“Come on, love,” he said to me, taking my hand. “Let’s go home.”
Heart light, I followed him into Thanatos' office, where we returned the coins.
“You always have a friend in me,” the god of death said, and Cronus nodded, zapping me out of there before I had a chance to reply.
We landed in Bali. I recognized the cool turquoise waters instantly. When I turned away from the view, I found Cronus on one knee, hand outstretched with a giant aquamarine engagement ring, the color reminding me so much of the ocean I had just been examining. A color I truly adored.
“Maisey, love,” he said, his voice serious. “I married Rhea out of duty but never truly considered her a lifelong mate. You are even more than that. My heart and soul, my power and strength, my fight and desire. I wasn’t living before I met you, Mais, and … please be my wife.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I wondered if my heart would burst. “You are my home, Cronus. As someone who was always alone, I can tell you for certain, everything is better with you by my side.” I dropped down in front of him, almost toppling over because the belly was doing its thing. He caught me, just as I knew he would. “It would be my greatest honor to marry you.”
With a whoop, he picked me up, pressing his lips to mine, as I felt him slide the giant rock onto my ring finger. I thought nothing could make this moment more special until I heard a familiar bark. Turning away from Cronus, I saw Hound limping toward us, Hyperion right behind him. Cronus’ old friend had three legs now, more battle scars across his dark fur, but his time healing off-world had brought the spark back in his eyes.
“Hound,” I breathed. I’d forgotten how much I loved and missed that scary face.
On my feet once more, I opened my arms, and as he limped into them, I hugged him tightly. Hound spent many moments licking my cheek and sniffing my stomach.
“You’re going to have a little sister,” I told him. “She’s already a handful, so I hope you’re ready.”
He barked a few times and I took that for a yes. He was more than ready.
“I see congratulations are in order,” Hyperion said, noticing the ring on my finger.
I waved it in his face. “It’s gorgeous, I’m so happy.”
“That makes me happy, granddaughter.”
Before I could get all emotional about that, he dangled a key in front of my face. “I got the key to that house,” he said, nodding in the direction of a gorgeous beach property, with a large for sale sign in the front. “If you want to look inside.”
“Seriously?” I all but screamed. “Yes. Fuck yes!”
“Kid’s first word is going to be fuck,” Cronus muttered.
He wasn’t wrong, and I decided to try extra hard to curb the cursing. Just for a while.
“Where is everyone else?” Cronus asked as we started toward the house. “No gods returned to cause trouble?”
Hyperion almost looked offended by this. “Of course not. Most of them had no idea when they came to that battle that they were fighting us. I'd say most of them are quite happy by the disposing of their previous leader.”
Cronus nodded like he wasn't surprised by this. Zeus had his death coming for a long time.
“Has there been any disturbance in the balance?” I asked. “Baby girl isn't born yet, so I'm not sure if she's taking Zeus’ place.”
Cronus and Hyperion both closed their eyes, breathing deeply like they were meditating. “Everything is at peace,” Cronus said. “You know, outside of the normal human conflict that keeps you all ensnared.”
I nodded. “Maybe we can work on that next. With our free time.”
Cronus pulled me closer, touching me as he always did. “We'll save your animals and your humans, don't worry.”
I liked that he listed the animals first; they really needed our help.
My eyes were drawn back to the gorgeous house. We were walking along the short sand path and through a swinging gate into the front yard. Hound followed along closely behind, barely even limping despite his injuries.
“This is unbelievably gorgeous,” I gasped. Living somewhere with direct beach access was a legit dream come true. This was not the exact area where we'd always stayed on the water villas. Lovina Beach was a little further along and was nice and quiet, with just a few huge estates on either side.
The moment we stepped in the front door, I knew this was the one: whitewashed wood flooring that spanned across the entire living area, with translucent white curtains, beachy furniture, and a gorgeous kitchen that would hold all the food we ordered because I couldn't cook.
I mean, with a kitchen like that, maybe I'd even learn.
