Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

T he blue vein of Cronus's magic writhed where it was trapped between my thumb and forefinger; I felt it even as I didn't dare take my eyes off Verena and Iapetus. The things he'd threatened to do to me… And now he had a thirteen-year-old in his grasp. My stomach turned, twisted.

I sank deep into my bonds, tugging on each one, screaming a warning, a plea for help. Growls and hisses answered me, but I felt no relief. Not with a knife to Verena's throat.

"Wane," I breathed, remembering the last time we faced this bastard, when my mate's shadows had weakened him. Iapetus looked exactly the same, tall and slim, with brown hair slicked back from his face, green eyes lit with cruel amusement, and something ugly in his smile. Even his heartbeat was quick with excitement and thrill; he didn't act like we'd weakened and wounded him at all.

Which meant he was far stronger than he'd been in Aphrodite's prison.

"Wane," I breathed again, hauling on the bond between us. He could take the titan down; he'd done it before. He needed to summon all his darkness and—and he was too empty, too grief-stricken to even try. But this was Verena.

"Let her go," I ordered Iapetus instead, my voice softer, shakier than I intended.

His smile hooked deeper into his harsh face. "And give up such a pretty prize? I don't think so." Not removing the knife from her throat, he slid his other hand across her waist, and bile clawed up my throat. "Young, untouched cunt is my favourite to defile."

I reached for my long dagger and came up empty. Fuck.

"Looking for that?" Iapetus asked, jerking his chin to his left. My breath caught in surprise when I saw twenty people draped in thick robes, hoods concealing their faces. One of them held my dagger out in a clear taunt. "I'll be taking it to my brother. But not before I—"

A sword rang through the air and—no, not a sword. A bright shard of magic, sharp enough to sever Iapetus's arm when it drove through his shoulder. The limb tumbled into the eerily still grass and I launched across the distance for Verena at the same moment Em and Kai hurtled at Iapetus. Wyn and Harvey were close behind them. My heart skipped in a mess of relief and terror.

We were outnumbered and heavily outmatched.

But Verena threw herself against me, and I snapped my arms around her, magic roaring through my blood like a storm. I couldn't shut out his words; they drove through my mind like knives.

Young, untouched cunt is my favourite to defile.

"Are you okay?" I demanded, dragging my stare away from where my mates engaged Iapetus, the robed minions standing and watching, not intervening without direct command. Like good little dogs.

Verena shook her head, paler than she'd been back in the house. The house that wasn't real. Pain slammed through my chest like a wrecking ball. Kaida was gone. She was never real.

I kept Verena close, assessing the situation. Iapetus drove himself at Wynvail, not seeming to care he was missing his right arm. Power lashed the air when he lifted his other hand, and I only remembered his vile title when Wyn staggered back with a grunt of pain. The Piercer.

"Don't touch him," I growled, my voice deep and resonant. I wanted to jump into the fight, needed to be alongside my mates, but Verena was shaking, gasping, and I couldn't leave her alone. "He won't touch you," I swore to her, knowing the oily fear she experienced. Even words without actions could be a violation. I dropped a kiss on her head and squeezed her tighter, magic howling through my blood. "I won't let him."

"I'm fine," she rasped, even though she'd already admitted she wasn't okay.

We both flinched when Iapetus swung his good arm and magic splintered the air in a clear slice. It drove into Harvey, sending him to his knees with a bestial growl. Fur erupted over his skin, his body grew to five times its size, and whatever injury the titan bastard dealt was concealed beneath black fur. But I knew it was there; the pain tore through my soul, and every throb of it echoed a command.

Make him pay for his crimes. Avenge his victims. Exact justice, no matter the cost.

Justice—the word thumped through my chest, my blood magic pulsing in time to it.

Justice, justice...

I swallowed, and tightened my arms around Verena, fighting the urge that clawed under my skin, tearing me towards Iapetus.

"Patricide," I breathed, the word torn from deep inside me.

"What?" Wyn breathed, but I was staring at the titan, my heart beating so loud that everyone else should have been able to hear it.

"Murder," I went on, the words dragged from me, searing my tongue with heat and rage. The island fell away until all I saw was the bastard who attacked the people I loved.

"Oh, shit," Verena gasped, hugging me tight.

"Treason. Rape. You have committed sacrilege, Iapetus the Piercer, and you will suffer for your unforgivable crimes."

Iapetus laughed, scorn thick in his voice as he twisted away from Emlyn's severing blow and drove a spike of magic at Kai's stomach, too fast for him to evade it.

Kai screamed. The sound was all I could hear. It drowned out even the furious thumps of every beating heart on this island, drowned out everything except the ancient voice screaming, Justice, justice...

"Wane," I said in the deep, guttural voice that scared me.

Don't be afraid of your power. It won't hurt you; it will only do as you bid it.

