DISCLAIMER: Guess who moved to Boston because he's scared of Texans shooting him over the death of characters in the PJatO series?

Rick Riordan.

REVIEW RESPONSES:

Emoxkitten – Nyx: *literally crying* I'm sorry! Sorry!

oOo

She had not been taught to give ground.

Water was the perfect medium; it was not a gas, which could be compressed. Yet it was not a solid and confined to a specific space and shape. Water was strong and free and could find its way into whatever little cracks it pleased.

She yelled and shoved her dagger through a Ventus. It wailed and disappeared. Hunter appeared for a moment, there and gone in a flash. Shay didn't see what she did; whatever it was, though, the Ventus did not emerge from it.

Then there was the Manticore.

It came crashing down on them like Olympus itself had plummeted from the sky and crashed its mountain of rubble into the earth. A heavy thunder of golden fur and flashing claws. Pain lanced through her leg as its tail stabbed her.

She choked and stumbled, hardly standing. But unlike Hunter and Brook, she had a healing agent. Water curled around the wound and flushed out the pain.

The Manticore snarled and batted at Hunter, chasing her back across the clearing.

Shay panted and risked a glance behind her. To her utter shock, the crowd of demons was nearly gone. Dr. Thorn was their biggest problem now. She could even make out Bree and Orpheus; the two were dancing with one another, lunging in and out, swords dictating every aspect of thought and movement and life. Shadows were slamming into what seemed like thin air but vibrated with sound. The wind was all but tearing off their clothes. It was a wonder either of them were standing.

Beyond them was a sight she didn't want to look at. She turned back to the Manticore. Bree could hold her own for now, and once the cat was gone, they could all move in for the kill. Just kill the cat, and it'd be okay.

She yelled and, riding on the pulsing water, charged.

oOo

I don't ask for much,

But truth be told I'd settle for a life less frightening,

A life less frightening…

Rise Against was on my side, apparently. And if I had them, anything was possible.

Crimson bathed in sunlight was a wonderful color. It dazzled and gleamed proudly, disclosed, defiant. The shadows hissed and felt all the colder by contrast. Soft grass bent and stayed flat beneath us. The air hummed and buzzed and moved, alive, with Orpheus's horrible songs.

I did not hear it though, for I have a talent for turning my iPod up too loud.

The bright, warm, reeking scent of blood was in the air. Demon blood has a scent, but it was not what I smelled; in retrospect, that was probably bad thing, but right then it just served as fuel.

I lunged at Orpheus, knocking his broken sword aside and trying to tip him as I shot past. He danced aside on trilling notes and took an effortless swipe at my head. The glare of bronze in the sunlight was infuriating. With a feral screech, I dove for the shadows and charged from behind.

Sound stopped me.

It was loud enough to make the shadows ripple, a rift in my dimension that I didn't see coming. With a wild yell, I tried to jump, but I was too late.

Have you ever tripped while going faster than light?

Panicked, I lost my grip on the shadows and tumbled, skidding through the mud and grass who knows how far. Pain lanced through every limb. Rise Against's Life Less Frightening vanished as my ear buds were ripped free. Orpheus's haunting melody, twisted and tortured and hungry, a demon all its own, plunged into my head. The lyrics made me shudder.

"Twinkle twinkle little star…"

He approached slowly, walking as if caught in wires. His shoulders jerked in odd ways and I swear his foot was sewn on backwards. Yet stumble forward he did, brown eyes glittering through the limp curls of his hair and teeth gleaming perfect white in the dawn's wonderful light.

"How I wonder what you are!"

The crimson dripping off the broken baton did it, shining even brighter. Crimson blood. Mine or his. Or Nico's.

Diamonds are hard and cold and they hurt. The one inside me now grew heavier. My fingers tightened on Întuneric and I rolled to my feet to attack again.

For I was in no mood to play defense.

"Up above the world so high!

"Like a diamond in the skies!"

He had gone from singing to screaming above the thunderous clash of blades. The wind howled and tore at me, no longer whispered and influenced but ripped and tore, trying to pull me away and off balance. Not far away, I heard the Manticore's furious roar.

I caught glimpse of lithe, writhing gold pelt. He was nearly the only demon left. But by the looks of our fighting force, he was more than enough to finish this battle himself.

"Twinkle twinkle little star!"

The resistance of flesh on Întuneric – in dagger form, as I was used to having a shorter range than my opponent – sent hot spikes up my spine. They hardened into ice and suddenly I lusted for more. Nearly inane myself with that urge, I shoved forward again, opening a sewn pink scar across his bicep.

