Claire’s jaw tightened in pure anger. "Fighting quietly does not work anymore!"The old man’s voice dropped to a sad whisper. "We will fight in the only way that keeps my people alive. Goodbye, Claire."The radio channel clicked off.Claire slowly lowered the radio. Juno watched her face carefully, looking for anger or tears.But Claire showed nothing. She just reached her hand out to grab the next radio.Kade spoke quietly from the shadows. "They are too scared to fight."Claire ignored him.Sera’s fingers flew across the keyboard. "Third wave of data is going out!" she yelled. "Sending to the underground teams in Europe! Sending to the Mediterranean sea! And—"Sera stopped talking. Her mouth hung wide open. She stared at her computer screen in total horror.Claire rushed to the table. "What is it?"Sera pointed a shaking finger at the screen. "There is a massive new video signal. But it is not coming to us. It is going out to the whole world."Sera swallowed hard. Her mouth was comp

Sera blinked in shock. Juno stopped packing her medical bag and stared. Kade froze at the bottom of the stairs."No more hiding in separate holes," Claire commanded. "No more making your own plans. We are splitting the world into regions. I am assigning generals. I am making the rules. And you will obey them to stay alive."A man in a dark suit stepped out of the shadows of the basement. He used to be an Iron Order officer, but he had run away to join Claire."Claire," the man warned. "If you try to act like a dictator, your own teams will fight each other."Claire glared at him. "A little arguing will stop us all from being completely wiped out."The man stared at her, terrified of her new power.Claire continued talking. "The Iron Order is trying to divide the world into pieces. They are using food to bribe people. They are using fear. And they are using ancient magic."Landon’s eyes narrowed. He knew what she was talking about."They are using divine fault lines," Landon said quiet

Sera covered her mouth with trembling hands. "They are turning against us," she whispered. "Our friends are turning into enemies."Another voice came through."This is the Nordic Coalition," a man said. "We do not like the Iron Order. We will try to fight them in secret. But we will not help the Vanguard. You are on your own."Claire’s jaw flexed so hard her teeth hurt.Another voice cried out in the dark."This is the Saharan Compact!" a desperate man screamed. "The Iron Order is killing our people! Please! We need guns! We need help!"And another voice."This is the Eastern Commonwealth," a calm woman said. "We love the Iron Order. They have made our streets safe. Do not bring your war to our country."The radio became a nightmare flood of voices.Countries surrendering. Countries refusing to help. People begging for their lives. People threatening to catch Claire.Claire reached her hand forward and slowly turned the volume dial down until it was just a quiet hum.The rusty van kep

The first time Landon saw the terrible video, it was already too late to stop it.The video played on a cracked tablet computer. The tablet sat on a dirty table in the basement of their Michigan safehouse. The air in the basement was thick, hot, and smelled like sweat and old dust. But the people in the room felt perfectly cold. No one breathed. No one moved.The video was very short. It was only forty-two seconds long. There was no music. There was no talking. There were no special effects.It was just the awful truth.Landon stood behind Claire’s wooden chair. He crossed his arms tightly across his chest. His shoulders were stiff like stone. He did not blink. The only light in the dark basement came from the glowing tablet screen and two old lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling. Every few seconds, the bulbs clicked and buzzed, fighting to stay bright.Claire sat leaning forward. Her elbows rested on her knees. She held the cracked tablet with both hands. She squeezed it so hard her

Sera did not look away. "And what happens when they bring that weapon into a big city? What happens when they aim it at a stronger god?"Claire did not answer Sera's question.Instead, Claire picked up a thick red marker. She walked to the map. She drew a big red circle around the black pins in Eastern Europe.Then, she drew another red circle around the ocean. Then another over Asia. Then another over America.Kade watched her drawing. "You are guessing where they will attack next," he said.Claire put the cap back on the red marker. Click."No," Claire said. "I am showing you where they want us to look."Juno leaned forward. "You think this is a trick?"Claire nodded. "Yes. They are making a lot of noise over there to distract us."Sera frowned in confusion. "Then what do they really want? What is their real target?"Claire turned around slowly. She looked straight at Landon.Landon hated that look. His chest felt tight. His shoulders tensed up like he was ready to block a punch.Bu