I jumped out of the driver’s seat.

  The moment I was on the other side, I pulled my pistol out of the holster on my hip. Out of all of us, I was going to be the only one who didn’t have on any armor. The stuff that Miel had bought for us was grossly overpowered, but even with the extra stats in every slot, even +11 twice wouldn’t let me take on someone who was Tier Two and this guy was at least Tier Five if not higher.

  Achilles threw back his head as he laughed. “Put that peashooter away. It can’t hurt me.”

  I glanced behind me at the water. Most Wards were self-contained islands, but there were a few that shared a land border. The water between the Cathedral Ward and the Synagogue was 100 miles wide at the narrowest part. A lot of little islands were between the two Wards, with only one of them the home to a city, which was a lot farther to the east. I’d hoped that there would have been some sea creature lounging on the beach, but instead the hybrids we found simply ran away.

  I pointed my pistol at the water and spoke the word of one of my spells.

  “Wave.”

  The water was about thirty feet away, which was the range of my spell, but I wasn’t trying to create more water to add to the existing sea. I pulled as much water as I could out of the ocean and threw it at the enemies. I hoped that there was some monster in the twenty-foot-high wave that I yanked out of the sea.

  The only thing I got was a little sediment.

  Wet sand clung to the outside of the RV as the water washed over the Minotaur. His black fur clung to his body, giving him the appearance of a drowned animal. The scowl he gave me kept a smirk off my face.

  “That. Was. COLD!” His axe smashed into the driver’s window, cracking the glass but not breaking through. The glass wasn’t going to resist too many more of those slices.

  I backed away from the front of the RV and pointed at the sea again. The second wave interrupted his swing, which caused it to glance off the window, barely spreading the cracks.

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  Ether was still on the couch, so I grabbed her and hefted her over my left shoulder as I spoke the word to trigger my spell a third time.

  A snake the length of the RV slid off the roof and hit the Minotaur in the face. The hybrid monster was as thick as my waist and hissed at the Minotaur as it coiled up and looked around. The two plains cats on the driver’s side of the RV pounced on the snake. The snake bit the closest one on the neck, crushing it into smoke. The second one latched onto the snake’s neck. The snake slammed the side of the RV, but that wasn’t enough to dislodge the summoned monster.

  The Minotaur roared, drawing the snake’s attention. The giant serpent struggled to rise up with the feline’s jaw digging into the back of its neck. With a single slash, Achilles decapitated the hybrid and vaporized his summons.

  Bloodlust filled his roar as Achilles threw back his head. Bloodshot eyes focused on me as he slammed his axe blade through the window. The glass didn’t shatter, but the tear in the pane was a clear indicator that he was going to be inside soon.

  I continued to back up as he transferred his axe to his left hand and balled his right. The Minotaur pulled back his fist and swung.

  The window shattered, and then he disappeared.

  Snarls let me know that something else was out there. I backed over to the booth and laid Ether down on the side by the bunks, then pulled my blue jacket out of my CB and slipped it on. The Tier Zero denim wasn’t going to provide much defense, but it was better than nothing.

  The door to the bathroom opened with Fray coming out in her leather armor. Her snakeblade was on her back. She’d upgraded a katana back on Wurn, but the weapon was really only effective against zombies now, which had her defaulting back to the weapon that we’d won from fighting the boss of the first floor of the Cathedral Dungeon.

  “What’s going on?” The green woman adjusted the chinstrap of her leather helmet. Her blue eyes went from me to Ether to the broken window.

  Achilles was lifted into the air by a massive reptilian maw. The reptile shook the Minotaur like he was a rag doll as the bull man tried to punch the monster in the eye.

  For a brief moment, I was elated. We’d found a monster that could beat our pursuer. Then I remembered what the Minotaurs were. If Achilles was god-sired, then his death would release a Desolation wave. Even if both his parents weren’t gods, the child of a God and an Adventurer would still produce a Nephilim, which still had enough power that their death released a Desolation wave.

  Which would kill both Fray and Aelin.

  My elation turned to horror as I realized that as long as Achilles was alive, we wouldn’t be able to beat the monster, but his death could very well kill two of my friends.

  I heard bone snap as the giant lizard bit down on the Minotaur’s torso. On instinct, I wrapped my arms around Fray and twisted her around so I was between her and the dying Lunatic and prayed it was enough to protect her.

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