"Wane," I repeated stronger, and hauled on our bond until he grunted in pain. "Wake up."

"Do you remember what that woman said?" Verena said in a rush, her eyes wide as she stared at me. "She said we were descendants of gods and titans with Fury in our hearts. I always—I thought that was a capital F. Not anger or rage. Fury."

I blinked, the words barely penetrating the howling rage in my blood. A heartbeat quickened in excitement, a split second's warning. I twisted Verena aside, my hand curved around her head, and snarled when a spear of piercing magic—titan magic—barely missed us.

He tried to kill Verena. He tried to take her from me like Kaida had been taken from us.

"Stay with Wane," I ordered her, my voice even deeper, richer.

Verena swallowed and nodded, rushing to his side as I summoned magic from deep inside me, calling up every kind that lived in me—even the glimmer of shadow I'd seen in Hell.

Don't be afraid of your power.

Justice, justice...

Furies exacted justice from those who'd committed heinous crimes. I killed the three Furies.

I dragged in a deep breath and raised my hand, not shying from the magic that welled from me as I strode across the island. With half a thought, I killed Iapetus's minions, their eyes no more than burned sockets and mouths open on screams they hadn't had a chance to form.

Iapetus watched me with a sneer, frozen in the act of attacking Harvey. Kai stopped screaming, panting now as pain burned through him, but that scream still echoed through my head.

"You think you can stand against me?" the titan asked with a dismissive laugh. "You tried before and failed, didn't you, cunt?"

"Don't call her that," Emlyn breathed, lethally soft. A blur of movement and his big hands wrapped around Iapetus's throat, squeezing the life out of him, but Iapetus just smirked.

He had no backup; his minions were dead. It was over, and he had to know it. I lifted my left hand, where the thread of blue magic still wriggled, and crushed it out of existence. It wasn't just my blood magic that rose to snuff out Cronus's thread, but the tendril of darkness I saw before, and something more—a golden warmth, deep purple flashes, and a taunting blue power I wished I could ignore, wished I could deny.

But I was Cronus's descendant. I had his power in me. But his or not, it let me snuff out the magic he'd used to trap us in the false life. I watched the thread crumble to nothing, and Iapetus showed his first signs of unease.

Justice, justice...

My pulse loud in my ears, I stalked across the grass towards him, letting hatred fill my heart. He twisted away from Wynvail's shard of moon-silver magic, and when Harvey slammed into him, fangs open, Iapetus grinned and embraced the bite. But I'd seen that glint of unease; he was shaken.

His heartbeat quickened, and I only realised it was with excitement and not fear when he glanced at the grass at my feet, and—I realised I'd walked into a trap.

Fuck. I was so fucking stupid, I'd been so focused on him that I forgot he was a titan, and every bit as cunning as his brother.

He flung an arm out, and Harvey was cast through the air, landing in a heap in the grass. Not moving. Blood howled louder in my head; power gathered in my hand, both blisteringly hot and as icy as a glacier.

Justice, justice...

He hurt my mate. He made Kai scream and Wyn bleed and threw Harvey so hard I couldn't feel him in the bond.

"Wane," I whispered, even though he was too far away to hear me. "Please."

Iapetus laughed when I took another step—and slammed into a barrier so solid, my teeth rattled and my chest shook. "The pet won't help you. He's as trapped as you are."

My nostrils flared. Wane wasn't broken, wasn't numb and empty. He was locked in place by titan magic. A roar filled my head, and I lost my grip on my magic. Or the barrier around me was steadily, quietly, sapping my strength.

"Cronus left you here," I said, trying to stall Iapetus so I could figure a way out. "He knew we'd escape that timeline."

Iapetus snorted. He formed a vicious blade of magic and drove it at Emlyn when my mate roared at him with so much power that it stunned me.

"Em," I gasped, warning tripping like ice water down my spine. "Stop. Leave. Just—"

He didn't stop. Emlyn slashed his hands through the air, so many scythes of green magic forming that Iapetus was slashed all over, drenching the grass in blood. He slumped with a pitiful moan.

The island tore itself apart around us as Emlyn's magic sank through grass and dirt to the Earth, severing it into a dozen different pieces.

My heart stopped. I stared at Iapetus and shook my head fast.

"He's faking!" I screamed, throwing myself against the barrier, slamming my fists into it.

Em jumped back, trusting me instantly, but Iapetus moved faster and smiled as he thrust the shimmering blade of magic into Em's chest.

The world slowed, time sticky and drawn out. I saw every drop of blood, every expression that crossed my mate's face. A broken cry escaped me in a sob when the tip of the blade tore through Em's back, blood blooming through his shirt too fast, too dangerously.

No. No.

