Revenge of The Gods (The Titan's Saga Book 3) Read online

I winced. “Oops. I got scared another ghost lady was coming after me and fired off some of Thanatos’ borrowed magic I guess.”

  Hyperion frowned. “This doesn’t make sense. Thanatos doesn’t have light magic, and your light is more silvery, whereas mine is yellow.”

  “Okay, color master, can we focus on finding Cronus?” The whole light magic thing was freaking me out too, and I was getting grumpier by the second.

  #GiveMeFoodOrGiveMeDeath #DramaticMyAss

  Hyperion sighed. “I could put up a light signal but the Erynomus might see it.”

  Light signal? Was that like a bat signal? “So…?”

  He started to move, sliding between more dead trees. “We walk until I sense Cronus.”

  Great … walking … my favorite thing.

  As we trudged through the forest-of-no-leaves for an hour or twelve, we passed a few more lost souls and a shit-ton of those tiny Go-Go Gadget arm creatures. But between Hyperion and I pulsing light from our palms, we scared them off.

  “I’m going to die without food,” I whined.

  Hyperion looked back at me and frowned. “You do look skinny. But your demi-god half should sustain you.”

  #WellItsFuckingNot

  I was about to retort when I heard a shout off in the distance. My whole body froze then. That voice … it sounded a lot like Cronus. Without thinking, I started running in the direction of the noise.

  This time, I absolutely distinctly heard Cronus roar, “Rhea, dammit, get off your lazy ass and help me find the portal to level six!”

  Tears leaked from my eyes as laughter bubbled in my chest. I felt like a madwoman. Hearing that voice made everything inside of me fizz with happiness.

  “What does it matter? We can’t use the portal anyway. Let me rest!” Rhea snapped back, and there was an icy tendril on the breeze.

  Hearing Cronus and Rhea fighting was music to my ears.

  Hyperion’s footsteps pounded behind me, but for once I was the one with all the energy. Breaking through a thicket of dead trees, I came upon them.

  “Cronus…” I croaked.

  He spun at the sound of my voice, and when his gaze ran over my body, he burst from where he stood and slammed into me, wrapping his arms around me, hauling me up into the air and pressing his body to mine. Well, not exactly a body, but his semi-solid form was enough to hold me.

  “Is it really you?” he murmured, moving his head down so that his face was buried in my hair. He inhaled deeply and I trembled, trying to comprehend that I’d finally found him.

  “It’s me,” I sobbed, my heart aching at the intensity. We did it. Since that day on the boat deck when I held his lifeless form, I’d been waiting for this moment.

  He pulled my face back and looked deep into my eyes. “How are you here in the underworld? You’re alive.”

  I pulled out the coins and Cronus grinned. “Thanatos. My new best buddy.”

  “Hey, what about me?” Hyperion called out, tone only half-joking.

  Cronus freed me from his deathly-tight hug to embrace his actual best friend. “I knew you wouldn’t let her come alone. Thank you, brother.”

  Standing at Cronus’ side, he held me against him like he was afraid to let go. Rhea moved a little closer, her face set in what I liked to think of as her “resting bitch face” stare.

  “Hey, Rhea. Death looks good on you.”

  Me and this bitch would be frenemies for life.

  She grinned, shaking her head, but when she opened her mouth to speak, she sort of froze before she could start. Eyes wide with shock, she ran her gaze along my body, slowing over my stomach, before she gasped.

  Oh gods.

  “Shit, what?” I looked down, wondering if some of that nasty water had given me a rash.

  “Cronus,” Rhea breathed. “She’s pregnant.”

  I think I time traveled then, or left my body, because my brain short circuited and everything spun. The oppressive heat, dizziness, and underworld flu overtook me, and I fell backward into Cronus’ arms.

  Through my daze I heard Hyperion say, “Ahh that makes sense.”

  Cronus stared at my belly, chest heaving as he held me. Our eyes met, and I wasn’t sure what my face was saying, but his didn’t look as freaked out as I would have expected.

  “Is the baby okay?” he asked Rhea, not looking away from me.

  “Heartbeat is strong,” she said. “But best to get her out of here and back to Earth obviously.”

