Grace of Gods Boxset: Reincarnated Greek Gods YA/NA Series Page 23

  “If Savannah was here she would come and accept her spot. But she’s not, it’s mine to take.” There was a tone of finality to Charlotte’s voice and once more no one protested.

  “And finally, the King of the Heavens, God of the Gods – Zeus.” Everyone began to clap and cheer, my heart was tugged in my chest. A part of me wanted to see his ascension. Perhaps it was the part of me that possessed his wife. But this was my choice, protect him or support him. My being there would make no difference to him, this was more important.

  Taking a deep breath, I turned around and Cronos was closer now, smirking at me believing that he’d won.

  “And like that you’re useless. Shame, it would’ve been nice to have a Queen the people believed in.” I frowned; surely, he didn’t believe I was now dispensable because Charlotte had sat on my throne. A moment ago, he wanted me desperately at his side, but now that was it? But in my losing my throne, had he his.

  “It’s too late for you now as well. Aidan’s taken his place as the King and that’s it.”

  “Oh Savannah… stop that, it’s not cute anymore. There are other ways to get rid of a King, and there are other ways you can be useful without using you as a Queen.”

  His eyes twinkled as he watched, waiting for me to realize what he was saying. He was planning to kill Aidan and somehow, he was planning to use me to do it.

  “You” The words were cut from my mouth as Cronos moved forward and grabbed me. I don’t know how he did it but one moment we were on the balcony and the next we were gone.

  Grogginess overcame my senses as consciousness returned to me. Like before when Cronos had kissed me on the dance floor I felt dizzy and exhausted. I didn’t know how long it had been since the balcony and the open court but I was still in my dress, which had to be a good sign. Then again, I might have been sitting here for a while and Cronos had left me as he had found me.

  I was still trying to remember what had happened but the only answer I could think of was the fact Cronos had somehow transported both of us from the balcony to this… place.

  My eyes trailed around the perimeter looking for an explanation of where here was but where I had been positioned, was in the middle of a cold, dank room. The walls were black from the lack of light I didn’t know where the abyss began and ended. I could be in a hallway or a cellar, but it was hard to tell.

  There was a faint drip in the background that annoyed me only after a moment of listening to it. Otherwise there was nothing but my own heavy breathing. My neck hurt from the position it had fallen into while I was passed out. That immediately reminded me of the conversation I’d had right before he had knocked me out.

  Aidan. He was going after Aidan to kill him. He was going to kill Aidan over a petty rivalry between father and son. He was going to kill Aidan for a title with the power to control the world.

  A newfound terror seized me as I tried to sit up from the chair. But despite no bindings wrapped around me, I was unable to stand. I tried again but something invisible was restraining me as I grunted in effort.

  It felt like someone had used super glue to hold me down into the chair. For all my trying this evening to stop Cronos and save Aidan I had fallen right into the trap where the bad guy wanted me. I was useless and embarrassed to admit it. Aidan was right; I was never going to be able to fight my own battles if I carried on like this.

  I tried harder, I strained with all my might to get up but nothing could help. The only magic I could sense around me was dark. Too dark to try and use because I was too afraid to risk not being tempted by it.

  Who knew what would happen if I lost myself like Cronos had. Maybe I would become a puppet beside Cronos as King, nothing more than arm candy.

  “Try all you want you won’t be able to get up. I had it specially made.” Cronos stepped from the darkness and moved toward me.

  “I would have gone with you if you had asked.” I shouted, straining harder against the magic.

  “You would have?” He said, moving toward me further illuminating himself with light. “See, I was under the impression you would rather die than help me. I arranged that.”

  “What?” I said, “no. I never said that. I said I wasn’t going to be your Queen…”

  “You said siding with me is like siding with the devil. Isn’t that the same thing as death Savannah?”

  “Hardly. You’re twisting my words.” Cronos shrugged though, seemingly not caring at all.

  “It doesn’t matter to me either way, I knew that no matter how I achieved my rightful place on that throne you would be a crucial part of the puzzle.”

