I hadn’t truly stopped to think how lonely that existence would have been. The endless years. No one but Hound and the few whispers he heard from his prison. My heart ached then, and I acknowledged that the few times he’d joked with me and laughed, used sarcasm like an expert … that was a big deal. I hadn’t seen him really do that with anyone else, and…
I was an idiot.
My feet flew across the ground and I left Hyperion behind, bursting into the small clearing where Rhea lay, Panacea and Cronus at her side. I shook my head at the fact that we’d been at least twenty feet apart then. Our bond was growing thinner, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
Cronus’ head jerked up as I sprinted toward him, his eyes sliding across me and then over my head as he searched for the danger. He was already moving when I threw myself into his arms.
“What?” he demanded. “What happened, Maisey?”
Tucking my head in against his chest, I just shook my head. “Sorry,” I murmured. “Nothing happened, I just … thank you ... for everything. I realize now how hard it must have been to just integrate into this life right after being locked away for so long.”
His body stilled under me, but his arms tightened as he held me close, both of us just breathing in the other.
“Excuse me,” Rhea snapped from the ground, not sounding at all like she was ill. “Can you two screw on your own time. Right now I need Sickness locked away so I don’t fucking implode.”
Cronus lowered me to the ground, and I managed to compose myself, schooling my face into indifference. “So, how do we do this?” I asked, sounding almost normal.
I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn’t look that way again. I’d had my emotional outburst and now I was ready to do my job.
Hyperion must have stepped into the clearing, because Rhea let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank the Titans, you’re here.”
Hyperion knelt at her side. “Rhea, darling, of course I am. You didn’t think you’d get to have this much fun without me, did you?”
Rhea snorted, before groaning and clutching her chest. “My power is fading,” she whispered. “Sickness is fighting the hold I have on him. We need to lock him away right now.”
I gripped the necklace, unsurprised by the zap of power from it. It was our time to shine.
“Just tell me what I have to do,” I said, standing taller.
Rhea basically spat in my direction. “What can a human do? You’re less than useless to me.”
I wanted to kick her. Like … how bad a person would it make me to kick a dying Titan?#NotAskingForAFriend
“Maisey has the necklace,” Cronus said. “She is tied to the sins in some way. She is singularly the most important one here in this fight.”
Rhea rolled her eyes and ignored him.
“She’s tied through her mother,” Hyperion said. “Selene.”
The echoing silence in the forest was loud.
“How?” I finally asked. “And can you explain how a goddess who has been dead for a thousand years is my mother?”
Hyperion, ignoring me, met Cronus’ gaze. “You haven’t told her about the sacrifice?”
Cronus’ chest rumbled. “No. And you won’t either. Maisey has a savior complex. She doesn’t need any more ideas. There’s a better way.”
The thought of him keeping something from me did not sit well, and I glared my glariest “fuck you” look right at the big ass.
“Tell. Me. Now!” I managed to get out through gritted teeth. “I’m not a child.”
Everyone in the clearing laughed. Well, except Cronus, but he did smile, and that was basically a laugh for him.
“In human terms, maybe,” Panacea said, finally speaking up after spending most of her time doing the crystal thing over Rhea. “But compared to us, you’re nothing more than an infant.”
I crossed my arms. “Well, this infant would like her information now, and if you lie to me, I will change my allegiance to the sins and let the fucking world burn.”#Dramatic #IllShowYouDramatic
Hyperion was at my side in seconds, reaching for my hand. A ripple of something passed between us, our energy recognizing each other. “In the last battle, the Titans contained the sins, but we were losing our hold on them as each released. Your mother drew on the power of the moon, which was bright in the sky above, and formed a prison for them. But in doing so, she had to sacrifice her power…”
