Releasing the Gods

by Leia Stone

  “I heard the sins were loose again,” she muttered.

  Despite my urge to pull away, we stayed locked together, and I was close enough to hear her almost inaudible gasp, the reflective nature of those brown irises deepening.

  “What?” I asked, fear hitting me so hard that the darkness swirled strongly inside of me. Almost like it was reacting to the heat of her power.

  A battle started in my body and I wondered if I would survive it.

  Darkness suddenly poured out of me and swirled out around us. I thought I heard Cronus shouting, but everything was fuzzy as I struggled to stop myself from exploding.

  Jessell threw her head back and screamed, a long piercing sound that was beyond anything my vocal cords could produce, and then everything started moving in slow motion. Cronus lunged forward, I jerked myself back, and the seer wrapped her free arm around me, pulling me right against her body.

  Heat destroyed my senses and then everything went dark. The last thing I heard was the roar of a Titan.

  Chapter 22

  I must have only blacked out for a second, because when I came to I was lying flat on the ground with Jessell hovering over me. Her eyes had gone completely pearl white as she stared at me with a mixture of fear and awe.

  “You are the box. This has always been your destiny.” She let her eyes roam over my body as if she saw something I didn’t.

  Cronus just stood there looking from Jessell and back to me, wondering if he should jump in. “The necklace was a gift from your mother, Selene. Part of her soul resides in it. It takes some of the burden, but it cannot take it all. You, Maisey Hope Parker, are the last hope humanity has.”

  I stopped breathing then. “Why?” I croaked.

  She stared off into the distance. “The sins that have been released have grown in power. Each year they were away, they fed on the emotions of the humans on Earth much like I do to gain my power.”

  Oh fuck, there were a lot of emotions over the last one thousand years, all the wars, all the fighting, all the evil…

  “Humanity is sick, but it can recover, it can live in peace, but only if all of the sins are destroyed. Not locked away.” She dropped to one knee and looked me right in the fucking eyes. “Destroyed.”

  “How?” I gulped.

  She looked back at Cronus, silent for a moment, before leaning in to whisper in my ear: “Once all of the sins are contained in your body, only your death can destroy them permanently. This is what you were made for. Your greatest gift to humanity will be self-sacrifice.”

  Fuck … me? I was way too obsessed with myself for self-sacrifice. My hair alone was too pretty to ever be destroyed. #PickSomeoneElse

  “I fucking heard that and never gonna happen,” Cronus roared, looking like he was ready to dropkick Jessell in the face. “There has to be another way!”

  She stood, strode over to Cronus and whispered something in his ear. Something my stupid fucking human ears couldn’t hear.

  Watching Cronus’ face pale, horror crossing his features quickly before he stowed them away, made me sick to my stomach. I sat up, intending to go to him, when Cronus nodded at Jessell and she left the room. Just like that she was gone.

  I sat there replaying her words over and over in my head.

  The fucking sins had been feeding on humanity’s fears and sicknesses and evils for over a thousand years and only my death could destroy them forever.

  #IwantMyMommy #BothOfThem

  Cronus knelt on the ground, coming to my level, and grasped my face in his hands.

  My lower lip quivered. “What did she say to you?”

  His fingers caressed my cheek as his eyes roamed over my face as if he were seeing it for the first time.

  “Please forgive me for this.” His voice cracked.

  Fear spiked through me. “For wha—?”

  Pain laced through my entire body as Cronus’ blue magic lit up the room. He cried out in pain, sweat beading on his brow, and I knew right away what he was doing. I hadn’t realized how much I could feel him through our bond until it started to rip away from my body.

  “No,” I panted. “Please don’t.” I needed this bond. I needed him. Agony pushed through my muscles and up my spine. I cried out in pain.

  His face was suddenly right next to mine, breath on my ear. “I’m sorry, but I have to take this next step without you. Go home, Maisey.”

  As if our entire time together were a dream, he faded out of existence. Leaving me … alone.

  “Nooo!” I wailed, unable to keep the anger and rage and desperation at bay. It had been knocking against my chest this entire time, and now, in my grief, I had no choice but to let it free. Black magic burst from my mouth, my eyes, my fingertips. It. Was. Everywhere. It spun in a tornado above my body, as if asking me where I wanted it to go.

  Cronus.

  He left me.

  Alone.

  To die with these fucking sins inside of me.

  Complete and utter desolation rocked through me. The tornado above me turned into the shape of a spear and slammed right into my chest. I blacked out again, welcoming the darkness.

  Stay Tuned! Wrath of the Gods is on presale now. Read below for Chapter One in Book Two of the Titan’s Saga. Preorder here: https://smarturl.it/WrathOfTheGods

  Wrath of the Gods

  Titan’s Saga Book Two

  I stared at the picture of Cronus and me on my insta wall. The one shred of proof I had that he was real, that everything we’d gone through was real. All I had left was this picture with 100K likes and the necklace around my throat.

