[contra spem spero]

-three weeks earlier-

Normally, Tessa wouldn't have chosen a clear, sunny day for a stealth operative, but the ends would justify the means, she supposed. She raised an eyebrow, surveying the endless azure sky for any sign of an impending cloud or storm on the horizon, but found nothing. Which was just as well, because she figured that any sudden downpour would trap Kaden, Mark, and Imogen inside and that was exactly what they were trying to avoid.

Shifting her weight, Tessa glanced down at the busy street below her. From her vantage point on the roof, she could see everything and everyone but no one could see her. Thanks to Amelie, the Mist kept her hidden from any and all mortals with a wandering eye. The last thing they needed was for someone to report a young woman on the roof across from Alderman Rainier's campaign headquarters and do them all in for good.

At the thought of the politician's name, Tessa flicked her gaze over to the banners hanging outside the adorned campaign hall, and the site of their stealth operative. Alderman Rainier's charming face grinned back at Tessa on the banner, but the slight breeze rippled and distorted the image, turning the young politician's handsome smile into a grotesque grin.

If only pictures could talk. Tessa had heard Alderman Rainier speak, seen him move, watched all of his press releases and interviews and debates, but this man was still an enigma. She'd hardly paid him any attention, but that was before Eli Allistairs called her with his name, a connection to Vinny Maxwell, and inherently, the connection to all their problems.

And so that was why she was standing on a roof across from his campaign headquarters, looking like a creeper and armed like one too.

A sudden flare of feedback in her ear ripped Tessa's focus from her thoughts, and she winced, pressing a finger to her earpiece. "What?"

"Sorry!" Mark's panicked reply came in crackly, but there nonetheless. "Ran into some interference."

"What do you mean interference?" Dale drawled, sarcasm in her voice. Tessa could imagine the daughter of Demeter rolling her eyes at Mark's footage from his hidden camera, her feet kicked up on the dashboard of Camp Half-Blood's van. "You're in an office building, not a tunnel."

"Do either of you have something meaningful to contribute?" Tessa asked, fighting her smile at her two best friends. "Our window's closing."

"That it is," Reese confirmed, and Tessa got closer to the edge of the roof, spotting the son of Apollo seated at an outdoor café a few doors down from the campaign headquarters. "Rainier's lunchtime conversation with yet another New York official is on the verge of ending."

"I'm in," Kaden chimed. "Five minutes, and we're out of here."

"I sure hope you mean 'in', like 'in Rainier's office', Gray, or else I'll be seriously pissed," Dale asserted.

The feed went silent, and Tessa hoped it was so Kaden could concentrate on doing his job. The task at hand was, in theory, simple: plant a bug on Rainier's computer, then get out. Kaden, disguised as a janitor, would take care of the actual planting of the bug. Mark, posing as a prospective intern, was getting a tour of the building from Rainier's chief of staff. And Imogen, thanks to her charmspeak, was keeping the security guards entranced long enough so they wouldn't look at their camera footage. Around the corner, Dale was parked in Camp Half-Blood's van; Reese was monitoring Alderman Rainier at the café, and Tessa was keeping an eye out above for anyone less than friendly.

So far, things were going to plan. But in the years that she'd been running missions like this, Tessa didn't try to push her luck. That was normally when some figure from Greek mythology materialized from the nearest alley and generally caused problems for her and her friends.

"—Rainier's moving, I repeat Rainier's moving." Reese's slightly alarmed voice came back on the comms system. "Kaden, are you out?"

Kaden didn't answer. A flare of panic went through Tessa's heart and she pressed her finger to her earpiece to activate it.

"Mark, status report."

Silence.

And Imogen's comms were down until she was away from her task.

Tessa cursed, digging out her phone. She pulled up the footage streaming to hers, Reese's, and Dale's phones from the others' hidden cameras, and rifled through it until she found what she needed. Kaden was moving, she could make out that much, but the camera was obscured by his janitorial jumpsuit and a mop in is cart. She flipped to Mark's, and only saw him weaving slowly through the campaign hall, no doubt still on the tour.