"Emlyn!" I screamed, slamming my fists against the barrier, a howl of rage building in my throat, my head, my soul and—

My soul throbbed with pain, but numbness didn't spread through me like when Cronus killed Wyn. Hope choked off all my air until my head spun. I was going mad, my mates were dying around me again and—

Verena screamed. It was a sound of wrath and rage, not pain, but I jerked towards her, throwing myself against the magic keeping me trapped until pain blasted my shoulder. Tears streaked my face. I'd lost too much. I couldn't bare it.

Not her. Please not her.

But when I blinked to clear my eyes, Verena wasn't bleeding or dying. She glowed , her whole body luminous with golden light, and her red hair floated above her shoulders. I blinked, a memory trying to surface. My heart skipped, but the memory danced out of my grasp.

Verena took a step, golden light spilling further across the island, disappearing into the cracks Emlyn had rent in the ground with his magic. I slammed my fists into the barrier, a scream howling through my head. I couldn't bear her being anywhere near Iapetus. His words throbbed through my head, taunting and vile. I shook my head, but they persisted.

"Don't," I screamed at her, but she shook her head at me, the glow brightening, blinding yellow as she took another step.

She was the daughter of Apollo. Phoebe's granddaughter—a titan's granddaughter. She had as much power as I did. But I felt sick watching her cross the island, determination on her freckled face.

I'd felt that determination, too. Had felt it and failed.

"Don't hurt my family," she breathed, her hands shaking as she lifted them in front of her, not just dripping gold but overflowing it so fast that a sea gathered under her feet. "Don't speak to them. Don't even look at them."

Iapetus smiled, his attention fixing on this new target, this new victim.

Not her. Never her.

Magic slammed through my chest. I lifted my hand at the same time she did, ready, waiting, ignoring the weakness spreading through me, sucking strength out of my magic with every minute. I didn't know what his magic was doing to me, didn't particularly care. I didn't take my eyes off Verena.

My heart beat so fast it slammed through my ears in stereo with my blood magic, roaring with protective rage. I flexed my hands, pulling up more magic and locking down my initial flinch when it surged faster, stronger than ever before. Stronger than even in Olympus.

I remembered Kai saying Cronus killed me to increase my power, and that I'd died twice. How much magic did I have now?

Let it be enough, I pleaded, wishing Erebus was here to smother Iapetus in shadow, wishing Wane was free. He could weaken him, and the titan bastard knew that. That was why he'd locked him in place. He was afraid of Wane.

Em was—he hadn't moved. He'd crashed to the floor, stabbed all the way through his middle, and he hadn't moved.

My chest caved in. Verena took two more steps, her hands shaking as she held them in front of her, spilling more magic in golden rivers, her red hair glowing, her skin illuminated with sunshine.

"You want to play, little girl?" Iapetus asked with a smirk. "Come a little closer."

"Verena," I warned, my arms shaking with the force of magic blasting through me. Would it be enough to shatter the barrier? "Just run, get away."

She swallowed, close enough to me now that her light cast over the barrier, jerky and bright. She was shaking and terrified, but determination wouldn't let her quit.

Verena took another step, but she jumped back with a gasp when Kai surged up from the ground with a hiss. The air quaked with a storm of snakes, the magic so thick I could taste it on the tip of my tongue.

I slammed my fist into the barrier, magic blasting from my hand, scattering across the solid pane of magic. It didn't erode, didn't even weaken. Fuck! My hand shook when I slammed it into the magic again, screams filling my head. The thump of justice, justice had been obliterated by blinding terror.

Emlyn hadn't moved. Harvey was still. I couldn't even see Wynvail. Wane was trapped. And Kai—Kai snarled, driving more of his venomous magic at Iapetus, throwing himself at the titan even though our deaths closed around us like a net.

Verena lunged forward a step, the whites of her eyes showing. Blood drenched Kai, all the way down his side. He was bleeding out, so pale, and I knew he must be weak even if I was too full of rage and panic and power to feel the bonds.

I threw myself at the barrier over and over, power pouring through my shaking hands, ricocheting off Iapetus's magic. My eyes blurred, making their forms hazy as Verena lunged forward and threw her hands out, sending a flare of sunlight so bright that my eyes streamed faster. I was losing them, all over again. Would I ever stop losing them, or was I cursed to endure this cycle forever? Love them, lose them, and be dragged back to life to relive it all over again.

Verena said something under her breath, her brow knotting. She gritted her teeth, and her magic flared so brightly that I winced and turned away.

"Just—die—" Kai snarled, the air quivering with his magic. "You—fucking—monster!"

Verena spoke again, louder, but I didn't catch it until she shouted, "It's not real! It's not real!"

Iapetus laughed, sending a chill down my spine. Kai roared in response, louder and more vicious than I'd heard him before. Verena's gasp was louder than all of them, but her words rang through my head.

It's not real.

Was this another fake timeline? Another trick?

