“It’s effective,” came Cronus’s steady voice.
“Except that your aim is terrible.” Why did Kala feel the need to antagonize? It came way too naturally for her.
CRACK!
And the air-conditioner was on fire.
Kala didn’t have a plan yet, but flames weren’t doing her any favors so she high-tailed it to the next mounted structure. It happened to be the base of a giant satellite dish. Her whole idea of getting to higher ground was feeling kind of fruitless.
What did she think she could do?
Her last fight with Cronus consisted of her being tossed around like a chew toy. It wasn’t until the Titan dropped pieces of Talan at her feet that some kind of innate power started to spill out of her. She just needed to tap into that.
But Kala didn’t want to.
She was scared that she wouldn’t be able to control herself and end up chowing down on the leader of the Titans. If Cronus integrated with her brain, Kala was sure she’d turn into a schizoid. It was more terrifying than dying.
Speaking of which…
SNAP!
There went the dish, crashing next to her feet. The base was still intact, so Kala stayed where she was.
“You can’t hide forever, Human.” Cronus sounded amused.
Kala imagined him standing casually in his perfectly tailored suit, flipping his hand occasionally to drop lightning bombs on the lame half-breed.
“I’m more than human. You can’t kill me,” Kala baited. She wanted either confirmation of that or for Cronus to slip up and tell her something else she might not know.
“You are more human than Titan. And I can kill you just fine.” Cronus sounded bored. “Now come out and face me.”
“I really don’t feel like being fried with lightning right now.” Kala didn’t budge.
BOOM!
Kala felt the metal from the structure she leaned against, push into her back, launching her forward to her knees. Behind her stood a twisted mass of metal. Cronus was going to destroy every piece of cover Kala ran to until there was nothing else to hide behind.
Feeling desperate, Kala ran to another air-conditioning unit.
She could feel the annoyance dripping from Cronus’s tone. “Are we going to do this dance all day?”
“Considering it’s my life, yes.” Kala searched her surroundings. Could she survive jumping off a fifty-story building? Not likely. It was the whole human part that was unclear. The Supernatural was making her quite aware of the fact that, even though she was a Titan, there was still a part of her that was fragile.
Kala was about to throw caution to the wind and full on body slam Cronus when Asmodeus popped in next to her.
“I wouldn’t do that.” He guessed her intentions.
“I have to do something!” Kala wanted the confrontation to be over with at this point.
“Let me distract him.” Asmodeus smiled.
“You work for him.” Kala couldn’t fathom why the Demon would help her. She had seen the terror in his eyes when he looked at Cronus.
“What can I say? I’m a sucker for a good kiss.” And with that, he kissed Kala briefly on the lips and teleported away.
BAM!
Kala stood up. Her gut told her something was wrong.
And it was.
In the spot where Asmodeus must have teleported in to fight Cronus was a pile of dust.
“Did you kill him?” Kala was surprised at how much the thought of Asmodeus dying affected her.
Cronus shrugged. “Asmodeus is fine, but I sent him to a place where he won’t be returning anytime soon. I won’t tolerate disloyalty, especially not from a Demon.”
With Owen sending Asmodeus to the 5th Level of Hell a few days back, the Demon had a nasty habit of being banished by his superiors.
Still.
Something felt off about the whole thing.
It was too easy.
Too heroic for Asmodeus.
Kala had an itching suspicion that she was being set up. For what, she had no idea. If she knew Cronus’s end game, maybe she could figure it out.
Best to keep him talking rather than attacking. That, she knew for sure.
“No lightning?” Great. Provoke him. Half the time Kala wished she could divorce her mouth from her brain. They never seemed to agree with each other.
Cronus stared at Kala as if he were dissecting an insect.
She wondered why there was a sudden lack of attacking. He had been trying to roast her five seconds ago, but now that she was out in the open…
Nothing.
“Are you going to kill me or what?” Kala asked in a voice dripping with irritation. Kala was tired of constantly fighting and running and fighting and running. She wanted Cronus to make his move and maybe she could counter it.
“I could.” He toyed with her.
“Really? Because you’ve tried a butt-load of times and I’m still here,” Kala responded back.
Cronus paused, staring at her again.
“I really wish you supernatural beings would stop staring at me like I was some kind of unicorn. Has no one ever given you lip before?” Kala surveyed the roof while she kept Cronus distracted. A part of her seriously debated whether or not to jump. Maybe if she were far enough away from him, she’d be able to teleport again. Kala made a mental note to ask Rotoph about it later. If Rotoph was able to block teleportation from the Compound, he must be doing it the same way Cronus was now. She never thought she’d actually want Rotoph by her side, but she could really use him right now.
In the mean time, there were more places to duck and cover, but that wouldn’t get Kala anywhere.
Cronus looked like a baller in his black suit, watching Kala like a hawk.
“Seriously, what now?” She shrugged her shoulders. “You either let me go or try to kill me, but this waiting around is starting to bug me.” There was nothing worse than a standstill. One of the reasons Kala became a soldier was because she needed action, the adrenaline rush. The only time she could handle sitting still for long periods of time was when she had a rifle in her hands.
