“I never want to see your bones,” I whispered, swallowing hard to try and moisten my throat.
Cronus’ stare was sad, but he didn’t lie to me. Neither of us knew how this was going to play out. But I had faith that it would not end with Cronus stolen from me.
Fuck Death. He couldn’t have my Titan.
Cronus reached in and placed a hand on the closest part of Iapetos that he could reach. His eyes closed and the sins stirred inside of me at the sudden blast of power. Cronus’ huge body started to shake and he lurched forward, the hand that wasn’t on the bones braced against the stone.
“You okay?” I asked, stepping forward, ready to add my energy to his.
He didn’t need it though. Before I even touched him, a blast of power shot around, knocking me back a few steps, and then there was another Titan in our midst.
Iapetos didn’t even look remotely surprised to be back amongst the living as he stepped forward and embraced Cronus. “I’m ready, brother,” he said.
Then he turned to me and I was surprised to see he was only a few inches taller than me. His hair was light and shaved close to his head, his eyes a depthless green, without another color to break it up. The eyes were the freakiest thing I’d ever seen. Like they were seeing through my skin to what lay beneath.
“Maisey, daughter of the moon goddess,” he said, before Cronus could introduce us. “It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve seen you many times in my visions.”
I snorted, before cutting off that hugely unattractive sound. “That sounds creepier than it is, right?”
He returned my smile, his own more contemplative. “Yes … and no. However, there is no changing the facts. I have seen this moment many times, and if we don’t hurry, we will fail.”
Iapetos took off down the dark stone path, Cronus and I right behind him. “Probably should have woken this dude up first,” I whispered. “He seems to have some inside knowledge.”
#InsiderTradingIsNotIllegalHere
Cronus shook his head. “Iapetos knew when he would be returned to the land of the living. He’ll have it all worked out.”
He sounded confident, and I trusted in that confidence. This was going to be fine.
#SaidTheChickInTheMiddleOfABurningBuilding #Metaphorically
Once we were out of the catacombs, Iapetos held both hands out to us, and then we were whisked away, landing on the edge of a riverbed.
“This was Phoebe’s favorite place,” he said, looking around with that same strange smile, the sunlight reflecting off the super green eyes that were still creeping me out. The look on this dude’s face was a fucking cat, all proud and clever as it brings you its latest kill.
I’d probably wake up tomorrow with a dead cow on my pillow.
“Her bones are in the river?” Cronus asked.
Iappie nodded.
“What river is this?” I asked, noting how green everything around us was. I wasn’t up on rivers around the world, but something told me it wasn’t the Nile, and even though it was green there wasn’t enough jungle to be the Amazon. There were little boathouses dotting the shore, people frozen mid-step.
“It’s the river Thames,” Cronus told me. “It never used to look like this. It was wilder, untamed. And Iappie is right, it was her favorite.”
Out of nowhere, Iapetos dove into the water, disappearing below and not reappearing even after ten minutes.
“Is he okay in there?” I finally asked, edging closer to the water.
Cronus stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. “He’s fine, Mais. He’s just retrieving the bones.” He blinked rapidly, his eyes glazing over. “I’m losing control of the world. I can’t hold time much longer.”
There was nothing left in his eyes then as he went internal, trying to keep his energy pushing through the universe.
“Iappie,” I shouted at the water, hoping the fucking Titan would move his flippers. We didn’t have time to waste.
Finally, that fucker broke the surface of the water and scanned the shore until his cat eyes landed on me. “Got her.” He leapt up out of the water and landed beside Cronus. I looked around to see if any passersby saw or cared that a man had just levitated out of the Thames, but then remembered everyone was frozen.
“Who is this again?”
I’d forgotten who the fuck we were resurrecting.
“Phoebe. Pheebs for short. She’s also a prophet. It will be great to have her on board.”
Oh, great.
Cronus groaned. “Until she lectures us on everything. She’s too smart for her own good.”
Iappie waved Cronus off. “She’ll be fine. I spoke to her a moment ago. She suggested we steer clear of Thanatos. He’s really pissed.”
Cronus grunted. “Whatever. Than owes me.”
The psychic Titan knelt on the ground, laid two bones out, and then looked up at me. “Boost me?”
#SureThing #PowerBoostComingRightUp
Cronus again settled into a distant stare and I wasn’t entirely sure he was breathing. He seemed … frozen, mimicking the rest of the world.
Placing my hands over Iappie’s back, power rocked through me, making my teeth chatter. Within seconds, the new Titan stood before me.
“Thanatos will have our heads. Erynomus is waking,” Phoebe said. She was a gorgeous blonde with long curly hair. From what I’d seen, the Titans were even more physically perfect than the Greek gods. It was insane to think they were all ancient AF. Had people gotten uglier over the years? Or was this just a god thing…?
Iappie nodded. “He is angry, but that’s often a fleeting emotion. In time, he will realize that Earth is more important than his need to keep everything in order.”
Cronus seemed to snap out of his trance then. “Glad to have you on our team, Pheebs. I’ve missed you.”
She hurried forward and embraced him. Then she turned to me. “Maisey, doll! Welcome to the family.”
She hugged me close and I raised an eyebrow. Welcome to the
