Ascension

by Sable Grace

  “If you’re talking about Cronos . . .”

  Nettles gasped at the mention of the fallen god.

  “That’s exactly who I’m talking about. He promised he’d come back. Maybe he did.”

  Nettles’s sputtering caught Kyana and Geoff’s attention. “But . . . but he’s Cronos. It takes a willing host to become possessed. Who would willingly allow Cronos access to his body?”

  Kyana stood and motioned for Geoff to follow. “Right-o, Nettles. Whoever Cronos possessed would have to be a follower of his. Someone who already worshipped him, dead or not.”

  Geoff’s grin spread from ear to ear. “Someone who can obviously leave fingerprints behind.”

  Kyana nodded. “If Hank finds a match to that print, we’re going to find the person who was willingly possessed by Cronos.”

  “Yeah, not going to do us a lot of good since half the names Hank ran last night had records. It’s going to take forever to figure out who’s responsible.”

  Geoff wiggled his eyebrows and smiled at Nettles. “Not necessarily.”

  Slowly, Kyana turned to look at the Seer. “You’d be able to connect the dead Chosen to the person who killed them.”

  “Presumably, yes.” Nettles reached out her small hand. “Give me your list and I’ll try.”

  Kyana stood and held out her own hand. “For that, you’ll have to come with me.”

  “You don’t have the list?” Geoffrey and Nettles asked together.

  “Well it would be damned difficult for Hank to work from it if I took it with me every time I left the room.” Kyana motioned for the Seer to stand. “It’s just as easy for you to come with us. Spirits isn’t that far. You can have a look, point out any names that give you the heebie-jeebies, and then we’ll bring you home.”

  “Perhaps if you had waited for the other as you were meant to, the list would be in your possession now.”

  Kyana grinned. “Nice to know I can throw a Seer a curve. I never do what’s expected of me.” She motioned for Nettles to stand. “Let’s go get that list.”

  Nettles shook her head. “You’ll have to bring it here. I’ll need tools to seek the link you’re searching for, and a Seer’s magic is always strongest in her dwelling. Come back to me with that list, and I’ll see if I can take you closer to the truth.”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  “This list is incomplete,” Nettles said, running her long fingers over the crumpled pages.

  Kyana elbowed Ryker out of her way, trying desperately not to sniff him too obviously as she pushed past him, and sat down beside Geoffrey on the other side of Nettles’s table.

  “We know. This is only a list of people whose ancestors were Cronos supporters. We realize there have been new recruits since then, but it was a launching point.”

  Ryker was still glaring at her, angry that their first trip to the Seer’s had excluded him, but he was here now, so he needed to deal and stop boring holes in the back of Kyana’s head.

  “This,” Nettles said, pushing a bowl of blue powder to the right of the list, “I’ve charged to link the deaths of the Chosen to your list. I feel it working, so you do indeed have a murderer here.”

  Excitement spread through Kyana like a tidal wave. She felt Ryker squeeze her shoulder and knew he was feeling the same thing.

  “But this . . .” Nettles moved a yellow powder bowl to the left of the list. “I’ve attuned it with your key. It has no energy at all.”

  “So whoever has the key is not on the list,” Ryker muttered.

  “I think not.”

  Kyana leaned in, getting a whiff of overpowering floral fragrance that made her sneeze. “But someone who’s been killing Chosen, we do have him, right? Who?”

  “He doesn’t work alone, and I don’t know his name yet. It will take a few moments for the powder to find the source of its power.”

  Nettles closed her eyes and placed the fingers of her right hand inside the blue powder. She brushed off the excess, then smeared her fingertips along the pages. “There. Now we wait.”

  “For what?” Kyana asked.

  “You’ll see.”

  Kyana fidgeted and stared at the paper, finally giving up when she saw nothing happen, and she looked up at Nettles again. “So, can we talk during this or is that a no-no?”

  “You may speak, though I’ve already seen your question.” Nettles cocked her head to the side and smiled, though she didn’t look up from the list. “You wish to know why, if I’m as good as people say, I didn’t foresee the breakout.”

