[mens rea]

San Francisco was foggy the next morning, with slate gray clouds weaving through the city streets like the cars trying to maneuver through it. Spring was trapped beyond the clouds, casting the day in shadows and rain and general gloom, but Eli didn't mind. In fact, as he stirred his coffee—black, no cream, three sugars—in the café, he deemed the weather rather fitting for the task at hand. It was like the gods were offering them concealment as they embarked on their quest.

Kiara, on the other hand, didn't agree.

The daughter of Asteria groaned, fidgeting in the red leather booth seat she was sprawled in. "Are they here yet?"

Eli tore his gaze from CNN—apparently New York City was beginning its mayoral election, and some charming alderman was projected to win—to glance at Kiara, looking like she was about to spontaneously combust. "Patience is a virtue."

Kiara smiled sarcastically and raised a finger that Eli arched his eyebrows too over his cup of coffee. The daughter of Asteria scoffed and craned her neck to look out over the window. "I don't see why they couldn't just meet us at camp."

"This is more efficient," Eli shrugged as he reached over the table, and grabbed one of Kiara's fries. "Besides, their locations are more...tricky to get out of."

Kiara didn't look convinced, but she snatched the fry out of Eli's fingers and shoved it in her mouth. Eli merely grabbed another one in her attempt, and managed to elicit a small smile out of the spy before him.

The sound of the café door opening caught Eli's attention, and he looked up to see the other half of their questing group walk towards them. Liam Caspar and Ariel Rathaway were enigmas to Eli, but they shared a special sort of unspoken connection. All four were children of minor gods or Titans, all four had found themselves working alongside the enemy, and all four had powers unbeknownst to their comrades.

"Hope we're not late to the party," Liam called, his English accent adding to his appeal. The son of Despoina moved the way a cat would, with absolute certainty and grace, but still a little sulky. He was a mystery in every sense of the word.

"The world hasn't burst into flames so you're good," Kiara drawled, her signature smirk stretching onto her lips. Her gaze fell upon Ariel, and her smirk deepened. "Have you been keeping an eye on him, Rathaway?"

Ariel rolled her eyes, lowering her hood from her caramel curls. "Sure, let's say that." She laughed and averted her gaze to Eli, smiling in recognition. "Good to see you, Eli."

"Likewise," Eli nodded to the tall girl. Ariel was another strange juxtaposition of the universe. For one, she was beautiful and tall, but quite introverted. What most people failed to see beneath the stammering and the blushing was the power of Hyperion, the Titan of Light. Eli had been one of them.

"So what's the plan?" Liam scanned one of the menus propped up on the table, casting his violet gaze over the top of it.

Eli cleared his throat, shifting his weight as he sat. "First stop on this little trip of ours is Mount St. Helens. We'll start there and work our way east."

"Do we have a deadline?" Ariel quirked an eyebrow, picking at the chipped nail polish on her fingers.

"No, but that's not a good thing," Kiara explained from where she was slouched on the opposite seat. "We've gotta span the country and disable these power sources before Menoetious can awaken Typhon for good."

Liam fixed his night-sky gaze on Eli, and the son of Ahklys resisted the urge to fidget under the pressure of Liam's stare. "The flash-drive."

Eli nodded curtly. "Finally came in handy."

Liam drew out a long exhale. "That's good. Frankly, I just wanted it out of my hands so I'm glad there was actually something useful on it."

"Liam," Ariel said flatly. The daughter of Hyperion shook her head to herself before looking between Eli and Kiara. "When do we leave?"

"Whenever you both are ready," Eli shrugged. "Kiara can get us there whenever."

Liam grinned. "Well, if that's the case," He continued to glance at the menu. "I think I'll have a panini. What about you lot?"

~

Their brunch was short-lived. Halfway through another round of fries, Kiara had frozen, her gaze fixed on some point outside.

"Kiara?" Eli asked, drawing his eyebrows together. "You good?"

A fry fell from Kiara's mouth. She blinked and like a cat prepared to bolt, she started climbing over Liam to get out of the booth. "We need to leave."

Panic began to swell in the pit of Eli's stomach. He glanced from Liam to Ariel to Kiara, who looked like she'd just seen a ghost. "Kiara, what's—"

"Come on!" Kiara insisted. "We need to get out of here."

"Why?" Ariel asked, but slid out of the booth.

Kiara released a shaky breath, starting for the door. Ariel ran after her. Eli and Liam hurried after the girls, with the latter shoving the remains of his panini in his mouth as he went. They emerged into the foggy street, and followed Kiara as she took a hard right and speed-walked down the sidewalks.

"We're being followed," Kiara said, her voice low.

Eli blinked, preparing to turn around but Kiara screeched, "Don't look now!"

Eli whipped back around. "Then tell us!"

Kiara huffed a breath, brushing the flyaway strands of her hair out of her face. "Let's just say that on one of my past missions, I managed to anger some particular spirits."

"Which spirits?" Liam asked, swallowing his panini.

They reached a crosswalk just as the timer ran out. Kiara stamped her foot in frustration, continuing to look behind them anxiously. "Mania."

"What?!" Ariel and Liam exclaimed in unison, and Kiara cringed, shushing them.

"Sorry, who are these Mania people?" Eli asked in a hushed voice.

"The Mania are spirits of insanity," Liam explained, now joining Kiara in the scoping out of the city streets. "If they're following us, then we're in serious trouble."

"Three guesses as to who sicced them on us," Ariel grumbled.

