Page 59 of Releasing the Gods
“Hound, you’re so hot,” I murmured, pressing my frozen fingers to his side.
Cronus, who’d stopped to wait for us, snorted. “He’s a hellhound. What did you expect?”
I glared. “Right now, he’s ten times more useful than you are, so quiet down and do what you’re good at…”
He stilled, watching me with predator eyes. “And what is that?”
Releasing Hound, I took a few steps forward, before patting him condescendingly on the chest. “Looking pretty, of course. That’s why I keep you around.”
Take that, asshole. No one rejects my sexual advances without getting some shade thrown.
I waited for him to get angry … offended. But he didn’t. He just stared me down with hooded eyes and a neutral expression, but I could see his mind turning with plenty of thoughts.
Against my will, I shivered, and he noted that before straightening to resume his march across the snow. Hound was guiding us, his nose to the ground, and I wondered if the cold interfered since he was clearly bred to live in the heat. When he made a rumbling sound, our pace picked up, and so did the wind apparently. I could barely see anything in front of us, and I hoped we weren’t about to stumble off a cliff.
“Is this a new piece of Hyperion?” I asked, gasping in the icy air that hurt my throat and my face. “Or the same one from the previous location?”
Cronus was in front of me; I couldn’t see his face. I could barely hear his voice as he shouted back: “The same. Jealousy cannot destroy a piece of a Titan, but he can place it in one of the least accessible places on Earth. He wouldn’t have held on to it for long, because our energy is painful to the sins. It makes sense that he just dumped it somewhere here.”
I swallowed hard. “How are the sins doing this when they’re not fully released yet? Like … Sickness was the only one spreading his filth around the world. Then Turmoil would be next. So how is Jealousy smuggling body parts to the Himalayas?”
Cronus took a second to answer because Hound had paused near a large cave. A cave that had not been visible until we were basically right at the mouth of it. Stepping into the dark entrance gave us a moment’s reprieve from the high winds.
“The first part of the sins manifesting is forming a body, and the second part is their powers. This is slower … it takes time,” Cronus murmured, staring around the rocky area in front of us. “They’ll all have limited access to the same powers the gods and Titans have, like speed, strength, and the ability to teleport from one location to another. Their sins though, will not appear until the full manifestation of their power.”
Awesome.#CantWait
Hound made another sound, and Cronus turned his attention to the beast, the pair of them doing a silent communication thing that weirded me out. Like, I think they had more meaningful conversations without words than I’d had with words my entire life.
“Hound thinks it’s buried in this cave,” Cronus said. “But there’s an odd energy here that’s bothering him. I think you should wait while I explore.”
I snorted. “One, we are bonded, and even though it’s allowing us to be ten or more feet apart at the moment, that’s not really far enough for you to explore. And two: no. Not happening.”
I felt safer with Cronus, even if there was an “odd” energy.
Something shifted across his eyes, but he didn’t argue. “Keep up,” was all he said.
#OnYourAssLikeSuperGlue
He didn’t have to worry about me staying close I was in no way ready to almost die again.
With no natural light, the cave was dark as we moved further inside. However, Hound, who was full of surprises, had a tiny little light on the end of his nose. Like he was fucking Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Only his light was a dull yellow glow, and it was enough to highlight the icy floor, scary icicles on the ceiling, and desolate look of the entire cave system.
When we’d been stumbling in the dark for about ten minutes, Cronus reached out and halted me, his large hand wrapping around my biceps as he hauled me closer. Pressed to his side, I tried really hard not to think about the last time I was pressed to him, and the subsequent rejection after that.
#Bastard
“We’re not alone in here,” he said, right by my ear, his voice a husky whisper.
I wasn’t ashamed to admit that I half climbed him in that moment, expecting a bunch of shit to grab my legs and yank me away. Cronus’ chest rumbled, but I couldn’t really see his face, since Hound had his nose-light shining in the opposite direction.
“I’ll keep you safe,” he said, and I let out a muffled shriek when he threw me over his shoulder.How in the fuck?I had no idea how he managed that maneuver, but I wasn’t complaining, because now I was up high and safe from leg grabbing monsters.
At this point, no longer thinking in any sort of rational manner, my brain was manifesting the worst kind of shit lingering in the darkness.
“Go, Hound,” Cronus snapped out, and then we were running, me clinging to his back like a barnacle, the huge hoodie flapping out behind me.
My face ended up buried in his back muscles, and I tried not to breathe in the pure masculine spicy scent of Cronus. There was nothing unattractive about him, except his personality on occasion, and even with that, once you got past the gruff, arrogant exterior, he was a good man … god … Titan. Whatever. He was good. I would never forget how he’d worked to save me.