"How I wonder what you are!"

He laughed and leapt to the side, a cunning hand trailing behind him to catch my ribs as I went past. I barely dodged in time.

I had learned this the hard way. Nico had tried the same and succeeded with the flat side of his blade during training. That had been long ago, back when he dared not speak a word to me, back when the hate flooded every second of his gaze.

It wasn't my fault, what I'd done to him. How I was I supposed to know…

The thought gave the diamond rough edges. But diamond is diamond; it is hard and cold and hateful. I shrieked and lunged for Orpheus again.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew he was smart. Mad but not stupid. He was tiring me out, letting me play the offense.

I didn't give a basilisk's tail.

The wind picked up again, screaming along with him. It felt solid; hands grabbed Întuneric, yanked on my jacket, threatened to shove me over. A new song sliced through their howls.

"Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of posies…"

I lunged, then narrowly dodged as his sword came flashing down. My fingers slipped on Întuneric and it vanished into the air.

I growled and let the shadows have at it. And hey, spilled blood is spilled blood, be it by Stygian iron or fingernails.

Orpheus was shaking all over. Trembling. A cell phone on vibrate. The words scraped past his throat and came out twisted, twisted but still beautiful. The grass kneeled and the trees bowed to the sound. His lips moved seemingly out of time – but when the sounds came on the air currents, the melodies and harmonies were perfectly interlaced.

"Ashes! Ashes!"

The haunted howling was like a grater on my ears. Every word, every note. My heart was ready to burst free of my ribs and run off several measures ahead.

He saw an opening and took it, broken sword like blinding fire. I hissed and parried once, twice, three times before he forced me to step back. The shadows began to stir again.

"We all fall down!"

Behind me, the Manticore howled again. A dying cry. Two seconds later it had reformed and was snarling once more.

"Ashes, ashes, 'tis nothing left but ashes!"

I was starving. It'd been too long since I drew scarlet from his torn flesh. At this rate, Nico was going to go unavenged. My sword was torn from my hands once more. Again, I resorted to my fists and feet and magic.

"ASHES! ASHES!"

The wind was tearing at my head now. It made my eyes squint and an ache begin deep within my skull. I shook it off and clawed at his face.

He shoved me aside easily and brutally pushed forward. Two steps, three, makeshift knife moving too fast to see. The shadows crashed into his sides, but he paid them no heed.

"'TIS NOTHING LEFT BUT ASHES!"

Dizziness slammed into me out of nowhere. The clearing began to pulse to the beat of his climatic screams, the song stealing into my mind. Maybe he didn't even need the lyre anymore…

He howled in victory and dove in. I barely managed to move – not quite fast enough, the jagged end to the blade sliced through the skin on my injured shoulder.

I screamed and whirled on him, my loyal blade drawn again, but he was naught but a blur. The fury in me managed to land a blow to his collarbone as he crashed into me again.

"ASHES, ASHES, 'TIS NOTHING LEFT BUT ASHES!"

We slammed into the ground. Well, I did. He landed on top of me. I gasped as my air vanished – the shadows shot out –

And then a magic-resistant diamond was searing through my wrist.

"BECAUSE WE ALL FALL DOWN!" Orpheus howled in victory, bracing himself against my shoulders and holding his jagged sword point beneath my jaw. "We all fall down!"

I screamed and writhed, but it was useless. I was trapped.

Too late, I realized once again that this wasn't over. Laelaps was gone and the lyre out of reach and Nico… Nico… Well, even with all that, I could still be captured. We were tired and by the sounds of the demon fight, the Manticore was winning. Gaea could still get a hold of me.

And then we'd be screwed.

Orpheus laughed, dirty hair hanging down and tickling my nose. Those wide and wild eyes focused on some point far off. "Not my fault, the ashes weren't. Not my fault there weren't but ashes…"

I growled and wriggled my arm. It took him two seconds too long to stop it. I gritted my teeth and waited.

Even as it went, though, I could feel the diamond and the song draining energy from me. No way just one diamond could bring the lyre back, but it sure could drain me.

Orpheus's gaze found mine. It felt like I was trying to stare down the drakon all over again. "Ashes, ashes," he whispered. "Ashes and ashes. You won't be ashes. Harmonize, and you won't be ashes. No one will anymore." A wide, shaking smile split his scarred face.

I growled and lunged forward, sinking my teeth into his nose.

