Sophie glanced over. They’d turned on a local news station to try to see if there was, you know, a manhunt going on for them. She half expected to see Novalight hopping up and down and proclaiming himself a victim, but it was only an advertisement for tours to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

“The Statue of Liberty.” She waved a hand toward the screen, distractedly explaining, “It’s a symbol of freedom and hope to anyone seeking a new home or refuge in this country. Kind of like you, I guess.”

“It’s Eleutheria. It’s a colossus of Eleutheria. She personifies Liberty.”

“You mean Libertas? Oh, wait…” Sophie watched the images scroll by on the muted television. “Eleutheria must be the Greek equivalent. Libertas is the Roman goddess they used as a model.”

Piers stared at the screen as if he didn’t even hear her. “Zeus Eleutherios,” he murmured. “Protector of freedom.”

Sophie’s heart started to pound. “Is that where we need to go? Should we bring the shard to the Statue of Liberty?”

Aaron’s cryptic message had been burned into her mind since the second she put all those torn-up pieces of paper together. She saw it again.

The Greek gods are REAL. Contact Athena and GIVE THE SHARD BACK TO THE GODS OF OLYMPUS.

Sophie glanced at the glowing ice shard. She swallowed. At first, she’d just wanted to avoid getting caught and losing the shard to a murderous megalomaniac like Novalight. Then Piers showed up, and the whole Contact Athena thing went from pure fantasy to possible reality. Same with magic. Now, he was staring at the screen in utter shock, as though the Statue of Liberty were just the temple they needed to finally contact the gods.

Or maybe it was something else?

“Piers?” He had a really weird look on his face.

The news channel switched to an advertisement for car insurance, Lady Liberty disappeared, and Piers lost it. No, he didn’t just lose it. He lost it like a boss, grabbing his head, curling in on himself, and howling.

Sophie froze in shock. Her own massive freak-out took a backseat to Piers’s sudden breakdown. She watched, her jaw sliding loose as he wrapped his arms around his head and rocked, groaning and muttering names she knew from hearing him talk about his family. Griffin. Kaia. Cat.

Fear jackknifed through her. She reached for him. “Piers? What is it?”

He abruptly stood and brushed her off. Pale as snow before it hit the New York sidewalk, he turned away from her. Sophie’s heart clenched. Something was seriously wrong with him. She tried again, reaching out, and he strode to the bathroom and closed the door. A second later, she heard a huge crash.

She flew to the door, knocking. “Piers? What happened?”

A second huge crash and a bellow.