  I raised my hand, finding some equilibrium. “Hold up. What the fuck is going on?”

  Cronus reached out and caressed my cheek. “Rhea can sense when someone is pregnant.”

  “It’s a wonderful gift when it isn't your ex-husband’s twenty-something girlfriend,” the Titaness said with a slight curl of her lips.

  Holy shit. This was really real. The underworld flu was actually a small case of unprotected sex resulting in me being pregnant with a Titan baby.

  “We were attacked. She used light magic,” Hyperion told Cronus. “I thought it was the power Thanatos’ had leant her … but now I’m thinking it might be because of …” He cleared his throat. “The little one.”

  What? Seriously, what? Was he saying my fetus had given me light magic?

  Cronus reached out and cupped my belly, which now that I looked, seemed a bit more pronounced than normal. The rest of me had gotten skinnier, but the belly was holding strong.

  “Hold up, we just barely … I mean it’s only been a few days. The baby is in no way developed enough to be shooting light magic.”

  #BabyMama #BabyTitanOnBoard #HolyShit

  Rhea waved her hand. “Wrong. You’re about ten weeks I would say. Time is different down here, and by the time you make it back to Earth, you’ll probably be about four months along.”

  What. The. Fuck. Did she just say?

  “Food. I need food.”

  My poor baby went ten weeks without food! Wait, how was that possible? How was I not dead? What the hell was happening?

  Cronus stroked my face. “Don’t try to figure it out, love,” he said softly. “It will be okay. Especially if Thanatos leant you power.”

  #DelusionLand #TimeForAFamilyVacationThere

  “Ten weeks pregnant with a baby Titan. Okay. Great.”

  I was fine. Totally fine.

  Cronus looked at the other two. “Can you give us a moment?”

  They nodded. “We’ll stay close,” Hyperion said. “The Erynomus is on this level now, so we need to hurry this along.”

  Cronus’ jaw tightened and he watched them for a second as they walked over to a dense patch of trees. Snapping his attention back to me, he helped me stand on my own feet again before he unearthed a water tree. Breaking off a branch, he placed it to my lips.

  “I know this is a lot to take in right now, but I just want you to know that I’ll be there every step of the way with you.” His promise was so sincere, and I was such an emotional wreck, I started to cry.

  My mind went to the Google search page I’d first done on him: “Is it true you swallowed all your babies after they were born?”

  Cronus grimaced. “Jesus, Maisey. Zeus spread that rumor. Come on now.”

  Right. Okay. Got a little sidetracked.

  “So … you’ll help me raise the baby. Eighteen years?” I was suddenly feeling insecure that he’d stay around. We were still in a new relationship and I wasn’t sure I could raise a baby on my waitress salary.

  He chuckled. “Eighteen? Titans live forever, and that’s exactly how long I’ll stick around, Maisey. Forever.” Leaning forward, he captured my lips in a scorching kiss that had me wishing we could start making a baby again. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said as he pulled away. “It’s you and me, always.”

  “I’m so happy I got drunk and accidentally used my blood to open your prison,” I said in a teary rush. “It’s a love story as old as time.”

  #NotConventional #ButSeriously #FuckConvention

  A stomping sound broke my bl
iss.

  Rhea shrieked, “Erynomus!”

  Cronus’ eyes flashed with anger. “Let’s kill this demon and get the hell out of here.”

  Chapter 4

  “Kill him?” I asked, stuttering over the words. I mean, it wasn't like I hadn't seen plenty of death since hooking up with the Titan of death and destruction—that wasn't Cronus’ literal title but it felt like it should be. “Shouldn't we just take these coins and get the freak out of here. I mean, seriously, we don't have to stick around.”

  He chuckled. “Fuck. I have missed you so much. Just so you know, when you arrived, I was working out how to rig the portals so they might take us back the other way, up through the lands. I refuse to spend a hundred years getting to you only to find you'd died from old age.”

  The fact that Cronus and our baby were going to live forever, and I had maybe a good seventy more years—if I kept up with yoga—ahead of me, was something we would have to discuss later. But for now, we were about to be attacked by a bull monster.

