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.

They ran into a narrow corridor. Behind them, the factory exploded with divine combat. Light and darkness clashed, reality bending under the strain.

Marcus stumbled, his legs weak. The mark had drained him during the police station escape, and he had not recovered. "I cannot keep running."

"You do not have a choice," Elena said.

They burst into an alley. Three black SUVs blocked the exit, doors opening. Armed men poured out, but these were not normal security. Their eyes glowed faintly. Demigods.

"Greek loyalists," Elena hissed. "Apollo brought backup."

The lead demigod raised his weapon. Not a gun. A bronze short sword that hummed with power. "Marcus Chen. You are under arrest by order of the Greek Council. Resist and we use lethal force."

Marcus raised his hands. "I am not resisting."

"The hell you are not," Elena muttered. She fired her divine pistol three times. The bullets curved in midair, striking the sword from the demigod's hand. "Run!"

They sprinted down the alley. The demigods gave chase, faster than mortals, closing the distance with inhuman speed.

A motorcycle roared around the corner, skidding to a stop beside them. The rider wore a black helmet, leather jacket, and radiated danger.

"Get on!" The voice was female, muffled by the helmet.

"Who are you?" Marcus demanded.

"Someone who does not want you dead yet. Move!"

Elena did not hesitate, climbing on behind the rider. She pulled Marcus up after her. The bike launched forward, engine screaming, just as the demigods reached them.

They tore through Chicago's streets, weaving between cars, running red lights. Marcus clung to Elena, who clung to the mysterious rider. Behind them, the SUVs gave chase, but the motorcycle was faster, more agile.

The rider took them through shortcuts only locals would know. Under bridges, through parking garages, down alleys barely wide enough for the bike. Slowly, they lost their pursuers.

Ten minutes later, they stopped in front of an old church. The rider killed the engine and removed her helmet.

Marcus's breath caught.

She was young, maybe twenty, with silver hair cut short and eyes that shifted between gray and gold. Scars marked her face and arms, but she wore them like medals. Power radiated from her, wild and barely contained.

"You are a demigod," Elena said.

"Half right." The girl smiled, sharp and dangerous. "I am Kara. Daughter of Ares. Which makes me your sister, Marcus Chen."

Marcus felt the world tilt again. "What?"

"Ares had children," Kara said. "Lots of them. I am the youngest. Was the youngest. Until you came along." She studied him with an expression between curiosity and resentment. "Never thought my father would mark a mortal. Must have really liked you."

"I did not ask for this," Marcus said.

"None of us do." Kara's smile faded. "But you got it anyway. Lucky you."

"Why help us?" Elena asked, still wary.

"Because Apollo wants you dead, and what Apollo wants, I want the opposite." Kara leaned against her bike. "Also, I do not think you killed my father. You are too soft. Too mortal. My father's killer would be someone with real power."

"You know who did it," Marcus realized.

"I have suspicions." Kara pulled out her phone, showing them a photo. A tall man in expensive suit, shaking hands with Viktor Kozlov. "Recognize him?"

Marcus studied the image. Something about the man seemed familiar, but he could not place it.

Elena zoomed in on the photo. "That is Marcus Aurelius. CEO of Olympus Holdings. Major real estate developer in Chicago."

"Also known as Deimos," Kara said quietly. "God of terror. My brother."

Marcus felt sick. "Your brother killed your father?"

"Half brother. Different mother. And yes, I think he did." Kara's hands clenched. "Deimos always resented being the lesser son. Ares never gave him the recognition he wanted. Six months ago, Deimos started acting strange. Meeting with people he should not meet. Including the Vesper."

"He is one of her puppets," Elena said. "She has his true name."

"Maybe," Kara said. "Or maybe he went willingly. Either way, he was there the night Ares died. I saw him leaving the scene, covered in blood, smiling." Her voice cracked slightly. "I have been tracking him since, trying to prove it. But he is too careful. Too protected."

"The witness," Marcus said. "David Park. The security guard. He must have seen Deimos there."

"Probably why he disappeared," Elena said. "Deimos tied up loose ends."

"David Park is not dead," Kara said. "I found him three weeks ago. Deimos has him locked in a private facility outside the city. Keeping him sedated and hidden."

"Then we break him out," Marcus said. "Get his testimony."

"It is not that simple," Kara warned. "The facility is protected. Divine wards, armed guards, probably traps. And if we fail, Deimos will know someone is onto him. He will kill Park and disappear."

"We do not have time for perfection," Elena said. "We have less than two days. We need that witness."

Behind them, the church bell began to ring. Once. Twice. Midnight.

Kara's phone buzzed. She checked it and went pale. "We have a bigger problem. Apollo just issued a Blood Hunt. Every demigod and god-touched in the city is now authorized to kill Marcus on sight. Bounty is immortality."

Marcus felt cold. "He cannot do that."

"He is Ares's brother and grieving," Kara said. "He can do whatever he wants until Zeus stops him. And Zeus is not in Chicago."

Elena's phone rang. She answered, listened, then hung up with a curse. "Bjorn just texted. Athena is down. Apollo nearly killed her defending you. She is in divine healing but will not wake for at least a day."

Marcus felt guilt crash over him. Athena had risked everything to help him.

"So what now?" he asked quietly.

Kara looked at Elena, then at Marcus. "Now we do something stupid. We hit Deimos's facility tonight, get the witness, and pray we survive long enough to clear your name."

"Tonight?" Elena said. "We need a plan. Equipment. Backup."

"We have no time for backup," Kara said. "Every hour that passes, more hunters join the Blood Hunt. By morning, there will be hundreds searching for Marcus. We move now or we die later."

