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"I have already called amy subjects," said Phillip "They know not to bow to his will no matter the cost"

"Cronus has more power than all of us coe in her voice now "We cannot fight back as we are and expect to achieve any ods?" said Janed a petition insisting they will not," said Walter "Besides, they could all join us and put everything they have into this war, but it would still not be sufficient They are not powerful enough to ritted my teeth Henry wasn’t dead yet "I could talk to Cronus," I said "He--he was nice to ht listen"

"No," said my mother "Even if you did have that sort of hold over hi until he has what he wants He has waited and planned for eons You will not change his ht be"

Across the circle, Janored the question in his stare and concentrated on the floating ie between us instead "It could work," I said

"That is a risk we cannot take," said Walter "Calliope has already proven she will kill you if given the opportunity, and Cronus er No, weup with a way to even our odds despite our , rose inside me Of course they would invite me to join them only to dismiss every idea I had What else did I expect? "What about Rhea?" I said It felt like years since I’d decided to leave the Underworld to ask for her help She was the only one who could match Cronus in power, and if anyone could win this war, it was her "What did she say?"

Silence Walter and Phillip exchanged an uneasy look, and finally James piped up "No one’s tried to find her"

"What? Why not?"

"We did not know you were not--" started Walter, but my mother cut in

"Most of us did not know Kate was not searching for her," she corrected, fire in her eyes Walter’s lips thinned underneath her stare

"Yes Most of us did not know you were not already searching for her"

Right That moment between Henry and Walter in the office Henry had hinted Walteron "And that entire tiood idea to send someone else instead?" I said

Walter cleared his throat "Our efforts were focused on trying to stop the i war, not escalate it"