Lowering my hand on his shoulder, I rubbed his skin gently. “We have no choice,” I whispered to him. “Worry about Zeus later.”
Some of the ice in his eyes melted, bringing back their warm color. With a resigned rumble, he nodded, and didn’t fight Hyperion on that decision.
“I don’t like the thought of splitting up,” Rhea piped up suddenly, worrying at her lower lip.
I looked at her. “We just gotta deal. If it has to happen simultaneously, splitting up is the only thing that makes sense. Cronus’ plan works.”
#SackUpBitch #OrIsItFlapUp
She glared at me but said nothing in return.
“Okay, so what are the finer details of the plan?” Thanatos asked, eyes lit up with dark anticipation. God of death was feeling this way too hard. Dude was probably hoping for lots of death and destruction.
Before anyone could answer, an explosion from behind us sent everyone sprawling to the ground. And by everyone, I meant only me, because the others were fucking gods and Titans. Cronus caught me just before I hit, hauling me back to my feet.
Turning to where it had come from, I blinked at the former mansion we’d been admiring, that was now nothing more than a ball of fire.
“What. In. The fuck. Just. Happened?” I gaped.
“It’s starting,” Cronus murmured. “It’s going to be chaos all over the world. We have to find the sins right now.”
“Can you feel them?” Athena asked, sword in hand as she fell into a battle stance.
Cronus closed his eyes, one hand on the necklace.
I had never been able to sense them, but I also wasn’t an all-powerful Titan.
“Two of them are in China, one is Russia, and one is in Europe. They’re targeting densely populated countries to start with.”
Whoa. Fucking Yoda. Cronus had powers to detect them now. Maybe he should have had the necklace all along.
Ares put out his hand. “You swear on your word that Zeus will be let free the moment we get the sins captured?”
Cronus’ jaw ticked and Hyperion nudged him gently. “You have my word,” Cronus growled.
They shook hands, a magical flare of blue light in the Titan’s palm. By the mischievous look in his eye, he’d agreed to set Zeus free but not to refrain from killing him right after.
#IKnewMyMan
“China, Russia, and Europe. Let's split into teams, then when we have the sins locked down, we can all meet at…” He rattled off some coordinates that apparently made sense to everyone but me. I was more of a “go left or right at the fork in the road” sort of chick.
“We cannot screw around,” Cronus snapped out. “If they amass enough power to form one entity, we’ll be more than a little fucked.”
No one disagreed. It was a large group of grim-faced entities standing around me.
Rhea got the ball rolling. “I’ll go to Russia. My frost magic works better in that climate anyway.”
Athena shot her a withering glare. “I’ll go with you.”
They zapped out of thin air, and Cronus looked at Thanatos, who nodded. “I’ll babysit them and make sure they don’t fuck up,” he stated before disappearing too.
Okay, that was some sexist shit. Would he have said that about a man?
#Feminist #FeministWhoLikedAnacondaDick
Crius and Koios grabbed Ares. “We’ll take China.” And poof, they were gone.
Hyperion looked at Apollo and Okeanos. “Europe?”
They nodded. Poof … gone. Then it was just Cronus and I, standing on the beach in Bali, the waves crashing in and rolling back out, the beautiful house we’d been looking at before up in flames, humans screaming and shouting as more destruction rang across their beautiful country.
This was it. End fucking game.
Cronus stepped forward, cupping my chin in his massive hand. “I’ve never loved anything like I love you.” His heartfelt declaration had my heart pounding in my chest.
A slow grin tugged at my lips. “I love you too.” Reaching up onto my tiptoes, I captured his mouth in a kiss.
When he pulled back, there was regret written on his face.
“Cronus…”
He chewed at his lip. “If you love me, then you’ll forgive me.” He grabbed my arm, and in a blip of time we were in my apartment in Santa Barbara.
“No!” I cried. “You swore you'd never leave me again!”
He stepped away from me, and unlike when he’d left me in Vegas, he showed every ounce of his distress at doing this. “I promise, love. I’m not leaving, not like last time. I’ll be right back. I’ll deal with the sins and be right back.”
Tears streamed down my face. “You can’t. Once you take Death, that’s it.”
I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck, holding tightly. “Please don’t do this. Don’t go like this. What happened to us being in this together?”
He looked tortured, his eyes wide, chest heaving. “Maisey … if you get hurt again … I’m sorry … I can’t ever live through that again.”
“Cronus!” I fought him as he pried my arms away from his neck. “You’ll die!”
He peeled my hands back with ease and gently placed me on the bed, pinning my arms above me. “When will you see?” he snarled. His hold was gentle, but his eyes were filled with fire. “I can’t die. Not really. Nothing can destroy me except seeing you hurt!”
I shut my mouth with a snap.
#HolyFuckingRomanticTitan
“Let me go, Mais.” He released me and stood. “Let me go. I’ll be stronger knowing you’re safe here.”
The storm in his eyes, dark and glittering, broke my heart into a thousand pieces. I needed to do this. For him.
“Okay. You can … go.”
His shoulders sagged with relief as he leaned down, reaching under my ass to haul me up into his arms. Our lips crashed together, my mouth opening so I could taste all of him. His tongue was dominant, stroking my own, bringing my body to life with just that simple touch.
And then he pulled away right as my brain was a fuzzy mess and my body a burning ember. A tear rolled down my cheek. He reached out with a thumb and wiped