  “I’m bait.”

  “Of course. That’s all you ever were. I knew that if I drew you away from the crowd, if Charlotte did exactly what I knew she would, thinking she could take your place as Queen, and if you didn’t fight her for it he would know something was wrong. He would be worried about his “Queenie” and inevitably come to be the knight in shining armor you don’t need, isn’t that right Savannah? And the best part of all this is I knew you’d be too stubborn to tell him anything, like he’s too stubborn to tell you how much he cares. Both of your stubbornness would help me create the perfect scenario to lead him down into a dark corridor where I can drain him of his power and well…

  If Cerberus finishes him off that’s no fault of mine.” An eerie shiver went down my spine involuntarily. I couldn’t help but sense that Cronos had been spying on us, how much had he seen? What did he know? Worse still – did he have mind powers like Charlotte did? Could he simply read me like an open book? I hoped not, but then again if he could he would know that Aidan didn’t care about me.

  He promised he would try to not cheat and hadn’t even lasted 24 hours. He knew of all the things he could do that would hurt me the most, especially with Charlotte. Not to mention I had told Valentina I was going somewhere. If I didn’t come back soon enough she was smart enough to know something had happened, even if she didn’t know the specifics of it. Valentina could find someone to come to my aid, I was sure of it.

  “Well, you were wrong about one thing Cronos.”

  “Oh yes? What’s that?”

  “I did tell someone I was going somewhere.” I smirked at him, hoping to infuriate him. His jaw tightened and for a moment he didn’t say anything before he shrugged.

  “Well, be that as it may, I took you far away from the throne room and they won’t know where to find you.” He leaned away from me on his heels, waiting for my retort.

  “In a place that you can find anything you need by opening a door and thinking about it?” I arched an eyebrow at him, an incredulous look on my face.

  “Enough!” His hand came out of nowhere, connecting with my jaw and the snap of my neck echoed in the silence that followed. My eyes stung with tears only because of the pain of his smack but neither of us said anything. “I’m not above killing him or anyone else who tries to get in between me and my throne. That includes you Savannah, I would think twice before being smart again.”

  I wanted to touch my face to ease the lingering sting but even my hands were held down on the arms of the chair by magic. I knew when he hit me the second time it would only hurt more but I couldn’t stop the words as I replied, “well, one of us has to be smart.” His eyes flashed dangerously as I had seen Aidan’s do once. Before I knew it the back of his hand collided with my face once more. This time forcing my teeth to break skin and draw blood. I wasted no time in spitting it out at him, offering him another glare and he laughed this time.

  “Oh, if only things could have been different Savannah… I would’ve enjoyed having you by my side. Such fire, passion… It only needs a little coaxing and you could be such a powerful ally. I can see what he sees in you. But fragile…fragile.”

  He reached out and touched the other side of my face, not yet marred by his strength. “How fun it would be to crush you before…” He dragged off, getting lost in his own thought as he considered it for a moment. “No, not yet. Maybe if I get b
ored of waiting…” His smirk turned my blood cold as he left, leaving me behind in the dim, empty room.

  In the darkness, a growl rumbled along the walls like a current of electricity and as the sound waves hit my skin, goose bumps appeared causing me to shudder in fear.

  As awful as Cronos was, being alone in that room was worse. Waiting in silence, praying to Gods that couldn’t hear me because they weren’t looking for me, hoping that

  Aidan didn’t care... all of that was worse. I even resolved that a soulless fate might be better than living with myself if Aidan got hurt when he tried to free me.

  But the magic of the chair was different from the magic I had been using in the garden. It was darker and that seemed to make all the difference to how effective it was. This chair was bound to hold me until the will of its binder chose to free me. There was no other way I was getting out.

  Another growl rippled along the walls toward me, like mist rolling in on an early fall morning. It came and it lingered, sending chills down my spine. I twisted and turned in the chair trying to see what the hell it was that was coming for me but the darkness gave no hint and my mind was no help. All I could picture was dragons and chimeras; all sorts of mythological creatures that shouldn’t exist but might if Gods and Titans did.