  “We’re together now,” I said in a rush. “Let’s keep it that way.”

  Hyperion and Rhea dashed forward, standing between us and the raging beast.

  “Why aren't we just leaving again?” I asked, as we scrambled toward them, Cronus putting his body between mine and the scary thing.

  #ImGonnaMarryThisGuy #GetMeToVegas

  “Because it’s our fault the Erynomus was released,” Cronus said, “and this time he’s apparently come back with more brains than before. Soon he will decimate this underworld and souls will suffer. I can't let that happen.”

  Dammit. Why did he have to have a good heart? I mean, it was great and all, but right now I might have been okay if the grouchy asshole Titan that’d first popped out of the prison was back.

  “Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” I said, pressing my hand against my stomach. “He definitely wasn’t mindless, despite Hyperion lulling me into a false sense of stupid, originally.”

  Cronus smiled, turning his dark good looks into something devastating.

  His hand landed on top of mine, both of us protecting our child. I’d done it by instinct. I couldn't believe how much I already felt protective over the tiny little bump.

  “I will not let anything happen to either of you,” Cronus promised me. “Just stay back and we'll see if we can return the beast in the same way we did many millennia ago.”

  Staying back was something I was especially great at, so that would be an easy request to grant, even if fear for my family had me on edge. I didn't know what happened if you “died” again while already dead, but something told me it would be bad.

  “Just go and leave me to fight it,” Rhea shouted. “You don't have a coin for me. I know Maisey wouldn’t have bothered to ask for extra, so I'll hold it off.”

  #Yeah #Whoops #KindaForgotSheWasHere

  “No!” Hyperion snapped back. “If it eats your soul, you will be gone forever.”

  #WellFuck #ThatAnsweredThatQuestion #PrettySureHyperionToldMeThat #BlockedItOut

  My eyes shot to Cronus and I moved closer again, the newfound power inside of me swirling to life, ready to send some light energy out into the world. No ugly ass bull thing was taking my baby daddy.

  “If we can take the Erynomus down,” Cronus said, shooting coils of power from his hands, wrapping them around the beast and slowing its attempts to stomp on Hyperion, “and return its energy, I might be able to mess with the portals enough to smuggle Rhea back with the coins we have. The Erynomus is what's fucking everything up now.”

  With that, Rhea found a sudden burst of energy and shot out the largest ice block that I'd ever seen. It sailed through the air and wrapped around the beast, capturing its legs in the same way Cronus had its arms, freezing the demon’s feet in a block of ice.

  At first I thought they had succeeded in trapping it, and I couldn't believe how fast they had gotten it under control. This scary, mythical, kill-the-entire-world-and-eat-it creature. But nope. It was just a baby bull with tiny horn—

  An explosion of energy slammed through all of us. I went flying back through the air, heading for a very sharp and hurty looking row of rocks.

  “Maisey!” Cronus shouted, his coils of energy zooming after me, preparing to stop me before I crash landed.

  He wouldn't make it in time, though, and I could do nothing but cradle my stomach and hunch forward so that it would take the least impact. Weirdly, my body slowed just as I was about to slam into the ground, and instead of the pain I expected, the rock turned into a soft mattress that I squished against before bouncing back to land safely on my feet.

  What in the fuck? Turning around, I placed my hand against the rock, feeling it hard and unyielding under my touch. Did one of the Titans make it soft like that? Or was that part of this baby Titan's magic as well?

  And how the hell was I going to handle terrible twos if the child could do shit like this from the womb? #FutureMaiseyProblem #LaLaLaLa #DelusionLand

  “Thanks for saving Mommy,” I whispered, patting the spot I imagined the tiny fetus lay. It was probably ridiculous to think my child had saved me, considering it was only ten weeks old.

  Not that I knew much about baby growth—I legit had never expected to be a mother, especially not this young—but I felt like ten weeks couldn't be very developed. I mean, what did it do for the other eightish months if it was already fully formed now?

  Man, I wish I had my phone with Google right about now.

  “You okay, love?” Cronus asked, reaching my side. “How did you stop yourself from hitting the rocks?”

