It was a D … as in Death, and he didn’t mean a party with Grim. Death as in dead in the grave, never to be seen or heard from again.

“And can I have some of the criteria on which I’m being judged?”

“No.”

His jaw went slack at Tiamat’s cold and unexpected answer. “No? Seriously? You’re not going to give me a clue about how to pass this test or tell me anything about it?”

“No. That would take all the fun out of it. For us. But you’ve already completed a great deal of the test without even knowing, so breathe, child. We haven’t killed you … yet. Relax.”

Easy for her to say. No one was screwing with her life. “Yeah, but I like cheat codes.”

A slow, insidious smile curved her lips. “Life isn’t about cheat codes. It’s about experience points.”

Gah, they sounded like his mom. “So what’s this next part of the test? Will you tell me that much?”

“You want to heal your mother and Malphas?” Chronus asked.

“More than anything.”

“Then, knowing that more than half your generals are against you, you will have to choose two to trust. One to stay behind and protect your mother from your enemies should they attack her while you finish it. And one to stand at your back and fight with you and help you finish out your journey.”

Chronus leaned in to whisper insidiously to Nick. “But be warned. Either one could betray you at any time, and use either you or your mother as a bargaining chip with your enemies to save themselves. That’s the gamble you take.”

Lovely. Lovely. Lovely.

“And if I choose not to play?”

Tiamat tsked at him. “Not an option.”

Of course not. Nick ground his teeth as he cursed his luck and the Fates that had given him this life.

Tiamat wrinkled her nose at him. “So who will you choose to aid you?”

The first choice was an easy one to make. There was only one he’d put with his mother in his absence. “Xev to watch over my mom.”

They both appeared shocked by his choice. Though why, he had no idea.

Until they spoke.

Chronus tilted his head curiously. “He betrayed his brother’s wife. His own child. Did you know that?”

Nick had no idea Xev had a kid, at all. Still …

“I trust him not to harm my mother.” Nick didn’t know why, just something in the way Xev looked at her said that he would die before he ever allowed any harm to come to her.

Through and through, he believed in Xev.

Tiamat looked less than pleased before she motioned to one of the zeitjägers, who quickly left them to obey. “Then it shall be done. And for your ally?”