Grace of Gods Boxset: Reincarnated Greek Gods YA/NA Series

by Kyleigh Castronaro

  Aidan threw his hands up defensively and froze again before turning to Val, “you need to get it out of here I can get to Savannah…”

  She nodded and looked back at the dog.

  “Good boy. That’s a good boy,” she continued to move toward him in tentative, slow steps waiting to see if he would snap at her but the dog didn’t. He sat down softly, and began to pant like a dog waiting for a ball to be thrown or a trick demanded of him.

  Val closed the distance between her and the monster and reached out, softly running her fingers through his fur. He whined softly and leaned down, all three heads attempting to nuzzle her. She laughed, being bounced around between them before trying to sedate all three with appropriate rubs and pats.

  “Good boy…” She said gently turning and walking past him into the darkness behind me. She whistled and called for him, leading him away from me. I listened to their retreating footsteps until Aidan made toward me in several quick bounds.

  “You need to go.” I said to him, as he came up in front of me, reaching for the binds that he wouldn’t find.

  “Not without you.”

  “What does that matter Aidan?” I said bitterly before shaking my head, “You need to go because this is a trap. He’s trying to kill you.”

  “I don’t care, even more reason for me to get you out of here. This is my fault. Everything is my fault… I didn’t want to hurt you and look what I’ve done.” He shook his head, stepping back to survey me and trying to figure out how he could free me from Cronos’ magic.

  “You didn’t want to hurt me and yet you slept with Charlotte, again, after you promised to try and be faithful.”

  He shook his head, “I didn’t sleep with her. I wanted you to think that I had. I didn’t trust myself to not mess us up and I couldn’t trust Zeus’ power. I didn’t want to risk your life because he was power hungry.”

  “How sweet.” Cronos said coldly as he appeared, throwing Aidan magically into the wall. “I didn’t anticipate that you’d bring her with you, I guess I won’t get to see Savannah torn limb from limb in front of you but there are other things I could do that areas affective.” His attention returned to me, Aidan still held firmly on the wall as Cronos made his way toward me slowly.

  Each step was calculated and the smirk on his face only made me fight harder against the chair. Whatever that mind was churning over right now was not something Aidan or I wanted.

  “Stay away from me!” I shouted, struggling and fighting. I knew it was futile but I couldn’t sit there and let him terrorize me like this.

  “Oh, come now dear. What did we talk about before?” He said cryptically, no doubt for Aidan’s benefit. Cronos reached out, looping one hand in the blonde curls I’d styled only for the evening’s party and he pulled my face forward to his.

  It felt like being in the Styx bathroom all over again. But this time I wasn’t going to be some helpless victim. This time I was going to take some control over.

  His lips slipped down against mine, working them like a lover’s. While he fell into the idea that I was submitting I waited until he was completely lost in the moment to open my mouth for him, biting down hard enough on his tongue to draw blood. Ungracefully I spat it back in his face.

  “You…” He smacked me again, my jaw stinging this time. I didn’t stop though; it was a matter of life or death if I did. I rocked the chair and managed to lift one of its legs up before coming back down, hard on Cronos’ foot. Raged rippled through him and he grabbed me, tossing me across the room like a ragdoll.

  The chair smashed up against the wall and I could feel the magic give way as the chair was destroyed. But the wood also didn’t break my fall as I slumped to the ground feeling shattered myself.

  “Savannah! Savvy, are you okay?” Aidan shouted at me from where he hung. Through half lidded eyes, I could see him fighting his own restraints and then something changed.

  The power levy snapped and Aidan dropped to the ground. Before Cronos even had the chance to get to me, or do something else, Aidan was at his side gripping his throat and squeezing with every intention of drawing out the last drop of life in the Titan’s body.

  But having it easy, for Aidan, wasn’t enough. He tossed Cronos away from him as Cronos had done me and followed him. Despite the fact there were no windows or even any indication of a sky visible in this place there was a loud rumble of thunder.

