by Leia Stone
“Twenty-four hours! Find Hyperion,” she barked back. Bitch did not sound like she was dying now. #AndTheOscarGoesTo
As we walked away, I tugged on Cronus’ hand. “Why is Hyperion so important?”
He stopped and faced me. “Hyperion birthed three gods. The god of the sun, the goddess of dawn, and your mother, the goddess of the moon.”
My eyes widened. “So if Selene is my ancestor, or maybe even mother—because that was still an unsolved mystery—then this dude is like my grandpa?”
Cronus chuckled. “I’m sure he’d love if you called him that.”
I rolled my eyes. “So he’s powerful because...?”
Cronus pulled me into his body, tucking me closely against him. “Because he can harness the elements. He can also boost other gods’ powers. His power will feed Rhea’s and make her strong enough to freeze Sickness until we can lock him away again.”
I had no idea where he was planning on locking him, but I guessed he’d tell me when I needed to know. For now. “How do we find him, er ... his remains?”
“Hound.”
Everything went black and then we were back in the cave where we’d seen the Fates and I’d almost died. Hound was right where we’d left him, like a loyal dog. The Fates, however, were gone.
He barked when we got there, wagging his tail.
“Good boy, buddy.” Cronus scratched behind his ear.
Hound then slunk away and smelled my leg. “I’m all better,” I told him and reached out, wondering if he’d shy away. He didn’t. So I rubbed his neck generously.
Cronus just watched us with an unreadable gaze. “We’ll get some food and clothes, maybe take a bit of rest. I need to think up my next gameplan.”
I just nodded. He had me at food. And then again at rest.
An hour later we were sitting on a hotel bed in Malibu, at a five-star resort, sharing three large pizzas. We’d both stripped off our wet clothes and were wrapped in robes while the hotel concierge shopped for new clothes for us. Telling the concierge to buy me two size 34 D push-up bras and four thongs was the highlight of my day. Cronus just shook his head and the concierge turned beet red, before clearing his throat.
But he was happy when I handed him a generous tip.
We were cashed up … all thanks to one detour on our way to the hotel.
To rob a bank.
Kind of.
Cronus bleeped us inside the vault, dropped a gold bar that he magically pulled from his dick, and grabbed a few stacks of cash, before bleeping us out. We were going to live like rich bastards for at least the next twelve hours.
“Do you think there’s time for me to grab a quick massage? I hear the spa here is nice.” I bit into my pizza and ignored Cronus’ glare. “Also, are you ever going to tell me how your dick keeps producing gold? Not that I’m complaining, but it’s a little weird, right? Surely even you see that.”
He shook his head. “My dick doesn’t produce gold. I have a magically enhanced pocket that I keep my treasure in. It’s like that bag from the singing lady you love so much. The magic pocket is bonded to my body, even when I’m naked. It’s from there I take all of my gold.”
My eyes widened. “Mary Poppins! I knew you were watching that on the plane. Told you it was awesome.”
His expression didn’t change, but I sensed that he’d enjoyed it.
“What about the massage?” I pushed.
“No massage. Rest while I figure out how to get Hyperion’s scent for Hound. I don’t want you all tired and grumpy for the rest of the day.”
Now it was my time to glare. “Tired and grumpy? What am I, a toddler?”
His eyes raked over the robe that had partially fallen open, exposing my breasts.
His eyes darkened and he opened his mouth just as a knock came at the door.
Our clothes.
Cronus popped up into a standing position and started to walk to the door.
“Wait, the pizza’s on my lap!” I shouted as that familiar pull of our bond yanked me after him.
I’d had both hands on the pizza box, trying to set it on the bed, when I’d been pulled to my feet against my will.
Cronus turned back to face me just as the robe flew completely open.
His eyes flared a deep blue and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he took in my naked form.
I froze, unmoving, letting my tits and all the other stuff just … hang out.
If he didn’t want to kiss me, then this wouldn’t bother him. Right?
