“You can see behind us we have our entertainment on. Gage pointed out that it wasn’t as fun knowing the Gods were being killed, if we couldn’t see it for ourselves; so we’ve just been watching a hydra rip Idina apart.”
“Idina—Hestia is dead?” I must’ve looked shocked because Soren smirked at me like this was exactly the expression he wanted.
“Yes, it’s always the weaker ones that go first.”
“Yes... Of course,” I said as agreeably as I could. My eyes flicked to the screens, searching for the Goddess of home and hearth and as if to confirm his story. One of the screens switched back to a gory scene where only bits of her, barely recognizable, body were strewn through the rocky parts of a mountain somewhere in the world. The only distinguishable part of the wreckage, was her mauled face. I looked away quickly, staring at the oak wood beneath my hands. Idina didn’t deserve that kind of death; she posed no threat to the Titans and their new rule.
“One down, 11 more to go is it.”
“10,” I corrected gently, looking up to meet his eyes this time.
“Right, 10. You don’t count,” he smirked back at me, folding his hands in front of him before looking around at his fellow Titans. “We were discussing, before you arrived, what each of us is capable of and what we might contribute to the new regime.”
“If you don’t mind Coeus, I just wanted to know what your intentions are now... You’ve cast everyone out of the heavens, save for a hand selected few. You talked about slavery and punishment, but do you really intend to keep Olympus this empty for the rest of eternity while you systematically kill off every Olympian and their offspring?”
He chuckled, “of course not. Those who have been cast to Earth are there as punishment for now. Those who seem to atone for their sins will be offered the chance to return here and pledge their allegiance to me by donating their magic to myself and my fellow Titans.”
“Donating their magic?”
“Yes, of course, I wouldn’t want to risk someone else trying to take my throne, so I will allow them to keep their immortality if they give their magic to me. It’s simple, and painless I assure you.”
“Of course.”
“Those who don’t make it through their punishment are, obviously, not worthy of immortality anyway, so I wouldn’t want them here.”
“Of course,” I repeated in the same monotone as before.
“As for Earth itself... Well, humans were created for the sake of Zeus’ amusement and nothing more. They have no purpose, and now that we have corporeal bodies of mortals, there is no need for their precious beliefs to keep us alive while we reside in Olympus. There is no use for them at all anymore, and so we plan to rid the Earth of them. We will turn it into our own playground of punishment for those who betray us. The monsters will roam the Earth once more; Pandora’s silly notion of hope will be recollected and put back into the box. Earth will be nothing more than a blip of a memory; and a wasteland of misery, despair, and death. We will create the new generation and they will be subservient, unlike the last one.” He seemed mighty pleased with himself, all I could think was good luck with that.
Did he not see the pattern here? Every other King before him, believed he was the last, then something, or someone, came along and took the throne from him. There was never just one peaceful king who lasted. Zeus was the longest reigning, and only lost his throne because of the position of weakness being half- mortal had put him into.
“So what’s the plan then?” I tried to sound casual, moving the conversation forward. But Hades wanted to know if he intended for me to donate my magic to him one day soon.
“Well, as I said, we were discussing group contribution. Prometheus is quite talented with fire. Iapetos is excellent with swords and knives. Crius has brute strength on his side, but he can also command the power of others. Hyperion controls the light, which we will be using on earth. Oceanus has full reign over the oceans and their contents. And finally, my beautiful mother Gaia—she is the mother of us all. She, alone, holds the true reigns of Earth, commands the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires, alongside other monsters that have been repressed by Zeus’ rule. So, what can you contribute, Hades?”
“Well, what about yourself, Coeus?”
“I am the true King of the Heavens, the rightful heir to the throne. I am also the father of all oracles and only I know the true prophecy.”
“True prophecy?”
“You’re avoiding the question, Griffin.”
I was, because I wasn’t sure I wanted him to know I had the ability to kill someone from good health, or that I earned my own youth and power from it. It was certainly something that a man like Soren would want for himself given his previous displays of lust for power.
