Releasing the Gods

by Leia Stone

  Okay. Fair Enough. Glad I’d texted Shauna, then.

  “Alright, I figured, then just one selfie with you and Hound will do. If I can get one hundred thousand followers, I can make some cash—”

  My words were cut off when he yanked me to his chest and the blackness transported us to…

  “Holy shit! Is this Egypt?” I spun around, my eyes landing on a huge pyramid. “Your powers are awesome. Let’s do Italy next. I hear it’s nice this time of year.”

  Blipping, flashing, whatevering was WAY better than first class.

  “Human, lower the sarcasm one hundred percent,” Cronus growled, and started to stalk towards a merchant tent. In the distance was a huge pyramid, and if the world weren’t ending at my hand, I might even enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

  Hound followed Cronus; people stared at the giant dog and then to me. I was probably a tad overdressed for this occasion. Most of the women I could see were covered, arms and legs and even their heads. Me … I wore knock-off Gucci loafers with black leather shorts and a silk tank-top. Seemed a bit silly now that we were trekking through Egypt. Had I known Cronus was going to grab me and cart me around the world, I wouldn’t have decked myself out.

  Maybe.

  Probably.

  Why the hell hadn’t he said how nice I looked or even tried to check out my tits? What was wrong with this guy?

  We were going to revive his ex-wife after all. I needed to look my best.

  “Human!” A growl came from the opening of the merchant tent and that pull in my stomach lurched me forward.

  “Coming!” I shouted, stomping into the tent after him.

  He was staring at the small silk merchant who sat behind his desk, mouth agape.

  “Do you know who I am?” Cronus asked the young boy; he was all of eight.

  The boy, eyes wide, nodded. “My … father told me. He’s passed on.” His English was spotty, but I understood him.

  Cronus stepped closer to the boy. “Your father was the keeper of a tomb that I need access to. Right. Now.”

  The boy gulped. “We must wait until dark. The Egyptian authorities guard access to—”

  Cronus slammed the bar of gold he’d apparently been hiding next to his dick for over a thousand years onto the table and the boy’s mouth went slack.

  I stepped forward. “We’re going to need some change for that. Obviously.”

  Seriously? Was I the only business-minded one here? He couldn’t go giving away gold bars. How would we eat, where would we sleep? My poor credit card was almost maxed out. I mean, I knew he was big down there—basketball shorts were a gift from the gods—but how many gold bars could one dick pouch hold?

  Cronus used one huge palm to push me back behind him. “She’s kidding. American sarcasm. Take me to Rhea’s tomb now and keep the gold.”

  The boy hefted the gold bar and shoved it into a satchel tied around his waist. #SanitizeThatDude #DickbarsHaveGerms

  “Back through here. We will need to take the tunnels.”

  I grabbed Cronus’ huge arm, forcing him to face me. “Are you crazy? We need that gold to eat, and for four-star hotels and whatever else.” I was NOT sleeping in a hut or using leaves to wipe my ass. We hadn’t slept in what seemed like days and I was going to crash soon.

  Cronus flicked his gaze to mine. “Relax, I have plenty to go around.”

  My eyes roamed down his body to the bulge in his pants. Okay, then, maybe he was packing more than just a huge co—

  His giant fingers grabbed my chin, pulling my gaze upward. “Focus. We’re about to wake my ex-wife, and the last time I saw her she was trying to kill me.”

  Great.

  “Who isn’t trying to kill you!” I snapped as he strode across the hut and behind the curtain the boy had gone through.

  I followed closely behind him, with Hound bringing up the rear.

  After entering a stone doorway, we were immediately plunged into darkness.

  “This way!” the boy whisper-yelled.

  Up ahead, a faint glow from a lantern lit our path.

  Dust kicked up with the giant god’s footsteps and I was regretting the Gucci loafers.

  After five minutes of traversing these dark tunnels, we stood at an open stone entrance that led to a cave of some sort. The boy held a finger to his lips. Some men were talking just inside the cave, so we waited for them to clear out.

