EWAN

I'm terrified to look away from the online world for more than five minutes, even if we’re supposed to be switching off for a few hours. How’s that bloody possible? Maybe the others can fool themselves things aren’t as bad as they appear, but I've come face to face with Seth in his true form.

This...thing is pure evil. I've met a crap load of creatures who do shit I never want to think about again, but I’ve no doubt that Seth is capable of more. And I'm sure he wants to show us that.

The little pantomime with me, Vee, and Joss by the portal was him flexing his muscles. Showing us his power. Can he drag Vee to him any time he wants? If he does that before we figure out who she is and why, things could end badly and quickly.

We have one last card in our hands, and it’s not Vee. We have the book, and the answers soon. He doesn't have all the facts and can't carry out his destructive plans until he does. Heath's confused and asked if Seth’s a god with his power and the capacity to destroy everything, why hasn't he?

Isn't the answer obvious?

He's violent. Sadistic. We’ve only seen three deaths he’s responsible for, but how many more will we witness? Chaos wants to have fun and watch human life suffer at his hands. He told us as much—they’re insects crawling across the world he created. The world he wants destroyed.

Personally, I'd like to track him down and rip him to pieces, but even Xander knows this is futile without all the facts. We could die. All of us.

No. Once we're in full possession of the knowledge held in this cryptic book, we attack first. We follow to the letter what it says to do.

But even then, we’d need to find him first.

I fidget, checking the phone again. Vee finished her pool game with a sulky Heath and now sits between him and me as Joss and Xander play. Does this protect Vee from teleporting? It never did with me and Joss, but at least if Seth pulls a stunt like that again, they'll both go with her.

I take a drink then swipe my mouth before combing the internet on my phone: message boards, breaking news, anything with a hint what Seth could be doing.

I don't need to.

Because, of course, the bastard prefers to taunt.

<I told you a storm was coming>

A message from Seth, with a link. Early reports from a weather station. A huge hurricane has formed in the Atlantic, sudden and not predicted by long-range weather forecasts.

"Shit." I scroll through the site, the calculations for when the storm will reach landfall as a category 5. The hurricane is headed straight for areas with dense population, and with it, worries there’ll be greater devastation than Hurricane Katrina. Lives will be lost and homes destroyed. "Heath, get Joss and Xander. Now."

Heath calls them over, and Xander holds his hand out for my phone. "What's happening, Ewan?"

I run through options in my head as Xander reads, stony-faced, before passing to Heath. My phone sounds and Heath blinks rapidly as he reads the message.

<Two days until landfall. Bring me the book.>

"Fucking arsehole," I growl.

Xander's face pinches, and he strategises in his head as I do. "Do you think he has the other part of the stone?"

"No."

I wave a hand. "We have to consider he might. We won't know until Syv and the Collector return."

"I’ll call her. We focus on Seth." Xander stands and pulls out his phone. He wanders to a quieter corner, but not before draining his beer first.

"Do we reply?" I ask.

The phone beeps again.

<Come on, boys. Aren't you supposed to save the world? I want to see all of you. Bring Vee.>

I stand too. "We need to leave. Now."

* * *

The situation cuts short our night out, but how could this have ended any other way? The decision is made not to interact with Seth until we get home. Negotiating with him over a beer in the pub isn’t a good idea.

I’m home first, and a good few minutes before everyone else. Vee knows the trip on my bike will be a fast and unpleasant one, so travels with the others instead.

They finally arrive as I pace around the lounge clutching the phone in one hand, watching for a message like a hawk watching prey.

"Anything else from Seth?" asks Xander as he drops his jacket over the sofa.

"No. He must be waiting for a response. Probably smirking to himself that he’s scared us into silence."

Heath sinks back on the sofa and drags both hands down his face. "Why a storm? I expected him to go after us or attack a portal again. Why this?"

Joss perches on the sofa arm. "He's digging at our weakness, isn't he? Humans."

"But we can't stop the weather," puts in Heath. "This is impossible."