Cronus’s hands shot out before Kala could react.
CRACK!
Her body was completely engulfed with lightning.
Everything clenched: jaw, legs, arms, neck.
Kala couldn’t move a muscle as the energy surged through her.
This is how I die? Struck by lightning from a Titan?
She couldn’t accept that.
Not going to happen.
BOOM!
Not knowing how, Kala pushed the energy from the lightning out of her body like the blast ring of a nuclear bomb.
Cronus was knocked to his feet, shock in his eyes.
After a second or two Kala appreciated what she had just done. She looked up at Cronus. “Is that all you got?” She was definitely not feeling the bravado she spouted, but she figured she’d try to bluff as best she could.
Cronus slowly rose, dusting himself off, his expression full of fear and wonder. “I know what you are,” he said.
Kala could see his eyes were welling with… tears? It scared her more than the lightning. “What do you mean?”
Cronus shook his head. “You’re on the wrong side, Kala Hicks.”
And he was gone.
It took a moment before Kala could move, afraid he’d pop back in and snap her neck. Not that it would kill her, but she didn’t imagine it would feel too good either.
After she was sure Cronus was gone, Kala ran her hands through her hair.
What was that?
What did he mean he knew what she was? What was she? She had consumed Atlas and she had almost consumed Cronus. Was she some kind of God-eater? Did those exist? Where did she get that skill? From the dumpster her mother abandoned her in? And what about the skill of taking a lightning strike and turning it into a blast ring? She tried to wrack her brain for any memory of Atlas’s that showed he could do this, but Kala knew it was fruitless. She could tell by Cronu
s’s response that he thought she was something different.
But what? He looked so sure! It drove her nuts!
And where was Asmodeus?
Did Cronus really banish him?
Probably. She shrugged. It was for the best. What was she supposed to do with the king of Demons anyway?
Kala felt more alone than she ever had in her entire life. Being a foster kid, that was saying something. Standing on a rooftop in Las Vegas with a crushed air-conditioner and demolished satellite dish behind her, Kala couldn’t move.
What had her life become?
Who was she?
What was she?
Talan’s face suddenly appeared in her head.
A warmth spread through her that she couldn’t explain.
Thinking of him gave her a strange sense of hope.
Of home.
Kala closed her eyes.
When she opened them, Talan stood in front of her.
Completely out of character, she hugged him tightly.
His arms gently wrapped around her. Kala almost cried it felt so good. She didn’t even pause to think that she had finally made it back to the hideout. She didn’t even care that the human part of her body was probably about to fall apart. Kala just wanted to stay in that embrace for as long as she could make it last.
Talan’s voice whispered in her ear. “You can’t be here. You’ll hurt yourself.”
Hearing the pained concern in his voice only made Kala want to stay more. She never realized how much she needed contact until this moment. A part of her had felt it with Jack, but she hadn’t been ready to admit it back then. But his ability to make her feel safe and wanted was why he was the first man she had ever loved. Feelings she had always been proud that she never needed.
But she did.
“Kala, what is it?” Owen’s voice came from behind.
She pulled away from Talan and faced her foster father. “Did Zeus tell you anything?” She didn’t want to talk about Cronus yet.
Talan shook his head. “He just babbles. We can’t get anything coherent out of him.”
“Let me try.” Kala started to move toward Zeus with determination. She planned on taking out all her frustration on the god.
Owen stopped her. “Kala, I know that look on your face. Something happened to you. Tell us.”
Kala sighed heavily. “Cronus just attacked me again.”
“You went back to the 5th Level of Hell? Why?” Owen asked worriedly.
“I wasn’t in the 5th. I was in Vegas,” Kala informed them.
Looking around to distract herself, she saw the rambling Zeus in a corner. Rotoph, Hephaestus, and Penny were at some kind of forge, clanking on metal. They barely noticed that she was back, they were so focused on their work. Kala figured it must be some kind of super weapon. Maybe something she could use in the future against Cronus? Her soldier mind wanted to go over and find out.
But the looks on Talan and Owen’s faces stopped her.
“What?” Kala couldn’t tell if they were upset she’d fought Cronus again, or the fact that it was in Vegas.
“Kala, Cronus hasn’t left the 5th since the end of the war. It’s been 2,000 years.” Owen let that gem simmer.
Kala’s head started to spin. It didn’t help that Zeus began to repeat the word Cronus over and over again.
“Why would he come down for me?” She didn’t want to admit it, but she already knew. Cronus had come to assess some theory he had about her and she had confirmed it for him when she pushed the lightning out of her system.
“To finish what he started in the 5th and destroy you once and for all?” Talan suggested.
“No,” Kala sighed. “He was testing me. He said he knew what I was.” She peered up into Talan’s eyes and then Owen’s, looking for some kind of recognition. Hoping beyond hope that they would know what Cronus saw and tell her something!
But they both appeared just as confused as she was.
After a moment, Owen nodded slowly. “We know something is different about you. The fact that you were able to destroy Atlas and infuse him into your human body without dying has never happened before.”
“And you almost did the same with Cronus,” Talan added thoughtfully. “The truth is, we don’t know why you were able to do those things. There’s nothing about you that makes you different from any other human.”
