“Requiem,” Hyperion shouted off in the distance and then there were grunting sounds.
I knew from the familiar arms that held me, the heat igniting in my core, and his earthy scent, that it was Cronus.
“You can open your eyes now, love,” he murmured.
My eyes sprang open and I took in the scene before me with a dropped jaw. Three Medusa-looking bitches were frozen like popsicles, and Zeus was bound by the hands and ankles with those blue glowing cuffs. Hyperion held him under one arm. No other gods could be seen but there was a trail of blood and broken trees to tell a story.
“I need a fucking margarita,” Rhea exclaimed.
Cronus sighed, tucking me in closer to his body. “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
“Meet you at the prison entrance,” he told Hyperion and then poof, we were gone from the Grand Canyon, reappearing at the place where I first met Cronus. This cave held some pretty traumatic memories for me—not exactly how I imagined spending my twenty-first birthday. But in hindsight, maybe the best thing that ever happened to me.
Rhea zapped in with Hound, and Hyperion with Zeus. Cronus slowly set me down and walked over to Zeus. He grabbed the god’s chin firmly and forced him to meet his gaze. “It’s out of respect for your mother's wishes that I don’t kill you today.”
Zeus’ chest heaved up and down in anger, but he wisely stayed silent.
“You need time to chisel away your ego and love of power. What do you say, Hype? A thousand years sound good?”
Hyperion nodded. “Seems fair.”
Rhea stepped forward and faced her son. “You always were my most ambitious child. You took it too far this time.”
Zeus frowned. “Don’t do this. Come on, we can work out a—” Without hearing him out, Cronus basically lifted the god and threw him into the opening. Zeus landed hard on what looked like barren land inside the portal, and a bark behind us drew my attention.
Cronus looked down at Hound. “You sure?”
The hellhound walked into the stone opening and growled low at Zeus, who stood and backed away from the creature. Cronus looked pained for a second, but then just grimaced. “Hound is going to keep an eye on Zeus. I’ll be back for him when all of the sins are collected.”
Emotion clogged my throat at the sight of Hound staying back to keep an eye on that asshole. But at least that would hopefully mean the god would stay put and stop getting in our fucking way. We had no time for his power play. War was on the loose. And more sins after him.
Cronus shut the stone over the hole to close it and the Titan of time swiped his hand across the blade he held at his side. Placing his palm on the opening, blood dripped down his wrist and coated the stone. He said something in what sounded like … Latin, maybe.
Finally, he turned to face us. “Alright, that’s one fucked-up job complete. Time for us to get back to Bali.”
Hyperion sighed. “Cronus … War. We need to contain him.”
Cronus leveled a hard stare on his best friend. “No.”
Then he reached out for me and poof, we were gone. Once again standing on a beach. The multiple zapping had made me dizzy and I swayed on my feet as Cronus took my face into his hands. “Tell me. What did Selene really say?”
#OhFuck #Busted
My stomach knotted.
“Nothing much. She thinks I’m strong enough to take on all of the sins. Don’t worry.” I made an effort not to chew my lip in anxiety.
“Lies. Tell me the truth or I’ll be forced to take it from your mind,” he warned.
My mouth popped open as I yanked my head out of his hands. “You wouldn’t dare!”
He shrugged. “If it kept you safe, I would do anything.”
Dammit. #SayingAllTheRightThings #WhileStillBeingAControllingAss
I sighed … in reality, how much longer could I keep this secret from him? “Look, I think I can take one more—”
“Maisey,” he growled.
My bottom lip quivered as tears lined my eyes. “She said Narida could transfer the necklace and sins to you, okay! That you could save the world and in the end you would die after containing Death.”
He was very still. Watching me, unmoving. “Narida can transfer the box to me and spare you?”
I shook my head. “Did you hear what I said? If that happens … you die.”
He reached out and grabbed my arm and we zapped away again. The moment we landed on the white sandy cobblestone path, I recognized it as Narida’s street, but immediately knew something was wrong. The acrid smell of smoke filled my nostrils. Before I could investigate that though, I started to fall backward because that was one too many zaps in a row.
Cronus caught me as nausea and dizziness rolled into me. “Breathe, love. I’m sorry.” He rubbed my back, holding my hair up and out of the way, but his focus was on our surroundings.
“What’s happening?” I asked, straightening and taking a deep cleansing salty-air breath through my nose. In no time, the dizziness and pounding in my head eased. “Was this Zeus as well?”
I mean, the bastard seemed to have plan after plan, and no doubt he wanted to take control of the one being who could transfer the sins to someone else. He’d already told me he wanted to take them … he must have the crone.
Cronus took a long moment to answer, no doubt assessing a lot of shit I couldn’t even see with my non-Titan senses. “This is not Zeus,” he finally told me, voice hard. “This is the sins. They’re manifesting faster, moving up the timeline. They’ve evolved from the last lot, and they’re learning at exponential