#ImEvil #PayBackIsABitch
I placed a confident hand on my hip. “Nice one. I told you to stop.”
His eyes were having a very, very, hard time staying on my face.
“Sorry ... I forgot about the bond,” he mumbled. “Now ... cover up.” The bottom of his robe was growing, and I grinned. It wouldn’t have surprised me if the dude’s dick produced gold. It was already beyond belief.
“Oh, come on,” I gestured to my naked form. “It’s just a woman’s body. I’m sure you’ve seen hundreds.”
His chest was heaving up and down, like he could barely contain himself. I liked the effect I was having on him, and even though this was a little more forward than I’d usually act, I didn’t care.
#YOLO
The door banged again. “Sir? It’s the concierge.”
Cronus finally let his eyes drop to my tits. “Cover those up. Now.”
With a sigh, I closed the robe and retied it. “Sure thing, big guy.”
Cronus was going to learn what happened when you rejected me. I was going to make him fucking beg for it. Because one way or another, we were having sex. I could see it in his eyes. He wanted it as badly as I did. If not more. I would make him say it, scream it.
“Maisey!” he snarled, pulling me out of my glorious sex fantasy.
I stumbled forward, remembering I needed to be closer to him so he could open the door.
“Coming,” I shouted, no pun intended.
After grabbing the stuff from the concierge, Cronus informed me that he was taking a cold shower and stalked off.
“Hah. I’ve got him right where I want him,” I told Hound, rubbing behind his ears while he shoved his giant face into my hand.
After Cronus showered, it was my turn. I took the longest, hottest shower in the world and it was glorious. The damn plague had been on me and I needed to sanitize myself. When I was finally out and dressed, we dumped out the contents of the rest of the concierge items.
“Yay, a new phone!” I grabbed the iPhone case and ripped it open. I’d long lost mine, somewhere in the eternal spring no doubt. Cronus had told me to get whatever I needed, so I did. Along with a Gucci leather backpack, two lace bras, thongs, skinny jeans, shorts, cargos, and a bunch of crop tops. And a toiletry kit with makeup.
“Did you get anything warm?” Cronus’ gaze raked up and down my outfit. I’d chosen the dark wash skinny jeans, white crop top that showed a good slice of my tummy, and some practical tennis shoes.
I shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”
Cronus shook his head at me before looking at Hound. “Hey, buddy, you think you can do one of those lineage tracker spells?”
Hound whimpered and backed up into the wall.
Cronus frowned. “I know they hurt a little, but we need to find Hyperion.”
Hound looked from Cronus to me before his huge head dropped and he stepped forward.
“Lineage tracker spell?” I shoved the final items into my Gucci backpack and slung it around my shoulders.
“You have Hyperion's bloodline within you. Even if it’s diluted, it should be enough for Hound to find where they’ve hidden his remains.”
I hugged my arms across my chest. “What happened to me getting to take a nap?”
Cronus shook his head. “No time, you took too long of a shower.”
Rolling my eyes, I handed him my finger. “It better just be a tiny pinprick this time.”
Cronus nodded. “Something like that.” He pulled out hi
s giant magical sword and brought it to my finger and I had a flashback to the volcano.
“Everything will happen quickly once he gets the scent, so hang on,” he told me, handing me a white hotel towel, seemingly to staunch the blood after he cut me.
I held my breath and looked away. The slice was quick and sharp. I sucked in a breath and waited for whatever came next. When nothing happened, I popped my eyes open and gasped.
“What. The. Fuck. Hound?”
Arcs of deep red magic were casting off of Hound’s body and hitting the ceiling and walls.
“Just a little underworld magic. Nothing to worry about,” Cronus assured me.
Hound was … in a trance or something. He was panting, mouth half open and eyes wide.
“Ready?” Cronus asked me.
I was scared to answer, and I definitely wasn’t prepared when Hound lunged forward and licked my blood.
“Ewww!” I yelped, just as Hound howled in pain.
