Within minutes, we were back in Thanatos’s realm. “Your powers are returning fast,” I said breathlessly.
Cronus, so grim-faced that I barely recognized him, didn’t even look at me.
“Thanatos!” he roared, the ground shaking in the wake of his anger.
Within seconds, the sex on legs god appeared, his brow wrinkled. “What’s with the yelling?” he asked cheerily. “This is a place of rest.”
Cronus was beyond reason. His eyes were shimmering with godly power, his hands clenched in front of him. “Why did you not tell me that Pandora’s Box had been moved there? To Zeus’ cave?”
For the first time since I’d seen the god of the underworld, he looked … uneasy. “It’s common knowledge. Zeus spent eight hundred years tracking the box. It was his greatest achievement to have it as part of his collection.”
Cronus roared, and Thanatos actually flinched, before he fell into a defensive stance.
“I have been locked away,” Cronus finally said. “There was no way for me to know. And you sent me there with Selene’s lineage. They’re drawn to the fucking sins. They always have been.”
Thanatos lurched forward, and apparently he wasn’t as scared of me as he was of Cronus, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and jerking me closer. “What is this necklace?” he asked, shaking me a little, eyes wide. “You were not supposed to touch anything.”
I tried to wrench myself free, but I had as much strength as a fly against him.
Turned out I didn't have to worry about it though, as Thanatos went flying a moment later, and another set of huge hands closed around my biceps, these ones gentler.
“Don’ttouch my human,” the Titan bit out, pulling me back into his chest.
I tried really hard not to let my heart beat out of my chest, even though it felt like it wanted to. What a shame the world was ending. I might never have a chance to tick this off my list, but damn … I wanted one night with Cronus.
I could probably die happy then. Screw Instagram likes, I’d much rather screw a god … Titan ... whatever—he was a god to me. And I was the chick who freed the god. Surely that entitled me to one night with him.
“Focus, human,” Thanatos roared, and I pulled my brain back from sex fantasyland. “Tell us exactly what happened.”
Swallowing hard, I breathed in a few deep breaths, hoping my hands would stop shaking. “So, I was waiting for Cronus to get your elixir, and he was taking a really long time—”
“Two minutes,” he muttered. “I was gone for two minutes.”
“Really long time,” I repeated, “and I started to get worried, so I crept forward, being very careful not to touchanything.”
Twin scoffs, that I ignored.
“Then it called my name.”
They both stilled. I definitely had their attention now. All of it. Laser focus that was a little disconcerting when it came from a pair of powerful gods. “You think the box said your name?”
“Yep. Definitely.”
Right? Everything was a little fuzzy, and it seemed kind of far-fetched now that I’d said it out loud, but then again ... so did a two-thousand-year-old god stepping out of a portal.
“I leaned over to look closer and a strand of my hair escaped and fell on the lid.”
Both gods groaned at that.
I hurried on to describe the rest, including the darkness, and Cronus picked up from there.
“The darkness wanted Maisey,” he said, sounding serious. “I managed to break its hold, but I couldn’t return it to the box. Not without a box to return it to, and not without my brothers and sisters.”
“You said something about the world’s sins to me a while ago,” I interjected. “The box is what you were talking about, right?”
A single nod. “The deadly sins, nine gods, locked away to protect the world. The Titans were the guardians of the sins and the box.” His head jerked up to nail Thanatos with a glare. “They have been locked away in many ways, but the box was our last attempt to make it permanent. It weakened us more than we expected though, and Zeus took advantage.”
I gasped. “Are you trying to tell me that you were protecting the world, trying to keep shit balanced, and Zeus attacked you?”