Power shuddered out of me, tearing through my chest like a hurricane, and I swore there was more than one kind of magic howling in my veins, more than five. All at once, I understood what Erebus had been trying to tell me.

I didn't mean my descendant, Halwen. I meant his.

Wane's. Mine.

I didn't want to think about it, or what Verena suspected. I wasn't strong enough. But if what we saw right now wasn't real, and I had all this magic inside me...

Verena's power flared, so bright it pricked my eyes through my closed eyelids, and my breath caught when Iapetus laughed, sneering and low and seething with evil.

I was trying so hard to break the barrier, trying to kill Iapetus, but if this wasn't real, if it was all a fucking illusion … it would never work. I drew my hands from the barrier and clenched my teeth at the pain in my knuckles. It wasn't real. I clung to that hope, shaking hard.

I dropped to my knees, driving my hands into the grass, into the ground Em had fractured apart. Or had he? Was any bit of this real? I shook as I reached deep, deep inside my power, plunging further than I'd dared to go in a long time and gasping when it wasn't a lake of power but a vast pit that waited for me, its power crashing over my hands and driving its destructive force into the ground.

Rip it apart, I snarled at my magic, my hands burning as magic roared from my palms, too fast, too strong. It didn't matter if I was injured. Emlyn was dead, Harvey was unconscious, and Kai had been stabbed but maybe—maybe it wasn't real. Rip this fucking timeline apart. Show me what's real.

Iapetus laughed, but his voice was different, muffled by the roar of water, the whistle of wind. I ripped my eyes open, staring at the island and startling at the movement . I hadn't realised quite how still it was moments ago until I saw it now, with the grass thrashing in the wind, the sea around us crashing and raging.

"Finally," a deep, unfamiliar voice said, thick with menacing glee. "I've been waiting for you, Iapetus."

I lurched to my feet, my heart pounding my ribs, and stared in shock as Wane strode through the long sea grass with a tempest of shadows around him, his eyes completely black. My heart skipped. Wane hadn't been frozen, hadn't been locked in place by Iapetus's magic. He'd been here, outside the timeline, waiting to kill the titan.

Iapetus didn't stand a chance when Wane slammed a force of shadows into him. Grim satisfaction filled my chest when the titan was knocked back a step. Shadows shoved down his throat, up his nose, and filled his head so brutally that his eyes exploded.

I couldn't breathe. Hope choked off my air as Wane's shadows tore into every part of Iapetus and ripped him apart.

"Fuck," Kai breathed, stumbling to my side.

"Kai," I gasped, grabbing his arm, scanning his body for wounds and finding none. Silence filled my head. I tore away, scouring the ground, searching for—

"Harvey," I sobbed, stumbling towards him. He wasn't in his beast form; he was demonic and unhurt, climbing to his feet with dazed eyes.

I turned when movement drew my eye and swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Wyn," I rasped. Rage burned in his silver eyes as he stood, pinning me with a searching stare, true fury filling my soul at whatever he found.

I spun, shaking as Iapetus started to scream, his panic obvious as Wane drowned him with darkness. "Verena? Em?" I searched the island, shaking harder when Kai pulled me into his arms.

"There, my rose. He's there. He's okay."

Frantic, I followed Kai's line of sight, and my knees weakened when I found Emlyn racing through the grass towards us, his grey wings tight to his body, his hands curled into fists, and pure thunder on his bearded face. My bottom lip wobbled. Alive, not dead.

"How—how do we know this is real?" I asked, jumping hard when Wane bared his teeth in a smile and drove more shadows into Iapetus until the titan screamed louder. Darkness covered him until he was in the eye of the shadow storm, and I held my breath when Wane stalked forward, murderous and merciless.

When he clenched his fist, letting the typhoon of shadows fall, all that was left of Iapetus were bleached bones in the grass.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when Kai pinched my ass. Hard.

"There," he said, kissing my cheek, then my jaw, then my shoulder, obsession and panic in every brush. "Now you know it's real."

My bottom lip wobbled when Verena sat up in the grass, a deep gasp coming from her throat. "Are we dead?"

"No," I answered, choked and raw. "We're not dead."

We'd made it. All of us. No—not all of us. Pain carved my insides until I was hollow. I'd held Kaida in my arms, carried her for nine months, and every second of it was all a lie.

My breath hitched, then broke apart entirely. I stared at Wane, at the torrent of shadows swirling around him, at the place where he'd cradled our daughter in his arms less than an hour ago.

I squeezed Kai in apology before I pulled away from him, my first step trembling, my second stronger, and my third throwing me into a sprint.

Wane's eyes were still black, and the dark storm howling around him was a clear warning, but there was nothing in this world that could stop me throwing my arms around him.

"You saved us."

His arms closed around me, a rough breath leaving him as he pressed his face to my shoulder, drawing a deep breath. "Barely," he replied, a tremor going through him. "Barely."