“Thanks,” Kala joked sarcastically.
“You know what I mean,” Talan said.
Lurching forward, Kala was reminded why she couldn’t be there. Blood spurted from her mouth before she could stop it.
“You have to leave.” Owen placed his hand on her back to calm her.
Kala gently shrugged him away. “No, wait. I think I got this.”
“It’s physical, Kala, it’s not mental. You may die.” Talan seemed adamant to make her leave.
“Just give me a second.” Kala moved a few paces off. The lightning incident showed Kala that she had powers she was not aware of. Physical or not, she had to try. Seeing mumbling-crazy-Zeus in the corner only inspired her more. Kala knew she could extract the information she needed from the god. Talan and Owen weren’t motivated like she was. They weren’t the ones that had to do horrific things every four days.
Wiping the blood dripping from her nose, Kala hid her face from the two worrywarts. After chowing down on Atlas, waking up had been an ordeal similar to this one. She almost didn’t survive it, but Roberta had worked her mojo and helped her through it. The secret had been keeping calm and focusing on integrating with the warring sensations in her body. Having Roberta would definitely help right about now, but Kala knew she could do this herself.
Leaning forward, Kala relaxed her chest and head. Back to Yoga 101. Deep breaths, relaxing her mind, relaxing her body. She choked a large splattering of blood on the floor but ignored it.
Kala tuned out Owen and Talan, who were still trying to convince her to leave. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Rotoph had walked over. Kala knew he sensed what she was doing. Even Zeus grew more and more excited saying the words, “tricky, tricky, fixy, fixy.”
He was nuts, but it gave Kala a surge of confidence.
Closing her eyes, Kala used the same energy she used to push out the lightning to try to push out the human part of her that rejected the hideout. Another cough of blood threatened to break her concentration and will. She shook it off and kept focusing.
As her body started to collapse in on itself, Kala used the anguish she felt to motivate her. She had never felt such intense pain in her life. Integrating with Atlas hadn’t been this painful. It was as if her veins were exploding.
Maybe they were, she thought with horror.
Shaking away the disturbing thoughts, Kala imagined pushing out the pain. Pain equaled death.
Blood puke.
Lovely.
She screamed.
Talan and Owen tried to grab Kala.
They were going to teleport her.
“Stay back!” she yelled as blood poured out of her mouth.
Kala stepped away from them, knowing that they wouldn’t listen to her.
She just needed more time. Kala was close. She could feel it.
Kala reached deep within her body and mind. Integrate. Integrate. She repeated to herself.
Tuning out Owen’s booming voice became harder and harder. Her body grew weak.
She was dying.
Kala was going to die.
No.
She wiped the blood from her mouth and cried out, delving into her power, that secret reserve that allowed her do things that were impossible.
Talan managed to grab her.
Kala physically felt her mind blocking his teleportation.
She was staying and no one would stop her.
Human side be damned, Kala wasn’t going anywhere.
CRACK!
The sound reverberated through Kala’s form. It hadn’t come from outside.
It had come from inside her
mind.
With one last spurt of blood, the agony disappeared.
Gone.
Kala wondered if she was dead, or if her plan had worked.
Slowly, Kala straightened herself.
Definitely alive.
She wiped as much of the blood from her mouth as she could.
Everyone stared at her. Even Hephaestus and Penny had stopped their work to watch the Kala show.
Their faces all had the same expression: shock.
Only Zeus moved. He acted like an excited baboon, jumping and clawing at the walls, his words nonsense.
“Could someone get me a towel or something?” Kala broke the silence. Yet again, she was covered in her own blood.
Talan was the first to respond as he handed her a small blanket. “This is all we have.”
Kala took the proffered blanket and wiped her face, hands and neck as best she could. By the end of it, the material was almost entirely red.
Not wanting to talk about what just happened, Kala turned to Penny. “Do you have an extra shirt?”
Penny couldn’t seem to snap out of stare-mode, but eventually she shook her head. “I didn’t exactly pack.”
“Right. Supernatural hideout. Why would you need clothes?” Kala saw the logic in this, but it still irked her. Wearing her own blood on her chest wasn’t how she wanted to spend the day, but at least she was alive.
But Talan quickly came to the rescue by waving his hand over her body. All the blood instantly disappeared from her clothing and skin.
“You couldn’t have done that earlier?” Kala glanced at the blood-soaked blanket, but she managed an appreciative smile. “Thanks.”
“Can we talk about what just happened here?” Hephaestus still had a stunned look on his face. “This half-breed acclimated her human side to a god’s station. That’s impossible.”
“Now I know where Penny gets it from,” Kala observed sarcastically. “You and your impossibles.”
Rotoph stepped forward. “How did you do that?” His eyes were calculating, as if he could gain some kind of advantage if he knew.
Kala felt like she was surrounded by paparazzi. She placed her hands up for everyone to leave her alone. “Look, I don’t know how I did it. I just did. It was the same with Atlas, the same with Cronus and the same with pushing out the lightning.”
Grigori Returned (The Atlas Series Book 2) Page 13