  I shrugged. “To be honest, I have no idea. It wasn't me … like, at all, but it could have been…” I pointed down at my belly and mouthed the baby.

  Cronus laughed. “Why are you afraid for him to hear the word ‘baby?’”

  The eye roll was involuntary … or maybe the baby did that as well? “How do you know it's a boy?”

  Cronus shrugged. “He's powerful already, just like his father.”

  For the love of Titans…

  “You’re having a girl. Now can I get some fucking help!” Rhea roared.

  “A girl,” I breathed, taking in the awed look on Cronus’ face, before I shoved him back to where his friends battled the Erynomus.

  “Knew it was a girl,” Cronus said, sounding so proud it was as if he were growing the kid himself.

  He held my hand tightly as we returned to the battle, and I was relieved to see that Hyperion looked whole and alive. Rhea looked whole and dead, so everything was in order. The Erynomus was bound in a new block of ice, but cracking it more by the second.

  “How are you going to beat it?”

  Cronus let out a huff. “We need it to shift into its other form. That one has a vulnerability that we took advantage of last time, but since I'm sure its memory is as long-reaching as its stench, there's no way it will risk that around us.”

  “What's the other form?” I asked, shivering.

  Two forms? This thing was horrifying. And it was apparently evolving. #NoOneLikesAnOverachiever #It’sScience

  “The golden boar,” Cronus said quickly, gathering energy into his hands and blasting it toward the creature in an attempt to reinforce its current prison—sneaky shit had just wiggled one leg loose from the ice block. “It used to be a god, but upon death—a brutal death—the Erynomus was born. It only returns to the golden boar when it believes it has won, because it’s the only form it will absorb souls from. Lauding its victory over the defeated.”

  “We have to let it think it’s won?” I said in a rush.

  #Quick #PlayDead

  Cronus blinked at me.

  “Surely there is a way to trick this creature into believing it has killed you all?”

  I mean, two minutes ago it was supposed to be as dumb as a bag of rocks. Even with the recent upgrade, there should be a way to get one over on it.

  Cronus mulled this over for a few minutes, blasting power as he did. Two legs were free
now and they were running out of time. “I’ll see if something comes to me while we fight it,” he said. “It’s the best idea I’ve heard in a while.”

  I smiled, feeling quite smug about it.

  #IHaveIdeas

  “Have I told you recently that I love you?” Cronus said, taking a second to kiss me. “I died a million fucking deaths when I thought we’d be separated for the rest of your life. But you need to know that I would never have stopped fighting to get back to you.”

  Tears welled in my eyes, and finally the emotional unbalance made sense. Pregnant hormones. “I love you too, Cronus. More than I expected to ever love anyone. And if I ever have to watch you die again to save the world, I will be really pissed.”

  It was either joke or fall down and sob my heart out. The burning agony of watching someone I love die like that would be with me forever. Having him back in my life, even in this manner, was enough to ease some of the ache.

  “I’ll never leave you again,” Cronus said, and I felt him gather a ton of power in his hands, swinging both arms out as he shot it all at the Erynomus.

  Despite that promise, he did move a little away from me, joining Rhea and Hyperion in battle. They looked relieved to have him on the front line, as he was the strongest of them. Clearly death did not diminish that.

  While they fought, I hoped Cronus knew what he was doing in tricking this bull thing into believing they were dead. How the fuck did a dead Titan “play dead” anyway? Surely that was an oxymoron or juxtaposition?—I could never remember what those two meant.

  #NotAnEnglishMajor #LifeOfHashtagsAndTaglines

  Clutching at my stomach, I sucked in a deep breath, cursing the hot acrid air and wishing I had a margarita in front of me. Fuck! #NoAlcoholForNineMonths #ForgotThatGem

  But seriously, how could anyone think under these circumstances?

  The Erynomus roared, launching itself up into the air and sending out gusts of air and putrid-smelling energy, blasting the three Titans away.

  “Help Mommy out,” I muttered in a rush, wondering why my head was so fuzzy. When did being pregnant give you the flu symptoms in the underworld? “We need someone to play dead for a bit but not be actually dead. Give me an idea rather than a hormone imbalance.”