  The menacing sound of it echoed throughout the room as Aidan drew closer to his target. It wasn’t Aidan anymore, in fact it wasn’t Zeus. Before my eyes, I watched as the man I loved united with his God over a shared hatred and a protective instinct for the woman he loved – me.

  Aidan’s features didn’t change, his eyes never turned to that coldness I was used to now when Zeus took over. There was something different about his stance, the way he held himself. There was no doubting the aura suddenly around him that had never been there before – this was the King of the Gods.

  In his hand, he called upon the power that flowed through him and I watched as before our eyes he created his first lightning bolt.

  My eyes rushed to adjust to the sudden brightness, longing to see it in its full glory but the bolt shone bright I soon had to turn my eyes away. Aidan, though, seemed unfazed by the light and held it effortlessly he didn’t even seem to realize he had lit up the entire room.

  “You should have left it, you should have submitted to your fate and accepted that you will never be King again. No one could ever believe in a self-righteous, self-obsessed, power-hungry God like yourself, and no one will ever have to.”

  “We shall see Son, for your downfall is at hand... It might not be by me but it has been written.”

  Smite, up until this point in my life, had always been a meaningless threat people used as a metaphor for the ultimate punishment. But once having seen someone be smitten I knew now that it was not a term one could use lightly.

  The power of Aidan’s blow forced Cronos deep under the surface of the ground. The lightning carved a pit deep it reflected the original prison that the Titans had been condemned to. He turned to me finally; content that Cronos would no longer be a bother to us and made his way over quickly.

  “Queenie, are you okay?”

  Falling to his knees Aidan drew me into his lap, cradling my head in his arms. I murmured something unintelligible to tell him I was alive but not much else. My body was still screaming in pain, surely bones had to be broken or at least had started out broken. It felt like my immortal self was trying to help them all but whatever it was she was doing, it hurt.

  “Savannah say something, please!” He pulled me up higher into his arms, his face closer now to mine. I felt frustrated that he hadn’t heard me the first time, repeating it back to him. But he didn’t seem to hear me still, as he shook me and I groaned in pain.

  “Savannah… come on… don’t do this…” Were those tears? Why was Aidan Cartwright crying? He didn’t cry. He was emotionless; he couldn’t even tell me he loved me. He didn’t cry.

  “Savannah, goddamn it, wake up!” He bowed his head, hanging over me and I could feel the warm tears streaming from his cheeks and hitting me on the face.

  It was frightening. I would have never thought that the day would come when I would find myself in a situation like this with Aidan where he was capable of being bare. He’d tried before but that had been nothing compared to the heart wrenching misery I could feel emulating from him. This is what he meant when he said he had felt my fear...

  I opened my mouth to try and comfort him but before I could Aidan was launched from beneath me and my head smacked hard on the ground. A bout of nausea and dizziness rushed through me again. It took a moment but I forced my eyes open, straining to see Aidan. He was pinned on the ground beneath Cronos who had somehow managed to survive the first lightning bolt. His hands were wrapped around Aidan’s neck and I could see the darkness flooding Cronos’ body from the source of dark power Cronos was drawing from.

  It filled
him completely like an atomic bomb and I knew he was channeling it toward Aidan. He was still going to try and kill Aidan but Aidan didn’t have the strength for a second lightning bolt.

  He’d never made one before and the effort of the first one had exhausted his power. I remembered Atlas telling us it was like a battery that

  needed to be recharged after a huge use of power and dread filled me. Aidan wouldn’t be able to defend himself; he might die. I tried to move myself, get up and grab Cronos but my limbs weren’t working, the bones were still broken. I did the only thing I could think of. I willed my hand to move the fraction of an inch between Aidan’s and mine, desperately trying to grab his hand.

  No matter how hard I concentrated or how hard I willed my magic to work now it wouldn’t. My hand refused to budge.

  Aidan, sensing his impending failure, did what I couldn’t and grabbed my hand tightly.

  “I love you… Savannah.” He whispered huskily, struggling to get the words out through his closing windpipe. But it was all I needed.