“I have domain over the realm of death,” I said, speaking with a sigh.
“And?”
I sat there for a moment, eying the Titans around me as I tried to conjure up a new spur of the moment plan. Like before, I wasn’t good at it; but I needed to show them something, they were expecting it. Then, it hit me: my smoke. It was deadly, but they didn’t have to know that, they didn’t need to know how much control I had over it.
“I can do this.” I stood up slowly; turning to the Titan Soren had acknowledged as Hyperion, and held out my hand. I concentrated on the coolness lingering under my skin, calling it forward, and stretching it out from my fingertips.
The smoke slowly billowed from the pads of my fingers, curling in the air and dancing towards Hyperion. It sank into the wood of the table, finding his ankles first and wrapping its wisps around in a tight vice. The smoke crawled up his body, consuming every inch of warm flesh it could, until it curled around his neck like an anaconda.
Hyperion’s eyes widened in fear, his hands trying to desperately grab the smoke, but it wasn’t tangible, so his hands clawed at his own neck. Soren watched with bright eyes of intrigue, a smile of excitement playing on his lips. I could feel the siren call of Hyperion’s life force beckoning me, and it took a great deal of self-control to drop the magic.
“Amazing...” Soren whispered breathlessly, turning to look at me like I had just offered him the winning Health Lottery ticket. I lowered myself back down in my chair and nodded my head. Soren finally looked away, glancing at Hyperion again, before his eyes slowly took in all the other Titans at the table.
“Do you think you could create something like that on a larger scale?”
I raised my eyebrows with interest, “how large?” As soon as I asked the question, I knew the answer, though. Almost as though I saw into Soren’s mind, my eyes flicked up to the TV screens, imagining my smoke descending upon every human on Earth and slowly consuming them. I could feel the buzz of excitement in my veins, the prospect of that much life force coming to me. It called for me like the drugs used to, singing my name in the sweetest voice. I forgot why I was sitting at this table, what my real intentions were, as I imagined how powerful I would be after such a mass collection.
“Yes,” I said, unsure if Soren had even answered me or not. “Yes, I could try.” The words left my mouth without command, the darkness, residing within Hades and myself, commanding our sensibilities for a moment. “There is no guarantee it would work, but I could try.”
Why was I saying these things? I was offering to kill millions, billions, of innocent people. But it was too late, Soren was grinning at me, and any question of my fealty was squashed. Maybe this was for the best; I didn’t have to do it... No matter how much I wanted to. My head ached again, as my divided thoughts fought to win out. Where was Hades in all of this?
“Excellent. Let us disperse for a few hours, and I’ll come up with a course of action and we’ll meet back this afternoon to start phase two.”
“Coeus,” Montgomery finally spoke, nodding his head at one of the screens, making us all tune in. Someone willed the screen to open entirely, zooming in on Renae standing on a plain, facing off with a hideous wolf-like creature.
Its head appeared s
tretched, with a snout so thin and long that it barely covered the dozens of pointed fangs dripping with saliva in his jaw. Its body was just as stretched as its face, the skin was a hide so suntanned that it might’ve once had fur but had since lost it all. Its muscles rippled, jagged points of its unusual skeleton poking out from under the flesh like swords. A mangled looking tongue lobbed itself from its mouth, as it advanced on her, dragging along the ground. It snorted, gray clouds of gas pouring from its nostrils, while pushing onto Renae.
She stared in horror at it, holding her hands up as she continued to back away, but she didn’t stand a chance. It was larger than the average wolf, easily the size of a bull or a horse, with bright, red, angry eyes. It rolled back on its haunches, whipped its
tangled mane back and forth, and launched itself into her, driving its hooved paws into her shoulders and throwing her onto the ground. It snorted one more time, the smoke gathering over her face as she inhaled it. She opened her mouth and if she did scream, it was hard to tell, before her jaw locked and her entire body was reduced to a mass of convulsions.
