With no natural light, the cave was dark as we moved further inside. However, Hound, who was full of surprises, had a tiny little light on the end of his nose. Like he was fucking Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Only his light was a dull yellow glow, and it was enough to highlight the icy floor, scary icicles on the ceiling, and desolate look of the entire cave system.
When we’d been stumbling in the dark for about ten minutes, Cronus reached out and halted me, his large hand wrapping around my biceps as he hauled me closer. Pressed to his side, I tried really hard not to think about the last time I was pressed to him, and the subsequent rejection after that.
#Bastard
“We’re not alone in here,” he said, right by my ear, his voice a husky whisper.
I wasn’t ashamed to admit that I half climbed him in that moment, expecting a bunch of shit to grab my legs and yank me away. Cronus’ chest rumbled, but I couldn’t really see his face, since Hound had his nose-light shining in the opposite direction.
“I’ll keep you safe,” he said, and I let out a muffled shriek when he threw me over his shoulder.How in the fuck?I had no idea how he managed that maneuver, but I wasn’t complaining, because now I was up high and safe from leg grabbing monsters.
At this point, no longer thinking in any sort of rational manner, my brain was manifesting the worst kind of shit lingering in the darkness.
“Go, Hound,” Cronus snapped out, and then we were running, me clinging to his back like a barnacle, the huge hoodie flapping out behind me.
My face ended up buried in his back muscles, and I tried not to breathe in the pure masculine spicy scent of Cronus. There was nothing unattractive about him, except his personality on occasion, and even with that, once you got past the gruff, arrogant exterior, he was a good man … god … Titan. Whatever. He was good. I would never forget how he’d worked to save me.
He was saving himself.
My inner voice continued to remind me of that, but I’d heard the genuine concern in his voice, and he hadn’t mentioned even once it was concern for his own life. It was for me.
I’d never thought there would be anyone that cared enough to fight for me.Fuck.
This big lump of Titan was crawling under my skin and burrowing into my heart. I was afraid that when this was all over, if we managed to save the world, he’d leave and go back to whatever Titans did.
And I’d be alone again.
“Hold on tight,” he said bluntly, snapping me out of my morose thoughts. “They’re gaining on me, and it’s at least two of the sins this time.”
“Turmoil and Strife?” I whisper-yelled back.
Cronus shook his head. “No, they’re likely occupied with Crius and Koios. These are two of the last, the ones connected to Hyperion and I. They’re clearly here to ensure Hyperion does not rise.”
Clearly, Hyperion was damned important; Cronus had not been underestimating that. I wondered what the two last ones were.
“Their powers are limited because they haven’t manifested, right?”#ThereIsAnOrder #GetInLine
“Right,” he said, and then we were flying across a huge chasm, a scream choking on my lips as I barely managed to hold myself together.
Cronus spun around then, and some sort of energy shot from his hands, the blue light of his powers illuminating the cave. It was so cold back here that ice coated everything, even the walls, and the drop, from what I could see from my perch, was one dark abyss, with no bottom in sight.
On the other side were two somewhat familiar gods. One a woman, standing well over six feet, with heavily muscled arms and upper body. Her hair was the color of fire and her eyes glowed with burnt embers. She’d been hitting CrossFit a little too hard. Not that I didn’t admire women who could build muscle like that. If only she wasn’t hell-bent on killing me with it.
“Step across and you will fall into the abyss,” Cronus said, staring them both down. “Your power has nothing on mine right now, and Iwillbring Hyperion into this battle.”
The other sin was a small man, no taller than five foot; he looked frail in comparison to the woman. But something told me he was the scariest, the one we needed to keep an eye on.
She stepped forward, toes right on the edge of the cliff. “You can bringallof them back,” she murmured, and I felt the heat of her words. Literal heat. It started to melt the ice, causing some of the ceiling ice to shatter down. “It won’t be enough to defeat us. We are stronger this time. We have been waiting for a thousand years, and now … now we will do what we should have so long ago.”
“We will end the plague that is humanity.” This was from the male. The small, unassuming dude, and unlike the woman, his words were laced in a cold so intense that it hurt my skin. Then they turned and walked away.
“Which sins were they?” I asked as Cronus set me down, tucking me into his body beside Hound.
Cronus cleared his throat. “Eight and nine. Fire and Death.”
Jesus.
“At full power, they have no equal,” he added. “At full power, the world will burn, and every living thing will die.”
