snapped, and I could feel the heavy tension between them. “The sins are out, and we have limited time to get our family freed and return them.”
She went pale, and that was odd to see on someone with such luscious bronze skin. I mean, I could have that skin color too, but it generally required a weekly appointment at Spray And Go, and who the hell could afford that?
“How many sins are out?” she asked, some of her snark fading.
I got to my feet, not liking how close they were standing. Rhea was only a few inches shorter than Cronus, at like six billion feet tall, and I felt like the short, frumpy third wheel.
“All of them escaped the box. I think Sickness has finished manifesting,” Cronus told her.
Rhea took the news better than I expected, because I would have been like #HellNo #SendMeBack
Apparently she was a better person—god, whatever, than me—because she just sucked in a deep breath, threw her shoulders back, sent her perkier-boobs-than-mine into Cronus’ chest, and nodded. “Yes, okay. We have time still.”
She looked around as if just remembering I was here. “Servant, fetch me some clothing,” she said, snapping her fingers in my direction.
I snorted, crossing my arms over my chest. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”
Rhea snapped her gaze to Cronus. “What is this ant you have attached to you if she’s not your servant?”
I met that blue and gold gaze of his and mentally urged him to think very carefully about how he answered this question. Mirth danced in his eyes for a brief moment.
“She’s a daughter of Selene,” he said shortly. “She’s important...” He paused and my heart skipped a beat. “...to this mission. We will not succeed without her.”
The mission. Yeah, I was important to the fucking mission, not Cronus. The disappointment that hit me was annoying, because I should not have expected anything else. Cronus and I were tied together through some weird twist of fate. That was all. There wasn’t a single other reason. If the bond didn’t exist, he’d have ditched my ass long ago. Or killed me.
Rhea was watching me closer now, and I didn’t like the look on her face.
“What are you the goddess of?” I asked.
She smiled, arching her back and shoving her tits higher into the air. “You have the intelligence of a servant.”
I flipped her off, but she didn’t seem to understand what that even meant. Cronus, on the other hand … I saw his lips twitch before he hid the smile.
“I’m sure most servants are more intelligent than you give them credit for,” I told her, defending my kind, because let's be honest, serving tables was a modern-day servant and I wasn’t ashamed of that. “Not all of us take that line of work because we aren’t smart enough to do better. It’s because the world is not fucking fair, and sometimes people have to do whatever they can to survive. I wasn’t born with any privilege. Every single thing I’ve earned has come through my own hard work.”
Suck on that, bitch.
“If you’re a servant.” she said straight away, “then fetch me some clothes.”
Cronus growled then, and snapping his fingers, his ex-wife, bitch-goddess, was suddenly outfitted in a long robe of gold and purple. It went beautifully with her long brown hair and green eyes, and I kind of hated her a little extra.
“Leave Maisey alone,” Cronus growled, his voice low and filled with undercurrents. “She is neither stupid nor a servant. She is beyond a normal mortal and as such deserves our respect.”
Did the world just stop turning? I mean, it kind of felt like it had. Cronus was defending me? He knew my name?
#IllBeDamned
My panties got a little wet in that moment.
Rhea didn’t seem to agree or care, but then she was more interested in smoothing her new clothing down than wondering about me anymore. I was old news.
“So, who do we raise next?” she asked, examining her nails. Her eyes flashed, the green darkening until it was almost black, and her nails flickered from pink to blue to purple in an instant. She settled on purple, leaving a shade similar to that of her dress.
These gods and their crazy powers.
“Maisey and I will head to Romania and find Crius,” Cronus said. “You will need to track down Sickness and try to circumvent some of his destruction.”
She didn’t look happy about them splitting up. “My powers are going to take some time to come back. Maybe I should stick with you