The Reaper stood centimeters away, reeking with a dark chill. It pierced through Ava’s clothes and into her back. Just like those nightmares, like the times he tried to kill her. Worse, Mika wasn’t fazed by his sudden appearance.

She swiped the Bō out of Mika’s grip and swung it behind her. It passed through a haze of the Reaper’s body. He vanished, but the bastard was still here. She felt it. The hairs rose on her arms. Rage burned through her sharp gaze.

The Reaper’s haunting voice surrounded them. “Really, Mika. Didn’t I tell you one day your appetite would get us in trouble?”

To my right. A shadow flickered away like a disappearing moth.

“I hope you’re satisfied,” he said near the ceiling, no appearance in sight.

Ava couldn’t pinpoint his exact location.

Mika tugged the Bō towards the couch. He held it on either side of her hand and tightened his grip. “I’m far from satisfied,” he snapped. “When you’ve been no help.”

“Oh? Is she the one who helped you off that ship?”

His eyes deepened a shade so dark and cold, the Reaper’s hollow gaze had nothing over Mika’s. When he turned his gaze to the end of the couch, his voice grew even lower as he spoke. Ava’s heart quickened when it should quiver in fear.

“I told you before she could be helpful,” Mika said. “Instead of being friendly for once, you torment her.”

Is that why Mika wanted to be friends out of the blue? Ava couldn’t believe this. She couldn’t believe this was real. Mika was not only the god of death, but in cahoots with this reaper. She had to be living in a nightmare.

“She almost got you killed. We don’t need her help,” he hissed.

Behind me. Ava whipped around. Nothing there except the oblivious Harry typing away on his desktop. Twenty minutes would be up soon. She needed to act fast.

The Bō was swiftly yanked out of her hand. She let her guard down. Mika held the Bō behind him, resting it over the top of the couch. His arms covered it—protected it. She’d have to fight him to get it, yet she hesitated.

Mika is the god of death.

She needed to get out of here. She needed to tell the UFE about this.

The Bō vanished as quickly as it appeared. Ava got one knee off the couch before Mika pulled her back on his lap. She immediately caught the couch cushions on either side of him. The last thing she wanted was to fall on top of him.

Mika pressed the Bō on the small of her back, gliding its metal to the center, keeping her trapped. He knew she planned to run away. He really has been watching me too close.

He clenched his jaw. “We don’t know what Zephyrus is doing due to your inability to track him,” he said. “So, forgive me, if I find Ava to be more helpful than you right now.”

In a blink, the Reaper stood next to the pile of Harry’s clothes. He twisted his mouth in delight at a blood-stained shirt and ran an impeccable gloved hand down his lapels. “I placed trackers on all three gods while you were enjoying your vacation.”

“Thanks to Ava,” Mika added. “She’s the only reason we could get close to the gods undetected.”

Again, he tried persuading her. She stupidly let him kiss her, touch her. She was pissed off at herself for not seeing past all the tricks. He was just like everyone else, wanting to use her abilities. Mika may trust me, but if he’s friends with this monster, then it’s hard for me to trust him in return.

“You must trust him more than you believe, if you would continue straddling his lap.” The Reaper took her shoulders from behind, paralyzing her further.

“What are you doing!” Mika tried freeing her, but the Reaper latched on tight. His laughter resonated on her cheek. As he leaned further in, his grip cut into her skin and chilly breath slowed her racing heart.

His dead fingers grabbed a chunk of her hair.

“See, Mika. There’s something wrong with her. My touch should have killed her, and yet, here she sits still alive and unfortunately breathing,” he said. “You say you trust her? It sounds like you’ve become blind.”

“And it sounds like you've become deaf!” This time Mika freed Ava, but only because the Reaper let her go.

She fell into Mika’s shoulder. His dark hair tickled her face, drowning her sixth sense in lemons. She remembered their recent encounters. Her lips tingled from the memories. I should have punched him and run out that door.

The Reaper lowly chuckled against his palm, clearly amused. When Ava met his gaze, he stared straight into her soul. “Now that the cat’s out of the bag, what are you going to do human? Expose Mika for who he is or join us?”

