Releasing The Gods (The Titan's Saga #1)- Leia Stone Page 0,33

sarcasm. Take me to Rhea’s tomb now and keep the gold.”

The boy hefted the gold bar and shoved it into a satchel tied around his waist. #SanitizeThatDude #DickbarsHaveGerms

“Back through here. We will need to take the tunnels.”

I grabbed Cronus’ huge arm, forcing him to face me. “Are you crazy? We need that gold to eat, and for four-star hotels and whatever else.” I was NOT sleeping in a hut or using leaves to wipe my ass. We hadn’t slept in what seemed like days and I was going to crash soon.

Cronus flicked his gaze to mine. “Relax, I have plenty to go around.”

My eyes roamed down his body to the bulge in his pants. Okay, then, maybe he was packing more than just a huge co—

His giant fingers grabbed my chin, pulling my gaze upward. “Focus. We’re about to wake my ex-wife, and the last time I saw her she was trying to kill me.”

Great.

“Who isn’t trying to kill you!” I snapped as he strode across the hut and behind the curtain the boy had gone through.

I followed closely behind him, with Hound bringing up the rear.

After entering a stone doorway, we were immediately plunged into darkness.

“This way!” the boy whisper-yelled.

Up ahead, a faint glow from a lantern lit our path.

Dust kicked up with the giant god’s footsteps and I was regretting the Gucci loafers.

After five minutes of traversing these dark tunnels, we stood at an open stone entrance that led to a cave of some sort. The boy held a finger to his lips. Some men were talking just inside the cave, so we waited for them to clear out.

“This is where my father laid Rhea to rest,” the boy whispered.

“We don’t have time for this,” Cronus growled, charging past the boy and into the cave.

My eyes widened as I was pulled with him, our bond dragging me where his dumb ass went, even if it was straight into a fight.

“You’re on your own!” the boy shouted and ran back the way he came.

Smart boy.

Hound burst from behind me and charged one of the Egyptian guards. Who I now saw had freaking machine guns! Cronus was locked in battle with the other one. One hard smack to the side of the head and the guard went down.

Hound bit into the other guard’s leg and he collapsed to the ground.

“Is he dead!” I gasped.

Cronus waved me off. “Hellhounds’ saliva is paralytic. He’ll be fine. Mostly.”

Mostly.

Note to self: don’t piss off Hound.

“Good boy,” I told the beast, just in case he was still deciding to like me or not.

Cronus bent to one knee and rubbed behind Hound’s ear. “Hound. Find Rhea!”

The moment he gave the command, the beast took off sniffing all the corners of the cave.

Cronus turned to me. “The first sin has probably already finished manifesting. We will be hearing about it on the news soon. Only Rhea can slow it, giving us time to awaken the others.”

Great.

“And … what’s the first sin?”

I didn’t want to know but I had to.

“Sickness. The world will manifest a virus, or something of that nature, and it will spread like wildfire.”

Fuck.

“That’s the first one? I thought the first one would be a bit milder, like envy or something…”

Cronus eyed the necklace at my throat. “There is nothing mild about the nine deadly sins. Not a single one of them. They actually get worse as they go on.”

I swallowed hard. “Noted.”

As Hound started to dig in one corner, Cronus took a step closer to me. “I want you to know that I don’t blame you. Not completely. If Thanatos would have told me Pandora’s Box was in that cave, I never would have taken the daughter of Selene there. You can’t help that your hair sheds like a dog.”

There was a nice sentiment in there somewhere … maybe.

“Thanks for that insight. About Selene … is she … alive?” He still hadn’t really explained how I was descended from her, outside of his amazing sarcasm about “not knowing by looking at me.”

I grew up with an amazing mother who died when I was seven, and now hearing that she might not be my “real mom” was unsettling. Was I adopted? Had it been my father who was somehow related to Selene? I mean, the father I knew was a complete loser, so it was hard to believe…

It was too much for my mostly human brain to comprehend.

Cronus looked at me, his eyes softening. “Selene died a thousand years ago, the same time as the