From Titans (Book 4) (15 page)

“
Unfortunately, we
are,”
Hades
concurred.

Eris glared. “Where is it?” Her tone was
filled with demand and greed.

I slapped once on her
invisible shield. We were back on the same long endless road, where
we had landed when we touched the asinine invitation.
“Where
’
s Mason? I want to see him. A deal is a deal.”

She sighed as if bored. “Very well. You
humans are so…stick by the rule.” She turned her back on us. “Come
on. Hurry up before I change my mind.”

We crossed through the invisible barrier
into the garden with beautiful flowers and apple trees surrounding
us. I had expected to see Mason standing by the fountain, but he
was nowhere to be seen.

“
Where
’
s Mason?”
Nick barked.

Eris
’
s beautiful, pink
dress adorned with pearls swayed gracefully with the breeze. This
time, a silver tiara with diamonds sparkled on her head. She was as
gorgeous as any other goddess, but she looked hideous to me. Her
personality made her ugly. Beauty came from inside out, not the
other way around.

She extended her hand to
me. “First, I need to see if you brought me the real thing. How do
I know it isn
’
t fake? Then I would be left with
nothing.”

I took it out of my
pocket. “I
’
ll do
it.
”

She scoffed. “Why? I want
to. It
’
s mine.”

I clicked my tongue. “No
way. I may be younger than you, but I
’
m no fool. My way or forget it.”
I sounded bold, but my insides shook. I prayed she would do as I
asked.

“
Fine.”

Eris and I locked eyes. Neither one of us
moved for some time.

“
You need to release this
shield,” I reminded her.

She blinked. “Why
can
’
t you turn something gold from there?”

“
You
’
re going to eventually
release it when I hand it over to you anyway.”

She waved her hand,
muttered a few words, and backed away. “Don
’
t try anything and keep your
distance.”

When I glanced at Hermes, he seemed to know
what I was asking him to do without me saying a word. He picked me
up and flew us to the apple on the nearby tree. I sprinkled the
water, but it looked more like gold glitter. I watched as the red
apple turned gold and Hermes put me down.

Eris clapped and giggled
like a giddy child. “That
’
s
wonderful.
”

Zeus cleared his throat to
get her attention. “Now, let
’
s do the exchange so we can
leave.”

Eris zoned her eyes on the
bottle. “But...it
’
s so small. It
’
s not enough for all
my apples.”

“
Don
’
t
worry,
” I assured. “The Oracle told me
it
’
s
pretty much endless.”

Her eyes lit up and clasped her hands
together. “Brilliant.”

“
Mason?” I began to have
this ugly feeling in the pit of my stomach. This seemed too
easy.

She turned, her dress dragging behind her as
she inched her way to the nearby tree. “About Mason. We have a
problem.”

“
What!” everyone
shouted.

I gripped my hair in frustration, holding
all my will back to keep from shooting bolts to her. Pacing back
and forth, I listened to her excuse.

“
He…escaped.
Isn
’
t that good news?” For the first time her bold voice sounded
nervous.

“
Explain.”
Zeus
’
s voice boomed like thunder. “You had a hold on him.
You
’
re lying. Skylar, put that away. We
’
re leaving.”

“
No,” I breathed. Shocked
from her words, I couldn
’
t move. I wasn
’
t going to leave
without Mason. I
’
d waited so long. We were so
close.

Hades
’
s long fingers wrapped around
Eris
’
s throat and slammed her hard against the tree.
“
You better start
talking.
”

I winced from her impact, but why did I care
about her pain?

“
Hades, put her down so
she can explain,” Poseidon demanded. He was the softy among the
three.

Hades did as directed and walked away to
tame his anger.

Eris rubbed her neck and fixed her tiara.
“He zapped me,” she pouted. She dipped her head shamefully. Her
nose twitched, and her eyes filled with anger. “So ungrateful, that
one. I fed him applesauce, but of course it had been drugged.
Either way, it was quite tasty. At least I fed him and gave him
water.” She looked up at the clouds and then back to us. “I did
shrink him and placed him in a big black box. Maybe he was mad at
me for that?” She reached down by the tree and showed us a black
box, little more than one foot cubed. “See. I locked him up in here
and then made him bigger when you came the last time. I wanted to
pet him so I let him lay on my bed. We fell asleep together. I
should have put him back in the box. That was my big mistake.”

I
couldn
’
t hear anymore. She had shrunk him and lost him. I had no
idea what state he was in. Everyone dropped their jaw in shock. No
words breathed out of anyone. Everything she
’
d said seemed
unfathomable, but with gods, anything was possible.

I twitched at
Zeus
’
s booming voice. “You
’
re lying, Eris! Where is he?
There
’
s something you
’
re not telling us.”

Eris sauntered to Zeus and
caressed his face. “I
’
m telling you
almost
the truth, my
Zeus.”

