Sentinel

from pulling my shirt off. Sweat beaded on me, rolling between my breasts.

“This would make a lovely vacation spot,” Seth muttered.

I started to respond, but my eyes latched onto a flaming…a flaming wheel? “What the hell?”

Hades glanced over his shoulder at me, those freaky eyes doing the static thing. “That’s Ixion.”

As we grew closer to the tragedy, I could see that there was a man in the center of the large wheel. “Oh, my gods.” I clamped my hand over my mouth.

“Don’t make a pass at Hera,” Hades remarked, moving along. “Zeus doesn’t take kindly to another man making a move on his wife.”

That was absolutely ridiculous if you took into consideration the fact Zeus couldn’t keep it in his pants.

“Stop staring,” Aiden murmured in my ear, and when I still didn’t look away, he reached around and turned my cheek. “I thought Ixion was located in the lowest part of Tartarus?”

I made a face. Only he would know who Ixion was. Aiden had to have been such a goody two-shoes in school—the kind of kid who’d raised his hand with the answer to every question. Dork. I loved him.

“We took a shortcut, so we’re several levels down.” Hades stopped his horse and swung down. We’d hit a dead end consisting of dark, slick-looking boulders. “There is another portion of Tartarus that isn’t spoken of in myths.”

Seth dismounted with the grace of a feline. “And that’s where we’re heading?”

“Yes. We’re going into the Tombs of Tartarus.”

“The Tombs of Tartarus?” Aiden repeated, sliding his arm off my waist.

Ha! Something he didn’t know. I cast him a look over my shoulder and then slid off the horse. I stumbled a step when my feet landed. The ground was oddly…soft and buoyant.

Hades snorted. “It amazes me that you’re an Apollyon with all your agility.”

My mouth opened to fire back, but I squinted. Something was up with the ground. I took a step and my feet sank about an inch in. Aware that Aiden had landed behind me, I bent down and ran my hand over the pale pink ground. It felt like…

I jerked my hand back and looked up, horrified. “The ground feels like skin!”

A slow smile crept onto Hades’ face. “Zeus got bored with the whole rock and eagle bit.”

Rock and eagle bit…? Then it hit me. “Prometheus?”

“You’re standing on him,” Hades remarked.

My stomach turned. “Oh gods, I think I’m going to vomit.”

“Perfect,” the god said.

Seth’s brows rose, but he remained quiet. I forced myself to walk forward, desperately ignoring my gag reflex with each cushiony step. Behind us, several guards dismounted as Hades strolled toward his right. He stopped in front of a smoothed section of the rock and placed his palm to it.

Beside me, Aiden cocked his head to the side. His dark hair was damp and curled around the temples. The wall before us trembled quietly, and then the slab of stone glided open, beckoning us into the darkness.

One of the guards stepped forward, a torch in hand. He handed it to the god and then moved back, hands on his daggers—big, wicked-looking daggers.

“We keep the Titans in the tombs,” Hades explained as he stepped forward. “They’re separated from the rest and have to be handled delicately. Their damnation comes in the form of eternal sleep.”

Cool air washed over my sticky skin as I followed Seth and Hades, and even though it was freaky to be walking into tombs, I welcomed the colder temps. My eyes adjusted quickly. The stone walls were covered in glyphs, much like the ones that appeared on Seth’s and my skin.

“Sleep doesn’t sound like damnation,” I said.

“We couldn’t handle them if they all were awake.” Hades continued down the narrow hall. “Their powers are weakened in the Underworld, but if all of them were up and moving about, it would be a problem.”

“So it works the same way as it does for the Olympians?” Aiden asked, staying close behind me. “They feed off each other’s power.”

“Yes.” Hades came to a split in the hall and hung a left. The temp dropped another couple of degrees as we headed down roughly carved steps. “Once Perses gets topside, he’s going to get some of his power back. He won’t be at a full charge, but he’ll be as powerful as any lesser god.”

“Any lesser god” meant Perses was going to be powerful. Maybe not at the same level as Hades or Ares, but he wasn’t going to be any weakling. The next hall was wider, opening up into a circular chamber. In the center was a small pool that smelled faintly of jasmine, which made me think of the pool Aiden and I had gone swimming in the last time we were in the Underworld.

I caught Aiden’s stare and knew he was thinking the same thing I was. The corner of his lips tipped up, and I flushed.

“Seriously? Could you guys go longer than five minutes without making googly faces at one another?” Seth walked between us, scowling. “It’s distracting.”

Aiden smirked, and then opened his mouth. I cut him off before we got into another battle of wits that ended with me wanting to crawl under Prometheus’ skin. “How many of the Titans do you have down here?”

“All of the ones who want to cause problems.” Hades disappeared into another corridor, and I sighed, hurrying to catch up to him. “Very few are in Elysian Fields. Cronus and his cronies are all here.”

Cronus was the father of Zeus, Hades, and who knew how many other gods. A shudder snaked down my spine. Hades kept his own father imprisoned in a hell-tomb. The hallway was a tight fit. Luckily, we weren’t in it for very long. We entered another chamber, but this one was different.

We were in the tombs.

Twelve tombs, to be exact. I thought it was odd—the number. Twelve Olympians. Twelve entombed Titans. They were in some kind of capsule-like containers, embedded deep into the stone wall. A thick layer of reddish ice covered them, revealing only a humanoid shape beyond the barrier. But from the looks of it, Titans were tall.

Like gargantuan-size.

“Do you know that I’m actually older than Zeus?” Hades asked as he placed the torch into a sconce in the wall. “As are Poseidon, Demeter, Hera, and so on? But because Cronus was a dick—and he was a huge dick—and our momma only saved Zeus, the world thinks Baby Brother was the first to be born.”

“Didn’t Cronus eat you guys?” Seth asked.

I made a face.

Hades laughed. “The whole ‘swallowing us’ crap was symbolic for hiding us. He held us in captivity until our baby brother set us free.” He walked along the iced-over tombs, and his eyes narrowed as he stopped in front of the tomb in the center. “Screw you, Dad.”

I past a look at Aiden, who slowly shook his head, but then Hades stepped to the left and let out a heavy sigh. “There was a time when Perses wasn’t so bad, and maybe the years have changed him, but I’m not holding my breath.” He turned to me. “Are you sure you want to do this, Love?”

My gaze crawled to the tomb in front of him, and my pulse picked up. “Like I’ve said, we really don’t have any other choices.”

Hades stared at me for a long moment and then turned back to the tomb. “You don’t.” He placed his hand on the center of the tomb. I wanted to step back, but I forced myself to stand where I was. I was pretty sure running through the tombs would only end up with me being lost, and then Seth would make fun of me for the rest of my life.

The ice shuddered, and a spiderweb of cracks formed underneath Hades’ palm, rapidly spreading across the front of the tomb. Seth and Aiden flanked me, and for once, both boys were quiet and not picking at each other.

Ice slipped away, shedding from the tomb, and hit the floor, making tiny sounds like a distant wind chime. Within seconds, the Titan was revealed.

Perses was tall—almost seven and a half feet, maybe more. And he was unnaturally still inside his tomb. Thick lashes fanned cheeks the color of supple brown leather. His skull was smooth, free of hair, and his features were angular and exotic—full lips, sharp cheekbones, and a well-defined brow. He was beautiful in the way all the godly creatures were: inhumanly perfect.