  Damn. She was good. It was a question that had been bothering Kyana since meeting the Seer. “Well?”

  “I am not an Oracle, Kyana. I am a Seer. I see what has been and what is, but only Oracles can see what will be. Why they didn’t predict the breakout is beyond me. Perhaps they were blocked by someone more powerful than they.”

  “Someone like Cronos,” she muttered. Every single minute that passed, Kyana grew more certain that Cronos was responsible for everything happening. From the breakout, to the possession of a body that turned the key to Hell. She was beginning to fear that his promise to Icky’s people hadn’t been an empty one. Maybe he really was trying to rise again.

  When she voiced that fear aloud, however, she received three incredulous stares in response.

  “You really buyin’ that, lass?” Geoffrey smirked. “And who’s going to raise him? I certainly don’t know anyone powerful enough, and I know everyone.”

  Kyana snapped her glare toward Ryker. “And you? You think I’m gullible too?”

  He shrugged, towering over Kyana as he twisted his mouth in contemplation. “I think it’s far-fetched, but I’m beginning to think Cronos is the only one powerful enough to do any of this. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades alone aren’t powerful enough, even, but together as brothers, they could manage the feat if their powers weren’t fading.”

  “So you agree? Cronos could be trying to rise again? It makes sense, you know. Who else would want to possess someone and open Hell? The only person who knew such a feat was possible. Cronos. Think about it. He would have to possess a body to actually hold the key, true, but only Cronos wouldn’t alert Hades to his presence. It might have been someone else walking down the halls of the Underworld, but it would have been Cronos’s soul. Undetectable since technically, he was Hades and Zeus and Poseidon before they ever reigned. He’d have permission to enter because no one would have thought to prevent it.”

  “All right,” Geoffrey offered. “Suppose the two of you haven’t completely gone mad. Why would Cronos bother with any of this, then?”

  “Who wouldn’t want to come back from the dead?” Kyana pushed herself from the table and paced behind Nettles, who seemed just as intrigued by the topic as everyone else. Her gaze kept returning to the pages, checking to see if anything magical was happening, and since it wasn’t, she pressed on. “Killing the Chosen means there’s no one left to replace the gods. Gods Cronos would feel cheated him out of his own power. He tried to kill his sons once. It would be a lot easier to try again if they were weak.”

  She knew better than anyone the lengths a person might go in order to obtain power. Hell, if she was Cronos, she’d certainly do everything she could to come back and reclaim what was rightfully hers.

  “One problem,” Ryker said. “To raise Cronos, one would need all four Eyes of Power. Zeus’s staff, Hades’s amulet, Poseidon’s trident, and Cronos’s own ring. All of which are still safe and sound. No immediate danger of having him pop up.”

  Good point. But Kyana wasn’t convinced. Who was to stop Cronos from getting his hands on the Eyes of Power? He’d already proven he could possess bodies and sneak around.

  “What did you do with that ring, anyway?” she asked.

  He glanced at Geoffrey. “The less people who know, the better.”

  Did he not want to say in front of Geoffrey? Or did he mean he wasn’t planning on telling Kyana either? She opened her mouth to ask but Ryker cut her off.

>   “And why unlock Tartarus? Just to create chaos?”

  “Maybe. Chaos that had us all running around like mad, saving anyone and everyone when the real focus was on the Chosen. Besides, I’d think it would drain the gods even faster if they had to use their powers to clean up the mess of the breakout. Two birds plus one stone equals—”

  “Hush now.” Nettles’s interruption would have pissed Kyana off if the Seer hadn’t looked absolutely delighted with herself. She pointed a shaking finger at the papers. “The magic is working.”

  When her hand touched the pages again, her body gave a small tremble. “The blood of the Chosen pools at his feet. It circles and surrounds, but doesn’t touch him in any way.”

  “So he’s ordering their deaths, but his hands remain clean.” And he had to be Cronos. Kyana was sure of it now.

  “Correct.” Nettles pushed the list across the table and tapped her nail on a name that was lit up with blue glitter. “This is one you seek. The other, he is not listed here.”

