Holy shit, he’d gotten the elixir. Sneaky bastard.
Thanatos’ eyes grew wide as he reached for it, but Cronus pulled back at the last second. “If you vow to see this through with me to the end. A full alliance.”
Thanatos paused for a moment before nodding. “I will help you lock away the nine deadly sins in any way that I am able, and I will help you imprison Zeus.”
They shook on it, a faint white glow emitting when their palms touched, and I knew Thanatos had just given more than his word.
Cronus dropped the elixir in his palm and then reached out and pulled me into him again before everything went black.
A moment later, my feet slammed on the ground and I looked around trying to determine where we were. This whole flashing thing was weird and cool as fuck at the same time.
“The cave?” I asked the god attached to me.
We were back in the cave that I’d freed him from, back in Santa Barbara. The desolate scene that had appeared when I touched the wall was gone, and once again the circular engraving was back.
“Just a quick stop,” he muttered and walked over to the wall, which no longer held my bloody handprint.
Cronus placed his hand in the exact spot—I was pretty sure—that I’d placed my bloody palm and muttered a few words in another language. The stone wall then went transparent, showing that dark, deserted landscape of the prison world.
“Umm … we’re not going in there, right?” I backed up a little. I’d forgotten how freaking scary it had looked, probably because I’d been just short of wasted that night.#NeedAnotherDrink
This guy was crazy if he thought I was going into his thousand-year-old prison.
He shook his head and held his fingers to his lips, giving a loud and shrill whistle. He looked into the empty space for what seemed like forever, the slightest tinge of worry marring his features. “I didn’t know if I could trust you when I first met you, or if this world would be safe for him, so I left him there…” His voice sounded hollow and I had no idea what the fuck he was talking about, until that expression faded from his face, and I stared into the abyss again to find … a beast ... off in the distance. A gigantic black bear-dog was running at us, a twelve-inch string of drool dripping from his face.
“What. Is. That?” I backed up as much as our bond would allow.
Cronus’ lips twitched as if he wanted to smile but didn’t know how. “That’s Hound. He will scent my siblings’ remains and help us resurrect them,”
Hound was the size of a small bear and, if not for his massive wagging tail, looked like he’d eat me for a light snack. The bear dog burst through the portal and into the cave, throwing himself at Cronus’ feet and flipping upside down for a belly rub.
“Good boy,” Cronus told him, rubbing his chest.
“You have a pet?”
How was it possible this god cared for anyone but himself?
Cronus stood, towering over me and the beast.
“A hellhound is hardly a pet, but we have an understanding.”
Hellhound.
My eyes went wide as I scrutinized the beast’s features, looking for red eyes or two heads. Instead I just saw black fur, drool, and sharp teeth.
“Was … he … locked away too?” My voice shook as Hound pinned me with a glare.
“Yes,” was all Cronus said before grabbing me, then reaching out to grab the scruff of Hound’s neck.
Blackness.
When the room materialized itself, I realized we were in my apartment. Nausea churned in my belly from all the zipping and zapping. But I was lucid enough to notice that the blue wards he’d left up before were broken down, as was my front door.
“Shit!” I shrieked and turned in a full circle, expecting my TV and laptop to be gone. They weren’t.
Cronus waved his hand at the damage. “Zeus’s lackeys. Looking for us.”
Bastards.I stomped over and slammed the door, but it just bounced against the broken lock and swung wide again.
