A pop had me jumping, a frustrated shriek rising in my throat.
“Twenty fucking minutes,” I snarled at Hyperion. “You assholes couldn’t give me twenty minutes to take a breather after almost dying.”
#LoveBubblePopped
There had been death swirling around me. Literal DEATH.
#LifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes
“Sorry, Mais. I wish I came bearing good news, but … I don’t.”
#ColorMeFuckingShocked
“What now,” I groaned.
Another pop and Rhea appeared, looking quite disheveled for the normally put-together Titaness.
“The sins aren’t waiting for their order to manifest,” Hyperion said in a rush of power. He was shedding it all over the place, the energy tingling across my skin.
Cronus was suddenly on high alert, releasing my hand to step closer to Hyperion. “How can that be? They have rules…”
Rhea snorted. “Apparently they’ve learned to break them. They’re smarter than last time, adapting at an unprecedented rate. They have seen that we can take them out one by one, so the last four are going to hit us together.”
At this point I’d caught up, and I sort of wished I hadn’t.
“The last four have all manifested?” I whispered. “What, like … into one huge sin?”
#PleaseSayNo
My mind was back on the tentacle mess that was War.
Hyperion shook his head. “Not yet. At the moment they’re still four separate entities, but they are amassing their power. They are going to join if it means beating us.”
“Who is left?” I asked.
I needed to know. I knew that the world ended in Fire and Death, but what were the other two? I wasn’t sure Cronus ever mentioned them.
Cronus’ voice was nothing but a rumble. I could see darkness seep around his necklace too, like the sins were responding.
“Fire, Famine, Frost and Death.”
#OhFuck
There was silence after this, and all I could think was that Death missed out on the F alliteration. Okay, I was also thinking about how fucked up this was, but the alliteration thing did cross my mind too.
“Famine makes sense,” I said, “but Frost? I mean, I kind of like frosty mornings.”
Maybe we could use frost to put out fire? See, I was smart.
Cronus shook his head. “Think of it more as an ice age, and then that will be followed by a fire that will cleanse the world of all.”
Okay. Not ideal.
“Then Death,” Hyperion finished darkly.
Okay, great.
Rhea examined her nails. “From what I can tell, they’re going to amass in one corner of the world, and then when they’ve razed it to the ground, through Famine, Frost, and Fire, then Death will step in for the final blow and take over everything.”
The Titans all nodded like that made sense, and I nodded because if I didn’t do something I was going to scream my freaking head off.
“How do we stop all four at once?” I whispered. “Cronus can’t be everywhere. So that means the rest of us have to contain them long enough for him to get around and absorb them.”
Clever bastards teaming up.
“We’re going to need help.” Those five words sounded like the last thing he wanted to say.
“Greek gods?” Hyperion asked, already clueing into whatever Cronus meant.
“Yep,” Cronus sighed. His energy rose in the air, and I had to grit my teeth. Fucker was packing more than his anaconda and dick gold.
Okeanos, Crius, Koios all appeared in the next instant, like he’d put out a long distance call to them. It took longer for the Greek gods to make their way to us, but eventually we stood in a circle that included the Titans and Apollo, Athena, Ares, and Thanatos.
“Who the fuck do you think you are calling us like we’re your dogs?” Ares snarled at Cronus. “I should kill you right here and now for that insult.”
Cronus slammed his hand against the male’s bare chest, sending him flying halfway across the beach. Ares caught himself before he crashed into the sand, and was back in our faces in seconds.
“Shut the fuck up,” Cronus snarled. “Not even with an entire army last time could you pathetic excuses for gods kill me. Your threats mean nothing. I’ve imprisoned your king, so now you listen to me.”
If Ares’ face got any redder he’d look like a tomato, but he managed not to say anything. If looks could kill though…
“Why are we here?” Athena asked, sounding very businesslike. She seemed to have learned from our little Grand Canyon run-in.
Hyperion stepped forward, drawing their attention. Hands went to swords and weapons, but the Titan didn’t care. “The final four sins are manifesting at the same time. This has never happened before and it’s going to make it next to impossible for us to stop them before they destroy the world. We’re talking billions of deaths. All the energy required to keep you powered up will be gone. No more worship. No more sacrifices. No more gods.”
Their collective faces paled.
“Kinda dried up in the last few centuries anyway,” Thanatos grumbled, arms crossed over his muscled chest, “but we get your point.”
#PoorThanatos
No love for the god of death.
“We must work together,” Cronus said, sounding like that was the last thing he wanted. “I’m the one now who will contain the sins, but I can’t be in four places at once. You will have to find the sins, lock them down so they can’t use their power to connect and merge with each other, and then bring them to the same place so I can absorb them all at once. This all needs to happen simultaneously.”
“You must take them in order,” Okeanos said, water lapping at his feet. He was bringing the ocean way up on the sand, calling it to him. “So Famine, Frost, Fire … Death last. He must be last no matter what.”
Cronus nodded, not looking surprised by this.
The four Greek gods exchanged a glance, before Apollo cleared his throat. “We’ll help if you release Zeus,” he said. “That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”
Cronus shook his head, but Hyperion got in first. “Fine, it’s a deal.”
Cronus didn’t like that—blue energy rose