  I focused on the warmth, what was left of it, inside of me and willed it toward him. If he could use my power, maybe I could recharge him enough to use another lightning bolt. That would do it; it was all he needed…

  A tingling sensation rose from my toes, building up through my limbs and into my core. It tickled and after a while became uncomfortable. I wanted to move, to shift away from it but I couldn’t.

  Soon the tingling gave way to a coldness that settled first on my skin and before long sunk deep into my bones. I felt like I was dying. My limbs were stiff and useless, my body finally gone cold. This was it; it was the end.

  I wanted my last moments to mean something. I wanted to save Aidan or at least know I had died trying. But nothing happened. It seemed I had senselessly drained myself of every ounce of magic in my core.

  Aidan didn’t seem to realize what I had done; he simply soldiered on, fighting the urge to give into the lack of air. Aidan, and Zeus, were both too great to be killed by suffocation. I wouldn’t believe it. They were too strong and too mighty.

  Then suddenly, that light filled the room again. Cronos let out a groan of frustration, trying to push Aidan’s hand away and break the spell that was being cast. The concentration scarred his face, already contorted with hatred and determination. He knew this was going to end with one of them dead and this time he wasn’t going to let Zeus win.

  But the bud of the lightning bolt had been sowed and there was no stopping it. The light grew and grew, stretching and forming until the solid shape of a lightning bolt jutted from between his fingers. Cronos pushed harder, trying to shove Aidan’s hand into the pavement to keep it away from him but Aidan struggled to free himself.

  All at once he threw his fist into Cronos’ chest. The bolt didn’t do much but electrocute him for a moment forcing his limbs to release Aidan enough he could stand. Cronos’ body convulsed as the power surged through him, light seeped through every orifice. His mouth went wide and filled with a bright white light while more of it poured from his nostrils, his ears and even his eyes. It was a horrific sight.

  Coughing and spluttering Aidan tried to catch his breath but he held on, he kept the lightning bolt firmly gouged in Cronos’ chest. As his strength returned the power of the electricity grew, and Cronos was finally blasted across the room.

  The power that surged from Aidan’s hand held the bolt there for longer than before. This time there would be no mistaking Cronos would be dead. His screams were tripled as they bounced off the walls and echoed, the sounds of his terror and pain of his suffering burned themselves into my memory.

  After a few minutes Aidan seemed to slump, exhausted by the exertion of the magic and the bolt disappeared. Cronos though was the one who truly disappeared. The power of Aidan’s and my magic had literally disintegrated the Titan into nothing.

  Aidan collapsed on top of me slightly, panting from his effort. He took a moment to catch his breath before rolling over to look at me.

  “Savvy…” He whispered, taking my cold hand in his own and rolling it over in his palm that he could thread our fingers together. “Savvy; wake up… Please. I can’t do this alone.” He pulled himself up against me as his free hand reached out, brushing my hair off my face and tucking it behind my ear.

  I could feel my heart speeding up in my chest, an uncomfortable knot forming in my stomach. I could feel the warm emanating off him, encouraging my body temperature to return to normal but I still couldn’t move no matter how much I longed to turn around and face him.

  His face pressed against the curve of my neck, pulling me closer and tighter against him. Every time he exhaled in soft pants I could feel the wet warmth against my jaw, the air brushing the loose hairs across my skin before they settled back in place.

  “I don’t know how I’ll do this without you.” He whispered softly, his voice strained and threatening to break.

  The hand that was still threaded in mine shook slightly from nerves as he licked his lips to continue, “I need you. You’re my strength, you’re the reason I can do all the things I’ve done. Without you I’m nothing Savannah. Don’t you understand? Come back to me, please… I need my Queen… I need my soul mate.”

  The coldness within me began to withdraw; my limbs softened and relaxed in the way plants would defrost after a long winter. I took a soft shaky breath, enough to test the limitations of my newly returned functions and then tried to wriggle my toes.

  The motions were soft and contained but they were movements a moment ago I had been unable to do. Aidan didn’t seem to notice though, lost in his thoughts and fears. His hands still clung to me tightly, afraid that if he let go he’d lose me forever physically as Cronos had disappeared.

