by Leia Stone
Cronus just shook his head, looking impatient. “Why are you here?”
Clotho dropped back, and the smallest of the three stepped forward. All were dressed in dark cloaks; she was the only one with her hands visible. “The sins … this was not your fault,” she said to me. “Their time was due. The clock was counting down. The box was only strong enough for a thousand-year rest.”
Her voice was lilting and lyrical, her words flowy and confusing. Since I was on death's door with this plague infection, and everything was fuzzy, it was hard to follow, but it seemed she was trying to tell me it wasn’t totally my fault the world was about to end.
Cronus was apparently more switched on, because I could feel the sudden tension in his body. “You helped her release me,” he said softly, understanding dawning in his gaze. “You knew the sins were about to be freed and you needed me out of the prison to contain them.”
The third and final, who hadn’t spoken yet, nodded. “Yes, the hands of time wait for no one, and the world will be cleansed. But balance … it must be maintained. You are the balance.” Her face whipped around—far too fast for her age—in my direction. “Daughter of Selene.”
Some of it was making sense to me now. “You orchestrated it so that I was alive to release Cronus, so that I would cut my hand and open the portal? That I would set the sins in motion…”
Because the world needed cleansing, but it also needed balance?
#Wtf #Halp
Clotho spoke again. “You are now and always will be the power needed to change the world for the better. Your tapestry … it is woven in long arcs. In some, you do not survive” –#ouch—“but in others, you are the only reason everyone else survives.”
Clotho nodded. “We simply encouraged you on your path. This was always the way things would be. Destiny.”
Me? A savior of the world? No way. Her old eyesight needed to be checked. My tapestry was full of fuck ups. Hearing that Cronus and my meeting was destined made my stomach do flip flops and I was pretty sure this time, it wasn’t the plague.
I wanted to ask more questions, but in that moment, the sickness inside of me decided to rear its ugly head and another coughing fit sent me to the ground. I hugged myself around Cronus, barely hearing as he cursed the Fates, and demanded they give him the right path to saving me.
“No,” one of them said, as I heaved for air. “We cannot change her fate. We can only weave more chances for you to help her. You must make the right choice and decide for yourself. This is as much about you, Cronus, as it is about her. Your fates are forever intertwined.”
Luckily, I was too sick to truly stress at this point. #WeaveAwayBitches
Everything went a little blurry and gray around the edges of my vision and I let myself collapse, trying desperately to suck air in and out to keep those lungs working. Staying alive was my only priority.
“So hot,” I mumbled, because I felt like my skin was burning off my body.
I flinched when cool hands touched my face, and then I was being lifted, a blurry cave flashing before my eyes.
“Hound, stay here!” Cronus barked and then did his god thing and took us somewhere, and it was bright and warm, which made me scream as it tortured my already tortured body. “No, leave me to die,” I cried. This was some accelerated shit going on in my body. What had once been nausea and vomiting was now something inside of me, liquefying my bones.
“Never going to happen, sweetheart,” he said, and I could have sworn that I felt a brush of his lips on my burning cheek. “I refuse to let you die.”
I admired that level of determination, but unfortunately, as the Fates pointed out to him, my path was set. Unless we did something to change my circumstances, I would not make it out alive. Why did he want me to live so badly anyway? Probably because we were bound and he feared his own death with mine. Although my heart wanted another reason … somewhere along the way, between the insults and name calling, I’d glimpsed something in Cronus that was softer, more lovable.
Suddenly we were at a bright blue-painted door. The symbol of a staff of a snake wound around it. “No.” I squirmed. Snakes were bad. This was probably some voodoo shit that would melt my insides faster than they already were.
We hadn’t yet reached the diarrhea portion of this plague, but I knew it was coming and I refused for Cronus to see it.
“Asclepius! Open the door!” Cronus banged loudly and I winced against the sound.
Everything was too bright, too loud, and way too painful.
The door sprang open and standing there was a golden goddess.
#WhyWereTheseBitchesSoPretty
“Cronus! What?” She gasped, looking at my limp form in his arms.
“Panacea, where is your father? Sickness has been released and this is the daughter of Selene. She needs a healer.”
Her mouth popped open, brows knitting together. “My father? He sided with the Titans. Zeus killed him right after you were imprisoned.”
Cronus collapsed against the wall. “Motherfucker!”
I grinned. “I taught … him that.” My voice felt weak. Everything felt weak.
“Come in.” She waved us inside before turning on a TV set.
“Watch,” she told my giant man god.
“We don’t have time—”
A newswomen's voice blared: “A disease has spread across the globe. Men, women, and children are falling ill with what the medical community is saying could be a new form of the plague.”
“No. Sickness is free.” Cronus grasped me tighter. “Pan, get your father’s kit. We have to save her.”
She nodded, shutting the TV off and turning to a back room.
“Where … are we?” I didn’t really want to think about the world dying of the plague in my last few moments, so I decided to focus on geography.
A tender hand stroked my forehead. “Switzerland. When you’re all better, I will take you to a ski chalet in the alps.”
I nodded. That sounded nice. Something heavy was dragging me under, trying to make me face a bright light that had appeared behind my closed eyes.