Marcus thought about Rachel's hollow eyes. About Ares choosing him in that final moment. About becoming something new or dying in chains.

"Let us do it," he said. "Let us end this."

Kara grinned, wild and reckless. "Now you sound like family. Come on. I know where Deimos keeps his secrets."

She started her bike. The engine roared to life.

Behind them, howls echoed through the city. The hunters were spreading out, searching.

The Blood Hunt had begun.

And Marcus Chen was running out of time.

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 fight him," Kara said. "We sneak past him. In and out before he knows we were here."

"And if we are caught?" Elena asked.

Kara's smile was cold. "Then we improvise."

They approached through the woods, staying low. The facility's exterior looked clean, professional, but Marcus could feel wrongness emanating from it. The mark responded to divine energy, and this place reeked of it.

At the fence line, Kara pulled out a small device. "Divine ward breaker. It cost me three months' salary. Better work."

She pressed it against the fence. Green symbols flared, then faded. A section of the chain link went dark.

"Thirty second window," Kara said, cutting through the metal. "Move."

They slipped through. Marcus expected alarms, spotlights, chaos. Nothing happened. The facility remained quiet.

Too quiet.

"Something is wrong," Elena whispered.

"Agreed," Kara said. "But we are committed now. Service entrance is around back."

They crept along the building's edge. Through the windows, Marcus saw normal hospital rooms. Patients sleeping. Nurses making rounds. Everything looked legitimate.

The service entrance was locked. Kara picked it in fifteen seconds.

Inside, fluorescent lights hummed. The hallway smelled like antiseptic and something else. Something that made Marcus's skin crawl.

"Basement access is through there," Kara pointed to a door marked "Authorized Personnel Only."

Elena tried the handle. Locked. This time with a keypad.

"I cannot pick electronic locks," Kara admitted.

"Let me try." Elena examined the keypad, then pulled out her phone. She ran some kind of program, holding the device near the lock. Numbers flickered across her screen.

"Where did you learn that?" Marcus asked.

"Ten years as a detective teaches you things." The lock beeped. Green light. "Also, being Hephaestus's daughter helps with technology."

They descended stairs into darkness. Emergency lighting cast everything in red. The smell grew stronger. Not antiseptic anymore. Blood and fear and old magic.

The basement was not a medical facility. It was a prison.

Cells lined both walls, reinforced with iron and carved symbols. Most were empty, but in three of them, Marcus saw figures. Humans, barely conscious, covered in the same marks that decorated his own skin.

"What is this place?" Marcus breathed.

"A testing ground," a voice said from the darkness.

They spun. A man emerged from the shadows at the corridor's end. Tall, handsome in a cruel way, wearing an expensive suit now stained with something dark. His eyes glowed red.

Deimos.

"Sister," he said, nodding to Kara. "I wondered when you would finally come."

"Where is David Park?" Kara demanded, her hand moving toward her weapon.

"The security guard? Cell seven. Still breathing, if that is what you are asking." Deimos smiled. "I have been keeping him fresh. Never know when you might need a witness to accidentally overdose or hang himself in his cell."

"You murdered our father," Kara said, her voice shaking with rage.

"I freed us," Deimos corrected. "Ares was weak. Sentimental. He actually cared about mortals." He laughed, bitter and sharp. "A war god who hated war. An embarrassment. The Vesper offered me real power. All I had to do was create an opening during Crimson Night."

"You betrayed him," Marcus said, feeling Ares's rage building inside him. "Your own father."

"And you stole his essence," Deimos shot back. "Do not lecture me about betrayal, mortal. You walk around wearing my father's power like a costume. At least I earned my position."

The mark exploded with heat. Marcus felt power flooding through him, golden light spilling from his skin. Not now. He could not lose control now.

"I see the mark is unstable," Deimos observed. "Perfect. The Vesper will be pleased when I deliver you. Dead or alive, she does not care. Though personally, I prefer dead."

He moved fast. Impossibly fast. His fist caught Marcus in the chest, sending him flying backward. Marcus crashed into a wall hard enough to crack concrete.

Elena fired her weapon. Deimos caught the bullet in midair and crushed it. "Daughter of Hephaestus. Your father was easier to kill than expected. Burned like any other god when I stabbed him."

Elena screamed and charged. Deimos dodged effortlessly, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her down. She went limp.

"Elena!" Marcus struggled to rise, but his body would not respond. Ribs broken. Maybe worse.

Kara attacked with twin daggers, moving like a trained killer. Deimos met her blade for blade, matching her speed, superior in strength. They fought through the corridor in a blur of metal and divine power.

"You cannot win, sister," Deimos said, pressing his advantage. "I am terror incarnate. You are just daddy's disappointment."

Kara's guard dropped for half a second. That was all Deimos needed. His blade opened her shoulder, deep and brutal. She stumbled back, bleeding.

Deimos raised his hand. Energy crackled around his fingers, dark and hungry. "Time to end the family reunion."

Marcus felt the mark screaming. Felt Ares's rage demanding release. Felt his humanity slipping away as divine power took over.

Let it, a voice whispered in his mind. Let go. Become what you were meant to be.

Marcus made his choice.

He stopped fighting the mark.

Golden light erupted from every inch of his body. The broken ribs healed instantly. Power filled him like water filling a cup, then overflowing, flooding, drowning everything else.

Marcus rose, and he was no longer entirely Marcus.

Ares's essence had awakened fully.

"Deimos," Marcus said, his voice echoing with divine resonance. "You murdered your father. Killed innocents. Betrayed everything the war god stood for."

Deimos's confident smile faltered.

"Now," Marcus continued, golden fire wrapping around his fists, "you face his judgment."

The basement exploded with light and fury.

The real battle had finally begun.