Zeus seized her wrist, and
with his other hand, he pointed the staff at her. “Almost?” he
growled. “I will end you. Don
’
t tempt me.”

Eris burst into a giggle,
and then it turned into a full on boisterous laugh as she snatched
her hand back and backed away. “I
’
m not scared of you, Zeus. You
will no longer be our god when Cronus regains his strength. Olympus
will be mine soon.”

“
You want Olympus.
I
’
ll
give you Olympus. I
’
ll gladly give it up if you put
Cronus back where he belongs. You know he
’
ll get rid of you.
He
’
ll never give you Olympus.”

She laced her fingers
through her hair. “I
’
ll think about it.
I
’
ll
see who can offer me more.”

Lightning flashed and
Zeus
’
s staff lit up. I placed my hand on his shoulder to stop him.
He could do whatever he wanted with Eris after we found out what
she had done with Mason.

“
Where
’
s Mason?” I
roared.

The wind picked up, but Zeus had no hand in
it. I knew this when he looked up at the sky and frowned.

“
The bottle, Skylar,” Eris
demanded.

The wind was in
Eris
’
s favor. When I tried to lunge for her, the breeze held me in
place. She was too powerful in her own domain.

“
Tell me where Mason is?”
I hollered as the wind picked up speed, pushing me back.

Apparently, I
wasn
’
t the only one being shoved backward. We were being pushed
back to cross the invisible barrier. The wind had no effect on
Eris. She stood comfortably and in command. Nick, Everett, Noah,
and Amanda crossed over first, leaving the gods and me still
fighting the wind.

Knowing it was my last
chance, I took out the bottle and showed it to her. “This for
Mason
’
s location.”

“
Toss it to me.
I
’
ll
keep my word this time.”

“
Don
’
t trust her,” Hades
warned, still hanging on. Zeus and Poseidon had crossed. When Hades
held on to a tree, Eris lifted her hand. The leaves shook in
madness, and the apples pounded on Hades until he let go. With
nothing to hold onto, he passed through.

I threw the bottle close
to her on the ground. It killed me, but I gambled on the chance
that she would tell me Mason
’
s whereabouts.
“
Tell me.
”

She picked it up, greedily
staring at it as if it were the most precious thing. “Do you know
the story of The Minotaur and the Labyrinth of Crete? If you
don
’
t know, you better find out soon if you want to save Mason.
When Cronus offered me Olympus for Mason, I didn
’
t hesitate. But I love
to play games. Let
’
s see…will you find Mason first
or will Cronus? That is the question. The hunt starts in two days
when you get a message from me. Tick tock. Time is running out. And
it looks like you are too. Bye-bye, little girl. Too
bad—”

That was the last I heard before the strong
wind pushed me to the other side.

Chapter
14

Mason

I pretended to be asleep
as Eris continued to stroke my hair. Actually, I
didn
’
t have to pretend. My days and nights seemed to blur, leaving
me unable to remember. She had forgotten to feed me that awful
tasting applesauce. Eris seemed to be enjoying my company though I
couldn
’
t say a word or move. I cringed when she started to sing a
song I
’
d never heard before. I figured it was an old folk song, as
old as her.

When her voice slowed and
her strokes stopped, I figured she was either pondering something,
maybe her latest scheme, or falling asleep. Could it be my lucky
day? If I escaped, where would I run? I had no idea where I was.
Hope rose in me as heat seared through my arm when I tried to light
up my fingertips. If she could just fall asleep and give me time to
wean off the drug, I
’
d find my way out.

Sky
. I sighed. Her smile stayed with me. Picturing her face kept
me going. We had so much to do, so much life to live. It
couldn
’
t be the end. I tried to stay optimistic, but it was short
lived when the ground shook.

My head on
Eris
’
s lap jerked. She got up in a hurry and pushed me to my side.
My body trembled, and my head pounded. I shivered as the warmth I
felt a second before was replaced by icy cold. Unpleasant tingling
sensations pricked through every fiber of my being as my bone and
muscles ached like someone was crushing me. Everything around me
grew in size, or—she shrunk me again?

That bitch shrunk me. Her giant hand grabbed
me like a toy and shoved me in a box? Then she closed the lid. I
had the answer to the question of where I had been held captive.
Clever, crazy woman.

Darkness engulfed me like
always. But for the first time I experienced the full torment. The
other times I had been drugged. That explained so many things. I
fell and jerked. She must
’
ve picked up the box and shoved
it somewhere. Using my powers, I listened carefully.

“
I will bring you Mason.
Swear on your life Olympus will be mine,” Eris demanded.

Who was she talking to? As I listened, she
answered some of my questions. Take me where? Olympus? Eris was
trading me for the gold water from Sky. What the hell did she need
the gold water for? The golden apple came to mind. The one she
tossed just as the wall in Bella Amore closed.