“Maisey!” Cronus shook me and my eyes snapped open. “Stay with me.”
I nodded. “Tell me something. Something you never told anyone.”
If I was dying, I wanted to take one of Cronus’ deep dark secrets with me.
He grinned and it nearly killed me right then and there. Screw the plague, it was that fucking smile that would be the death of me. “I knew you weren’t a prostitute when we first met. I just liked fucking with you,” he declared.
I gasped, but it turned into a cough and Cronus had to lay me on the ground and tilt me on my side.
Suddenly Panacea was there, wielding a giant glowing crystal in my face. She ran the crystal over my body, frowning as she went. “Why is she so ill so quickly? I can’t chase the disease. It’s spreading too fast!”
Cronus punched the ground and then growled, like a bear. “Because Sickness fucking touched her.”
Panacea dropped the crystal into her lap. “She’s too far gone Cro—”
He scooped me up into his arms, hugging me tightly against his chest. “Don’t say that! You don’t know her. She’s the daughter of Selene. She’s strong.”
Panacea placed a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe if you had access to the spring. But I heard Zeus burned the pools after you were imprisoned.”
Cronus seemed to consider this. I was trying to follow the conversation and his facial expressions, but everything was blurry.
“He couldn’t have. You'd need a Titan to get there…”
Panacea shrugged. “Maybe he just spread that as a rumor,”
“Pan, find Rhea. I fear she’s in mortal danger. Tell her I’m coming after I heal Maisey.”
Pan nodded, and then everything went black.
Something damp and cool splashed on my face, and the contrast to my burning skin was enough that I flinched, while at the same time angling my face to feel more of it.
I was beyond opening my eyes now, trusting that Cronus wasn’t about to turf me into an open grave and end this bond.
“I’m sorry for this,” he whispered. I was still alive enough to feel fleeting panic at those ominous words, right before he stepped forward and we started to drop. A scream escaped me, but before another sounded, we sank deep into icy waters.
My heart stuttered, the shock of the cold jolting through me, and for some time I just floated in icy darkness, not knowing if I was dead or alive. The pain ebbed and flowed throughout my body and all I could hear was the pounding of my heart and Cronus breathing against my chest. The entire time he never let go of me. I shivered, convulsed, gasped for air, and he never let go.
“Maisey, open your eyes.”
The warm voice was coaxing me back to the light, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to go back. It was hard in the light. Lonely. Sad. And painful at times. Being lost and displaced was not any way to live, and for most of my life I’d been dragging myself through with little to no support.
“You have me now,” he murmured, and I felt warmth and familiarity. It was brushing across my soul, tying my body back to the mortal world. “You’re not alone.”
My eyes flew open, my strength returning as I took what felt like my first deep breath of air in forever. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the light, I noted the sparkling land of perfection that surrounded me: a waterfall above us, cascading into the crystal clear waters that I was neck deep in; tiny colored pebbles below, shining in the bright warmth of the sun; green around the edges, wildflowers filling the land with color and the scent of honeysuckle, and through all of that I only had eyes for Cronus.
He was shirtless, heavy bronze muscles crowding my vision. His hair was slicked back, looking much darker than usual, so black it was almost void of color. Cronus stole so much of my attention that it was like he was the only thing that existed.
“You saved me?” I said, my voice husky, like I’d been screaming for hours. My pain, the heat, the burning lungs … everything was gone. I felt fucking amazing.
He nodded, eyes never leaving my face.
“Where are we?” I pressed, needing to hear his voice.
“The Spring of Eternal Youth,” he said huskily, those eyes devouring me. “It was where the Titans would bathe when we’d been injured in battle. Zeus tried to destroy it, but we warded the land so only a Titan can enter.”
I shifted closer, and his eyes flicked down to the tight wet shirt strained across my breasts. That look was scorching, branding me, sending heat to my core. I wanted to kiss him so badly that my entire body trembled and ached. He’d saved me. And even though I knew he was probably doing it because he might die if I did—I still wasn’t sure that was true; nothing could kill Cronus—it meant something to me.
“I’ve never had anyone fight to save me before,” I admitted, marveling at how good I felt now. I looked around at the stunning and hidden spring again. Wait… “Did you say spring of eternal youth? Like … the Fountain of Youth?”
His lips twitched, and since he was definitely not in the mood for a smile, I took that as a good sign he wasn’t completely pissed at me for almost dying.
“Unlike the elixir I gave Thanatos, which grants immortality to its drinker, these pools are healing in nature. They can heal nearly any injury if you can reach them fast enough. I hoped the powers in the water would reverse the plague since my own powers failed me in that regard.”
He’d tried to heal me. I vaguely remembered that, along with Panacea and the cursing when it didn’t work. Then he’d run and zapped us across the world, and dove into these icy waters with me in his arms.
“Mine failed me too,” I said, flicking useless hair off my face. What the hell good was healing hair if I’d still almost died from sickness?
I’d almost died.
There was no way I was dying without kissing a god. Fuck that. Without allowing my brain to process my thoughts, I threw myself forward, wrapping my body around Cronus as best I could. I took him by surprise, but only for a second, before he enclosed me in strong arms and hauled me against his body. His strength against mine. Hard against soft. God against human … ish.
