Novels by Jon Bell

The facility sat thirty miles outside Chicago, disguised as a private medical center.Kara killed the motorcycle's lights a quarter mile out, coasting to a stop behind a cluster of trees. Elena and Marcus climbed off, studying the building through the darkness."Looks normal," Marcus said."That is the point." Kara pulled binoculars from her jacket. "Three floors. David Park is in the basement. Guards rotate every four hours. The next shift change is in twenty minutes.""How do you know all this?" Elena asked."I have been watching this place for weeks." Kara handed her the binoculars. "See the parking lot? Seven cars. Five belong to staff. Two are personal vehicles for demigod guards. The silver sedan is Deimos's. He is here tonight."Marcus felt the mark pulse. Danger. Close. But also something else. Anticipation. The part of him that was Ares wanted to face Deimos. Wanted violence.He pushed the feeling down."We cannot fight a god," Marcus said. "Even with three of us.""We do not

Apollo's spear turned night into day.The factory flooded with blinding light. Marcus threw his arm across his eyes, the mark burning in response to the divine power. Shadows screamed as Apollo's radiance destroyed them, the Vesper's hunters evaporating like smoke."I am not here for shadows," Apollo said, stepping through the wreckage. "I am here for the murderer.""Stand down, Apollo," Athena commanded, moving between him and Marcus. "Zeus gave him three days.""Zeus is not here." Apollo's eyes blazed gold. "And I am done waiting for justice."He thrust the spear forward. Athena deflected it with her blade, bronze meeting sunlight in a shower of sparks. The impact shook the building's foundation."Elena, get Marcus out of here!" Athena shouted, engaging Apollo fully.Elena grabbed Marcus's arm, dragging him toward the back exit. Bjorn covered their retreat, his war axe appearing in his hands as more shadows poured through the windows."This way!" Elena kicked open a service door.Th

Elena drove through Chicago traffic like the laws did not apply to her.Marcus gripped the door handle, watching buildings blur past. Athena sat in the back seat, silent and calculating. The tension in the car was thick enough to cut."Where are we going?" Marcus finally asked."Somewhere the pantheons cannot track us," Elena said, cutting across three lanes without signaling. "A dead zone. No divine surveillance, no magic signatures. Completely off grid.""How does a mortal detective know about dead zones?" Athena asked, her tone sharp.Elena met the goddess's eyes in the rearview mirror. "I am not mortal. Not completely. My father was Hephaestus. Which you already knew, or you would not be in my car right now."Marcus turned to stare at her. "Your father was a god?""Was being the key word." Elena's jaw tightened. "He died six months ago. During the Crimson Night. Same night Ares supposedly died."The car fell silent except for the engine's hum."I did not know Hephaestus fell that

The girl's words echoed through the marble chamber."He killed the god. I saw him do it."Marcus felt the world tilt. Every eye turned toward him with fresh hatred. Apollo rose from his throne, golden light radiating from his skin like fury made visible."Liar," Marcus breathed. "Rachel, tell them the truth. I saved you."The girl flinched at her name but did not look at him. Her eyes were distant, hollow. Someone had broken this child and rebuilt her as a weapon."Describe what you saw," Zeus commanded, his voice shaking the pillars.Rachel spoke in a flat monotone, like reciting memorized lines. "The war god was fighting. The Asian man stabbed him from behind with a black blade. The god fell. The man drank his blood. He laughed while the god died."Each word was a nail in Marcus's coffin. None of it was true, but delivered in a traumatized child's voice, it sounded devastatingly real."Enough," Apollo said, descending from his throne. Lightning crackled around his fists. "I will end

The police station burned with golden fire.Not real flames. Something worse. Divine energy poured from Marcus like water from a broken dam, melting steel, cracking stone, warping reality itself.He could not stop it. Could not control it. The mark had taken over, and Ares's rage consumed everything."Marcus!" Athena's voice cut through the chaos. "Focus! Pull it back!"He tried. The power ignored him, flooding out, searching for something to destroy.The Vesper laughed from the shadows. "Look at him. A mortal body cannot contain a god's essence. He will burn himself to ash within minutes."She was right. Marcus could feel it. His skin was too hot. His heart beat too fast. The power was killing him from the inside."Help me," Marcus gasped, falling to his knees.Athena moved fast. Her spear flashed, and she drove it into the ground beside Marcus. Lightning erupted from the weapon, forming a circle around him. The energy crashed against the barrier, contained but not stopped."Listen t

The police station should have been safe.They processed Marcus in silence, taking his fingerprints and photograph. The officers looked nervous, glancing at the windows every few seconds. They felt it too. The wrongness in the air. The sense that something terrible was watching."Name," the desk sergeant said, fingers hovering over his keyboard."Marcus Chen."The sergeant typed, then frowned at his screen. "Says, here you were reported missing six months ago. The family filed a report." He looked up. "Where have you been?"Marcus said nothing. What could he say? Tortured in a basement by people who work for a goddess? They would lock him in a psych ward."He is in shock," another officer said. "Get him some water. We will question him after he calms down."They led Marcus to a holding cell. The space was small, just a bench and barred walls. Two other men sat inside, one sleeping, one staring at nothing.Marcus collapsed onto the bench. His body was shutting down. The mark had pushed