He screamed and yanked back frantically. "No! No! Harmonize! We all fall down!"

His hand planted itself on my chest and shoved me back down. With a grunt, I obliged, for he had freed my arm once more.

But my head landed turned; my gaze found something I wasn't prepared to see just yet.

Nico, not all that far off, still slumped at the base of the tree, sword naught but inches from his curled fingers. Eyes staring back at me without seeing anything.

Had there been something similar left of his sister, or was it just ashes? Ashes, ashes?

Suddenly, the magic stone was draining more than my energy. My dangerous, lovely, immovable diamond began to melt away.

Then Orpheus caught me staring.

The second most horrible sound I'd ever heard ripped through my eardrums as he screamed. The broken sword sliced into the ground just centimeters from my eyes, cutting off my sight.

"NO!" he shrieked, and yanked me away. His brown eyes and saggy bangs were all I could see. Tears had begun to fall onto my face, and they weren't mine. "NO! No, don't look back! 'Tis nothing left but ashes!"

Slowly, his hold began to loosen. I forced my eyes to stay open and waited.

But he wasn't staring at me anymore. Not really. That focused but blank look only a madman could pull off was searing into my gaze. "You'll harmonize. You'll come with me. Once Eurydice is free, you'll come with us. We won't fall down again. We'll run and run and run, with you as our daughter." His hands nearly lifted off my collar. That cursed smile widened. "We'll run and run and run, and we won't look back… We won't ever look back…"

The sight of Nico still had me shaken. At those words, I stopped, listening.

Orpheus had sung himself a path to the Underworld to bring his wife back from the dead. And he'd struck a deal with Hades. His only task was to not look back until they were both safe across the Styx, but he had failed…

The hopelessness of the situation, of both his and mine, made me hesitate. Horrible things were leaking into my brain; memories of Nico and I and what my brother had stood for, silently and willingly. And the longing for Ethan, stronger than all of it, more powerful than it'd ever been.

But I didn't hesitate for long.

My arm was free; I counted down and swung it up, aiming for Orpheus's head.

He gasped and jerked back at the last second. Întuneric dug into Orpheus's face. Warm blood seemed to explode from his skin and in moments my hand was drenched. The conductor screamed and vanished, agonized cries echoing for miles and miles.

I held the drowning Întuneric close and scrabbled for my feet, stumbling in the opposite direction. He was turned away and hunched over, nearly on his knees; I had no idea what I'd hit, but I'd take it.

Gasping for breath, I used Întuneric to shatter the magic stone. Tiredness was pulling on me now. Tiredness and crushing, relentless sorrow.

Closer than Orpheus, behind me, there was the victorious screams of the Manticore.

My only thought was of my fallen friends. I couldn't let their lives be in vain. And after what I'd put Nico through, even unknowingly, I knew that I'd been given much more than my fair share in life.

I raised my knife and began to chant.

Heat began to rise, a searing pain, fire laced within my body. I didn't stop. The Manticore was much bigger than I was; if I wanted to distract it thoroughly, I'd have to use a lot more fire than this.

Not long later, I heard it scream. A horrible demonic screech. It was the only thing besides the heat that I knew; it was so sweet, by comparison, that it made me laugh.

And then the scream stopped.

I gasped and stumbled as I let the spell collapse, the heat vanishing. Shay caught me before I could fall. Staggering to my feet, I turned, proud of the pile of dust Brook and I had created.

But the dust began to move.

And there it was again. That hopelessness. Maybe, somehow, I thought whatever miracle was keeping the others dead would work for him, too. But clearly not. Not far off, Orpheus was still crying. Odds were we'd fall to this cat before he recovered enough to come at us again.

Hey, I guess with Nico dead, irony needed another target to haunt. What a cruel and hungry demon. I was tempted to officially name it Sebastian Michaelis, but what good was that?

Then Hunter stepped forward. Her shirt was soaked in crimson and she was limping heavily, but Anonymous was still glowing proudly in her skilled hands. Weary golden eyes studied the dust.

Then she held out something and dropped it into the mess.

Immediately, webs shot out from the magic stone, holding the dead monster in place.

I stared in utter shock as she smiled at it softly. Then I turned, searching the rest – and sure enough, among each pile of dust, another magic stone sat, keeping it in place. The grass was alight with glowing diamonds.

"Do you like the collar, kitty kitty?" Hunter rasped. The smile widened. "Figured since you didn't steal it like you did the orbs, they were ours to use freely."

