The Things Gods Break (The Crucible, #2)

by Abigail Owen

As soft as butterfly wings and as warm as a gentle sun on my skin. And I absorb it. I become it. It is my light now. To wield however I see fit.

“Behold,” she announces to the others without turning away from me. “The new goddess of time.”

The goddess of time. Me. I’m still too stricken to take it in. My first, gut-level reaction is that I don’t want it. I can’t do this. Not this way. Not ever. Rhea must see it, because a small sob wells out of her, but she swallows the next one down. “It’s his gift to you,” she whispers. My face crumples as my shoulders heave even while I’m trying to hold it in for her sake. She has even more reason to grieve than I do. “I don’t want it,” I whisper. “Not like this.” “I know.” Her lips tremble so hard she has to press them together as she moves her hands from my face to my shoulders. “But you need to be strong now. Honor his sacrifice.”

Through the smoke and debris, I see Hades’ face, and I know… The guardian can’t leave. He exists only in Tartarus and within the Locks themselves. His lips form words. Three simple words that I don’t have to hear to know what he says. “Go to him.”

“You misunderstand,” I say. “We will stay here to protect the Titans…from you.”

With a sigh, she releases me. “Go, daughter.”

“What do I do now?” I ask. “Think a happy thought?” “I’m all out of pixie dust,” she mutters. “But happy thoughts couldn’t hurt.”

For me, our love has been a whirlwind, even with my extra time in Tartarus. For Hades…our love has been thousands of years of waiting. He’s loved me for his whole life. And now I’ll love him for the whole of my immortality.

I didn’t even see it coming. But I haven’t had time to grieve for Cronos myself. I think of giving him Cronos’ butterfly—the one Hades carved for his father long ago. It sits in my pocket. But it’s too soon. After the worst of his grief has passed, maybe. Instead, I just hold him through it. We hold each other.

“Fuck.” That single word from him contains every second of the ages he’s had to wait for me. Then he kisses me, hard and fast. “Don’t fucking die.”

Cronos’ eyebrows shoot up into his silver-shot dark hair. “And what did my son do? Be precise.” I describe it. All of it. Olympus. Zeus. The temple. Tartarus. The oceans. When I finish, Cronos rocks back on his heels. “That is…complicated.”

I silently apologize to baby me as the god storms over to my mother and seals my fate, then disappears in a swirl of clouds and lightning bolts, leaving my parents stunned. My life, even the worst of it, really has been in my control all along. And this is the way I ended up where I am now. The only way the Titans get out. I’m the bitch who made my own life hell. Awesome.

I close my eyes and return to Cronos. To continue my learning. For as long as it takes, because time is finally on my side. I seriously need to meet the goddess of irony someday. Maybe if we become friends, she’ll stop fucking with me.

“Fuck this up, and I’ll find you somehow.” “Rude.” I step away and take Rhea’s hand. “If I fuck this up, I’m the one who’ll have to come find you.” His eyes narrow, and I smile. Forced. Because I’m more scared than I’ve ever been in my life. But I don’t want him to see that. “You always find me,” he says. My heart cracks and sings at the same time. “Always.”