“Let’s go!” Cronus yanked me into his lap and then placed a hand on Hound’s head, and everything started to spin. If my life hadn’t been such a mess lately, I’d have been afraid at this point. But it was so normal now that I barely even flinched when my entire body blasted away into space, slamming down in a new location.
Cold slammed into me and I popped open my eyes to see Cronus looking down at me, head covered in snow.
“What were you saying about warm clothes?” he asked with a small smirk.
Fuck. Why did he always have to have the last word?
“I’m tougher than I look,” I lied, because I was so not tough at all. “I can handle anything.”
He regarded me for a long moment, and then his eyes darkened. “I believe that,” he murmured, breaking the eye contact to turn back to Hound, checking him over.
Meanwhile I was standing there wondering if maybe I’d be the one to beg, because Cronus was killing me. Slowly. Piece by piece, he was taking my soul, and soon he’d own all of me.
#Fuck.
Chapter 16
Turned out we were in the Himalayan Mountains. Cronus was wandering around, and I remained positioned near a rock outcrop, trying to figure out how to stay warm.
“There’s definitely something from Hyperion here,” he said as he strode back, snow and ice crunching under his boots, the hard winds blowing snow through his dark hair. A few flakes even rested on his eyelashes.
With a sigh, Cronus pulled his own backpack off his shoulder and pulled out a giant hoodie he’d gotten from the concierge. “Wear this.” He tossed it to me and I caught it midair.
“Fine, if you insist.”
#PleaseInsist
I tossed the hoodie over my small form. It hung to my knees, bringing delicious warmth with it. A guy didn’t give you his hoodie unless he wanted to fuck you.
#Fact
The wind picked up and I realized I had vastly underestimated how cold it actually was. Something told me if I wasn’t half god, I would have been frozen in minutes. As it was, I barely managed to follow Cronus for the first few steps. Hound, who must have noticed me lagging, fell back to walk beside me, and I could have moaned at the heat his body was throwing off. The delicious tendrils traced up my side, and I all but climbed on his back.
“Hound, you’re so hot,” I murmured, pressing my frozen fingers to his side.
Cronus, who’d stopped to wait for us, snorted. “He’s a hellhound. What did you expect?”
I glared. “Right now, he’s ten times more useful than you are, so quiet down and do what you’re good at…”
He stilled, watching me with predator eyes. “And what is that?”
Releasing Hound, I took a few steps forward, before patting him condescendingly on the chest. “Looking pretty, of course. That’s why I keep you around.”
Take that, asshole. No one rejects my sexual advances without getting some shade thrown.
I waited for him to get angry … offended. But he didn’t. He just stared me down with hooded eyes and a neutral expression, but I could see his mind turning with plenty of thoughts.
Against my will, I shivered, and he noted that before straightening to resume his march across the snow. Hound was guiding us, his nose to the ground, and I wondered if the cold interfered since he was clearly bred to live in the heat. When he made a rumbling sound, our pace picked up, and so did the wind apparently. I could barely see anything in front of us, and I hoped we weren’t about to stumble off a cliff.
“Is this a new piece of Hyperion?” I asked, gasping in the icy air that hurt my throat and my face. “Or the same one from the previous location?”
Cronus was in front of me; I couldn’t see his face. I could barely hear his voice as he shouted back: “The same. Jealousy cannot destroy a piece of a Titan, but he can place it in one of the least accessible places on Earth. He wouldn’t have held on to it for long, because our energy is painful to the sins. It makes sense that he just dumped it somewhere here.”
I swallowed hard. “How are the sins doing this when they’re not fully released yet? Like … Sickness was the only one spreading his filth around the world. Then Turmoil would be next. So how is Jealousy smuggling body parts to the Himalayas?”
Cronus took a second to answer because Hound had paused near a large cave. A cave that had not been visible until we were basically right at the mouth of it. Stepping into the dark entrance gave us a moment’s reprieve from the high winds.