  “Where is this place?” Another voice suddenly reached me, the Irish lilt immediately telling me who it was.

  “Val! Val! Valentina! Down here!” I shrugged harder against the chair, shifting and rocking. I shouted until my voice started to get hoarse but she didn’t respond.

  “I don’t know… Where did she say she was going again, Jailbait?”

  “I told you, don’t call me that. And she didn’t specify, she told me to stall for her.”

  “Well done on that.”

  “Hey, it’s not my fault you didn’t have the… you know… to stand up to Charlotte. You’re as much to blame as I am. But I feel guiltier than you do.”

  Aidan didn’t reply to her. This meant he had come for me after all, the thought sent my heart into a series of flutters as a small pleased grin appearing on my face. It didn’t last long as another growl made its way to me

  through the darkness, this time a lot closer than before.

  “Valentina! Aidan!” I shook and wriggled much in the seat the chair began to tip from one way to the next. This seemed to me, at the time, to be a good thing. I kept it up, rocking hard from one side to the next until the chair was doing a little dance across the floor.

  I was trying to turn myself around in the direction of the growling but amid my three point turn the chair completely flipped. Next thing I knew I was lying face down on the ground, the chair still firmly attached to my body.

  The wind in my lungs gushed out and I gasped for air, clinging to the little puffs I managed to get in to them.

  “I do feel guilty, okay? I’m a bad person, I make mistakes and usually I don’t regret them but Savannah is the only mistake I’ve ever made that I regret with every ounce of my being.”

  “Do you love her?” The words echoed back to me, my stomach knotting in anticipation. I held my breath waiting for his response to come but there was nothing but silence for a good minute. And then…

  Laughter filled the chamber. Cold, evil laughter echoing from every corner, against every surface and it wrapped itself around me.

  “Oh Savannah. Isn’t that nice to hear? You’re his only regret. Perhaps he means meeting you in the first place, or sleeping with you? You two have slept together, haven’t you?”

  That wasn’t what he meant though; I squeezed my eyes shut trying to trap Cronos out of my mind. But his laughter had seemed to permeate my skin and crawled underneath it like an itch that couldn’t be reached.

  “Now, now. You wouldn’t be trying to escape, would you?” He must have reached out and righted me because I felt myself tossed about like a rag doll until the chair was upright once again. “It’s not possible. Surely you must realize that, you’re a smart woman.”

  “Is that even them, or is this a mind game to cure boredom?”

  “Perhaps the boredom, perhaps it is them… How could you know? Besides, if I were you, I would focus on what’s coming for you that isn’t friendly.” He reached out, cupping my chin in his hand.

  His thumb ran tenderly down the softness of my cheek before he grinned, sending another bout of shivers through me. Before I even knew what he was doing, sharpness from his hand slid along the flesh, cutting it. I could feel the blood trickling from the cut, crying out of the wound and landing on my beautiful dress. He swiped again, this time along my bare and exposed shoulder and the smell of blood seemed to double around me almost instantaneously. I felt sick and dizzy once more as I felt the blood slowly crawling down my skin. I twisted uncomfortably in my seat, wanting back to reach out and mop it up. I was helpless and powerless then only thing I could do instead was cry and soon enough I began to feel my tears mingle with the blood on my cheek.

  “Thank you, Savannah… for being helpful in my plans. If not for you, well, things might not have worked out beautifully.” He leaned down, forcing his lips on mine once more before pulling away with a smirk. He didn’t say anything else before turning away from me and heading back into the darkness, this time with a tone of finality lingering in his wake.

  “Let me go! Help! Aidan!

  Valentina! Help! I’m down here!” A new form of panic filled me. This was suddenly a real matter of survival. If I didn’t get out of this chair, I wasn’t entirely sure I would be able to defend myself from the owner of that gut-wrenching growl.