  “This is where my father laid Rhea to rest,” the boy whispered.

  “We don’t have time for this,” Cronus growled, charging past the boy and into the cave.

  My eyes widened as I was pulled with him, our bond dragging me where his dumb ass went, even if it was straight into a fight.

  “You’re on your own!” the boy shouted and ran back the way he came.

  Smart boy.

  Hound burst from behind me and charged one of the Egyptian guards. Who I now saw had freaking machine guns! Cronus was locked in battle with the other one. One hard smack to the side of the head and the guard went down.

  Hound bit into the other guard’s leg and he collapsed to the ground.

  “Is he dead!” I gasped.

  Cronus waved me off. “Hellhounds’ saliva is paralytic. He’ll be fine. Mostly.”

  Mostly.

  Note to self: don’t piss off Hound.

  “Good boy,” I told the beast, just in case he was still deciding to like me or not.

  Cronus bent to one knee and rubbed behind Hound’s ear. “Hound. Find Rhea!”

  The moment he gave the command, the beast took off sniffing all the corners of the cave.

  Cronus turned to me. “The first sin has probably already finished manifesting. We will be hearing about it on the news soon. Only Rhea can slow it, giving us time to awaken the others.”

  Great.

  “And … what’s the first sin?”

  I didn’t want to know but I had to.

  “Sickness. The world will manifest a virus, or something of that nature, and it will spread like wildfire.”

  Fuck.

  “That’s the first one? I thought the first one would be a bit milder, like envy or something…”

  Cronus eyed the necklace at my throat. “There is nothing mild about the nine deadly sins. Not a single one of them. They actually get worse as they go on.”

  I swallowed hard. “Noted.”

  As Hound started to dig in one corner, Cronus took a step closer to me. “I want you to know that I don’t blame you. Not completely. If Thanatos would have told me Pandora’s Box was in that cave, I never would have taken the daughter of Selene there. You can’t help that your hair sheds like a dog.”

  There was a nice sentiment in there somewhere … maybe.

  “Thanks for that insight. About Selene … is she … alive?” He still hadn’t really explained how I was descended from her, outside of his amazing sarcasm about “not knowing by looking at me.”

  I grew up with an amazing mother who died when I was seven, and now hearing that she might not be my “real mom” was unsettling. Was I adopted? Had it been my father who was somehow related to Selene? I mean, the father I knew was a complete loser, so it was hard to believe…

  It was too much for my mostly human brain to comprehend.

  Cronus looked at me, his eyes softening. “Selene died a thousand years ago, the same time as the Titans. She used all of her magic in helping us create the box. Later, Zeus killed her for her treason.”

  Anger flared inside of me. “Treason! Helping the Titans lock away all the bad shit in the world is treason?”

  “To Zeus it was. Siding with the Titans in any way is a red line for him.”

  “Well, he’s a douchebag.”

  #Understatement

  I shook my head. “So, if she’s been dead for a thousand years—”

  Hound barked then, interrupting me before I could muse it through. There was no way Selene could be my mother though, right?

  Cronus marched away before I could push furth
er. I shelved the questions for later, focusing on the large hole the beast had dug.

  Pulling up a white bone that looked like it might be from a finger … or a toe, maybe ... Cronus scowled. “I’m not going to enjoy this.”

  Neither was I.

  The god knelt down right there on the dirt floor and laid the bone on the ground.

  He motioned me over. “I need your hair.”

  I hesitated a moment before crossing the space and allowing Cronus to pull a few strands of my long white-blond hair.

  “We’re lucky to have Selene’s magic on our side,” Cronus said to the room.

  Was that a backhanded compliment towards me? Maybe? Did it cancel out me ending the world? Debatable.

  He gingerly wrapped my hair around the bone and then placed both hands over it before looking up at me.

  “Don’t be frightened if I pass out.”

  My eyes bugged. “Then don’t pass out!”

  Why would he pass out?

  Then a burst of blue light shot from his palms and surrounded the bone.