"Tessa, I need eyes on tall shady dude, headed towards the campaign hall." Dale's voice was level, but Tessa could detect an air of anxiety to it.

A flare of adrenaline ran through Tessa's veins and she peered down at the street below for a 'tall, shady dude'. She found someone that matched that profile, and he was headed right for the campaign hall.

"Run facial recognition," Tessa commanded.

"I can't," Dale protested. "It won't let me."

Tessa felt her stomach drop. When facial recognition didn't work on someone, it normally meant nothing good for them. But before Tessa could decide to bank on her parkour skills and leap from the building, the ghost guy got onto a nearby bus and disappeared. Tessa blew out a sigh of relief, but false alarm or not, she had enough to stress about as is.

"Rainier's gone. You guys have two minutes tops." Reese entered the conversation, and judging by the sound of voices, he was most likely tailing the alderman. "Get out of there."

"Kaden, Mark, Imogen, abort mission," Tessa began, pressing her comm. "I repeat, abort—"

"Abort what?" Came Kaden's smooth, somewhat cocky reply. Tessa looked around the front door of the campaign hall wildly, until her eyes slid over to the alley on its left side, and found Kaden Gray emerging from it, janitor disguise gone, a hand reaching up in a partial salute to her.

Tessa couldn't fight her smile of relief. Kaden was out, which meant Mark and Imogen would follow as soon as they could.

"Did you plant it?" Tessa asked.

Kaden scoffed. "'Did I plant it?' Tess, this is me we're talking about."

"Is he being cocky?" Reese asked. "Whoever's close enough to him, do me a favor and smack him for me."

"Pretty sure that's you, Hale," Mark chimed into the conversation, emerging from the front door of the campaign hall beneath Rainier's banner.

"Ah, but which Hale?" Imogen said smoothly, following shortly after. The daughter of Cupid met up with Mark, looking ever like Elle Woods in her business outfit.

Dale groaned into Tessa's ear. "I thought you both were done with that joke. It's been old since the wedding."

Everyone laughed, and Tessa felt something pull at her heartstrings. These moments were so miniscule, so ephemeral, hardly anything to get caught up on. But she knew that in a few weeks, maybe even a few days, everything they knew would change to darkness and violence and catastrophe. These small, carefree moments were what they were living for.

One by one, they all met up where the van was parked around the corner, and Tessa was glad to be back among her friends. They'd accomplished a mission; however minor it may be. This was something to celebrate. But then again, missions nowadays weren't much to celebrate or be honored with.

"Nice work, everybody," Dale congratulated as they piled into the van. "Gold medals, all of you."

"Thanks, Dale," Tessa rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Couldn't have done it without you."

Dale beamed at Tessa proudly, and both girls laughed. "No, but really, nice work. This might just bring up the spirits back at camp."

"Hard to lift the spirits when there's impending annihilation on the horizon, but—" Mark began, but Reese elbowed him, cutting him off.

Tessa rolled her eyes, glancing at Kaden. Her heart still did a little tap dance in her chest whenever she looked at him, even if it was a sad little tap dance at that. Kaden felt her looking at him, glanced up, and smiled.

For a moment, Tessa forgot what she was going to say. But she quickly recovered. "How long will the bug work for?"

Kaden glanced up, no doubt crunching numbers in his head at lightning speed, the way he normally did. "A few weeks? But hopefully, we'll have the information we need by then."

"What kind of information is this, exactly?" Imogen queried, leaning forward from where she sat. "What exactly did Eli tell you, Tessa?"

Tessa shrugged. "He just told me to keep an eye on him because he might have some connection to Vinny and Menoetious."

"And Typhon," Reese drew an arm around his wife—man, was that still weird to Tessa—and pulled her close. "Any update on him?"