  As I’d always wished for, the post had gone viral and I’d amassed 50K followers. Was it everything I’d thought it would be? #Nope

  But since my life was a damned mess, I was trying my best to live normally, and had started putting out daily content but people were asking...

  #WhereIsTheGreekGod #ShowUsTheFutureBabyDaddy

  Every single hashtag ripped my heart out and reminded me that I was currently living some fucked up life on borrowed time. Cronus had taken off three weeks ago, and I’d heard from no one since. I mean, how the hell were they even fighting against the sins without the necklace, without me? Where were they putting them?

  “Maisey!” Bobby shouted my name and I snapped out of it. “Order up on table five.”

  Despite my fifty or so thousand followers, I did not have a single sponsorship, so it was still #CrabShackLife.

  I grabbed the order and weaved through the tables to set it down at table five. “Can I get you anything else?”

  “Ranch dressing,” the middle aged woman requested.

  Why was it always ranch dressing? Maybe if I’d invented ranch, I would be on a yacht somewhere and not here.

  Here. Screw Cronus for giving me a glimpse of a life beyond mine, for a glimpse of love, and then tearing it from me. He’d destroyed our bond and left me broken and alone on the floor of a dressing room in Vegas. I’d barely been able to control the darkness that seeped out of me in my despair at the loss of our bond. I felt empty ... broken.

  At least I knew the truth now: the bastard only kept me close because of the bond. If he could just leave me there like that, he didn’t fucking care about me.

  He’d be back though, or at least one of them would be. I still wore three of the sins around my neck.

  Knowing they were all out there saving the world without me. #NotFuckingCool

  “Maisey, you’re cut!” my manager called out.

  With a heavy heart, I deposited the ranch dressing at table five and clocked out.

  “You going out tonight?” Shauna asked, sashaying her way past me with a loaded tray. Girl had biceps to die for and I was never surprised she got the big tips. She moved fast and efficient.

  “Uh, no. Probably not,” I said with a huff, untying my apron. “Not really feeling it.”

  She didn’t respond to me immediately because she was busy corralling customers into some sort of order as she passed out meals and
drinks. Yet, somehow she got back in time to grab me and stop me from walking out the door.

  “Come on, Mais,” she said, some annoyance creeping in her tone. “You disappear for weeks, you come back looking like death, and you’ve been a zombie ever since. I’m not taking no for an answer tonight. We’re going back to the beach, and you can stare at the spot you met your Greek hottie, and remember how awesome it was to be swept around the world on a romantic trip.”

  I gulped, heat burning in my cheeks and behind my eyes. My throat was sore, and that made my voice extra raspy. “I’m just--”

  “I’ll be at yours at 8 P.M,” she cut me off. “Be dressed, or I’ll dress you myself.”

  I blinked as she hurried off, knowing she meant what she said. She would drag me out by my hair. Shauna didn’t know the full story of course, I’d had to tell a modified version of the truth to her or she’d have called the cops. She believed the cover story that I met Cronus--aka Greek God--while climbing the mountains on the beach near our Santa Barbara home. She thinks we went on a whirlwind sexcapade around the world, before breaking up and going our separate ways.

  The truth was, there was no sex, but I’d wanted him more than I’d ever wanted any man, ever. Of course, the one man I would fall for turned out to not be a man at all. Cronus was a Titan, an ancient god like race that birthed the Greek Gods. Near seven foot tall, dark hair, piercing blue and gold eyes, and a body built to perfection, it hadn’t been hard to fall for his looks. His personality on the other hand … that took more time.

  But, fuck, he’d grown on me. His dry, almost sarcastic humor, the way he pushed and cared and claimed me.

  The fact that he left was still something I was struggling with. Not because I thought I was so amazing that he’d never find anyone better. But because we’d had a connection, something beyond the life debt that had initially tied us together. I’d felt it from him, something deeper.

  What the fuck had Jessell said to him? And why had she disappeared off the face of the planet so I couldn’t torture her to find out? #IWillCutABitch #IKnowKarate #OrYogaAtLeast

  I’d been so wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn’t even realize I’d reached my apartment door until I was standing on the mat.

  After letting myself inside, I crashed onto my bed and decided that it was a very real possibility that I had some mild depression.

  “You’d like that Sickness, wouldn’t you? You fucker.” I told the demon god trapped in my necklace.

  I almost felt his response, it was a bout of nausea that rolled into me reminding me that I was the box that contained three of the worlds deadliest sins, not the necklace. Before I knew it, I’d passed out and Shauna was banging on my door. My eyes snapped open.

  It was 8:00 on the dot.

  “Go away, I’m sick!” I screamed.

  A key jiggled in the lock and she let herself in. Dammit, I never should have given her my spare. “Get up bitch. You’ve got fifty thousand followers and you need to take pictures tonight of you having fun or they will unfollow.”

  #Truth

  I bolted upright at the mention of losing even one follower.