Since the gods were looking for him, she could only imagine what horrors he’d do if she exposed Mika’s secret. Considering the situation she was in, Ava would lie her way out of this room, if she had to. Yet, the Reaper may cut her down either way.

Harry would be done soon. If he saw the Reaper… he’d do worse to Harry just to spite her. She needed to find a way out of this room without Harry getting hurt and without having to make false promises.

The door slid open. The Reaper vanished before Ava could act. Her whole body finally relaxed, she slumped into Mika, but only for a moment. Once Gio and Sam stepped through the threshold, they didn’t look very thrilled.

Ava knew this looked completely wrong. Mika’s hair was a mess, lips swollen. Her hands rested on his chest. The Bō sat aside on the couch. One could only imagine how devious they appeared. Gio’s eyes narrowed, judging their actions.

She quickly climbed off Mika’s lap and stumbled to a stand, making things appear worse. “This isn't what it looks like.”

Gio said nothing. He adorned that look Ava knew far too well—disappointment. When she stepped towards him, he looked at the Bō. His hand clenched at his sides as if seeing the Bō next to Mika triggered this burning rage.

Sam rested a hand on Gio’s tense shoulders. He released the tension, but not the smoldering heat in his eyes. “We’re only happy you made it back safe and sound,” Sam said, eyebrow twitching. “Isn’t that right, Mika?”

He stared Mika down. It was intense, and felt like this wasn’t the first time Mika acted out. Maybe he’d done this before. What am I to him? Am I just another pawn?

Mika eventually looked away. He stood and handed over the Bō as if that was the expected reaction, even though it was his. Ava took it out of his hand, but it didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like her weapon anymore.

Gio let out a heavy sigh. “I thought you were never coming back this time,” he said, closer than she expected. “I thought you were dead.”

His words made her want to cry. She buried those feelings deep. Now wasn’t the time to cry. “I’m sorry. I should’ve called you.” I should’ve done many things.

“Damn right, you should have!” Josh stomped inside, fists stern at his side. His eyes set in fury as he approached. “I should court martial you and drag your ass back to the Command Center. In fact, I will.”

He roughly took Ava’s arm and squeezed without mercy. She held her ground.

“Wait. I finally found a disc that has my birth records on it,” she said. “Harry is the only one I know who can securely crack it open. I had to come here before someone else gets a hold of it.”

“How far along is he?”

Marc’s voice reached her heart before her ears. Like a string, it instantly tugged towards him. Guilt stirred in her stomach when she found him lingering by the door. She glanced at the digital clock on the wall. “Any minute now.”

He walked closer, unveiling the dark circles beneath his eyes from the ceiling light. There was even a smudge of paint left at the corner of one eye. He shoved the red wine specs further up his nose, trying to hide it.

Marc wrapped Ava in a tight embrace. She felt the exhaustion in his bones. They shook through his arms, trembled in his fingers as they dug into her hair. “I thought I would never see you again,” he murmured.

He pressed his lips to her head. There was a hint of caramel and the overwhelming scent of wild flowers. Out of habit and exhaustion, Ava hugged him back. I wonder if Marc knows about Mika, too.

A loud cough broke up the moment. She let Marc go. Tension filled the room. When Ava looked at Gio, he was looking at Mika who was looking at the door.

“Do I need to keep reminding you that touching each other outside of training situations is strictly prohibited?” Darious stood at the threshold.

He walked further into the room, waved his hand to dissipate the grassy smell, and coughed a few times under his golden mask. Ava gripped the Bō tighter, trying not to shift it into a sword and stab him right here, in this room. Mika confirmed it himself that Darious was the god of life, and Mika would know, he was the god of death.

Both life and death had been hiding under the UFE’s roof this entire time for the past three weeks. It made sense now why Darious sat with Mika during breakfast, and why they seemed closer than most. When Darious caught her hardened gaze, his smile waned and looked towards Mika for some answers.

“She knows,” Mika said.

Darious sighed, leaning his face on his fingertips as if the very thought exhausted him. “This complicates matters.”

The second he reached into his pastel coat, Ava aimed a spear at his neck. The tip pricked his skin when he swallowed. He displayed both hands in the air—a cell phone sat in his left palm. He was trying to maintain his innocence. I won’t be fooled.