  I wanted to believe he didn’t have the power to mimic other people’s voices and my friends were looking for me. Surely Valentina would have come for me after my mysterious disappearing act.

  She wouldn’t leave it at that and not think something strange of my leaving quickly with the promise of returning. It was hard to stay focused on my friends for much longer as another snarl resonated through the cavern; this time it’s source sounding like it had come from behind me. I didn’t want to see it, I was too afraid it would be the thing of nightmares and yet another part of me wanted to look the creature, that would kill me, in the eye.

  Summoning the last of my strength I turned around slowly and unwaveringly met the three pairs of eyes staring back.

  Chapter 25

  “WWH… WHAT THE HELL!” If I had seemed lack luster in my attempts to free myself before, now I was the Olympic champion of trying to break free. I flailed as much as my limbs would allow me, rocking back and forth trying to move the chair as quickly away from the monster behind me as I could.

  Three heads upon the broadest set of shoulders I’d ever seen and a body large enough to frighten even the world’s courageous man was what greeted me. I knew what, who, it was, it was hard to forget the descriptions of this creature in mythology but reading it in a book and seeing it over your shoulder was two different things.

  Cerberus snarled at me, large globs of saliva splattering on the ground like waves on the beach. One of those heads could easily eat me alive but I could only imagine what it would feel like to have three of them ripping and competing over my limbs. Would it be fast or would the pain be drawn out I suffered? How had Cronos managed to find this thing? Had it been down in this pit all this time without anyone knowing?

  One head barked at me as I continued to tug at the chair and before long a chorus of replies answered me with the two others joining and the noise echoing around me.

  “Up ahead!” I heard someone shouting but how far away were the voices? Would they make it in time?

  “I’M HERE! I’M HERE, HELP ME. AIDAN! VALENTINA!” Cerberus made his first move, launching one of his heads at me and I barely managed to duck in time. The snap of the chair echoed and splinters showered me. My chest contracted; if the dog made another snap at me I had nothing to protect me this time. Maybe I would die of a heart attack first…

  Aidan and Valentina’s voices were getting closer though
. I could hear their footsteps echoing as they ran toward me but I feared it would be too late. There was a chunk of wood in my lap and I strained to grab it, maybe it would play fetch? Focusing on the task at hand proved to be a lot harder than I wanted it to be. My fingers brushed the edge of it but couldn’t wrap around to throw it.

  “Savannah!” Valentina ran into the room first but stopped short when she saw the dog behind me. “Oh my God.” Aidan ran right into her, nearly knocking her over if not his quick reflexes.

  “Holy…” He breathed out, staring at it. Valentina managed to pull her eyes away from the dog long enough to look at me, her eyes no doubt taking in the blood that Cronos had drawn.

  “Savannah, get up slowly…” She said quietly, holding her hands out for me to grab.

  “Val, if I could, don’t you think I would have by now…” I said back steadily. I didn’t mean to make her feel stupid but this situation was beyond rational thought.

  Aidan was still in trouble and if this was at all apart of Cronos’ plan Aidan being here was bad.

  “Aidan, you need to leave. Right now, go back and find someone else. Find lots of people and then bring them back but you can’t be here alone.”

  “He’s not alone. I’m here. You get Savannah; you have the magic to free her… I’ll… distract the dog.” Valentina said uneasily, glancing up at the three-headed beast. I watched her swallow her fear before moving sideways into the room, trying to get closer to it without upsetting it. But Aidan didn’t move, neither of us did. We were both too mesmerized by the fearlessness Valentina, for someone small, possessed.

  She licked her lips and whistled softly at the dog to take its attention away from its meal. It snarled menacingly and turned to face her, his gigantic faces contorted with hatred and anger. But then it looked at her, and like the impression she had on humans, it calmed down.

  Val moved forward tentatively and kept her hands out for it to sniff as she did. Aidan took this moment to move toward me as well but the dog immediately sensed him and turned, snarling and snapping at him.