[lex talionis]

Mark had never seen a darker night sky upon Camp Half-Blood in all his years, but he supposed that anything lighter would have been an insult. As he stood amid the crowd of demigods all shrouded in black, staring up at the unlit stack of wood, he noted how there were no stars and no moon to illuminate the night. There were no crickets chirping in the grass, no monsters rumbling in the forest. Camp Half-Blood was as silent as death, honoring those who had been claimed by it.

The debriefing of the battle had been exactly that—brief—but Mark had gathered the important bits. It was hard to avoid them when their effects were looming right before his face, written on those of the demigods around him. The battle had been bloody, but there had been only one casualty—Sierra Hanson, daughter of Apollo.

Mark didn't know Sierra very well, but knew that she was a good hero. Aside from Reese, she was Camp's greatest archer. She'd helped Mark's friends rescue him and the other turned demigods from the Regiment all those years ago, and yet even with her sheer will and stubborn attitude, had succumbed to death.

Sierra's shroud was solid gold, as was typical for children of Apollo. In the firelight, the material seemed to flicker like magma, on the verge of erupting. The members of Cabin Seven fanned out around the pyre, all wearing matching expressions of sorrow and rage. Reese, Sierra's shroud in his arms, approached the pyre, his face a stony mask. He set Sierra's shroud atop the firewood and backed away, addressing the crowd.

"Sierra Hanson had been at camp longer than most of us," Reese's voice echoed through the silent valley. "She had a quick wit, sharp skills, and zero tolerance for the forces that try to claim our lives the way they claimed hers. She did not give her life. Her life was taken from her."

The crowd began to murmur, whispering blessings for Sierra's soul and curses to those that took it. The flames of the fire began to grow, the ends a vibrant red.

"Menoetious and his forces think that they can defeat us. I think different. I think that they made a big mistake by attacking us, by murdering Sierra as if it were a move on their chessboard. I think that they'll pay for what they've done."

The whispers of the crowd grew like a breeze turning into a gale. The fire turned scarlet, embers sparking and flames spitting from the pit.

"In less than two weeks, war will be upon us," Reese's blue eyes seemed to blaze in the darkness with the force of his words. "And then, we'll make them pay for everyone that they've taken from us. Who's with me?"

The overwhelming outcries of revenge shattered the spell of silence upon Camp Half-Blood, making each demigod idle no more. Mark watched in astonishment as Sierra's fire grew taller and taller, until it became a wall of scarlet flame because of the Greeks' bloodlust.

Upon sight of the red fire, a dizzy feeling washed over Mark, and suddenly, he wasn't standing at Sierra's funeral. He was standing on the streets of New York City, surrounded by bloodied corpses. Overturned cars strewn upon the abandoned streets made a grotesque obstacle course among the shattered glass and debris. The sky was as red as blood, with slate gray clouds and pillars of obsidian smoke reaching up to the heavens. And in Mark's hand was his cursed katana, blood dripping from the tip—

"Mark?"

Feeling like he'd just woken up from a nightmare, Mark whirled around to face Dale, her golden eyes glittering in the darkness. She watched him with concern, knitting her eyebrows together.

"What's wrong?" Dale asked.

Mark's heart was racing in his chest, but with a ragged breath, he forced it to quell. He took a quick glance around, noting how the funeral seemed to be over, and demigods filed back to their cabins for the night.

"Nothing," Mark avoided Dale's interrogative stare, clearing his throat. "Just...lost in thought."

Dale didn't appear convinced when Mark looked back to her, but she must have filed it away as something to ask him about later. She glanced over her shoulder towards the Big House in the distance, nothing but a dark blob in the darkness.

"Come on," Dale brushed past Mark towards the fire.

"Why, what's up?" Mark asked, whirling around, and jogging towards her. Dale proceeded to ignore him until she'd reached Reese, still donning his stony expression.

"We've got a visitor," Dale glanced between Reese and Mark. "Where're Tessa and Kaden?"

Once upon a time ago, Mark would have made a smart comment about where Tessa and Kaden were, but since that ship had sunk a while ago, he deemed it best to keep his mouth shut.

"We're right here," Kaden's voice sounded and Mark glanced over his shoulder to see the son of Venus walking towards them, Tessa in his wake. "What's going on?"

"Well," Dale blew out a sigh, running a hand through her long hair. "What isn't going on would be a better question."

"Dale," Tessa pinned the daughter of Demeter with a beseeching look. "Out with it."

"Fine, fine," Dale threw her hands up in surrender. "Eli's here. He wants to talk to us, and he doesn't look happy."

~~

To say that they ran to the Big House would have been an understatement.

After Dale's announcement, Mark, Reese, Tessa, and Kaden proceeded to sprint as fast as they could to the Big House in the distance, where a certain son of Ahklys was waiting. Their footsteps were like thunder as they bounded up the porch steps and skidded into the living room.

Eli Allistairs was leaning with one arm against the mantle of the fireplace, and when he turned around, Mark wondered if he was seeing his ghost instead. Amid the shadows of the living room, Eli's platinum hair, electric blue eyes, and pale complexion contrasted like a bolt of lightning, pinning them with its force. His face, similar to Reese's, was set like stone. Every muscle in his body seemed to be tensed, like he was waiting for someone to strike.

"Well," Eli raised his arms from his sides. "Here I am. I take it you all have had some questions you've been meaning to ask me."

Kaden, ever the diplomat, stepped forward, his authority filling the room. "Eli, it's good to see you."

"Wish I could say the same," Eli smiled wryly. He slouched into the nearest arm chair, eyeing each of the demigods before him.

