Artemis arrived three days after the explosions.No announcement. She just appeared in Marcus's tent at dawn, bow across her back, silver eyes cold."We need to talk."Marcus was awake. He'd stopped sleeping since the attack. "About what?""About Chloris. The one you accused of sabotage.""She was framed. Achelous used her tools.""I know. She came back to me. Told me everything." Artemis paused. "About how she was almost executed for something she didn't do.""She was questioned and released.""After you destroyed her reputation. What do you want, Artemis?""To know if integration is worth this." She gestured outside. "Sixty-three dead. Half your city gone. A saboteur in your house. Was it worth it?""You came to tell me I was wrong.""No. I came because I don't know if you were wrong. And that terrifies me."Artemis sat across from him. The goddess of the hunt looked tired."I've opposed integration from the beginning. You know that. Gods and mortals should be separate. Too differen

The first portal opened in the city plaza.It looked like a tear in reality. Blue light spilling out, crackling with energy. Marcus stood twenty feet away, surrounded by security. Elena beside him, hand on her swollen belly. Rachel on his other side, notebook ready."Are we sure this is safe?" Elena asked."No," Marcus admitted. "But we're doing it anyway."The Council of Realities had given him access to five alternate Earths. Five realities where divine beings existed but weren't part of the pantheon coalition.Or five potential disasters."Which reality is this?" Rachel asked."Delta-7," Marcus said. "Post-apocalyptic Earth. Gods died out. Only demigods survived."The portal stabilized. Then they came through.The first was a woman. Maybe thirty-looking, but clearly older. Much older. Scars across her face, arms, body. Battle scars. Survival scars.Behind her, more came. All scarred. All carrying weapons. All looking like they'd been fighting for a very long time."You're Marcus Ch

The emergency meeting started at midnight.Every leader crammed into the command tent. Marcus at the center, maps spread across the table. Elena beside him. Rachel taking notes. Mia coordinating security."Three days," Marcus said. "Maybe less. Phobos is coming with an army to shut down the multiverse portals.""How big an army?" Kade asked. The Delta-7 demigod looked eager. Fifty years of war had made him comfortable with violence."At least five hundred soldiers," Sarah said. "Mix of gods and loyal mortals. All trained. All armed.""We have sixty-eight hundred people," Kaveh said. "But most aren't fighters. The refugees are traumatized. The Luminari don't even understand conflict.""The Delta-7 demigods can fight," Kade said. "All two hundred of us.""Two hundred against five hundred trained soldiers," Mia said. "Bad odds.""And Phobos is the god of fear," Athena said quietly. "His very presence will weaken your resolve. Make you doubt. Make you run.""Can we negotiate?" Elena asked

Two weeks after Hope's birth, Marcus returned to work.Elena was recovering well. Hope was healthy. But the city needed leadership."You sure you're ready?" Elena asked."No," Marcus admitted. "But the city needs me.""The city has Rachel. She's been running things fine.""Rachel is fifteen. She shouldn't have to run a city alone."Elena sighed. "Fine. But you come back every night. Hope needs her father.""Deal."He kissed them goodbye and walked back to the city.What he found shocked him.Population: twenty-three thousand.Buildings everywhere. New districts. The Spiral expanding. And in the center, something new.A monument.Fifty feet tall. Stone and divine metal. Carved with names. Every person who'd died defending the city."Rachel built it," Mia said. "She said we needed to remember the cost."Marcus read the names. All dead because of integration."I should have been here," Marcus said."You were with your daughter. That's where you needed to be."Marcus touched a name. Talia

The emergency council meeting lasted all night.Twenty people in the command tent. All trying to solve the impossible problem."We can't surrender," Rachel said."We can't fight," Mia countered. "Phobos has ten thousand gods.""We could evacuate through the multiverse portals," Devon suggested."That's surrender with extra steps.""What about the Council of Realities?" Athena asked. "They could intervene.""Or they'll watch us fail," Marcus said."How long can we last without food?" Elena asked, holding Hope."A week. Maybe ten days. But people will start dying before that. The weak. The sick. The children."Hope made a small sound. Hungry."We have to find food," Marcus said."From where?" Tychon asked. "Phobos controls the approaches.""Not all approaches," a quiet voice said.Everyone turned. A Luminari stood in the corner."Explain," Marcus said."Phobos blocks portals to other realities. But we know of reality he does not know of. Reality not in Council database. Reality we disco