Josh stood beside Ava, annoyed. He crossed those beefy arms over his chest, expecting to intimidate her. She stepped closer to the Darious, he lifted his chin higher. “I suspect him of leaking information to Zephyrus,” Ava said.

Mika had been hiding his identity this entire time. It made little sense he’d leak information about Ava to Zephyrus, knowing they’d discover him. If it wasn’t him, then it had to be Darious. He always kept a watchful eye on her, and came and went as he pleased.

Darious had to be the mole.

“And what made you jump to this conclusion?” Josh asked.

“Because he’s the god of life.”

Josh tensed. He reached for his ax, then changed it to his hunting knife. He gripped the leather so tightly, it’d only take a second for him to swipe it out and cut Darious’ neck if given the chance. “Is this true?”

Darious’ stayed perfectly still as he wagged his phone in the air. “Call Gregori. He knows I’m the god of life. I’ve always been open and honest about it when asked.”

“Then have you been communicating with Zephyrus about Ava?”

Darious’ slightly opened his mouth. His eyes narrowed in from behind the mask. Standing this close, Ava could pick out every detailed vine and flower stuck to his skin. How they moved fluidly with his movements. It was either difficult to take off or easy when pricked at the right spots. I'd enjoy removing that mask more than cutting him.

“He probably has, but not on purpose.” Mika smiled. “He likes to complain to whomever will listen.”

Sam snapped at Mika. He shrugged in response. Ava’s grip tightened even further. Darious stood taller. “What did you say to him?” she seethed.

He had the balls to smirk. “There's so much to complain about, I can't possibly remember what I said.”

This guy just won't stop testing my patience.

“I got in!” Harry yelled out. “Ava! I got in!”

Harry took the soundproof headphones off. His eyes went wide as he took everyone in. “Whoa—when did this room get so full? Why do I get a sense of déjà vu?”

Ava ran over and grabbed the back of his chair. “That is irrelevant,” she said, and swiveled him towards the PC’s screen. “Did you or did you not find my birth record?”

“I did. Read it and weep.” He turned the monitor for everyone to see.

A file sat on his screen, labeled unknown. He clicked it open. There was only one document in the folder, titled The AVA Project. Pages upon pages loaded. It felt like it took forever before it stopped and they were able to read the last entry:

On December 31, 2125, at 11:55pm, Aegis Vitale Armament (AVA), birth-name Avalyn, was successfully born as the first baby to match with A1 metal fragment (formerly known as a “god weapon” to Amaranthine).

After thirty-two trials, we have concluded the DNA strands spliced from two separate entities, one known as human and the other labeled 001, as being a successful match. Per our research, 001 is unrecognizable to known extraterrestrial DNA sequences. Further testing will need to be conducted after AVA has matured.

The rest was full of numbers and calculations, and more scholarly writing Ava had no patience to understand. It didn’t matter as nothing in the writing mentioned the other DNA strand, 001. And the further they read, the dates went back before her birth date.

Harry typed 001 in the toolbar, narrowing the search to a hundred pages. Ava haphazardly swiped through the typed documents and chicken scratch, searching for a code and some idea where this random DNA came from. When she thought she found something, it turned out to be a bust and moved on.

“Wait. Stop!” Darious yelled next to her ear.

Ava completely forgot about him. He also forgot about her as he dangerously leaned closer in. The tip of the Bō rested on his chest. It’d be easy to stab him straight through the heart with the spear. He better not try any funny business.

“Go back one,” he ordered, making her hesitate at first. “There. Right under Statistical Data Acquired From The Sequencing Codes.”

Pinching outward, Harry zoomed into a long equation. Darious narrowed in on it, his mask glowed off the screen. Whatever it meant, he was completely engrossed in it. She also forgot he was into science.

Josh towered behind them, his mohawk brushed the ceiling, gripped the hunter’s knife. When he was about to grab Darious by the shoulder, Ava stopped him. This was risky, but Darious may be the only one who could decipher this.

