“The ocean?”
He nodded. “Bermuda Triangle. Some energy there is lending them power.”
I groaned. “How the fuck are we going to fight the sins in the middle of the fucking Bermuda Triangle.”
“Okeanos is our best shot,” Cronus said softly, and went back to his absent stare.
“Hello, love,” Hyperion murmured in the gentlest voice I’d ever heard from him.
Shifting my stance, I found myself staring at a beautiful brunette he was holding in his arms. Their faces were wreathed in joy.
“Oh, darling,” she cried. “It must be bad for you to bring me back. Thanatos is on a rampage. I missed you.”
They embraced, and then she pulled away and faced me. “Sweet Maisey. Come here, child.”
Having a hot thirty-year-old call you child and talk like a grandma was weird. I mean, technically she was my grandma.
I met her halfway and we hugged. It wasn’t as weird as I expected. She smelled warm and summery, the way I remembered vacation as a child. There was a sense of calm and content about her that set some of my soul at ease.
“We need to get the rest before Thanatos locks the underworld down with no way in and out,” Cronus reminded us.
“Theia and I will take Tethys, Themis, and Mnemosyne,” Hyperion said quickly.
Cronus nodded. “Leaving Iapetos and Phoebe for Maisey and me.”
Not even for a million dollars could I have pronounced most of the names they were saying. It was like they were speaking ancient Greek… #OhWait #BlondeMoment
Didn’t matter though, I’d caught the part where I was with Cronus and that was all that mattered.
“Are you sure you can handle two resurrections?” I asked him, because he seemed to barely be able to hold a conversation, let alone raise the dead.
The first few times we’d brought a Titan back, he’d been handicapped by his powers not being restored. This time, it was the fact he was holding time across the world.
Oh, and he was housing some sins.
“It’s too much,” I whispered. Cronus was trying to take on too much. His power would be depleted. I wasn’t sure how much help I’d be either—my energy was only just starting to return after helping Hyperion.
“I’ll be fine,” Cronus told me. “I have more than enough power for this.”
“And you’ll have Maisey’s help, as long as she doesn't vomit,” Hyperion piped up.
Before I could narrow my eyes on the old bastard, he winked and took his wife’s hand, a look of contentment on his face. They zapped out of existence in the next heartbeat, leaving me with Cronus.
Cronus, who was starting to look a little pale.
“Come on, we don’t have much time,” he grit out.
Well, if that wasn’t ominous…
Chapter 14
The first Titan, Iapetos, was quite easy to find.
“He’s a Titan of mortality, lifespan, death. Like those three Greek bitches who keep trying to tell us our fate,” Cronus told me as we entered an underground tomb in Rome.
“Iappie saw his own fate and arranged everything so that he’d be readily accessible for us to reawaken.”
“I didn’t think the Fates could see their own, uh, fate,” I replied awkwardly. “You’re saying this Ippie character could?
Cronus snorted. “I’m starting to think I’m lucky you can pronounce my name.”
I shrugged. “Look, I’m not gonna lie. Your parents clearly hated you all. I mean … your names are really … unique.”
His low laughter was almost deafeningly loud in this silent catacombs we were traipsing through. In the dim light, I couldn’t see Cronus that clearly, but I felt his energy. It was strong, but there was a tugging sensation about it that told me he was tired.
I picked up the pace, still barely keeping up with his long-legged stride. “Are you doing okay?” I whispered. “Take energy from me if you need it.”
He shook his head as he glanced down at me. “Save your energy, Mais. I might need you for the resurrections.”
Sucking my worry deep inside, making it as small as I could, I shoved it into a box that I refused to open. I was going to stop stressing and just go with whatever happened. Maybe it was all pre-ordained, and worrying would do nothing. I’d save my mental energy for making sure that Cronus survived, because I refused to believe his time was up. Hepatitis would make the box in time, Death wouldn’t be part of Cronus long enough to kill him, and we’d all live happily ever after.
#RaisedOnFairyTales
When we reached the darkest part of the tomb, there was a chill in the air, the sort of cold that spoke of ancient times and long-buried things. Cronus knew exactly where to go, and his instinct was confirmed by a plaque on the wall that read Iapetos – Titan – Brother – Prophet.
“He was buried by some of his worshipers,” Cronus said, voice low. This place created the sort of atmosphere where one wanted to stay silent. The energy was really strong, and I had a sudden urge to wander past the other plaques and see who else was buried down here.
But there was no time for that.
Cronus ran his hands across the sides of the stone sign that held the chiseled Titan name. With a click and hiss of old air, it detached, and I gasped at the dark hole in the wall behind it. My eyes ran along the ton of other stone etched plaques along the row.
“They’re all buried here? His worshipers?”
I mean, I’d known this of course. I knew we were walking through a tomb, but the fact that there were hundreds … thousands maybe, of dead bodies around me. It was … creepy.
Cronus nodded. “Only Iappie had the foresight to arrange this type of grand departure.”
Peering closer into the musty old tomb, I saw a complete skeleton.
“Do Titans usually decompose?” I asked.
Cronus nodded. “We were born of the earth and to the earth we will return. Our bones, though, are too powerful to break down. They are forevermore the reminder of the first Titans.”
The ache in my chest