"Can we not mention the giant storm monster of death on such a beautiful day?" Dale interrupted from the driver's seat, firing up the engine. "Thank you."

As much as it made Tessa bristle, she couldn't argue with Dale. Typhon was such a tricky subject, especially now that he'd been partly awakened. Based on what they knew from Liam's flash-drive, if even one of the power sources was activated, Typhon could muster the strength the awaken. And as of a month ago, that was the case.

No one was sure when the other shoe would drop, when the horizon would darken with a monster like a wall of thunder, lightning, and devastation. In fact, the perfect summer day they were witnessing then could have been an omen of the terrible days to come, but Tessa tried to ignore it. They all did. But while they tried, it was their duty to prevent it from happening.

"Heads up, act natural," Mark said quickly. "Something political this way comes."

Tessa glanced up, her vision piercing out the windshield. As Dale drove down the street, she watched as Alderman Rainer, in the flesh, headed back to his campaign headquarters. He seemed amicable enough, but his sunny disposition and dapper clothing only added to the enigma for Tessa. He nodded and smiled in greeting to people on the street, and just as his foot landed on the first step leading up to the door, he froze.

And just as Dale continued to drive by, Tessa saw Alderman Rainier turn around, look up with cold interest at the point where Tessa had been standing just minutes ago.

~~

Camp Half-Blood was dark. And it had been for weeks. Even though it was the summer session, and the cabins and fields and forges should have been bustling with demigods from all over the country and the world, the Greek training ground was silent, sullen, cold.

The impending war had dwindled their numbers without even beginning. Camp Half-Blood used to hold roughly two hundred campers around the time of the General's battles, but ever since then, that number dropped. Some died in the Masked Battle against Aether, some caught scent of war coming again and went to stay with their parents. Others went on missions and returned as silk shrouds. Others didn't return at all.

The Camp Half-Blood of Tessa's youth, while still there in structure, was gone. Satyrs and nymphs didn't play in the forest and the strawberry fields anymore; they were designated to rally their brethren and find as many new half-blood recruits as possible. Nightly sing-a-longs, bonfires, and games of Capture the Flag were halted until further notice; all demigods were on call for missions, and when they weren't on one, they were mobilizing and training for war.

So when Tessa and her friends returned from their mission, they weren't met with smiles and greetings and congratulations. Instead, they were met with muted acknowledgements, tired eyes, weary stances, and even whispers of fear.

Chiron was waiting for them at the Big House. The centaur looked up as the group approached, and Tessa was hit with the concern in his old, old eyes.

"How was it?" He asked, his voice gravelly.

"A success," Kaden reported. "We'll have eyes on Rainier for three weeks, maybe four."

Chiron nodded. "Good, that's good. The Gods know we could use a success given the state of things." He cleared his throat. "If you'll all follow me, we can discuss the details of what you discovered."

They all made a move for the door, but Chiron halted Tessa in her tracks. "Actually, Tessa, Flynn and Amelie would like to see you in the infirmary, if you could."

Tessa blinked, her heart falling to her stomach. She knew exactly why Flynn and Amelie had summoned her. She feigned a smile and a nod, then turned on her heel, marching for the infirmary.

Tessa knew the walk to the private room of the infirmary like the back of her hand by now. She'd been called there so many times, had watched progress, had given statements, had muffled her sobs and forced herself to look away. It took something out of her to see what she did, so as she walked through the pristine infirmary halls to the last room on the right side, she tried to mentally prepare.

She still wasn't ready though.

On the cot in the center of the room, Chase Ferguson, the son of Nike, lay unconscious and unresponsive for the second month in a row. Most of the soot and dirt had been washed from his skin, and some of the bruises had disappeared from his neck and face. His dark hair was still a mess, and even though his eyes had been shut from when Tessa had watched them roll back into his head, she knew that the blue irises would be ringed with bloodshot red.

