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Verena narrowed her green eyes at me, but there was something fragile about her expression. "Our family? Don't you meanyour?"
"Didn't we already claim you as one of us?" I chided, flinching when pain tore through my bond, slashing its claws so viciously through my soul that my knees buckled.
"Close your eyes," I said urgently, my heart skipping at the blind trust Verena placed in me by immediately obeying.
I wouldn't let her down.
I clicked the pen with my thumb and held my breath, my eyes slamming shut when the world shifted and whirled around us. It worked.Thank fuck.
I flung my eyes open again when the sense of being pushed and pulled in every direction faded. I could barely breathe, but it was a small price to pay.
A quick glance told me we were in Lucifer's palace. What if he was really dead? What would we do? He was the only thing keeping peace in Hell. Without him…
"I'll be fine here," Verena said urgently, pulling her hand from mine and thrusting the pen at me. "Go. Save them."
It didn't sit right with me to leave her here, but another lash of pain cracked through my chest and I gasped, unable to hide my reaction.
"Go!"Verena snarled, shoving me back a step. She was tiny but vicious, brave. My chest tightened.
"Donotleave this palace," I ordered, my voice deeper than I meant it to be. "And if anything happens, hide. We'll find you. I promise."
Verena nodded, her face pale, freckles dark against her ashen skin.
"We're coming back for you. I promise."
She swallowed, then nodded. "Go!"
I sucked in as much air as my anxiety-crushed lungs would allow and clicked the pen, not sure how it functioned but praying it took me where I visualised: the ash-covered wreckage of Olympus where I'd left my mate.
The world pushed and pulled at me until I felt sick, but the sensation ripped away without warning. I threw my eyes open as I struggled to find my balance, catching myself on—on the dome where we'd split up. It worked.
I groaned in relief and pushed myself up, scanning the flattened city. Cronus was easy to spot, and so were my family. But they stood in place, like they were frozen by some cruel magic. No theywerefrozen. This was what he did, the titan of time.
A growl rumbled in my chest. But fear grew teeth and clamped around my chest. Why had he frozen them? What was he doingtothem?
I ran closer to my family, the hairs on my arms standing in end. Something was very wrong here.
A crowd of people had been struck immobile in the act of racing down the street, some with hands raised, magic gathering in their palms, others with weapons. I wove around them as I ran, a shudder going down my spine. I didn't recognise any of them, but it wasn't hard to guess they were here to fight Cronus. And he'd frozen them.
When I got close enough to see Cronus, I slowed so I didn't draw attention, wanting to fly right to the bastard and peck his fucking eyes out. But the only person who could kill him was Haley. Where was she?
I vibrated with rage and panic as I searched the ashen ground for her, but when I didn't find her, I turned to the skies. Fuck, wherewasshe? Where—
Oh gods. I found her, so small and fragile where that monster held her in his giant hand. My mate was so fucking vulnerable. What if he—
"No!" I cried, the guttural sound drawn straight from my soul.
Fuck being slow. I full-out sprinted down the street when he lifted my mate to his vile mouth, opening it to devour her. Something snapped inside me—my sanity or maybe my control.
I roared my rage and terror, shifting to my winged form between one step and the next, praying I reached her in time. My stomach revolted, but I couldn’t take my eyes off his open jaw and the love of my life gripped in his hand, too small, too breakable. A strangled sound escaped my throat.
Please no.
I flew faster than I ever had before, my lungs fighting me, my wings screaming with exertion as I shot through the air, panic threatening to turn me feral.
Cronus opened his mouth wider, lifting my mate, poised to drop her.No! Not her!
I pushed myself to breaking point and still refused to give up. A shrill scream exploded from my beak when my wings gave out, dropping me two feet before I recovered in a panic. I felt tiredness circling like a hungry predator, but I kept my head lifted, my eyes fixed on my mate as—as light flared from her swords.