  “Rhea,” he whispered, “daughter of sky and earth, awaken from the underworld and enter Gaia once more.”

  Arcs of blue light flared out like whips and I had to duck to avoid being hit by one. I’m not sure if it would do anything, but I didn’t want to find out.

  Cronus’ jaw clenched; he looked like he was wrestling a bear. “Okay … I probably should have mentioned that you now have some powers … from Pandora’s necklace.”

  My eyes widened further as I looked at the stone at my throat.

  “Just reach down and place your hands on mine. Everything will be fine. I just need an extra push.”

  Ummm. “What? I’m not touching that blue stuff or helping raise the dead!”

  I would not be the stupid blonde in the horror movie who got offed for following the creepy noise into the dark room.

  Cronus snapped his head in my direction, eyes flaring orange. “Fine. Humanity can die off for all I care and we will make sure to take your beloved whales and dolphins too!”

  Dammit! #DoItForTheDolphins

  “Just touch you?”

  “Hurry!” he shouted as the blue magic pulsed and sweat dripped down his forehead.

  Here goes nothing. Getting into a crouch, I approached the blue lightshow with trepidation and reached out.

  It’ll be okay. Cronus wouldn’t ever let me do something that would hurt me.

  The moment I touched his hand, the blue light exploded like a bomb, pain ripped up my spine, and everything went black.

  Chapter 11

  My eyes snapped open to find a beautiful brunette female in her mid-twenties staring down at me. She was fully naked, not that she seemed to care, her ageless face wreathed in confusion.

  “Why have you called me here? I was playing chess with our son Hades.” She waved her hand at Cronus.

  My head was still cloudy, and I lifted both hands to rub across my face.

  “Cronus!” Rhea shouted, stomping her foot. Great, I was about to be annoyed by another temperamental, arrogant, egotistical god.

  “Can you shut the fuck up,” I moaned, because my head was pounding like a jackhammer and her voice was annoying as all hell.

  #NecromancyIsaNoFromMe

  A split second later I realized that I’d just told a god to shut the fuck up. I wasn’t really up to date on Rhea’s powers, but I was sure they were more—considerably more—powerful than mine.

  Her face turned from supermodel mean girl into demonic serial killer in a heartbeat and I scrambled along the ground to put some space between us.

  Rhea followed, her expression filled with fire and … lingering confusion. “Who are you?” she said, her hands out in front like she was feeling my energy. “How dare you address me in such a manner!”

  Thankfully, Cronus, fully recovered, wrapped one of those huge hands around her right shoulder. I fought the urge to jump to my feet and rip them apart. #TheFuck

  Wouldn’t be long before I was calling Cronus “my god” the way he called me “his human.”

  “Rhea, I need you to focus,” Cronus snapped, and I could feel the heavy tension between them. “The sins are out, and we have limited time to get our family freed and return them.”

  She went pale, and that was odd to see on someone with such luscious bronze skin. I mean, I could have that skin color too, but it generally required a weekly appointment at Spray And Go, and who the hell could afford that?

  “How many sins are out?” she asked, some of her snark fading.

  I got to my feet, not liking how close they were standing. Rhea was only a few inches shorter than Cronus, at like six billion feet tall, and I felt like the short, frumpy third wheel.

  “All of them escaped the box. I think Sickness has finished manifesting,” Cronus told her.

  Rhea took the news better than I expected, because I would have been like #HellNo #SendMeBack

  Apparently she was a better person—god, whatever, than me—because she just sucked in a deep breath, threw her shoulders back, sent her perkier-boobs-than-mine into Cronus’ chest, and nodded. “Yes, okay. We have time still.”

  She looked around as if just remembering I was here. “Servant, fetch me some clothing,” she said, snapping her fingers in my direction.

  I snorted, crossing my arms over my chest. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

  Rhea snapped her gaze to Cronus. “What is this ant you have attached to you if she’s not your servant?”

  I met that blue and gold gaze of his and mentally urged him to think very carefully about how he answered this question. Mirth danced in his eyes for a brief moment.