Eli watched Kiara in partial shock and disbelief. Suddenly, she'd become as much of a mystery as Liam. She met his gaze with her starry eyes, and then her eyes locked on something just behind Eli.

"Look out!" Kiara exclaimed, and Eli had enough sense to duck before the daughter of Asteria launched a throwing knife towards whatever was behind him.

Eli whirled around to find a disheveled girl that looked like she'd just crawled out of her grave. Her eyes were solid red, and she went in and out of focus like she was a ghost. The girl held up a hand, stopping Kiara's knife as it flew towards her.

"Kiara Fairwolf," The spirit said in a chilling voice. "You have a debt to pay."

"Fresh out of those, sorry!" Kiara gave a shrug like 'whaddyagonnado' before doing the last thing that Eli would have expected from even someone as impulsive as her: she ran into ongoing traffic.

"Kiara!" Eli exclaimed and sprinted after her. Liam and Ariel in his wake, they ran away from the Mania at the crosswalk and into traffic after Kiara, who apparently had done this before. The daughter of Asteria managed to weave through speeding cars without getting hit, which either said a lot about Kiara's skills or those of San Francisco's drivers.

Eli backed away from a car that slammed the brakes at the right time, managing an apology as he looked back the way they'd come. The Mania was still standing there, but her two sisters had joined her now. A truck raced past and then they were gone.

"Eli, come on!" Liam insisted, grabbing onto the son of Ahklys' arm and yanking him out of the street. They'd reached the opposite side, and were sprinting off in the direction that Kiara had bolted.

"The Mania are gone," Eli wheezed as they ran.

"No, they're not," Ariel rebuffed. "They're after Kiara. They'll try to ambush her. We need to catch up with her and get out of here."

"If the Mania are after us, we need to give ourselves some sustainable distance before we disappear," Liam countered. "Or else they'll still be able to follow us, no matter where we go."

Eli cursed under his breath as they ran, searching the streets for Kiara. "If I wanted my life to be a horror movie, I'd have stayed in Vegas."

They continued running to the point where Eli was beginning to get winded, but thankfully, Kiara had never been much of an athlete either. The daughter of Asteria leapt out at them as they took a shortcut through an alley, looking like a spooked cat.

"Kiara," Liam wheezed. "We need to go."

Kiara nodded, looking both ways. "You three need to cover me."

Eli, Liam, and Ariel dispersed themselves around Kiara, looking over their shoulders. Meanwhile, Kiara drew out a long necklace from underneath her shirt, fiddling with the vial at the end of it. Something bright and powdery was inside of the vial, and with a quick command from Kiara, the vial began to glow.

"What's that?" Eli asked in wonder as light washed over him.

"A gift from my mother," Kiara said hurriedly, wielding the vial like it was a sparkler or one of those Disney Channel wands. "It'll help open a star portal."

"Star portal?" Ariel echoed.

"Just shush and trust me," Kiara waved a hand to quiet everyone, but Eli noticed that she was shaking. Whatever these Mania were after Kiara for, it must have been bad.

Then, the temperature in the alley dropped. Eli fumbled for his sword, Azrael, which he'd stowed away in its dormant form—another flashdrive. He cursed as he patted himself down, realizing he must have stuffed it in his backpack, then whirled around to find himself face to face with a Mania.

"Eli Allistairs," The spirit hissed. "Son of misery, dawn of strife. Step away."

Eli managed to shake away his petrification. "Not a chance, lady. Don't you have a well to crawl back into?"

A golden arrow fired past his face, flying through the Mania's form. The spirit hissed, and her two sisters branched out for Liam and Ariel, who had shot the arrow to begin with.

"Let us have the girl," The Mania's form shimmered, and Eli took a step away from her. It? He wasn't sure. "She must pay her blood debt."

A sound like a firework erupted behind Eli, and he hoped that it was Kiara's star portal. They couldn't fight these Mania, not when they were practically ghosts. Their weapons would sail straight through them.

"Eli, let's go!" Liam roared, and a flashbang burned into Eli's vision. He blinked the light out of his eyes as someone grabbed his hand and yanked him sideways, and the next thing he knew he was falling, falling, falling through the open air and time and space.

Up was down, right was left, space filled the seas and waves crashed in a sky full of stars and then just like that, Eli landed with a gasp.

San Francisco was gone, the alley and the Mania long behind them. They were in a forest now, and judging by the air quality, somewhere in the mountains as well. Birds chirped nearby, and a squirrel darted out before Eli, cocked its head at him, then scampered up a tree.

"Everyone all right?" Kiara stepped into view, looking shaken. "Eli?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Eli muttered, getting to his feet. "That was...something else."

Kiara tucked her necklace back behind her shirt, exhaling. "Yeah." She said, glancing at Ariel and Liam. "You both okay?'

"I didn't get any complimentary drinks on that flight of yours, but I'm sure I'll live," Liam drawled, and Ariel elbowed him, but the son of Despoina only grinned at her.

"We should get moving," Kiara turned on her heel and started for the horizon.

"Whatever happened to no deadline?" Eli tried for a joking tone.

"That did," Kiara pointed in the distance. Eli followed her gaze to find Mount St. Helens in the distance, normally a sleeping giant, sending up slight plumes of smoke into an encroaching storm. The sky above Eli and his companions was a bright blue, but like ink in water, the darkening clouds were swirling through the air. And the volcano was at the center of the vortex, the calm in the eye of the storm.

"Think that's a good sign?" Ariel bit her lip.

Eli cast one more glance at the stormy mountainside. "I think we're not lucky enough for it to be."