"Hey," Flynn greeted, looking up from his clipboard. Reese's twin brother tried for a soft smile, but what good was a smile when there was practically a corpse a few feet away?

Tessa nodded in greeting, blowing out a shaky breath. "How is he?"

Flynn pressed his lips together, glancing at Chase. Even the slightest look took a toll on Flynn, Tessa could see as much. "Not much better."

"Not even a little?" Tessa bit her lip, her heart pounding.

Flynn shook his head. "I'm afraid not. If we didn't keep filtering godly food and medicine into his bloodstream, he'd probably be dead." He averted his blue eyes back to Tessa. "Can you tell me again exactly what happened that day?"

Tessa took a deep breath, the memory coming to the forefront of her mind. She'd left the victory celebration on Fireworks Beach, needing the night alone, when Chase Ferguson had stumbled out of the woods to the foot of her cabin. He'd looked like he'd been through hell and back, and had enough energy to utter the word 'help' before passing out.

So, Tessa recounted it for what felt like the thousandth time to Flynn, who. for the thousandth time, jotted down notes, and ran through possible suggestions, and Tessa listened.

"The last time I saw a coma this powerful, it was yours," Flynn remarked, his eyes locked on Chase's static figure. "But the Arai induced yours."

"Do you think they could have induced his?" Tessa asked, remembering the agony she'd felt while being trapped inside the Arai's mental curses.

Flynn made a face. "It's a possibility, but his mental scans don't add up with yours. His injuries are more external."

Tessa was silent, watching over Chase for a moment. "Who else knows about him?"

"Only those that need to," Flynn said quietly. "You, me, Reese, Kaden, Dale, Mark, Chiron."

Tessa's eyebrows went up at the absence of Imogen from that list, who'd become a member of sorts into their iconic friendship. "You expect to keep this from your sister-in-law?"

"I don't expect to," Flynn said stoically. "I will."

Tessa opened her mouth to counter him, but her phone buzzed in her pocket. She dug it out and saw the blazing notification on the glowing screen: YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE. WHAT ARE YOU DOING. GO.

Tessa sighed, stuffing her phone back into her pocket. "I gotta go. Text me with any updates."

Flynn nodded, and Tessa took that as her cue to exit. She ran from the infirmary to the canoe lake, needing as fast a mode of transport into the city as possible. Without so much as a second thought, she stepped into the waves, walking until she was fully underwater, without so much as a drop on her.

Using all the energy she could muster, Tessa manipulated the water and carried herself until she was no longer in the canoe lake at Camp Half-Blood, but the Reservoir in Central Park. It was a trick of hers that she rarely ever used, but came in handy when she needed to be somewhere quick.

She didn't think much of walking out into the park like nothing happened; after all, New Yorkers were used to weird things like that. Tessa hailed a cab to take her to her new apartment, and after changing from her quest clothes to her work clothes, hailed another one to her workplace.

Tessa sighed, getting out of the cab and looking up at the golden marquee above the door: The New York Media Herald. For as good pay that her job gave her as an investigative journalist, Tessa sure did prefer fighting monsters than going to work. But with a deep breath of courage, Tessa marched through the doors.

~~

As much as she hated the hours she imposed upon herself, Tessa didn't mind her field of work. It involved a lot of writing, a lot of investigating, and a lot of risky experiences, but given her demigod status, two of those three things didn't give her much trouble. The only thing that did? The hours.

With the war on the horizon, Tessa was spending more and more time at Camp Half-Blood, going on missions or running camp activities. But she still needed to work, so when she did go on, it was until nightfall. She'd almost always be the last person in the office, writing until her eyes bled, but Tessa told herself that it came with the territory, scarfed down another cup of coffee, and kept at it.

Only today, she couldn't. Her boss had assigned her some menial, tedious task that would no doubt take up her free time this weekend when it was finished killing her evening. Tessa dragged a hand through her dark hair as she flipped to the next page, her eyes going out of focus.