  “I’ll be damned,” Ryker said, a whoosh of escaping breath making the candles on the table flicker. “You found him, Ky.”

  Chapter Twenty-five

  She knew it! Drake Mallone, the slimy, weaselly little bastard. No matter that his fingerprint hadn’t matched the one on the scroll. Okay, so he wasn’t the one Cronos had possessed, but he was guilty of murdering Chosen! It might not have been his scent on the scroll, but he’d know who it belonged to.

  Kyana nodded her thanks to Nettles, grabbed the list, and bolted from the room, Geoff hot on her heels.

  “That clatty clackled bastard of a cunt,” Geoffrey seethed, looking ready to gnaw through Nettles’s table. “I knew there was a reason I wanted to kill him.”

  “Other than for being Haven’s boyfriend, you mean?”

  He sneered at her, and Kyana quickly navigated the streets of Below, desperately trying to rein in her own anger.

  Ryker caught up with them just outside the portal alcove and jerked Kyana around to face him. “You have that kamikaze look in your eyes, Ky. Don’t go off half-cocked and do something stupid. This is where you let me do my job.”

  She hated that he was mastering the skill of reading her so well. “I should have known it was him. Who lets the woman he loves return home alone to unknown circumstance when the world is so dangerous? Where was he when Haven returned? And since he’s been back, I’ve seen him once, maybe twice. What the hell is keeping him so busy?”

  Ryker nodded. “We’ll find out as soon as we get our hands on him.”

  “And if we’re scary enough, we’ll find out whose smell is on the scroll.” The lock, she was beginning to suspect, smelled of Cronos. Just as the island had.

  “You sure you don’t want to step out of this now that we have his name? You’re not dealing with a stranger here, Ky. You’re dealing with your best friend’s boyfriend. This is personal. It could get ugly.”

  It would kill Haven if Kyana took Drake in. Good-bye friendship.

  But if Kyana wasn’t the one to bring him to justice, good-bye pride.

  “I’m sure,” she muttered. “For her sake, I’ll try not to rip his head off, but I’m not making any promises.”

  She would do her damnedest to stay calm until she was sure Haven was safe, though. The last thing she needed was for Haven to confront Drake and put herself in danger. Better to keep Haven out of it altogether.

  “Yes you are making promises. To me. I’ve let you do your job and now you’re going to promise to let me do mine. I’ll question him, Ky. The right way.”

  “Whatever.” She started for the door. “Let’s go. We’ll see if he’s with Haven at my place. I want that bastard’s balls in my hand before sunrise.”

  Ryker grabbed Kyana’s hand before she could open the door to her house. “You have to play it cool. If he’s in there with Haven, we don’t want her to get hurt.”

  Kyana glared. She didn’t need to be told that. Haven was her best friend. She deserved to be told what was going on and shouldn’t have to watch her boyfriend get torn to pieces.

  Geoffrey stepped around them both and opened the door. Darkness shuttered the house, but it didn’t hamper their movements as they made their way through the living room. Haven had been here recently, but her scent was fading. She wasn’t here anymore.

  Hoping to figure out where her friend might have gone, Kyana pushed open Haven’s bedroom door.

  “Give me a mo,” Geoffrey said. “Maybe I can find out where they are before we go traipsing about.” He pulled a cell phone from his back pocket. Kyana boggled, watching him flip it open. “Where did you get that?”

  “I’ve had it.”

  The rapid succession of button pushing fascinated Kyana as she watched from over his shoulder—a safe distance away. A Vampyre with a cell phone just felt . . . wrong. She’d only attempted to use one once, and the radio waves had nearly made her head explode. Apparently, since Geoff didn’t have a problem with the device, it was her Lychen makeup causing the havoc.

  He pressed the contraption to his ear. Kyana could hear the ringing from where she stood.

  “She’s not answering.” He snapped the phone closed and shoved it back in his pocket. The frustration on his face aged him a hundred years. “Stay put. I’ll be back in ten.”

  Before she could demand to know where he was going, he was gone.

