas’s head, mostly for a distraction. It worked. The Titan moved to avoid that as I summoned the element of fire. A ball of amber flames formed above my hand. I threw that like a baseball.

A burst of energy rippled from Josie. She’d tapped into fire a second after me, adding another burst of flames to the mix.

Atlas whirled on us. The flames fizzled out before they reached him, as if they had smacked into some kind of force field. “Don’t tire yourself out, girl. I’ve got big plans for you later.”

I did not like that.

Neither did Josie.

“Sorry. I’m busy later.” A burst of power rippled through the air, washing over my skin, and I could feel it inside me, beating at me to get free. A bolt of akasha left Josie in a brilliant blueish white bolt of energy. It slammed into Atlas’s shoulder, knocking him back a step.

“Ouch,” Atlas said, shaking his arm. “That wasn’t very nice.” He lifted his arm, and suddenly Josie was skidding across the stone floor, her arms wheeling as she tried to gain control of her body, but it was like an invisible hand was dragging her toward Atlas.

Cursing, I shot to the left and snagged her around the waist, throwing her to the floor and breaking the connection. I twisted, taking the brunt of the fall as we landed, her on top. I rolled before Atlas got the upper hand. My knees hit the ground between hers. Our eyes met for a fraction of a second, and then I was in the air. I braced myself for impact.

Hitting the table, I crashed through a potted plant. Soil flew in my face as wood broke under me. I caught myself before I ate stone, landing on my side. I looked up and saw Hercules.

He was on his feet, and he hauled ass across the foyer, his heavy footsteps rattling the table. Slamming his shoulder into the Titan, he tried to bring him down, but that didn’t work. Atlas wrapped massive arms around Hercules’s chest, lifted the demigod up in the air, and then slammed him into the floor, power-driving him down. Stone cracked under their weight.