If she was going to fight it off, it was too late now as the hideous creature released its own jaw and tore into the flesh of her neck. I winced, looking away and shaking my head. Sickness gripped my stomach as responsibility taunted me. This was my fault, again. That was Persephone’s mother, Hades reminded me in a dark tone. I looked up again, immediately regretting it, as I saw the remains of what had once been Demeter strewn over the dusty landscape.
“Another one bites the dust,” Montgomery and Gage burst into immature laughter, pounding their hands on the table, like it was the funniest thing ever said. I felt sick as I smiled tightly, trying to convey fake enjoyment.
There was no humor in this and any excitement my darker self had been feeling, was squashed entirely, as the weight of our situation bore down on us.
“What was that thing?”
“A Catoblepa, it’s an African creature I once created.” I turned to look at Gaia, nodding my head slightly, before reluctantly turning my eyes back to the screen. It had returned to the standard programming, thankfully, as I looked back at Gage and Montgomery, who were about as thick as they came.
“Okay, well, I guess that’s all we need to talk about. You’re all dismissed.” Soren rose from his seat, turning around to glance at the screens once more, like he was looking for something. I used his distraction as a chance to escape any more questioning or pledging any more usefulness, and got out of there. I didn’t think anywhere else on the Mount would be entirely safe from him, save my apartment, but I didn’t want to go back there. Not yet at least, I refused to feel like a prisoner when I wasn’t.
I entered the throne room, crossing slowly toward the thrones. There was still one that was somewhat intact; it was only missing half of the back and one of the arms, so I sat down on it, looking out over our spoilt kingdom. This wasn’t want Atlas had in mind when he brought us all back. This was not what Zeus had in mind either.
My eyes flicked to the dried remains of Leto, staining the steps and floor. I thought about Asteria, Hestia, Demeter... Why were they methodically getting rid of the female Gods? Was it just a coincidence that women had been killed so far, or were there other plans I still didn’t know about? All I could think about was Valentina, and Soren’s threat.
I couldn’t shake the way she had looked at us back in the apartment when she said all those things that Hades and I both knew to be true. There was a look in her eyes that was stronger than passion, pity, and forgiveness. Locking her in that apartment had awoken another sentiment neither of us had anticipated. There was a fear there now that had never existed before. It was an emotion that Valentina brought with her, and Hades never expected it. That’s why he ran when he saw it in her eyes.
I’d made a lot of mistakes in my life, and I had a lot of things to do to make up for them, but Valentina was one thing I wasn’t going to give up on. Hades might feel like running, but the only place I intended to run to, was back to her, each time.
Chapter 11
I wasn’t ready for her to come through the door, walking right into the center of all this chaos like she didn’t have a care in the world. So much for the Underworld throwing me a bone and warning her. I watched her eyes widen in horror at the state of the
throne room. I didn’t want her to see the blood, knowing she would take something like that poorly, so I rose quickly and moved across the room to her.
“Val?” I wanted it to be Valentina and not Persephone, even if I didn’t have a clue as to what I was supposed to say to her after locking her in the Underworld for two weeks.
“It worked!” She threw her arms around my neck, surprising me. I didn’t know what she was talking about, but it didn’t matter anyway. I needed to get her out of here before Soren found her. Was one of his screens watching me too?
I carefully wrapped my arms around her, feeling her body press itself closer to mine as her warmth radiated right through my core. My stomach tightened with desire, as I inhaled that sweet and spicy smell I associated with her. It was impossible to ignore the relief I felt knowing she had forgiven me, assumedly, for locking her in the Underworld.
But as safe as she appeared for now, it wouldn’t last for long if we continued to stand here in the open. My hands found her cheeks, fingers skimming along her smooth cheekbones as I took in those chocolate brown eyes, and the smile of relief on her face.
“You shouldn’t be here. You need to go back to the Underworld.” I wanted to kiss her so desperately. Now wasn’t the time, I reminded myself.