His finger hovered over a string of equations, numbers and signs. They should be simple to solve using mathematics, instead it read as if it had its own language. The equation took up one long paragraph, and before he made it to the end, his finger stopped and slightly trembled above the screen.

“That’s impossible,” Darious said. “You are… but you can’t be one of them.”

This is infuriating. I’m so close to knowing what I am and he’s speaking with nonsensical jabber. Ava took his shoulder and forced him to face her. “One of whom?”

His sharp gaze first glanced at the hand touching him, then the Bō caught between him and the chair’s back. A flicker of fear crossed his face before he took an immediate step back and another as if the first step wasn't enough.

“You are a Doku.”

Her heart dropped, the air shifted in the room. All the Ama grew quiet and still, while the rest had no clue what he was talking about. But Ava knew. She remembered Zephyrus’ words loud and clear: The Doku are the ones who created the gods.

“If word gets out she’s a Doku, this could mean an all out war with the UFE from almost every planet. They will assume Earth is trying to bring the Doku back, or go as far as believing they are the Doku in disguise,” Darious said. “I need to go tell their grandfather.”

“And I’ll inform the Commander,” Josh added.

I can’t believe this. Everyone was so gung-ho on telling the higher ups, they hadn’t considered the off chance this might not boil over too well.

Before Ava could stop Josh, he left the room swiftly. Seeing that Darious hadn’t left yet, she nearly tackled him to make him stay. He flinched, and it was the first time she’d ever seen him look so scared. It was the first time his reaction hurt.

Reluctantly, Ava let him go. “Shouldn’t we be careful? We don’t know what their grandfather might do when he finds out. He might not like that I’m a Doku.”

Darious straightened his coat. “Zephyrus told you tales and now you’re worried, but you don’t need to be. No Ama would ever harm a Doku.”

Ava felt like she could breathe easier now. She didn’t know what to expect from the people on Earth, but at least the Ama were on her side.

A phone went off, then a musical note of phones joined in, clashing together. Marc tossed Ava’s cell to her. The screen was doused in red, flashing as the emergency siren blared through the speakers. This could only mean one thing.

They were going to war.

She pressed her thumb to the glass to unlock the screen and waited for her orders. Gregori’s deep voice echoed through the room. “General Concerto, do you hold truth to the pledge of the UFE?”

“And to our Chief Commander, I do,” she said.

“I assume you’re with your guardians.” Ava told him yes. “Good. Primordial has made it past the first line of defense. I’m assigning your guardians to fight in the south, west, and east sides of the Capitol. While you will be in charge of the sky and nothing more. Do I make myself clear?”

Gregori planned to keep Ava at a distance from the battle. If she lost control again, he’d rather she aimed at the enemy than their citizens. It made sense, but it still hurt. “Yes, sir. I understand.”

Believing they were done, she moved to dismiss the call when he spoke up. “And one more thing, Avalyn.” She waited. “I’m happy you secured vital information on Zephyrus and retrieved your birth record. But your actions cannot go unnoticed. I will punish you for failing to report directly to me after you returned. Your actions and decisions today are irresponsible and an immature move as General. Do you understand?”

The screen cracked under her grip. “Yes, Commander.”

“You can make it up by doing your best today,” he said. “Good luck and Godspeed.”

“And to you too.”

The screen went dark, and her face burned with shame. This wasn’t the first time she’d been in trouble before, but with so many eyes on her, it was humiliating. Gregori did this on purpose. A punishment.

Ava took a deep breath, then finally met everyone’s gaze. They were expecting to hear a speech. Even Marc was being unusually quiet, instead of taking charge of the situation. Unfortunately, Darious had already slipped away. No matter. Zephyrus would learn Ava’s identity soon enough.

“Since Primordial has made it through the first line of defense, that means we only have about thirty-five minutes before they arrive,” Ava said. “Everyone go get cleaned up and put on your uniforms. We’ll meet back in the kitchen in twenty minutes to strategize.”

Setting her sights on Gio, she asked, “Will you take me back to my room?” I need to be alone.

Gio took her shoulder without a word, and before she knew it, they were back in the basement. And as they walked to their separate rooms, Ava didn’t shiver. She didn’t feel cold. She felt numb and impossibly tired. They had run out of time.