“The first part of the sins manifesting is forming a body, and the second part is their powers. This is slower … it takes time,” Cronus murmured, staring around the rocky area in front of us. “They’ll all have limited access to the same powers the gods and Titans have, like speed, strength, and the ability to teleport from one location to another. Their sins though, will not appear until the full manifestation of their power.”
Awesome. #CantWait
Hound made another sound, and Cronus turned his attention to the beast, the pair of them doing a silent communication thing that weirded me out. Like, I think they had more meaningful conversations without words than I’d had with words my entire life.
“Hound thinks it’s buried in this cave,” Cronus said. “But there’s an odd energy here that’s bothering him. I think you should wait while I explore.”
I snorted. “One, we are bonded, and even though it’s allowing us to be ten or more feet apart at the moment, that’s not really far enough for you to explore. And two: no. Not happening.”
I felt safer with Cronus, even if there was an “odd” energy.
Something shifted across his eyes, but he didn’t argue. “Keep up,” was all he said.
#OnYourAssLikeSuperGlue
He didn’t have to worry about me staying close I was in no way ready to almost die again.
With no natural light, the cave was dark as we moved further inside. However, Hound, who was full of surprises, had a tiny little light on the end of his nose. Like he was fucking Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Only his light was a dull yellow glow, and it was enough to highlight the icy floor, scary icicles on the ceiling, and desolate look of the entire cave system.
When we’d been stumbling in the dark for about ten minutes, Cronus reached out and halted me, his large hand wrapping around my biceps as he hauled me closer. Pressed to his side, I tried really hard not to think about the last time I was pressed to him, and the subsequent rejection after that.
#Bastard
“We’re not alone in here,” he said, right by my ear, his voice a husky whisper.
I wasn’t ashamed to admit that I half climbed him in that moment, expecting a bunch of shit to grab my legs and yank me away. Cronus’ chest rumbled, but I couldn’t really see his face, since Hound had his nose-light shining in the opposite direction.
“I’ll keep you safe,” he said, and I let out a muffled shriek when he threw me over his shoulder. How in the fuck? I had no idea how he managed that maneuver, but I wasn’t complaining, because now I was up high and safe
from leg grabbing monsters.
At this point, no longer thinking in any sort of rational manner, my brain was manifesting the worst kind of shit lingering in the darkness.
“Go, Hound,” Cronus snapped out, and then we were running, me clinging to his back like a barnacle, the huge hoodie flapping out behind me.
My face ended up buried in his back muscles, and I tried not to breathe in the pure masculine spicy scent of Cronus. There was nothing unattractive about him, except his personality on occasion, and even with that, once you got past the gruff, arrogant exterior, he was a good man … god … Titan. Whatever. He was good. I would never forget how he’d worked to save me.
He was saving himself.
My inner voice continued to remind me of that, but I’d heard the genuine concern in his voice, and he hadn’t mentioned even once it was concern for his own life. It was for me.
I’d never thought there would be anyone that cared enough to fight for me. Fuck.
This big lump of Titan was crawling under my skin and burrowing into my heart. I was afraid that when this was all over, if we managed to save the world, he’d leave and go back to whatever Titans did.
And I’d be alone again.
“Hold on tight,” he said bluntly, snapping me out of my morose thoughts. “They’re gaining on me, and it’s at least two of the sins this time.”
“Turmoil and Strife?” I whisper-yelled back.
Cronus shook his head. “No, they’re likely occupied with Crius and Koios. These are two of the last, the ones connected to Hyperion and I. They’re clearly here to ensure Hyperion does not rise.”
Clearly, Hyperion was damned important; Cronus had not been underestimating that. I wondered what the two last ones were.
“Their powers are limited because they haven’t manifested, right?” #ThereIsAnOrder #GetInLine
“Right,” he said, and then we were flying across a huge chasm, a scream choking on my lips as I barely managed to hold myself together.
Cronus spun around then, and some sort of energy shot from his hands, the blue light of his powers illuminating the cave. It was so cold back here that ice coated everything, even the walls, and the drop, from what I could see from my perch, was one dark abyss, with no bottom in sight.