Zoe froze, jerking backward. A sense of overwhelming danger shook her to her core, and she was barely able to stay on her feet. Immediately, Kane was by her side, supporting her. Zoe leaned on him, and was about to tip to the other side when Kane put his arm around her waist and pulled her against him.
Right. They had lost Mike. He was a childhood friend, but he was more than that. He had struck to Zoe through all these years, not just because he cared about her, but because of the oath that he had sworn.
Even at the end, I serve you.
Those were the words. The beautiful, brutally simple, completely disgraceful, and utterly gorgeous words.
Even to the end...
That was what she had felt.
And with it, a message. His final act of service.
Nemesis.
Nothing more. And nothing less.
"Luke, Nemesis," Zoe called, and he turned. His response was immediate, and there wasn't so much as a breath of hesitation.
"God of divine judgement, not sent by other gods but inspired to destroy those overtaken by hubris," he recited, then looked at her, frowning.
"Where..."
He stopped.
The formation in front of him was familiar, Zoe recognized that in his eyes. He saw it, she knew he did.
But instead of commenting, he simply said,
"Right. Then we better get going."
Allies. Luke was always the one to have allies in the most interesting of places. They needed allies.
"Luke, please. Do you have anyone you know? Anyone you can call? Please..." Zoe trailed off. She didn't know what the point was. If there was some god after them, she wasn't sure even Kane could handle it.
But as her mind was spiraling, she heard a shocking sound.
It came from in front of her.
She looked up, barely managing to hold her jaw up.
How dare he... How dare he laugh at her?
But he was. Luke was laughing. Not hard, but deep and sincere.
"You really don't understand, do you?" he asked, still grinning. "Our situation is nowhere near as dire as you assume. Don't you have eyes? Look at Kane. He's not even concerned, and he has to worry about you as well as himself. Nemesis? Do you really think he can stand against us? He's just a god, Zoe. All you've been through, all your family's been through, and you're frightened of a mere god?"
Zoe bit her lip. He made it sound so terrible. It wasn't like she had killed one.
Yet.
That secret was hidden from her still. Her family was strong, and its members knew more than most, but that just meant they had more secrets than others. Some families lied to their children about things like Nickolas and the Saint's Queen. Zoe had known the truth about both a long time ago. Her parents held other secrets. Secrets that, in the right hands, could change the very composition of human biology.
And of the ones who had made them.
"So just because there's a bit of information you don't know, you run and cower? Is that what a senator's job is, Zoe? Have you even tried asking for potential solutions?" Luke continued taunting her. She knew he was doing it just to fire her up. She knew it. And yet... she couldn't help but let it work.
Yes, she was a senator. And her people needed her. Who was set to back down from her purpose now?
She let a small smile show.
"Yeah. As if I'd let you one-up me," she said, raising her head.
"Oh, and by the way, I already contacted some allies."
What?
"Hold on, hold on! All of that and that's it? You just psyched me up for leading us all and taking care of all of us, and even fighting a god, and now you've just gone and done that?" Zoe demanded, furious.
Luke smirked.
So annoying.
"Ah, well. You'll need that motivation for this," he said casually. "Besides, it was fun."
Zoe breathed out heavily through her nose, turning away. Kane had already released her.
"So we have a name. What is there to fear now?" Michael asked.
Zoe stared at him, dumbfounded. Him too?
"What do you mean what is there to fear?" she demanded. "It's a god, that's what! Do you even know what the term means? Even idiots should know that much at least."
"Yeah, I know exactly what it means," Michael said confidently. "It means somebody's got a big head, and there's about to be a hole poked in it."
Zoe sighed. There really was no helping any of them. They were completely, undoubtedly, unequivocally screwed.