I just continued to give her my dumbfounded look.

"No!"

I whirled, the voice like brambles in my throat. I squeezed Întuneric just for the sake of something solid.

But when my eyes fell on Orpheus's horrified expression, the sword wasn't so comforting.

The left side of his face was smothered in thick crimson. It dripped off his chin and had created a blossom-like pattern across his nose. Shredded flesh ringed the black pit where his left eye had once been.

Surely, that hadn't been Întuneric's doing?

But I could feel the hot blood seeping through my fingers and the sticky, gooey flesh that clung to my sweaty palms like the rainbow melt of candy on a hot summer day. The horror and hopelessness surged in my chest.

Ethan.

Orpheus was staring, right eye wide, at us. The winds had been reduced to soft breezes whistling through the trees. When he screamed, it was with his mouth alone. "No! Noo-oo-oooo! I had the dog! I had the cat! I had orbs! I had the stars! Twinkle twinkle little star!"

Hunter gave a nod to Shay and Brook. They split, one on the left flank, one on the right, respectively.

"Ashes," Orpheus groaned, doubling over and stumbling backwards. "No, no ashes… It wasn't my fault; I wasn't supposed to find ashes…" A burning, one-eyed gaze landed on Hunter. "Why? Why?"

She did not answer.

"One girl doesn't make ashes. Not out of that dog. La-la la, la la la… Ashes, ashes, we all fall down… Not out of that cat. Not out of my song," he groaned, still staggering back. "La la-la… Who taught you to do that? La, la-la… The ashes… Who?"

She narrowed her golden eyes. "My father. Now surrender, and we'll be fast about what we have to do. Resist, and I'll show you what else he taught me."

I watched as he paled, stumbled over his own feet, slowly working towards the trees. I could feel the monster dust splattered across my clothes and saw it glimmer on the ground. Saw the pulsing stones. Heard Hunter strong as stone as she'd always been, as if she hadn't doubted a single damn thing about herself, and I felt nothing. Nothing good, anyway. The victory meant naught to me.

I knew why. The dead boy on the edge of the woods. The thought alone made my legs shake.

Orpheus shook his head. "No… It wasn't my fault…"

The winds died.

He turned and bolted, screaming but once as he stole one glance over his shoulder. He shot off for the trees so fast I could hardly see it.

Shay and Brook yelped and bolted after him, but they were too late. He was already halfway to the trees; they'd never catch him in time.

It made sense, I thought. Perfect sense. It matched the horrible taste in my mouth, the awful wound I hadn't meant to inflict on him, the worse wounds I hadn't meant to give my brother. The wounds that had bled and bled until he died.

The world had begun to sway by the time Orpheus bounded between the first trees and into the woods, Shay and Brook meters and meters behind. I felt like I'd been turned to… ashes. He leapt over Nico's limp form, half-gone in the shadows of the leaves-

Nico's eyes snapped open.

Like a striking cat, one hand flashed out and yanked on Orpheus's ankle. The insane conductor shrieked, the sound sending the wind shredding through the trees, and disappeared into the undergrowth. Nico's other hand closed on Mνήμη and flashed up in the blink of an eye.

They crashed into the forest, out of sight. Orpheus gave another tormented scream. It cut off into a violent gurgle; the winds carried it to my ears, the sound of crimson caught in throat. Barely audible beneath it was were three words;

"Not my fault."

The sounds of torment ended abruptly.

We stared at the woods as Nico appeared from the shadows, right hand drenched in that glimmering shine of scarlet in sunlight. Mνήμη was wiped on his jeans and slid happily into its home.

He looked up at us with his lips crooked, his lacking equivalent of a genuine smile. "That was awesome. Score one for the demigods!" One defiant finger was thrust up at the brightening morning sky.

"That…" I stared, for a minute having no idea what I was seeing. If I'd been ready to collapse before, I was about to die of a heart attack right now. Then…

"YOU IDIOT!" the scream came, ripping itself from my throat in a painful spasm. I stormed over to where he stood. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

His face fell fast. "Uh, it was, um, a trick-"

"YOU WERE FAKING?!" I roared, halting before him. I felt like I'd been electrocuted and my hands shook, trembling with the surging tsunami of complete and utter rage. "YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?!"

"No, I, um…"

Unable to figure out what else to do, I slammed my fist into his face.

From behind me, Hunter burst into laughter. Loud, boisterous laughter. Chortling noises came from the tiger. Me, I finally fell to my knees, sinking to the grass beside him.

