The Titans and gods celebrated with shouts of joy. Everyone except Theia, Hyperion, and me. We were looking at Cronus, and a sob escaped at the expression Theia wore as she stepped closer to him.
I called out his name, my voice hoarse, but there was no movement. I saw the glance that passed between Hyperion and Theia. I must have blacked out for a second, because one moment Hyperion was holding me and the next I was crying and shaking over Cronus’ body. He barely looked like the Titan I knew. The entire network of veins from his chest, through his arms and neck, were all black. The whites of his eyes were black and his mouth was frozen open…
Dead.
I pounded on his chest, hyperventilating. “Get a healer!” I sobbed.
No one moved though. They all accepted what I couldn’t.
Just as the Fates said. His line ended today.
Chapter 16
Deafening screams ripped from my chest. When I finally managed to stop, I took up rocking Cronus back and forth, his heavy weight almost crushing me, but I didn’t care.
“Maisey…”
Someone was talking to me but I couldn’t hear them over the wailing in my head. I couldn’t hear anything.
Cronus. Please.
Please.
Please.
Please.
I begged. I begged until my brain hurt and my arms could no longer hold him. Until my tears covered us both in salt and despair. Until I collapsed against him. It was only at this point that someone managed to pry his body from my grip and I fell into a pit of darkness. The emotional exhaustion caught up to me and I welcomed unconsciousness, my only escape from the pain ripping at my soul, tearing apart my heart, shattering my being.
But even in dreams he was there, my beautiful, giant, pain-in-the-fucking-ass Titan. I missed him so much…
“She’s crying in her sleep,” someone whispered in the room, drawing me back to the land of the living. “This is heartbreaking.”
It was Theia, her grandmotherly voice soothing, and yet not at the same time. I was made up of abrasive and broken pieces now, and nothing could soothe them.
When I’d allowed myself as much grieving time as I could, I opened my eyes and wiped at them. Hyperion and Theia were right there beside me, both of them lurching forward, their faces wreathed in concern.
“Maisey,” Hyperion said, grasping my hand and squeezing it tightly. I ignored him, needing to pull myself together.
Now that the shock of Cronus’ death had passed, I was ready to do what I’d always planned if it went down this way.
I was ready to bring him back.
Actually…
“Did you bring Cronus back?” I asked, sitting up as energy flooded me.
Hyperion sucked in a deep breath. “We tried. We used the same spell that was part of all Titans, but it didn’t work.”
I wasn’t surprised by this. Devastated, but not surprised. Cronus hadn’t done a great job at hiding the fact that he was worried about his death. Worried about the future.
“Take me to Thanatos, then,” I finally said. No time for politeness, I’d already wasted precious moments having a mental breakdown.
He blinked at me, shooting a glance at his wife.
“Take me there or I will find another way,” I warned him. There was literally nothing I wouldn’t do right now to get Cronus back.
“I will take you there, but first we must deal with something pressing,” he said.
I glared at him, ready to fight. “What? What could be more pressing than bringing Cronus back?”
Hyperion’s lips thinned. “Nothing is more important, I completely understand. It's why I have already tried everything I know to return him to the land of the living. But this is to do with Cronus…”
That calmed me a little, until his next words. “Zeus stole the box, the necklace, and tried to take Cronus’ body.”
I shot up off of the bed in the little boat we were in as rage ran wild inside my chest. There were no sins to make me powerful—I was just a chick with nice hair now. But a part of me longed to be more, so I could release these destructive emotions in a show of power.
Theia reached out and patted my hand. “That is what Hyperion was trying to tell you. The thing we need to do first. If we want to have a hope of resurrecting Cronus, we must protect his remains from Zeus, and anyone else who’d want to use his powerful bones. We must find a spot to lay him until we have the means to resurrect him. For now,” she added.
And just like that, grief slammed into me, stealing away my breath. “Bali,” I choked out.
She nodded, her smile trembling, and then she was gone. Hyperion held out a hand. “Trust me, going to the underworld now or in ten minutes won’t make a difference in bringing him back. This is something you should do both for yourself and for the safety of the world.”
Oh God, oh God, this wasn’t happening. Tears spilled from my eyes and I nodded, reaching out to take his hand. Within a blink there was warm sand at my feet and every single Titan was standing with their arms clasped, looking down at my love’s lifeless form.
I had no idea how Hyperion had assembled this so quickly, and it really didn’t matter. As I stepped closer, dizziness overwhelmed me. Grief was debilitating. How did people live with it every day of their lives? The only thing keeping me functioning at all was the determination to bring him back.
Most people didn’t have that sort of hope.
“Where do you want to place him, Maisey?” Hyperion asked.
I pointed to the hut where we first made love. “There. Place him there.”
Okeanos was the first one to step forward, using his hands to part the water that lay beneath. “I’ll form a hole in the sand under there,” he said. “The water will
