He rested a hand on my belly. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Hungry, well overdue for a manicure, but okay.”
I planned to keep talking about food until I was sitting in front of a twelve stack of IHOP pancakes. I’d heard that if you put your wants out into the universe and committed to it, eventually your wish would come true.
“Let’s get you home, then,” Cronus said with a lopsided grin.
We traversed level six easily. Cronus was getting faster at manipulating the portals and bringing Rhea through, although it seemed to cause her pain, which I secretly liked on a small level. Cronus seemed to know where each portal was better than Hyperion, and we found them in record time. Only a few hours had passed by the time we were in level two, but I had hit a wall.
“I need a break,” I wheezed.
To be honest, Cronus had carried me the last three levels, but just being without food was exhausting. He set me down and snapped off a water tree branch, bringing the straw-like root to my lips. After gulping it greedily, I moaned. “I need an extra-large cheese pizza with breadsticks and a cinnamon roll.”
Cronus frowned. “I’m sorry, love. We’ll get you food soon.”
Rhea growled. “She’s fine. She’s carrying a Titan and could go months without eating. Especially down here. The underworld isn’t like Earth.”
#DontTestMeBitch
If I had to resort to cannibalism, I knew who would be the first to go.
#SpoilerAlertIt’sRhea
My gaze flicked up to her. “Do you want to be resurrected?”
She blanched. “Touché. Carry on.”
I sighed. “Let’s just get this over with. One more level.”
Cronus nodded. “Atta girl. You can do it.” As he reached to hook his arms under my legs, a familiar popping noise sounded behind my head.
Cronus let me go and we both spun. I had to tilt my head awkwardly because I was sitting, but when my eyes fell upon the god before me, I let a string of curse words fly.
Zeus.
And he definitely wasn’t dead.
Chapter 6
“There is no way in Hades I’m allowing you to be resurrected,” Zeus roared, white light trickling off his fingers like he was calling power to them. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I noticed the necklace of the sins at his neck. Motherfucker did not waste a second in using evil to increase his power.
Not to mention … he was covered in blood and it didn’t look like his.
Thanatos…
For some reason I just knew that was the only way he’d be allowed down here. If he hurt Than…
Cronus turned to me with almost lazy indifference. The Titan was clearly not afraid of this crazy-ass god. But I was. “Go with Hyperion,” he said, “and get back up to Earth. Find my body and resurrect me. I’ll deal with Zeus and get to level one. Don’t worry.”
He kissed me quickly just as a bolt of lightning singed the ground between us. Right, looked like the god of thunder and tantrums was pulling out the big guns. His lightning bolt was legendary, but I’d seen it a few times when he fought Cronus, and I was starting to wonder if it might be greatly exaggerated.
#TheresADickJokeInThere
“I’m going to rip you limb from limb!” Cronus said to his not-so-biological son.
I stood there in shock, my mind racing at what was happening, torn about leaving Cronus to deal with this asshole. Baby girl was stirring in my belly, which was popping more and more by the hour. She wanted to know if Daddy was in trouble.
“Come on.” Hyperion scooped me up in his arms and ran.
Looking over his shoulder, I watched as Cronus and Zeus became locked in battle. A black cloud of inky magic poured from the god of thunder’s palms, adding to his arsenal.
Zeus seemed to have some control over the sins.
Daddy’s okay, I told the baby, even though I had a hard time believing it. Cronus was powerful, obviously, but seeing Zeus with the necklace formed a pit in the bottom of my stomach. My Titan was way too casual about this fight.
“How did he pop in here like that?” I asked Hype as he ran full blast for the portal to level one.
He shook his head. “I have no idea, but I don’t like it.”
By the time we crossed into the first level, I glanced at the coin in the palm of my hand to find it was near translucent.
“Will we make it?” I asked Hyperion as we jogged to the veil that would lead us into Thanatos’ office.
He glanced at my palm and sighed. “We’re running out of time to save Cronus.”
My stomach sank at his words and the baby kicked hard.
#CalmDown #DontShootGrandpa
We passed the familiar waterfall and I heard a whisper of my name in the wind. Spinning, my two moms were there, waving at me for a second, before they too faded like the coin in my hand.
A smile pulled at my lips, and with it renewed hope. I could do this; I wasn’t alone.
Hyperion set me down, taking my hand as we burst through the veil and into Thanatos’ office. I immediately slid on something wet and sticky, losing my balance. I flailed and gripped the side of Thanatos’ desk with one hand and Hyperion with the other.
My gaze went to the floor and a gasp escaped at the puddle of crimson blood that appeared to be growing as I stared.
“Fuck,” Hyperion said, and I followed his line of sight to see that the office was an absolute mess. The wall was half smashed in, the door blown off its hinges, and his desk I’d grabbed had been cracked in two.
Huge. Freaking. Fight.
Thanatos voice came from behind the desk: “That … mother … fucker … Zeus.”
Hyperion and I ran around the broken furniture to find the god of death on the ground, holding his bleeding abdomen.
“I’ll be right back, Maisey. Getting a healer.” Hyperion blinked away, as I knelt next to Thanatos.
“Shit, Than! Are you … okay?” Stupid question for sure, but maybe it looked worse than it was. That was a thing, right?
My hands hovered over his stomach, wondering what to do and if I had any healing power in my new hidden arsenal.
“It’ll take more than this to knock me out,” Thanatos growled.
See, not as bad as it looked. Or he was trying to be a hero, and in that case, I hoped Hyperion got back soon with help.
“What … happened?” I asked, trying not to worry. “Zeus shouldn’t be powerful enough to take you out on your domain, right? You’re like the king of hell down here.”
Thanatos snorted. “Well, he kinda got the jump on me, and he was surprisingly strong.”
He mustn’t have had a chance to notice the sins. Fuck. I hoped Cronus was doing okay against that asshole of a god. Normally Thanatos would be able to check on them, but at the moment he was a little … indisposed.
Before my minor freak-out could upgrade itself to full panic attack, the god eyed my stomach. “So, anything you’d like to tell me about, Maisey?”
Oh yeah. The baby bump that looked four months along despite the fact I hadn’t even known I was pregnant three days ago.
#CueManiacalLaughter
I snorted. “Surprise! Got knocked up.”
Thanatos’ lips were just twisting into a sardonic smile when Hyperion popped back in with Panacea. The healer took one look at the god of death and cursed, dropping to her knees, weaving light and crystals around his body in seconds.