He'd fallen on his butt and was rubbing his cheek, scowling. "Well, don't I feel loved."

"You ought to," I snapped, exhausted. But nothing could stop me from squeezing him, pulling him close and crushing him with all the strength I had left. He felt strangely… solid, for a dead child. He was warm and smelled of that sweet taint of death with an edge of leather from his dark aviator's jacket. "You deserve worse after that bull! What the hell!? Didn't you hear me calling you? Why didn't you answer?"

"I thought you were playing along," he said, slightly bewildered.

"Maybe I would've, if you'd told me what was going on! Would a warning have killed you? 'Hey, don't panic! It's not ending like last time! I'm not really dead!' How was I supposed to know?!"

"I arranged to have a little songbird tell you, but it died," he mused. "Figured you'd just have to, I don't know, learn how to sense death on your own."

"Do you still think this is funny? I couldn't sense crap between the demons and the shadows! I thought…" My breath caught in my throat. "Oh, gods, Nico… Don't ever…"

Beneath my arm, I could feel his heart beating.

Great gods of Olympus, he was alive. That's all that mattered. My brother was alive.

I groaned. "Don't ever do that again. Please."

"Whatever you say," he whispered, sagging into me. It felt good. To feel him lean on me, surrender, depend on my support. Like he still needed me to some extent, even after all that'd come between us.

And to know I could count on him.

Reluctantly, I pulled back, studying those dark eyes for any signs of pain. But whatever wounds Laelaps had caused in reality must've been minor; it seemed I was in more pain than he. The sight of the dog locking its jaws around his throat made me shudder. "…What exactly did you do, anyway?"

"Dead?!" a panicked howl cut him off before he could answer. A writhing silver bundle of fur appeared between us. "Dead?! Dead?!"

"No! Get off, dog!" Nico scowled, shoving her away. "Geez!"

The sight was absurdly normal. As was Hunter storming up behind him. He cried out as her hand collided with his head.

"You," she growled, "are the second most idiotic person I have ever meant."

He looked up at her.

She sighed and shook her head. "Glad you're not dead, Ghost Boy."

Brook, back in her regular form but looking tired after shape-shifting, snorted and plopped down on the grass beside Moon. Not a word came from her; just a small, bashful smile.

Shay just shook her head. "You know, I'm not even surprised. No idea what you did, but not surprised."

"I want to know what you did," I pouted. "Seemed pretty real to me."

He shrugged. "It was Brook's idea, really. Talk to her."

We turned and gave her our collection of baffled stares, but confusion had begun to playfully tug on her face. She had no idea what he was talking about.

Nico sighed. "Laelaps was a hunting dog. Do you remember the night we spent watching Where the Red Fern Grows? We argued that night. You mentioned how a dog doesn't have to kill to 'catch' its prey – merely place it in a situation where it can't escape? That's what I did. I let myself get treed."

The thought hit me like a train. Treed. Trapped. Beyond escape.

"So by all means, you ought to be dead," I said flatly. "You escaped against the rules."

He shook his head. "No. I knew Hunter must have something in mind, because she's Hunter, but if it required no distraction or displacement of Laelaps, she'd have pulled it sooner. So I angered the dog. I wasn't sure it'd work, so I held it off as long as I could. But sure enough, it let me go of its own choice. I would've died if it wanted me to, no questions asked; apparently, the orbs were worthier targets. I had no say in the matter whatsoever. So no, I didn't escape."

"The dog spared you?" I asked grudgingly.

"I wouldn't say spared. More of got sick of."

Brook snorted and rolled her eyes. "Can't blame him."

My gaze fell to his side, where blood was still seeping through the aviator's jacket. With a tentative hand, I reached out and felt the tear in the fabric. My fingers shook.

"Don't," Nico said, gently pulling my hand away. "I'm fine; it's not deep."

"I hate you," I muttered, staring at the grass.

His hand landed on my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I wouldn't have… I mean… I thought you knew… Believe me, after the things I've been through, I wouldn't dream of trying it behind your back. The Patron's plans were delayed; that's all I dared ask for, anyway. And we're alive. That's a nice bonus."

"Noticed," I muttered, but I lifted my gaze to him again. Dark pools of obsidian, thoughts and memories deeper than the winged drakon's neck was tall.

A pang of guilt and grief hit me then. Suddenly I wasn't so sure he'd thank me for any of this; my relief, my tears, my giddy joy at seeing him breathing. Even my face was an unwanted blast from a painful history. He might care for me, despite how hard he'd tried not to, but there was no way I wasn't causing him harm.