"Yeah, but Seth can—he created it. We stop him." Xander jabs a finger at the phone.

"How? By giving him what he wants?" asks Joss. "Taking Vee and the book to him?"

"Be serious," sneers Xander. "No."

"We need to know where he is, though," Heath says. "Reply and ask where."

I do and there's no response for a few moments, until a picture message comes through. Seth. Grinning. Sitting in a desert, surrounded by green scrub and a huge blue sky above the barren land stretching into the shimmering horizon behind him.

<Wish you were here xx>

In his sick selfie, bodies on the sand surround him in a circle, like a gruesome protection rune.

"What the fuck?" I breathe. "Are they human?"

Xander grabs the phone and places his fingers on the screen to zoom in. "I can't tell. I doubt it."

"Screw this." I swipe to open the video calling app, ignoring Xander's words not to bother because Seth won't answer.

They always underestimate him, and that’s partly how we’re in this fucking mess.

Of course the bastard can’t resist the opportunity.

"Hey, boys!" Seth's face appears onscreen. "How was your evening?"

"Where are you?" asks Xander.

Seth pulls the phone away from his face and he sweeps it around him. "Do you have names for your portals? Like Disneyland does? Is this one Fae World? I'm still hoping one of the six is Dragon World."

I inhale and concentrate on not retorting. What is it about him and fucking dragons?

Joss turns to a pale-faced Vee. "Has he attacked a portal?"

"I don’t know." Her response is barely a whisper.

"I can’t sense anything has touched one," puts in Heath. "We usually do."

"Fucking mind tricks," mutters Xander, then says to Seth, "Tell us where you are, and we'll tell you which portal you’re near." I look at Xander in horror. We can't give him anymore information, is he insane?

Seth pans the phone to the neatly arranged bodies, lying with heads touching feet, bodies curved into a macabre modern art display. "Which portal did you send these idiots to protect? And why the hell are others doing your job?"

"Holy shit," mutters Heath. "There're ten bodies there."

"I always thought fae had the prettiest eyes." Seth zooms in on a victim's face. Then another. Where each victim’s eyes once were, there are two black scorch marks in a bloodied, mask-like face .

"Where were the fae sent to protect a portal?" I mutter at Heath.

"The States," he whispers back.

"Shit."

Xander turns away, as he does when trying to hide how he feels, and Vee watches, sitting forward as if about to go to him.

My horror vies with anger—and panic. "Have you opened the portal?"

Seth returns the camera to his gleeful face and snickers. "I think you'd know if I had. Don't you? You can hide one demon dog, but if a whole tribe of fuck-knows-what’s behind this portal escape, I’m sure the humans might just notice."

I breathe out relief. That's one thing, and proof he's killing time.

"Maybe Seth can't open them," Heath says quietly. "Maybe he needs the book to work out how."

"He did something to the last portal though," says Joss. "He can definitely open them if he wants."

"Maybe he needs Vee there?" Heath glances at her. Vee now stands with Xander, hand on his arm as they speak in low voices.

"You think he needs Vee to open them? Is that what’s in the book?" I whisper.

"Hello? Guys? Pay attention!" calls Seth. "I had this idea I wanted to run by you."

My stomach flips over as he moves one of the bodies into a position he can lean himself against. Sharpened fae features. Young. Hair the colour of Logan’s. These must be this newly created powerful fae he arranged to guard portals. To help us.

And they died.

Seth holds the phone above his head and looks up. "I think the world needs to know what lives amongst them." He lifts and drops the arm of the dead body. "Hey! Should I drop these guys off in the middle of a city? I bet people would love to see what real fae look like. That would be cool!"

I stare at his insane babbling. Cool?

"Do what you want with them," replies Xander in a cold tone. "We never guaranteed their safety. Portia and Logan can deal with this issue."

"Xander." He jerks as Heath pushes him. "Don’t be fucking stupid."

