THE SKY EXPLODED INTO A THOUSAND STARS as Alex lay winded on the grey concrete. The humid September air of Orlando, Florida surrounded every inch of him as he tried to make sense of what happened. So much had happened.

They'd gone into the Utilidors. He'd tried to clear his mind of images of the Labyrinth. They'd followed his intuition straight into a trap.

Alex groaned. He rolled over onto his stomach. Using his arms as leverage, he pushed himself up off the ground, fighting the crowds and a screaming toddler as he moved to a lamp post.

Kitty had taken over after that. She must've seen something in her dreams, something that told her where the Lyre would be. Or maybe she'd gotten lucky. Either way, they'd found it. He'd had to listen to Julien brag about his accomplishments like an immature school child. But Kitty had gotten it. She'd grabbed the Lyre.

He looked around. Alex tried to catch a glimpse of the girls through the masses. But there were so many bodies. Thousands and thousands of people stuffed themselves into Main Street, USA. He couldn't see the ground: just the fireworks, Cinderella's castle, and endless bodies.

A screech split the night. Alex flinched on instinct. He knew that scream. That was a harpy. He looked up at the sky, tuning out the Disney music. No one else noticed. None of the humans. But several winged figures circled up above.

"Alex!" Ophelia said.

He turned right. She pushed herself through the throngs, angering a newlywed couple. Not a scratch or blemish could be seen on her beautiful fair face

"Where's Kitty?" he said.

Ophelia shook her head. "I don't know. I don't know."

Fear knotted in his chest. They needed her. She had the Lyre. Without her, without it, they'd suffered this gods forsaken quest for nothing.

More fireworks caused another great cheer from the crowd. Alex scanned the faceless mass, trying to catch some glimpse of blue hair or shining golden metal. She had to be there somewhere.

An explosion rocked the ground. Alex paused. The entire crowd of Magic Kingdom guests stopped clapping. The rumbling continued until behind the castle, a great ball of fiery illuminated the sky, turning it from black to grey.

He slowed his breathing. Taking Vindication from his wrist, he summoned a bow. The flood of crowds streamed towards the exit, screaming and crying. What they saw, Alex couldn't guess. But he saw seven harpies silhouetted against the flames.

"Find Kitty," Alex said to Ophelia.

He didn't see if she followed his orders. He focused on the celestial bronze arrow in his hand. Lining up the shot, he waited until he could see the whites of the ugly hag's eyes. Then he let it fly.

When the middle Harpy exploded into dust, the others screamed. He heard cries of vengeance for Kronos, shouts of anger and guttural clicks that sounded less like words and more like twisted bird chirps.

Bodies slammed into him as the chaotic mass raced for the exits. Alex tried to balance, using the bow like a wedge. Six harpies still circled above, trying to find him. He steeled his nerves. He'd fought the armies of Kronos. Disgruntled monsters working at a theme park for his half-sister could not stop his quest. They just had to find Kitty.

He aimed another arrow up at the sky. A second harpy disintegrated. But with her death, the others found him. Five pairs of monstrous eyes locked on him. Alex shivered. He released his last arrow just as they dove for him. Three down. Four to go.

Alex met the harpies with sharpened celestial bronze. In blade form, he made quick work of two. A third slashed him across the face. With a cry, he ducked and rolled away. The fireworks kept going. Their sporadic glow made the harpies look even more frightening.

He killed the sixth harpy as he tried to drive its talons into his eyes. Back against the concrete, it became hard to breathe. The central hub of the Magic Kingdom emptied. Just him, the monsters, and as he glanced left, his chest lightened at the sight of Ophelia, Kitty, and the shining Lyre of Orpheus. Alex screamed.

Pushing himself to his feet, he met the last harpy with glee. They couldn't stop him. He would save Leah Kim. He would save the survivors. They would get a second chance just as he had been given. None deserved it. But he would earn it for them. For himself.

"We gotta go!" Alex said.

Ophelia and Kitty ran towards him. Clutching the Lyre to her chest, Kitty looked like she needed to throw up. But they would have to deal with that later.

The ground exploded between them. Alex covered his face, falling back. Metal soared over his head as a trash can split into debris, thrown by a laistrygonian.

"I admire your attempt," said Phoebe, standing between four laistrygonian guards a hundred feet down Main Street. "But you need to work on your form. Thieving is an art, brother. One you clearly don't have."

Alex scoffed. She used brother in all ways but sincerity. Twisting Vindication around to face her, he didn't dignifying her taunt with words.

"We don't need to do this the hard way."

"Fuck you!" said Kitty.

