A low rumbling chuckle was my answer, and I wondered if I’d actually made Cronus laugh this time or was it my imagination. Everything went fuzzy as I napped for a bit, and when I managed to pry my eyes open, it was to the scent of cooking meat, a warm fire, and something softer than the ground under my head.
I scrambled up, before realizing I’d been laid across a bed of leaves covered in a thick blanket. Another blanket was over top of me. “I don’t want to use too much power,” Cronus was saying to Rhea, “so we’ll have to make do with minimal comforts for now.”
She did her infamous nose wrinkle. I could already tell it was a signature move. “Cronie, come on. You know I can’t sleep on the ground. Just bring some beds.”
He shook his head. “My energy is strong enough to be tracked even in this forest. It’s one night. You’ll be fine.”
I was distracted from my eavesdropping by a wooden bowl close to my head. It was filled with water, and I grabbed it, gulping the water down in one go. Not water, it was sweet like wine but super hydrating. I trusted that Cronus wouldn’t leave it here if I couldn’t drink it, so I chugged the whole thing. My throat burned a little and I felt exhausted, but the dehydration was pushed back a touch. Energy trickled across my skin, and Cronus was suddenly right in front of me. He crouched at my side, his hand coming out to brush some hair from my face. “You slept a long time. Are you feeling okay?”
I nodded, pushing my tired, sore body up. “Yep, just human, you know.”
He didn’t know, but whatever.
“Do you have some food?” I asked, not even caring at this point if it was tree bark. I just needed to put something into my stomach.
He handed me a steaming hunk of brown stuff. “Wild mushroom for my vegetarian.” He winked.
I grinned and took it gratefully. Was Cronus on drugs? Why was he being so nice to me?
“Vegetarian?” Rhea cackled. “That’s a great way to die in the wild.”
I glared at her. “You’re the goddess of fertility and Mother Nature and yet you scoff at someone who doesn’t want to take a life to eat? No wonder you were sent to hell.”
“Okay.” Cronus put his hands up. “Let’s just eat in silence.”
Damn right, otherwise I was stabbing a bitch. Rhea needed to come “online” with her powers stat, because I was over this bitch.
We munched in silence while I stared at the meat they were eating and tried not to think of what it once was. Forest rat? Rabbit?
“You need to experience Taco Bell. It will change your life,” I told Cronus finally. I could eat six bean and cheese burritos right about now.
Rhea frowned, picking at her meat. “Is taco the food? So you ring a bell and the servant brings you taco?”
I actually snorted trying to hold in my laugh but turned it into a cough. “Yes, Rhea. Exactly that. We should take you with us so that you can try that.”
She nodded curtly. “I’d like that.”
Cronus and I locked gazes and his eyes were alight. A slow smirk pulled at his lips. “I’ll time jump and exchange the gold bars for paper money tomorrow. That way we can afford the luxuries of Taco Bell.”
He’d read my mind; he knew Taco Bell was a cheap shithole with amazing food. He was being … sarcastic.
I bit into the mushroom and was pleasantly surprised. It was earthy but salty and good considering it felt like I hadn’t eaten in like five weeks. Sure, we’d had pizza yesterday, but still … the lack of regular food was draining.
“Tell me about this time jump?” I finally said, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence.
Rhea placed a hand on Cronus’ chest, stopping him from speaking. “Don’t you know anything about us? He’s the father of time. He could time jump back to find the most luxurious bedding you’ve ever lain on and bring it here. But he won’t.” She glared at him.
He reached up and removed her hand from his chest. “It depletes my power, and it’s also dangerous,” he snapped. “Messing with time can unravel the seams of the world. But you never cared about that.”
Holy shit. There was so much more going on with these gods and their powers than I knew about. “Can you, like, go back and keep me from opening the box?”
Rhea glared. “I knew it was your fault. Thanks for confirming that.”
Fuck. I’d just incriminated myself. Now she thought I was an even bigger idiot than before.
Cronus ignored her. “I cannot go back and keep you from opening the box, no. There are a lot of rules. I cannot interfere with living beings such as humans or gods or animals. I can mostly deal only with inanimate objects. Unless I’m willing to completely destroy the world, of course. So since Pandora's Box contained gods and is technically alive, I cannot touch it in the past. Make sense?”
I frowned. It did. Kind of.