  “Shower! I’ll pick out your outfit.” She barked.

  I did as she asked and thirty minutes later I stared at myself in the mirror.

  Hair was bangin.

  Body squeezed in tight black dress, check.

  But that necklace… it was my constant reminder of what I was.

  After walking six blocks in high heels we were at the beach and the high heels got tossed into the sand with the others. Only at a beach party in Santa Barbara would you wear a short black clubbin dress with a hoodie.

  #CaliLife

  “Maisey in the house!!!” Matt shouted, holding up the spout of a keg.

  I grinned. Matt was always down to get you drunk when you wanted to escape life. I shrugged out of my hoodie and handed Shauna my phone. “Get this pic.”

  Shauna had become my unofficial assistant and she knew what angles looked good and what filters to use.

  “Matt, keg stand me!” I bounced over to him and he grinned.

  I popped up into a kickstand and Matt’s strong hand landed on my exposed inner thigh to steady me. Then he brought the nozzle down to my lips and opened the tap. Cold beer rushed in my mouth and I chugged it down. I wasn’t a huge fan of beer but it would make an excellent shot for my wall.

  “Got it!” Shauna confirmed and I closed the nozzle and jumped down.

  “Thanks Matt.”

  “Any time.” he winked.

  #NeverGonnaHappenBud #OnceYouGoGreekYouNeverGoBack

  I added twenty hashtags to my photo and uploaded it.

  “I feel like you need a little designer dog or something. That would up your daily content.” Shauna said.

  A pang sliced through my chest at the mention of a dog.

  Hound.

  That hellhound had grown on me and he was out with Cronus and Hyperion saving the world while I was doing keg stands like an idiot.

  I opened my mouth to respond when a figure flickered into existence right behind Matt.

  I nearly choked on my own spit at the sight of Rhea popping onto the beach out of nowhere.

  Luckily no one else seemed to notice. They just noticed she was there and not that she’d materialized out of thin air. Although regal and gorgeous, she looked completely out of place at a beach party.

  She wore a long crimson gown with braided straps and her hair was curled over one shoulder.

  #Bitch

  “Be right back. I see an old friend.” I muttered and bee-lined it in her direction. She was observing the party like someone would a group of insects. When she saw me, she rolled her eyes.

  “There you are!” She hissed.

  I walked up to her and pulled her gently by the arm. “Rhea, what the fuck are you doing here? You can’t just pop in like that!”

  She crossed her arms and leveled me with a gaze that said she would do whatever the hell she wanted.

  “Cronus sent me. Apparently I’m expendable.”

  At the mention of Cronus, my throat went dry. “He… he did?”

  My heart was hammering so loud in my chest I was sure she heard it.

  She rolled her eyes again. “I’ve never seen him so livid. He saw your instabook post thing and wanted me to make sure this guy,” she gestured to Matt, “Wasn’t trying to harm you by holding you up in the air like that.”

  I grinned. Cronus had a fucking instagram account? He followed me! The world must be really ending because that shit was impossible.

  “Matt’s harmless. Is that all you’re here for?”

  #TakeMeToCronus #ThenConvenientlyDieAndLeaveUsBe

  She groaned. “Zeus has become a real thorn in our side. I’ve been ordered to stay the night with you and babysit.”

  Anger crawled up my spine. “Cronus sent you to protect me?”

  Why not him? Why not Hyperion? Hell, anyone but his fucking ex-wife.

  She seemed to take my meaning. “They’re busy with Jealously, they’ve been tracking him for weeks and finally got a solid lead.”

  I stepped forward. “Then bring me along and I’ll help you catch him.”

  She looked down her nose at me. “I am forbidden from doing that, I’m sorry.”

  She didn’t sound sorry. Ugh! Before I could retort, she stepped forward and dragged her fingers along Matt’s back, causing him to turn.

  “Hello darling, why don’t you do that thing to me?” She waved at the keg.

  Matt’s eyebrows hit his hairline, then his gaze fell to her breasts. “A keg stand?”

  She waved her fingers at me. “I want to see what Maisey’s little life is like.”

  The condescension was thick in her voice.

  With one hand he coaxed her into a handstand and lowered the nozzle to her lips.

  Leaning in, I whispered in his ear. “Fuck her up. She has a high tolerance.”

  Rhea shot me daggers from her upside down position but
I just grinned. This night might actually be fun.

  #ThisBitchWasGettingDrunk #IWasTakingHerAssToTacoBellAfter

  I decided to go live and document everything on my social media. If Cronus was watching, I wanted him to see I could be the cool chick who had fun with his ex-wife. Because surely this was a test. Cronus was nowhere to be seen for weeks and he’d seen a photo of Matt’s hand on my thigh and sent his ex-wife.

  #GameOnMotherFucker

  Acknowledgments

  Thank You!!!

  Big thank you to our editor, ARC teams and amazing readers. #Blessed. #ShouldProbablyThankOurHusbandsToo #Nah