“I know; I know everything. Don’t worry.” I felt my eyebrows rise slightly; she knew everything and willingly came back here?
“Val...” I started, pausing to glance to my left, where a headless bust was watching us, as if Soren was watching us. Soren, who had already threatened her life, “it’s not safe if they find you here... They might kill you instead of casting you out.” I looked back at her, my fingers pressing into her supple flesh with desperation. Every thread of muscle in me wanted to turn her around and direct her back to the door to safety. But she was stubborn and steadfast.
“I don’t—I can’t—” my throat burned, aching with emotion.
I wasn’t going to cry; I wasn’t that pathetic. I just couldn’t imagine being the cause of something bad happening to her. I would never forgive myself. I would never be able to carry on afterward. I needed her to understand, she needed to go; whatever she planned to do, it was too late. They had eyes everywhere, I knew now; and Soren had the power to absorb souls. I wouldn’t let that be her fate.
It was better if she hated me, at least she’d still be alive. I grabbed her arm and steered her back toward the door, but we’d barely taken two or three steps when she reached out and pushed me off her.
“Griffin, stop. Wait.” She looked to the doorway and instinctively, I did the same, expecting one of the Titans leering there, but we were still alone. “I know that you completed your union with Hades after you almost died.”
I winced, paling at her realization. It had no bearing on the current situation, but it really wasn’t the time to discuss my motivations behind... well—everything Hades had done.
“Val, I’m sorry.” Time to go, I reached for her arm and opened my mouth to speak again, but she carried on with her spiel.
“It’s fine. I understand that when he has urges, you can’t control him.” Not entirely correct, I was embarrassed to mentally admit. “I also know you kept me down there because of this, which means you both aren’t quite so bad. Just misguided, and that’s not your fault either. I forgive you, Griffin.” Gods knew why. “I’ll always forgive you, but you need to forgive yourself.” That was easier said than done. I was going to point this out to her as well, but she didn’t give me the chance as her hands slithered up my chest like trails of fire and wrapped around my neck.
Next thing I knew, her lips were on mine and I felt the world explode around me.
She was so soft and supple in my arms, her body molding to mine like we’d come out of the same template. Time seemed to stand still as she clung to me, and I to her like she was the last breath of oxygen in the world. She tasted better than I remembered, creamy and sweet like Sunday pudding. She tasted like the sun and the stars, the deepest of oceans, and the highest of mountains. She felt like coming home; and in her arms, I was.
My arms encircled her waist, grasping to memorize every inch of her and how she felt, as our lips collided and moved in sync. Then I remembered where we were, and why it was like it was. A scream of frustration echoed in my mind as I pulled back, staring down at her sorrowfully. That was the last thing in the world I wanted to do, but her safety was paramount.
“Valentina,” I said, my throat raw with emotion, “you need to leave. Please.” I nodded at the door behind us. I begged her with my eyes to consent, but her stubbornness prevailed.
“No.” My world felt like it was being sucked into a black hole, and I physically felt myself cave in a little. “So long as Aidan thinks you’ve betrayed him, he won’t let you help him. I’m the only option we have anymore to get Aidan out of here. He needs to get the key back and we still need to find the other Gods that are dispersed on Earth. You just need to keep the Titans on your good side,” that would be difficult to do, I thought. “You need to keep them believing you’re on their side and let me do what I need to do.”
Her plan sounded so simple and efficient, but the trouble was, she was missing a great deal of relevant information.
Like the fact that Soren didn’t trust me, but he did, however, want my powers. And the fact that they had eyes on every God on Earth right now, and if she went down there and rallied the forces, they would know. They would come for her.
“It’s dangerous. I won’t—”
“Stop arguing,” she cut in again. I growled in frustration, she needed to stop interrupting me and thinking she knew what was best. “You wouldn’t have set me free, if you didn’t believe, in some way, that I can do this.”
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