  “She’s a daughter of Selene,” he said shortly. “She’s important...” He paused and my heart skipped a beat. “...to this mission. We will not succeed without her.”

  The mission. Yeah, I was important to the fucking mission, not Cronus. The disappointment that hit me was annoying, because I should not have expected anything else. Cronus and I were tied together through some weird twist of fate. That was all. There wasn’t a single other reason. If the bond didn’t exist, he’d have ditched my ass long ago. Or killed me.

  Rhea was watching me closer now, and I didn’t like the look on her face.

  “What are you the goddess of?” I asked.

  She smiled, arching her back and shoving her tits higher into the air. “You have the intelligence of a servant.”

  I flipped her off, but she didn’t seem to understand what that even meant. Cronus, on the other hand … I saw his lips twitch before he hid the smile.

  “I’m sure most servants are more intelligent than you give them credit for,” I told her, defending my kind, because let's be honest, serving tables was a modern-day servant and I wasn’t ashamed of that. “Not all of us take that line of work because we aren’t smart enough to do better. It’s because the world is not fucking fair, and sometimes people have to do whatever they can to survive. I wasn’t born with any privilege. Every single thing I’ve earned has come through my own hard work.”

  Suck on that, bitch.

  “If you’re a servant.” she said straight away, “then fetch me some clothes.”

  Cronus growled then, and snapping his fingers, his ex-wife, bitch-goddess, was suddenly outfitted in a long robe of gold and purple. It went beautifully with her long brown hair and green eyes, and I kind of hated her a little extra.

  “Leave Maisey alone,” Cronus growled, his voice low and filled with undercurrents. “She is neither stupid nor a servant. She is beyond a normal mortal and as such deserves our respect.”

  Did the world just stop turning? I mean, it kind of felt like it had. Cronus was defending me? He knew my name?

  #IllBeDamned

  My panties got a little wet in that moment.

  Rhea didn’t seem to agree or care, but then she was more interested in smoothing her new clothing down than wondering about me anymore. I was old news.

  “So, who do we
raise next?” she asked, examining her nails. Her eyes flashed, the green darkening until it was almost black, and her nails flickered from pink to blue to purple in an instant. She settled on purple, leaving a shade similar to that of her dress.

  These gods and their crazy powers.

  “Maisey and I will head to Romania and find Crius,” Cronus said. “You will need to track down Sickness and try to circumvent some of his destruction.”

  She didn’t look happy about them splitting up. “My powers are going to take some time to come back. Maybe I should stick with you for now...”

  #PleaseSayNo #PleaseSayNo

  Cronus seemed to consider her words. “Okay, that’s probably for the best.”

  FUCK.

  “It took the better part of two days for my powers to return,” Cronus continued. “You were not imprisoned though, and shouldn’t be as drained as I was. I expect in the next twenty-four hours you’ll be good.”

  Rhea looked pleased, and I certainly wasn’t imagining the sly look she shot in my direction. I thought these two had a non-amicable separation. I mean, she cheated on him like the bitch she was. Right now, though, they were far too friendly to be ex anything.

  Ugh.

  “So this Crius is in Romania?” I asked, trying to bring the focus back to this stupid task. The sooner we could save the world, the sooner I could get out of this situation.

  Cronus’ attention locked on to me, and the intensity was a lot. When he stared at me like that, I forgot my own name.

  “Yes. He should be there with our brother, Koios. The pair were never far apart. Their strength used to hold up the sky.”

  Right, sure, the old hold up the sky trick.

  Cronus was just reaching for me with one hand and Rhea with the other, when the foulest scent I’d ever smelled in my life started to filter through our cave. Hound growled, and since Cronus was touching me, I felt his body tense. I was just about to ask him what was going on, when a figure stepped into the small cave, light shining behind him. It was a male, his body glowing. I could see tendrils of darkness swirling around his figure.

  “Hello, Rhea,” he said softly.

  The Titaness froze, her eyes locked on him. “Sickness,” she murmured.

  Sickness? Oh shit.