  “Come back.” He said again, squeezing my hand harder than before. “Come back. I love you.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” I coughed finally, gasping for a deeper, more sufficient breath.

  Chapter 26

  “Savannah.” Aidan breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled me more into his arms. I managed to free one arm from his grip to hold him tighter against me. His muscles were still tense with fear and worry as we lay there for a moment, the silence surrounding us. His face was still pressed to my hair, almost afraid as though if he moved I would disappear.

  I struggled to understand but I didn’t understand his desperation. I hadn’t been dead. I had still felt alive, I could see everything that was going on and I could feel the magic I’d given him but if I was dead I wouldn’t feel those things, right?

  “I’m sorry. It’s my fault this happened to you.” He spoke quietly and I started to protest. This hadn’t been his fault; it was simply the miscalculations of a power-hungry Titan. This had nothing to do with him or me, only Cronos. Aidan wouldn’t let me speak though, shushing me instantly and continuing.

  “I shouldn’t have been such a coward. I shouldn’t have pushed you away because I was afraid of hurting you. You got more hurt by me holding you far away. If I had been better, more willing to try I could have protected you from all this. And I’m sorry Savannah. I’m sorry for pushing you away, breaking your heart, betraying your trust and almost getting you killed. It won’t ever happen again. I’ll die first before I ever let any of this happen again.”

  He spoke with such conviction and certainty. But I was tired. I was tired of the petty arguments. I was tired of the uncertainty and indecision. I was tired of the games and plots. I was tired of the lies and backstabbing. We were Gods; we were supposed to set the standard not fall short of it.

  In the past, maybe we had our fights and our differences but this was a second chance. Everyone was quick to remember that but failed to act on it when the time came. It was too easy to fall back on old jealousies and rivalries seeded deeper within us than we could understand.

  Tonight had taught me one thing. Enough was enough. We weren’t going to waste this opportunity we had been given by leaning on the crutches of the past. I was going to
decide my fate from now on and Hera would have to accept that.

  But I didn’t doubt that she would be on my side. Tonight, more than ever, I realized how much we had in common with each other. No matter what, my heart came first and that was true for both of us. Nothing could come before Aidan and Zeus, nothing ever had and nothing ever would.

  “It’s alright.” I said softly, carefully loosening the grip of his arm as I rolled over slowly to face him. “I didn’t blame you about this. I was trying to protect you from it.” He smiled and reached out, brushing my hair out of my face and sighing softly.

  “But that’s not your job. It should have been me protecting you from him, from Charlotte… I was too busy trying to protect you from me and I hurt you anyways. I should have known that separating myself from you wasn’t the answer. You’re my strength, magically and emotionally. I couldn’t have defeated Cronos tonight, not without that push from you.”

  “You felt it?” My eyes lit up gently and I smiled.

  “Of course. Your magic is warm like you said, but my coldness destroys it. Not this time, this time it was pure. It was all you, flowing through me and, while it should have felt like an invasion, it felt natural. The coldness, that’s the invasion. Being obsessed with popularity, or power in Zeus’ case, is what turns men into things like Lincoln and Cronos. I don’t want to be that. I don’t think Zeus does either. He likes being the King, but he also values equality and love, two things I don’t think Cronos has ever understood.”

  I smiled, leaning in to kiss the tip of his nose softly. “I think,” I said carefully, mulling over my thoughts first before finishing my speech, “you’ll make a wonderful King, Aidan. You may not have realized your potential yet but when you do… Gods help us.” I teased with a soft laugh, “you’ll turn this world upside down and it’ll be the greatest thing anyone has ever seen.”

  He laughed too and leaned in, kissing me gently at first before his hand slipped up the curve of my body to my cheek. His fingers pushed my hair off my skin as they buried themselves deeper in the strands. He clung to my lips with his own like they were the last source of oxygen in the world. I fell headlong into the kiss, losing myself for a moment in his arms.