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ATLAS

Ragnar’s pacing wasn’t as quiet as he thought. His boots thudded across the tile, his muttering barely audible under his breath. It was unproductive. Distracting.

I unfurled another map across the table, the topography cluttered with crosses and circles. The patterns stared back at me, and I stared harder. We’d only get one chance at this.

“Orion’s going to break our necks,” Ragnar muttered. “Shouldn’t have fucking done this. Fuck .”

“Ragnar, that’s enough,” I snapped.

He froze, but the tension in his shoulders didn’t ease. “You have some fucking nerve.”

The taste of doubt threatened to rise—I swallowed it. Whether I was right no longer mattered. What mattered was finishing this.

“Now is not the time to get emotional.”

That did it.

He spun, fists clenched, amber eyes glowing. For all the power in his veins, Ragnar had never quite mastered his control. Normally, his volatility was useful. Tonight, it was a problem.

“Emotional? Are you even hearing yourself?”

His voice split, fury spilling out as he resumed pacing. His leash was slipping, and I was the reason why.

Eve.

Her name crept in, unbidden. A distraction.

I forced it away. Irrelevant. We had an objective. I just needed to hold this unit together long enough to see it through. Fractures could be mended later.

The front door crashed open.

“Atlas!”

Orion stormed in like thunder, his movements sharp, voice razor-edged.

He spotted me—and charged.

“You set us up!” he snarled, lunging.

I didn’t move to fight back, but I wouldn’t take a hit standing still. I twisted—

Too late.

Pain exploded across my temple. The punch knocked me off balance; my hand caught the edge of the table. Another swing came, but Xander caught it, twisting Orion’s arm behind his back.

“Stop! This isn’t going to get her back.”

Wait—she’s gone ?

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. My mind scrambled, sorting through every variable, every calculation, and none of them accounted for this.

The truth clawed in, cold and sharp. I’d misjudged Orion. I thought he’d have this handled.

But he hadn’t known. He wasn’t responsible.

That was all me.

I forced the thought down like poison, burying it beneath focus. Later. I’d bleed for it later.

“Are we done?” I said, calmer than I felt. My head throbbed, but I set the pain aside. “Now that that’s out of our systems—”

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Orion growled, still straining against Xander’s grip. “Was this part of your plan the whole time?”

I clenched my jaw. No—this wasn’t how it was meant to go. I only meant to draw Corvus out, to smoke the bastard from whatever hole he’d buried himself in.

“Plans evolve,” I said, refusing to look anyone in the eye.

Orion’s face turned red.

“You’re lucky I don’t rip your soul from your body!”

“We fucking get it!” Ragnar snapped.

“You’re not exempt from this,” Orion spat. “I hope this ingenious idea of yours eats you alive.”

His magic surged again, thick and suffocating.

“Enough,” I barked, stepping between them.

The room went still. Not calm, but at least focused.

“We’re wasting time,“ I said, turning back to the map. “There are three possible holding locations they could have taken her to. But thanks to weeks of activity reports and Ragnar’s field work, we’ve narrowed it down to one.”

Orion shook off Xander’s hold. He still looked absurd in that toga, but at least he wasn’t swinging.

“You’ve really been planning this,” he muttered, glancing between us.

“I’ve been preparing for an inevitable event,” I said coolly.

“Oh, how noble of you.”

Xander shifted closer to the table. “It’s a start—but it’s still a guess, Atlas. They could have taken her anywhere.”

“Not quite,” I traced my finger along the map from the cabin south toward Roanoke. “Based on the extraction point, the only logical route would have taken them to the highway. The closest remaining active daema site is here,” I tapped a mark near the old church ruins.

“The chapel?” Xander frowned. “Didn’t Ragnar and Orion hit that place last month?”

“We thought it was dormant. But Sol’s scouts picked up signs of residual magic three days ago. Low-level power fluctuation—masked, but consistent. There’s a portal here somewhere.”

“They’re reactivating it,” Ragnar muttered, arms crossed tightly. “Or they’ve been trying to.”

“It feels like a trap,” Xander said. “What if they’re waiting for us?”

“They probably are,” I said. “But it’s our only remaining lead. Every other nest has been cleared. This is it.”

“Then what the fuck are we waiting for?” Orion’s voice was lethal.

“If we rush in blind, we could lose her entirely,” Xander said.

“If we wait too long,” Orion shot back, “we lose her anyway.”

“This is the plan,” I said, final. “You have five minutes to prepare to teleport.”

Xander hesitated. “If you’re wrong—”

“I’m not,” I met his eyes. “And we don’t have time to second-guess.”

After a long beat, he nodded.

I turned to Orion. He was practically vibrating with rage.

“Can we go now?” he snapped.

“Change your clothes,” I said, dismissing him.

He stormed out.

Ragnar hadn’t moved. His arms were still folded, but his voice was quieter now. “It makes sense. I still hate it.”

“That’s your burden to carry,” I said, turning back to the map.

He left with a huff, and I felt like I could breathe a little easier.

Only Xander lingered.

“You better hope you’re right,” he said. “This might be the one thing you don’t come back from.”

“You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you, brother?”

He flinched—just slightly. But it was enough.

Then he turned and walked out without a word.

I exhaled, pressing my hands into the tabletop. The ache in my shoulders pulsed through every nerve, but I didn’t let it root.

Doubt is a luxury. None of us could afford it.

I gave myself to the count of three.

By one, the pain had dulled to a whisper.

By two, the fog rolled in—thick, cold, necessary.

By three, I was no longer human.

Barely even Titan.

I was a storm given form.

And it was time to let the monster out to play.