It hurts. To cause someone close to you pain. Especially that kind, the kind you can't forget, the kind that had already left such an unbearable mark. I could see it in every aspect of him now. Why hadn't I suspected anything before?

"Are you alright?" he asked, standing and offering me his hand.

It seemed rude to take advantage of his help and pretend it didn't hurt him. But I was tired and shot through with relief and beginning to get high on a stressed, hysterical, detached kind of bliss that was carefully trying to mask my doubts. And my body still ached.

Something in his eyes, though, made the decision for me. I took his hand and stood, then turned away.

He pulled me back against him and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. His voice was naught but a shaking whisper. "No. Stay."

In his eyes I could still see the hurt-turned-pain, but I let it slide. He asked me to stay; stay I would. I was too tired to think too hard about it anymore. So I leaned into him.

He rewarded me by leaning back and giving me another small, crooked smile.

We were alive, we were here, and we could depend on one another. Right then I was too weary to ask for more.

"So does this mean I'm forgiven?" Nico asked, using his free hand to pull my bangs out of my face.

I scowled and swatted his hand away, because he knew very well how much I hated that. "Hm, let me think…. No. Not by a long shot, Dandelion."

His turn to grimace. "Dandelion. Great gods of Olympus, I hope that doesn't-"

"Stick, Dandelion?" Hunter teased, a shark's grin crossing her face. Anonymous glinted wickedly in the sunlight.

"Dand-dead-lion," Moon mused, rolling the sounds over on her tongue. "Moon liked."

"Hey, your smile isn't so creepy now," Shay approved, patting the wolf on the head. Then she turned to gaze across the clearing. "Well. What now?"

Silence.

"The dust," Hunter said. "Scatter it first. I'm not taking chances."

Shay and Brook nodded, running off without question to the battleground's ruins. My eyes followed them for a moment. Those brown curls were wonderful in the sunlight, I decided. Then my gaze landed on the glimmering fragments of the orbs where Orpheus had cast his incantations.

"Kronos, huh?" I sighed.

She shrugged. "He was my father and my mentor. You make the best of what you get." Golden eyes did not look at me; they stayed focused on the clearing, on the monster dust, on Brook, on the glimmering stones, on the orb fragments. Sunlight made her caramel hair almost glow.

Hunter's mind is a strange thing. I didn't ask; I just smiled and accepted it, because the details of it did not matter. She was back, and that was all I'd hoped for, and you can bet I was thrilled to have her.

At last, she sent a golden glance and white smile in our direction. "Come on, guys. Let's get this over with. We got a cheery little funeral home waiting for us in LA."

oOo

Nyx: *banging head on desk*

Nic: Easy there, Dobby.

Nyx: A whole week! Just one chapter all week! ONE! Geez! And Bree and Nico are supposed to be the characters I know best! That's my job!

Nic: That it is…

Nyx: *head hanging* I fear I've failed horribly with Rejects, even without the slow updates. Horribly. I'm not even going to ask for forgiveness this time.

Nic: It's not so bad… Especially for a filler piece…

Nyx: Anyway. I think we got one or two more chapters, then the epilogue, which is fairly long. Between this book and the next I will complete the cover (if it's still undone by then), reread the rough draft, make some final decisions, and then start. Dates and the next title will be released in the epilogue of Rejects. Shouldn't take more than a week or two, as I wrote in HUGE font back then, and I can send it to my phone and read it anywhere I wish. And I read fast. Oh, and fyi, we will not be posting ANY HoH spoilers, so don't worry about that.

Nic: Oooh, business mode.

Nyx: This is why I didn't want to delay any chapter, and why I freaked at the first one. Because I knew this would happen. I labored all Sabbath long, trying to get this out, but it DIDN'T WORK. AT ALL. ALL FREAKING SUNDAY. In fact, if you are an optimist, please be glad that I didn't post any of those versions. They sucked. Horribly. Other good news; of what I've done of the next book, it is WAAAAAAAAAY better. WAAAAAAAY better. I think Rebels is my best and will be hard to top, but Rejects should be quite easy to trump. Thanks for those who are still reading and didn't lose faith. We got three books to go, so you can bet we aren't giving up!

Oh. And this is serving as the morn's chapter. Do not expect one tomorrow. The reason I'm posting it now is because it's been withheld long enough.

Stay safe, and happy FRIDAY!