Stupid, to be distracted and doing this, but it was stupidity that made it easier to breathe, and get out from that pressure that was building up. Reinforcements were good.

Skadi disappeared, leaving shadow-first.

Aunt Sarah was maybe the third person among the assembled capes to respond accurately, locating the Titan and sending a bright violet beam straight to it. Damage-wise, it didn’t do a ton. But it did make for a very noticeable, clear pointer to where the threat was. When the Titan wasn’t illuminated by nearby spotlights, it was dark out, and the city was unlit, it was hard to tell she was there until she was there in full.

I aimed, firing, floating closer. My family members followed, flying alongside.

My vision in the one eye flashed.

Yeah, I thought. I’ve been watching the countdown.

MEASUREMENTS MAY NOT BE EXACT BUT THEY’LL BE PRETTY GOOD.

The Nemean Titan, and a series of circles drawn in the air around it. He slouched, arms long and hands wreathed in clouds of gold, with golden locks on his head that became crownlike at the top. Of all of the Titans, he seemed to have the most of a face, with twists of golden hair forming gaps and patterns as they trailed across what would have been his face.

He moved on all fours, fast, and put buildings between himself and us.

We tripped an alarm, mobilizing like this.

He was cowardly, hard to track, lighter and leaner than many of the Titans. Ten stories tall, maybe, and he scaled a skyscraper near the coast without toppling it, though rubble fell. Still halfway up it, peering over the top, he moved behind it, so the bulk of the skyscraper blocked our view of him, then leaped to one side.

The building fell. He disappeared into the maze of fallen and half-fallen buildings. Kenzie’s tracker started only intermittently working, updating on his location, presumably as others got a glimpse of him.

I flew up, shooting Skadi while keeping part of my attention on the Lion.

Shit.

He wasn’t flanking us or Skadi.

“Stop him!” I called out.

An exceedingly unnecessary alert appeared in the vision of my right eye, telling me what I’d already realized. Kenzie, presumably, was alerting the others and it had been faster to ‘send to all’ than to send to everyone but me.

The Nemean Titan had circled the battlefield and now charged for the back line of our civilian group. The trucks that hadn’t yet made it to the crack, the people waiting for helicopter transportation. Stragglers.

I shot him, and he stumbled. Others joined in.

He was tenacious if nothing else, and he was fast enough that even limping and beaten by attacks from five different directions, he got to them faster than they got away from him.