Tessa folded her arms across her chest, narrowing her turquoise eyes as the son of Ahklys. "Eli, always a pleasure, I'm sure."

"Always," Eli nodded to her. "Getting anywhere with that info I gave you?"

Tessa glanced to her friends and back before meeting Eli's gaze. "It's a work in progress. But I'm more interested in this info you have yet to give us."

"Such as?" Eli asked.

Mark perched himself on the armchair of the sofa, meeting Eli's cynical gaze head on. Sure, Eli had known tragedy; his best friend had died right before his eyes. But this was war. And more of their friends would be dying if he didn't fess up.

"What happened on your quest?" Mark surprised himself with the assertion in his voice, but didn't let it show. "It's been long enough, Eli. We need to know the details if we want to understand the bigger picture."

Something flickered behind Eli's eyes, and for a second, just a second, Mark could see the visage of the Eli he once knew: kind, witty, helpful. But just like that, it was gone.

"I already told you," Eli's voice was scarily soft, like he was trying not to cry. "Kiara fell. Vinny's activation of the power source caused a tremor, and she fell from the cliffside."

"We know how Kiara died, Eli," Reese countered. "We want to know why."

Eli knit his eyebrows together. "Why?"

Reese nodded.

Eli scoffed, a wry smile on his face. "Because Vinny's an asshole, that's why."

"Not what we mean," Kaden sat down on Mark's sofa, settling himself the way he must have when he sat atop a praetorian throne. "We have reason to believe that Kiara was involved with some...darker things before she died. Can you tell us if you know anything about that?"

Eli pressed his lips into a thin line, and Mark knew that he was debating whether or not it was worth it to lie. What good was a dead girl's secret? If they were even secrets.

"Kiara was...a mercenary of sorts. After she recovered from being on the other side, she ran missions, recovered objects, kept eyes on the Titans and other enemies of the gods." Eli began, fixing his gaze on the ground. "I hardly heard from her until right before the quest. But while we were gone, we were chased by the Mania."

"The Mania?" Dale echoed, surprise on her face. "What did Kiara do to warrant that?"

"That's what I'd thought, too," Eli conceded, but cleared his throat, continuing. "It wasn't until that last day of the quest when Kiara told me how she'd been in talks with some other mercenary, trading intel back and forth to avoid Aether and the Masks."

Mark flicked his gaze over to Tessa, noting how she tensed upon the mention of Aether. She hadn't exactly had time or reason to mourn Luke's death, but it still loomed over her, like a storm about to break.

"Turns out that some of her intel jeopardized a mission of yours," Eli fiddled with the ends of his sleeves nervously. "Cost a demigod his life as he infiltrated the Masks."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop a good twenty degrees. Mark's eyes widened as he looked around the room, and watched as his friends did the same.

"Chase Ferguson?" Reese insisted.

Eli shook his head. "I didn't know his name, but yeah, sure. Kiara was forced to watch as some other guy tortured the kid to the brink of death."

"Who was the guy?" Tessa and Kaden asked in unison, glancing at one another before focusing on Eli.

"I don't know and neither did Kiara," Eli sucked in a breath, "I think she said he was well-dressed, good-looking, that sort of thing. Like a businessman."

The light-bulb went off in Mark's head and his head snapped up.

"Or a politician." He said.

Kaden's green eyes widened as he looked to Mark. "That could be the evidence we need."

"Except it's not evidence," Dale rebuffed. "A shaky video on a flash-drive that doesn't actually show Rainier's face can't incriminate him."

"No, but substantial evidence can," Reese interrupted, folding his arms across his chest. "If we catch him doing something at the gala, paired with this and anything we might get from Kaden's bug—"

"—Then we can convict the crook before he gets a chance to hurt anyone else." Mark finished.

"Convict him, and then what?" Tessa asked, her leg bouncing up and down as the adrenaline no doubt ran through her veins. "If we're right about Rainier being Menoetious, then a prison cell and Miranda Rights aren't exactly going to do much. He still has Project Maelstrom. He still has Typhon."

"But he'd be watched," Kaden snagged her attention. "He wouldn't be able to make a move without everyone knowing."

"Not to rain on everyone's parade," Eli's sharp voice interrupted the scheming of the five demigods. "But this is a lot riding on one assumption."

"Your assumption, was it not?" Reese rebuffed, his eyebrows arched.

Eli clamped his lips shut for a moment, fixing Reese with a cold stare. "Look, all I'm saying is—"

However, they wouldn't get a chance to hear what Eli had to say, because the sound of rapid footsteps cut his voice off. Mark turned to face Amelie Winters sprinting into the living room, magic sparking around her the way it normally did when she was agitated.

"Amelie, what's—" Tessa got to her feet in bewilderment, but the daughter of Hecate cut her off.

"Who knows where Alex and Kaya are?" Amelie asked. When no one answered her in less than a second, she snapped, "Today!"

"I think they're with Sophia overlooking defense strategies in the Library," Dale managed, concern in her golden irises. "What's wrong?"

"Keep them busy, please," Amelie asked, and with a confused nod, Dale darted from the living room.

"Amelie, what's wrong?" Reese asked his sister-in-law.

Amelie cast a tentative look at Eli in the corner, and faltered. "Code Alpha in the infirmary."

The codeword snapped Mark to his feet, and it did everyone else as well. Code Alpha was what they'd been waiting to hear for weeks now, but with Alex and Kaya and a camp full of oblivious demigods, it was a message they needed to keep secret.

Because Code Alpha meant that Chase Ferguson had woken up at last.