Made me happy that they had each other. They’d been through a lot and deserved some happiness.
“I’m going to check into something else,” Cronus finally said. “I heard whisper of a possible way to defeat them while I was in the underworld. A way that doesn’t involve going through someone untrustworthy like Hepatitis.”
It couldn’t have pleased me more that my nickname for him was catching on. #HowYouLikeThatYouDisease
“I’ll be back,” Cronus told his family, hand in mine, bringing me along. We didn’t go far, ending up where Narida was apparently planning the tasks for tomorrow, out in a green patch of land, drawing a huge circle on the grass. Girl was taking this seriously. I had a sneaking suspicion she wanted to add it to her Instagram stories for extra likes.
“I need to ask you something,” Cronus demanded, and it was at this point I realized what his other way was. He was going to ask her about the ring, I was sure of it.
The crone sighed without even lifting her head to look at him. “Kinda busy here with the first favor you asked for.” She went back to her magic line she was drawing.
“Even if I win against Zeus,” Cronus started, ignoring her whining, “we still don’t have a way to truly contain the sins. Destroying them is not a possibility because their power is too great and the world will end, so I have to neutralize them another way. The box Hep made for us was faulty. A true container for them would never be able to be breached.”
Narida’s sigh was probably large enough to be felt back on Earth as she straightened and put both her hands on her hips. “Get to the point, Titan. I don’t have all day. What do you want from me exactly?”
Cronus’ hand twitched, I could see it clearly from where I stood, and I knew he was thinking about wrapping it around this bitch’s throat. But since that wouldn’t help, I slightly edged in front to stop him. A flicker of amusement tinged his gaze as it met mine.
He turned back to Narida. “I have tried every means available to Titans and gods to secure the sins. The best I did was the box that Maisey unlocked. A box that was a ticking time bomb anyway and would not have lasted much longer. Can you think of something else that might contain the sins forever?”
#FessUpAboutTheRingBitch.
Her lips twitched and she schooled her expression. “I’m just a crone, lesser to both god and Titan power. What makes you think I have any idea of how to help?”
Cronus really wanted to choke her now, but again I stood between him and this annoying crone who never gave a straight answer.
Consider it my good deed of the day.
“You’re a crone that dabbles in dark magic. You also commune with spirits.”
She said nothing. She was definitely not spilling this secret unprompted.
Cronus must have thought the same. “Stop playing games,” he said, voice harsh. “I heard a rumor that you were once gifted a very powerful artifact containing energy of the beginning of creation.”
She paled.
“The first collision of power that created my parents,” Cronus continued. “Pure creation, lost except for maybe this one object. A ring perhaps?” He was getting angry now, no doubt thinking of all the times they could have used that ring in the past if she’d come forward about it.
Narida was terrified, her eyes wide, her mouth opening and closing. “My insurance policy,” she breathed, before shaking her head. “It’s … how did you find out about it?”
Cronus’ mood grew darker. “A friend.” He went into no more detail about the other crone, and I wondered if the two knew each other. “That power is not yours, Narida. You should have handed it to the Titans long ago and maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
She opened and closed her mouth but didn’t argue.
“I need it from you.”
She gasped, “Cronus, you can’t. It’s much too powerful for anyone to handle. I’ve been trying for centuries to gather enough energy to control it. Not even all the blood I’ve stolen and bartered for works.” She stepped closer, her face imploring him to understand. “I almost died when I touched it.”
Cronus shook his head. “Blood is not the real thing, and as you said, you’re no god or Titan. I was the first born, the strongest of all my parents’ creations. I will be able to use it.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What would you do with it exactly?”
Cronus seemed to be considering how much to tell her, how much he trusted her.
“The sins are energetically bound as one. Even when they were released and went to separate countries on Earth, their energy remained tied, and this makes them too powerful to contain.”
“Go on.”
Cronus sighed. “I’m going to use the power of the ring to sever their bonds, make them singular so that me and my kin can better handle them.”
Her mouth formed a little O, as did mine. That sounded fucking scary and dangerous. Cronus’ two favorite things.
“And if you can’t?” Narida asked.
Cronus shrugged. “Then we’ll throw the sins into the bottom of a volcano and hope for the best. But if there’s a better way, one that might take them off the playing field forever, then I think we should take the shot.”
I squirmed. “Whoa, that sounds dangerous. So this ring could destroy the sins completely?”
Cronus shook his head. “I don’t think so. Not without repercussions for Earth, but if I can sever their power connection, each would be able to be contained separately.”
“It could take the entire world along with it. It’s much too dangerous,” Narida said.
“I can handle it.” Cronus growled. “Where is the ring?”
Please don’t say it’s in a cave inside of a volcano in New Zealand.
Narida screwed up her face. “Oh, fine,” she huffed, “it’s in a safety deposit box at my bank.”
Pretty sure we both spent ten minutes blinking at her. That was just so … human. “If you almost died touching it, how the fuck can you keep it around humans?” I asked.
Logical question, right?
She rolled her eyes at me. “Because it has almost no energy outside of when it’s touched. I moved it there using magic and no reaction, but the second I tried to possess it, the ring lashed out at me and it took me ten years to recover.”
Turning to Cronus, I shook my head. “You can’t risk it. Please, there must be another way?”
He brushed his thumb across my face, before cupping the back of my neck, holding me in place. “I can do this, Mais. I promise.”
Fuck. He was doing that thing with his eyes and face where I forgot what we were even fighting about. With a sigh, I nodded, letting him try it his way. Narida hadn’t actually died from touching it, so hopefully, even if it failed, Cronus would still live.
“I’ll sell it to you … for a price,” the crone said in a rush. “I should be compensated, right?”
Cronus growled, turning those eyes on her now with a far different expression.
“One bar of dick gold. Firm offer,” I said to break the tension.
Narida’s brow furrowed in confusion while the edges of Cronus’ lips twitched.
Did I say that out loud?