Releasing The Gods (The Titan's Saga #1)- Leia Stone Page 0,44

have seen the light of day again.”

#PossiblyMyFault

I was opening my mouth to apologize, and suggest maybe this plague was karma, when three beings popped into existence right in front of us, lighting up the entire cave.

Cronus reacted in an instant, placing me back against the rough rocky wall and standing protectively in front of me. Propping myself against the rocks, I used one hand to push myself forward so I could see who had Cronus so riled up.

“Moirai!” he rumbled. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

I finally managed to peek around his broad shoulders, and squinted at the three old women there. I mean, old old—like, one step out of the grave, skin wrinkled with life and experience, eyes still sharp and spitting as they huddled close. At first I thought they were too old to stand straight, but as one rose in the center, I realized it was more that they liked to stay close to each other.

The center one walked forward with ease, displaying none of the frailty someone her age should.

“Hello, Uncle,” she said softly, her voice sending tingles down my spine and panic through my chest. Somehow I knew that these three were powerful, dangerous, and scary. More so than most of the gods we’d encountered.

What had Cronus called them…? Something moiey? She called him uncle, which was odd considering they looked a hundred years old.

“No one has seen you for years, Clotho,” Cronus said, not moving out of his defensive position. Hound was at his side, but he didn’t attack the old woman. “I thought maybe you'd all died.” I could tell he would not be sad if they had passed on while he was in the prison.

She didn’t react; the other two hurried closer to her. “You never could stay on your path, could you, Cronus? Always weaving different strands, keeping us busy. Fate cannot be circumvented.”

Fate. This couldn’t be … the Fates … could it?

I tapped Cronus on the shoulder, almost falling down as I lost contact with the wall for a second. “Who are they?” I whispered, hoping their hearing was as old as their faces.

“The Fates,” he confirmed my suspicions, apparently not worried about being overheard. “The three who weave the fates of the world, sisters, born of Zeus, and absolute pains in my ass.”

Jesus. Insult them right to their faces, why don’t you. “Uh, shouldn’t we be nice to them?” I said quickly. “Not only are they old as fuck, they can also like … cut our fate strings and shit, right?”

I was pretty sure that was right. Why the hell didn’t I pay closer attention to my Greek mythology classes?

The one Cronus called Clotho locked her gaze on me. “We are not so weak as to be insulted by this one. There is a path for all, and we do not interfere.”

Cronus snorted, and I was sure there was a story there about when they’d screwed up.

“We also choose how we look,” one of the other two added. “Don’t judge the inside on what you see on the outside. That’s the first lesson today.”

Cronus just shook his head, looking impatient. “Why are you here?”

Clotho dropped back, and the smallest of the three stepped forward. All were dressed in dark cloaks; she was the only one with her hands visible. “The sins … this was not your fault,” she said to me. “Their time was due. The clock was counting down. The box was only strong enough for a thousand-year rest.”

Her voice was lilting and lyrical, her words flowy and confusing. Since I was on death's door with this plague infection, and everything was fuzzy, it was hard to follow, but it seemed she was trying to tell me it wasn’t totally my fault the world was about to end.

Cronus was apparently more switched on, because I could feel the sudden tension in his body. “You helped her release me,” he said softly, understanding dawning in his gaze. “You knew the sins were about to be freed and you needed me out of the prison to contain them.”

The third and final, who hadn’t spoken yet, nodded. “Yes, the hands of time wait for no one, and the world will be cleansed. But balance … it must be maintained. You are the balance.” Her face whipped around—far too fast for her age—in my direction. “Daughter of Selene.”

Some of it was making sense to me now. “You orchestrated it so that I was alive to release Cronus, so that I would