"Tessa?"

Tessa's eyes snapped open and she looked up from her papers. Adam Bennet was smiling down at her sheepishly, as if he was sorry for interrupting her.

"Oh, Adam, hey," Tessa sat up, clearing her throat. "What's up?"

"Well, first, I'm sorry for interrupting you," He nodded to her work. "But I take it that we won't be able to catch that movie tonight, huh?"

Tessa blinked, no memory of said movie coming to mind. But when she looked into Adam's charming face and she started to remember, she shut her eyes in a wince. "I'm so sorry. This work is eating me alive."

Adam laughed. "It's okay, Tessa, I understand. When you're free, okay?"

How about if I'm still alive?

"Sure," Tessa smiled, and it was a genuine smile. Adam was nice, handsome, and funny. He was the one thing about coming to work that didn't make Tessa want to leap out the nearest window.

But his smile reminded her too much of Kaden's, his easygoing disposition too reminiscent of the son of Venus'. And so she kept shying away.

"Good night, Tessa," Adam nodded to her and headed to the elevator.

"Night," Tessa spoke, but her voice was hardly above a whisper. And with that, she was the last one in the office. Again.

"Way to go, Brennan—" Tessa began muttering to herself, but a sudden pop-up on her computer screen cut her off mid-sentence.

As a way to keep them up to date, Eli had administered programs into every device the demigods owned—laptops, phones, tablets—so wherever they were, they could see what was going on. One feature was security footage of wherever the demigod was currently stationed.

Tessa wouldn't have thought much of it, if she wasn't watching footage of a man in dark-clothing and an obscured face trudge through the front doors of the office building. His stature, his clothing, everything about him seemed shady—and then it hit her.

This was the same man from earlier, the one that Dale couldn't recognize.

Panic began to well up in Tessa's heart, but she forced herself to keep cool. If he was some criminal, she'd call the cops. If he was someone from her world, she'd fight her way out of it.

But something didn't feel right.

Tessa got up from her desk, her heart pounding, and hurried to a nearby broom closet. It was a terrible place to hide, but at least she had Tempest if things went south. Just as Tessa shut the door of the closet behind her, she heard footsteps echo up the staircase leading to her floor.

Tessa waited it out, thanking her lucky star for such keen hearing. She waited for the man to pass by the door, and judging by his gait, he knew where he was headed. Judging by the echo, he was somewhere near her desk. Was he looking for her?

Biting her lip, Tessa made a risky decision. She opened the door and poked her head out of it.

The man's back was turned to her, but he was indeed standing at her desk. He dug something out of his pocket and set it right on top of her work, like she wouldn't miss it.

And then he turned around.

Tessa ducked back into the closet, her heart racing. She heard him walk closer, closer, he was no doubt going to open the door and kill her or—the man kept walking.

In confusion, Tessa pulled up her phone, watching the security footage. She watched as he left her floor, left the building, and walked down the street like it was no big deal. What in the world...?

Tessa emerged from the closet, spooked to say the least. She stormed over to her desk and her turquoise gaze fell upon the thing the man had set down on her desk—a flash drive.

Tessa bit back a groan. She'd had enough of flash-drives lately. But clearly, if she wanted her sanity to be at peace, she needed to see what was on it. What did this guy want? So she plugged it into her computer, but it wouldn't let her in.

Well, great, Tessa thought to herself. Just great.

It was practically midnight, she wasn't going to just stay here where that guy knew she'd be. But who was to say he wasn't waiting for her at her apartment? Watching her every movement?

Tessa needed a way into this flash-drive, and there was only one person close enough to her now that could help her. And it was the one person that would help, yes, but also the one person she'd hardly had a moment alone with since that day on the beach.

She pulled out her phone, found his name, and called his number. One ring, two rings—"Hello?"

"Kaden," Tessa said breathlessly. "Are you home?"