"Does that mean Portia will want to catch up with me too? Awesome. Hey, do you think I can still go see her theatre performance? When is it? I could hold off my plans until she’s had her chance to shine. I really did like her." Seth shields his eyes and the phone against the brightness. Okay. Now I can’t tell if he’s genuinely taking the piss, or just mad.

Xander snorts. "I doubt the fae will send someone so important to risk death by meeting you."

Seth's face moves closer to the camera and his voice cools. "But the Horsemen will bring their most important when they meet me. Where is she?"

Vee steps beside me and into view. "Here. Planning how to kill you." Her voice could cut diamonds, sharp and precise.

Seth's laughter peals around. "You still think that's why you're here? To kill me? That’s cute."

"So you know who I am?" she asks.

He pulls a face and shrugs. "Yeah and nah. I'm missing the crucial information, like you guys are. Hence. Bring. Me. The. Book."

Xander laughs at him. "Pointless if you can't translate it."

"But I'll have the ability soon. I know you have part of the stone needed to decipher the book, and I hope you’ll see sense and give it to me." He pauses. "And Vee? That was really not nice killing my friend. He was helping me."

"He was going to kill Syv," she growls.

"Oh, her. Clever girl finding what I need to decipher the book. You know, the book you’re going to bring to me so I don’t rain on everybody’s parade." Seth smirks at his stupid joke. "Shame she gave it to the wrong people, but she won’t find the other half. I have someone else following her. You don't think a half-demon chick and her fairy boyfriend can stop me taking the other half of the stone, do you?"

I swallow. What situation have we sent Syv and the Collector into?

"Are you expecting us to come to you there?" asks Xander. "Because that’s not going to happen."

"How many people do you think would die if the hurricane hit?" asks Seth.

"How many people will die if you translate the book?" Xander shoots back.

Seth places a hand on his chest. "Alexander," he gasps. "Are you back to justifying collateral damage again?"

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"You'll find out." He throws a smile. "But anyway, do what I ask, and I’ll save some lives. If not, you’ll be responsible for painful deaths. You know it’s the disease that comes after the destruction which kills most of them, and you can’t stop that. When I end this world and kill them all, it will be quick at least. It never takes insects long to die if you squash them quick." He pokes a body next to him. "It took the fae a while to die, though."

I rub my eyes. There's no right answer here; people will die.

Xander grabs the phone from me and disconnects the call. "Xander!" I protest.

"I'm not getting involved in his games. We have two days. Syv will be back with the stone, and we'll have the upper hand."

"So we wait and hope he doesn't fuck something up in the mean time?" Heath retorts.

"What else do you suggest?" Xander snaps. "That we go to him?"

I screw my face up as a Xander and Heath argument kicks off.

Heath steps forward, into Xander’s face. "Chaos could open the portal he’s near."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take."

"And the storm?"

"That's not going to happen."

"Really? How can you be so sure?"

Vee reaches out and pulls Xander's hand from his pocket; she tightens her fingers around his. "Guys. Seth's not in the same room as us, and he's still causing divisions."

Heath huffs and steps back. "Vee's right. We'll need a united front when we talk to Portia."

"Portia?" asks Xander, eyes widening. "Oh, no. No fucking way. Logan can deal."

Heath takes a deep breath. "Didn't you just see? How many fae were slaughtered trying to help us and the world against Chaos? Why do you think he chose that location and not one of the portals guarded by Ripley's forces?"

I blink at him and Joss interjects, "Because he knows the Order and Logan are allied with us right now, but that Portia isn’t fully aware of Logan’s actions. He also knows how little Portia trusts any of us. She’ll lose her shit when she finds fae were used in this way, all behind her back."

"Exactly," says Heath. "If Portia spits the dummy and refuses to help anymore, then he's eliminated one of his allied enemies without having to lift another finger."

"Possibly two," says Joss quietly. "Fuck knows what Portia will do to Logan when she discovers the whole truth."

They’re right.

Chaos has one strategy he can always use. One used before with huge effect.

Divide and conquer.