In that moment, none of our differences mattered. We were just a man and woman.
His eyes were blazing as they locked with mine. I was drowning in blue and gold, desperately sliding the lower half of my body closer to his. At this moment, if I could have, I would have crawled inside of Cronus. Or, even better, he could be inside of me.
I needed him.
It was impossible to tell who made the first move. Our lips crashed together; our tongues intertwined. Cronus kissed me like he owned me, claiming my mouth and dominating my body. He eclipsed the entire world and I forgot to breathe. I forgot everything but kissing him.
His taste was addictive, like nothing I’d ever experienced before, and I wondered if I could just kiss him forever. Or even more… #EpicSpringSex #RightNow
His hands went under my ass, hauling me up as I wrapped my legs around him, rocking my aching body into his hard length. His chest rumbled under my hands, and just as I was trying to figure out how to get his pants off, he jerked his head back, his eyes dark and stormy. A battle played across his face, one that he fought inside, and I tried to catch my breath.
“We can’t,” he finally said, soft and husky. He shook his head. “We have a mission to complete. There’s no time for … this.” He peeled my thighs away from him and my mouth popped open in surprise.
This? Did he just fucking say “this?”
Fuck you, dude. My kisses were not “this.”
I pulled back, letting my elbow clip his face as I swam away. #Whoops #AccidentISwear
Embarrassment flushed through my system at what just went down; my face would once again be red as fuck, but this time it wasn’t the plague. It was that fact that Cronus was a cu—
“Are you done almost dying? Can we get back to saving the world?” He interrupted my thoughts.
He was back to being obnoxious, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why that kiss had bothered him so much. He obviously liked it. My eyes fell to his lingering hard on and I smirked. “Whatever you say, big man,” I said, as sweetly as I could, all while I was stabbing him to death in my head. “We all know what’s important to you.”
That last statement halted him for a brief moment, before he shook his head and strode out of the water, dragging me behind him with our bond.
“Come on. We need to find my ex. I think she’s in trouble.”
Great. Just what I want to do after grinding on you.
#FML
Chapter 15
Cronus magicked us across the world again like it was no big deal and I was starting to seriously wonder what this god was capable of, power-wise. We were back in those woods where we’d had the bonfire with Queen Bitch, but this time they were stinky and decaying. All the trees were blackened at the base and … slimy.
“Yuck. Did Sickness do this?” I kept my arms at my sides. No way was I going round two on that plague thing.
“Yes. Which means Rhea isn’t doing her job, which means she’s probably dead.” He didn’t sound like that would bother him all that much and that made me smile. #NotaPsycho #IveBeenTested
“Rhea!” he bellowed.
“Over here!” a familiar voice called out. It took me a moment to place it, and I was blaming the fact that I’d been eighty-percent dead when I’d heard it. Pretty sure it was Panacea.
Cronus started running, which meant I had no choice but to follow. We were both still soaking wet and I could go for a nice hot bath and dry clothes right about now. I’d just survived the fucking plague. I needed a damn five-hour nap and a cheese pizza. But no, I was running.
“What’s happened?” He halted and I slammed into his back. It was our favorite couple move. He stopped like a brick wall and tried to break my nose on said wall.
“Careful, newly back from the dead human here,” I growled.
He knelt and gave me a view of a pale Rhea. She lay on a bed of leaves, shaking with cold.
“He’s too strong. Something’s different this time,” she rasped between shivers. “It took every ounce of my power to freeze him for twenty-four hours, but if we can’t put him back in the box by then…”
Cronus nodded. “Humanity dies.”
Shit. I know I should have cared about the whole humanity dies part, but all I got from that was that Rhea could fucking freeze people. #IceQueen
“We need Hyperion,” she choked out again.
Panacea was waving her glowing wand up and down the Titan’s body and it seemed to be helping.
“Yes. I know. There was a complication with that,” Cronus told his ex.
Her eyes narrowed. “Well, fucking figure it out, Cronus. I’m risking my life here!”
Excuse me?
I waited for Cronus to verbally bitchslap her but he said nothing.
“Don’t talk to him like that!” I snapped at her. “He’s the reason you even have a life. Have a little fucking respect, ice queen.”
I threw the nickname in at the end, and by the wide-eyed, open-mouth, shocked expression Rhea gave me, it had maximum effect.
She recovered quickly. “Get Hyperion and take your human with you before I kill her!” Rhea roared, cold mist floating out of her mouth as she screamed.
When Cronus spun, he was grinning ear to ear.
Fuck me. My legs went weak. He had a dimple in his right cheek and oh my God his teeth were straight and white and perfect. It had now become my life mission to make this man smile as much as I could.
He grasped my hand. “Come on, human.”
Just a moment ago he’d been pushing me off him, now he was smiling and winking and I was so confused. Why couldn’t we just make babies together? It would be good for the planet, right? Little moon-time-traveling-god-babies.
“Keep him frozen, Rhea!” he called out over his shoulder.
“Twenty-four hours! Find Hyperion,” she barked back. Bitch did not sound like she was dying now. #AndTheOscarGoesTo