  “We’ll find Drake,” Ryker said, his smooth tone grating on Kyana’s nerves.

  “Yeah, we will. I just want to find Haven before he knows we’re after him.”

  “He can’t possibly know anything, so she should be safe.”

  “The last thing I want to hear is should be when you’re talking about one of the only human types worth saving in this entire world.”

  Leaving him standing in the middle of the bedroom, Kyana attempted to reach out with her Vamp senses. She searched the entire house, not bothering to turn on lights, hoping to gain some idea where Haven had run off to. She could trace Haven and Drake, but concrete answers would be faster.

  “Where the hell are they?”

  Returning to the bedroom, Kyana brushed past Ryker, who was bent over, looking under the bed as though Haven might have been stuffed under it. She needlessly flipped on a light and waited for him to look up at her. She held up her hand, her fingers three inches apart. “You do know we’re not looking for little people.”

  The puzzled look on his face was adorable and did nothing to hide the faint brush of pink on his cheeks. “I thought maybe a note could have fallen off the nightstand when we opened the door,” he mumbled.

  She turned away to check the room again. Drake’s scent was strong here, but it trailed away with Haven’s. They were definitely together.

  She had opened the closet to check the rows of Haven’s clothes when she heard the sound of leather and chains. She spun around to find Geoff standing at the door.

  “That was fast,” Ryker said, pulling himself back to his feet and brushing off his knees.

  “No sign of them Below,” Geoff said, rubbing his eyes with his thumbs. His heaving chest told her he’d touched his Vampyric power long enough to break into a sixty-mile-per-hour run at some point. Still, how had he found out anything so quickly? Where had he gone?

  “Okay, so we look Above,” Kyana said. “You stay here. If she comes back, let me know. If I find her, I’ll do the same.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “Not this time.” She pulled open the front door. “If you go, I’ll have no one to let me know if Haven comes home.”

  She waited only long enough for Geoff to nod in agreement before turning to find Ryker blocking the exit.

  “You need someone to go with you.”

  “No, I don’t. You go back to the fort. Start whatever needs to be done to have Drake questioned the minute I return with him.” Kyana tried to shove him out of her way but he didn’t budge.

  “And leave you to bring Drake in alone?” He shook his head. The k
nowing gleam in his eyes didn’t ease that he’s-getting-too-familiar feeling itching beneath her skin. He didn’t trust her not to rip Drake’s throat out.

  “You’re not going without me, Ky. Drake is mine.”

  Like hell.

  Knowing she didn’t have time to fight over this, she conceded. Sprinting to her room, she pulled off her boots, then tossed them and a change of clothes into a backpack. She returned to the living room and shoved the bag against Ryker’s chest. “You better be able to keep up and don’t you dare lose that bag. I won’t take it easy, and I won’t wait on you.”

  He stepped away from the door. “Do your thing.”

  Kyana knelt, placed her hands on the ground, and lowered her head. She closed her eyes and blocked out everything but the Lychen trying to claw its way free.

  Ryker watched Kyana’s muscles stretch, pull, and rearrange around her frame. The fine hairs all over her body oozed from her pores, thickening into a svelte coat of ebony, fascinating him. It was all he could do to tear his gaze away and open the door so she could follow whatever scent she’d picked up.

  He barely opened it a crack before she slid between his legs and leaped down the steps onto the sidewalk, lifting her head to the breeze. The wind kicked up, ushering leaves onto the street, ruffling Kyana’s silky coat like tiny ripples of water. Ryker followed her outside, shut the door, and slipped her bag over his shoulder.

  Fifteen minutes later, Kyana had come to a dead stop in front of the lighthouse, her tail thumping wildly as she whimpered in victory. Ryker craned his neck and found himself peering up at a hundred and sixty-five feet of black and white spirals.

  Keeping close on her heels, they circled the base until they came to the entrance. It was cracked open. Either squatters had broken in, or someone, hopefully Drake, had come for the view. As soon as they stepped inside the stark white entrance, Kyana faced Ryker, nipping at her bag.