DEMIS (A Clash With Lightning)

9

"Alexander?" Jasmine breathed under her breath.

Her hand lay limply in his palm as he held it to his mouth, planting a delicate kiss on her knuckles. She, along with the rest of her teammates, froze in shock. Alexander seemed to relish their fear, his smile widening.

"You all don't seem as happy to see me as I am to see you," he said, feigning disappointment. "I thought you were all looking for me? I must admit, I was flattered to learn that such high-value people were trying to hunt me down. I was so excited to meet you that I made my way to Rome as soon as I heard."

When no one responded, Alexander sighed and finally released Jasmine's hand. It fell into her lap, her mouth agape in disbelief. Their powerful enemy stood right in front of her, and he had kissed her hand. His presence was threatening, and she was terrified. Even with five against one, they stood no chance against the threat before them.

"You know, it's a bit rude to ignore someone when they speak to you," Alexander said, his smile fading. "Especially when the person you're ignoring is the man you all arrogantly think you can kill."

A slam echoed across the table as Alexander's gaze met Ban's menacing glare.

"You're the arrogant one," Ban retorted.

"I never claimed to be humble," Alexander laughed. "The only difference is that I actually have the power to back me up."

"We don't have to fight," Josh spoke up.

Alexander raised an eyebrow at him. "No offense, but I'm really only interested in Jasmine and Ban." He waved a dismissive hand at Josh. "If I were to fight any of you three, you would die."

Keith, Josh, and Rose exchanged offended glances, but they all knew he spoke the truth. Keith could barely hold his own in a normal fistfight with Ban, let alone against a demigod of Zeus who had fully realized his powers.

"We don't have to fight," Jasmine echoed Josh's statement, feeling her heart pound against her chest. This man radiated power; she could feel it in the air. They wouldn't survive a fight with him in their current state.

Alexander turned back to Jasmine, his smile returning. "You're right. We don't."

"You agree?" she asked, her breath shaky.

He cupped her cheek, both threateningly and affectionately. "Of course. We shouldn't be fighting. We should be working together."

"As if we would help you," Ban said, rising from his seat, ready to take Alexander down right there. It would save him the headache of traveling by boat.

"Don't do anything you'll regret, Ban," Alexander warned, his gaze still locked on Jasmine. "What have the gods done for you? Why help them?" His tone was growing angrier.

"We're not doing this for those bastards," Ban shot back.

"We're doing it for the humans," Jasmine said, finally shoving Alexander's hand away.

"The humans?" Alexander asked, seemingly genuinely confused. "What do the humans have to do with this?"

"Don't play dumb," Ban snapped, feeling a surge of anger at Alexander's words. He stepped forward and shoved Alexander away from Jasmine. "And give her some space, you creep."

"If you release the Titans, they will enslave the human race," Jasmine asserted, feeling more confident with the distance from the son of Zeus.

Alexander laughed, forgiving Ban's shove. "The Titans won't be able to touch any humans because they will be slaves to me."

"You don't want to enslave humankind?" Jasmine pressed.

"Obviously not. My issue is with those maniacs on Olympus who have held power for so long that they are completely out of touch with reality. It's time someone checked them." He rolled his eyes. "Now that that's out of the way, will you help me?"