Alex couldn't have said it better himself. But he took three steps back, eyes widening as out of a store to Phoebe's left came three empousai. Each one had a sparkling metal leg and another resembling a donkey. Hair of flames, only their beautiful female faces redeemed their monstrous appearance.

"Run," Alex said.

The girls didn't argue with him. He gave them a three-second head start before he, too, turned around and ran further into the theme park. They ran left, taking the dark wooden bridge into Adventureland. He heard flapping wings and stomping feet at their heels.

A golden camel spit water at his feet. Alex skidded, nearly toppling into the darkness. The girls kept going, hanging right around the flying carpet ride he'd nearly crashed into. On instinct, he spun around with his sword out. An empousa evaporated as his sword cleaved into her face.

Another slammed where he'd stood moments before as Alex dashed away. He hadn't seen any laistrygonians follow. Just Phoebe with a glittering golden sword and the empousai. She must've put them at the exits.

Racing through a tunnel into another section of the park, Alex tried to find Kitty and Ophelia. He'd seen them run this way. Frontierland. His legs ached. Pushing through the pain, he focused on the task at hand. Find Ophelia and Kitty. Shadow-travel out. Return to Mount Olympus. Save the kids.

An arrow embedded itself into the concrete to his left. Alex stopped breathing for a moment. That had been so close. A celestial bronze arrow to the back would've been the end of him. Keeping the water on his left, he all but flew through colonial architecture lit only by oil street lamps. Liberty Square. He remembered the map now.

The Lyre of Orpheus glowed in the darkness. Kitty still held it close to her chest, dagger drawn and in her left hand as she stood back to back with Ophelia. The girl radiated darkness. He could see the shadows swell around her.

The Empousai screamed. Alex turned, ready to face them, but they flew over his head until he stood face to face with his half-sister. He'd never seen a sword like hers. Definitely not celestial bronze. More golden, straighter. But he had no doubt it could kill him.

A shadow darkened to her left. Just as he readied himself for a duel, a Hellhound appeared, Cole son of Nike at its side. He held it by a red leash. Alex heard the Empousai behind him cursing Hecate, their maker. But he couldn't help them. He had his hands full.

Alex watched Cole pull a pen from his pocket. It glistened in the moonlight. Without a word, the pen grew until the son of Nike held an eight-foot spear of pure celestial bronze. None of them spoke. They were well past words.

Phoebe moved first. She ran forward to meet him head-on. Neither had shields. But even as Alex parried, dodged, and countered her moves, he kept an eye on Cole. But the man hadn't moved. He seemed content to watch the children of Hermes battle it out.

His sister could fight. She moved like the wind, discarding her high heels in favor of bare feet. But she had not been trained by Luke Castellan. Built like Connor and Travis, she did not have their father's strength. Alex did. With every crash of his sword against hers, he threw his body weight at her.

"You fight for Hermes?" she said, gasping. But she pulled back for a moment, pointing her sword at Vindication. "How pathetic."

Alex felt his body buzzing from the adrenaline. The leather straps that wrapped around the celestial bronze hilt of Vindication molded to his grip. The winged crossguard glittered in the moonlight. He slowed his breathing.

"I don't fight for our father," he said. "I don't fight for anyone." Alex moved closer, landing another blow as she crumpled from exhaustion. "But I'm willing to fight beside him."

Phoebe spat on the ground, a mixture of blood and saliva. Every inch of her face dripped with sweat. Her sword clattered to the ground. She couldn't hold it anymore. Beyond her, still standing beside his massive collared Hellhound, Cole didn't move a muscle. He watched. He waited.

Alex did not. He finished off Phoebe in one swing as she reached toward her belt. He didn't see if she'd grabbed for a weapon, but he didn't wait to find out.

Something exploded behind Alex. He heard the screams of Empousai, the screeches of harpies. He could feel the warmth leave the air. Ophelia and Kitty had to protect themselves. The night would aid them. He stepped over Phoebe's body. In the darkness, Vindication matched the glow of Cole's massive spear.

Cole released the leash in his right hand. The dog remained where he was as he shifted his spear into a two-hand grip. Every sparring session he'd had with Clarisse ran through his mind. He'd felt the bite of Maimer many times. He hated spears.

Another explosion. The ground groaned. He could see his breath as all warmth evaporated. He returned Vindication to bracelet form, and then to bow. At the sight of the celestial bronze arrow. Cole began to move. Alex released it.

It flew through the air. But the child of the goddess of Victory could not be so easily defeated. He used the spear to deflect the arrow, leaving Alex to curse as he retreated. He needed a new plan.