Chapter Six
Kronos
Kristina had Kronos’ full attention. In fairness, she had captured his focus some time before, her clipped rudeness stirring him and forcing him to concentrate.
What kind of a mortal would speak to him that way?
He was Kronos.
Some had called him King, others, a deity. Worshipped for thousands of years, he had many names and existed in many cultures.
To some, he was a god and a powerful ally, while to others, he was a masterful bane. No one could deny what he really was, though. Kronos was a creature who wielded the power of life and death in his hands.
It was true, Kristina didn’t know who she was tangling with, but even given her naivety, Kronos had found her language provocative.
One thing was obvious, though. His plan to lure young graduates had clearly paid dividends.
He’d invested a lot of time in Shelley in recent months, but he sensed it was time to spread his net in search of someone new.
Shelley was a gem, but she was closer to The Advancement than she realized, and despite their chemistry, he knew she would leave him.
Kronos was never without a paramour, one he could keep on her knees while he managed the salient business of ruling. Whether Kristina was the right fit, he couldn’t have said yet, but her recklessness had enticed him from his current weary captive and lured him to that dark street.
He had watched Kristina in her home, viewing her from afar, and he knew she had everything she needed there—warmth, food, and safety.
The small box she’d chosen to reside in was not as alluring as the world he would take her to, but at least it was shelter.
What had possessed her to leave that sanctuary and venture out onto the ice wasn’t clear.
She’d mentioned the desire for pizza—a high-calorie food that he would never allow—but nothing about her explanation was logical.
He knew she still had the meal the other female had prepared for her, a far more nutritious spread as far as he could tell, so there was no reason for her jaunt into the darkness.
He had watched her wrap up and leave the house.
She was blissfully unaware of how much trouble she was in as she wandered off in search of unnecessary nourishment.
Free will.
He shook his head. That was the problem with humans.
Given the choice between what was sensible and what delivered immediate gratification, the vast majority of them chose the latter.
He had no doubt that with the right conditioning, though, he could sculpt the feisty female making her way out onto the frozen roadside into someone far more compliant.
Someone who would kneel and beg at his command.
Just look at the magic I’ve worked on Shelley.
Shadowing Kristina, the pleasing thought occupied Kronos for a few moments before her fate became clearer.
He had seen the threat of the puerile men approaching, running the potential scenarios forward in his mind to assess the multiple outcomes, and none of them looked good for Kristina.
In one, she’d been beaten and raped there on the street, while in another, she’d been taken to a second location.
That was why he’d messaged her again, unprepared to continue playing the long game when she was putting herself so flagrantly in danger.
And when she hadn’t taken notice of his warnings, he’d had no choice but to act.
Three little men were coming to try their luck, and in a world where women were often abused and ill-treated, Kronos wasn’t prepared to let them hurt what might ultimately belong to him.
Moving in the ether, he edged toward the unfolding scene, surveying the sorry sight transpiring on the deserted street.
The three wannabe assailants, who, based on their language and behavior, considered themselves to be so foreboding, had crowded around Kristina, one of them pinning her against the wall.
“That’s right.” The one on her left was laughing, an empty noise that spoke of the place Kronos would send him if the fool did anything to harm her. “We can get you out of the cold and make sure you warm up nicely, darling.”
“No, thank you.” Kristina’s eyes darted between them, her voice higher than before, revealing the fear coursing through her body.
The squeaky response wasn’t her fault, of course. Fear among mortals was merely the physiological response to a perceived threat, and at that moment, Kristina had three definitive menaces to contend with.
She had no idea how close Kronos was, how he’d been enjoying observing her until she’d acted so recklessly, or what he was going to do with her once he had dealt with the pesky males.
Soon enough, though, she would know it all.
“Yeah, well, we ain’t fucking asking,” the same brute snarled at her, apparently thinking himself intimidating.
Kronos sighed at the feigned attempt at masculinity, though the performance was working on the mortal who’d caught his attention. Kristina’s heart rate had elevated sharply, her eyes widening as she acknowledged what Kronos had tried to convey—she was in tangible danger.
She had no way of knowing he’d never let anything happen to her. She didn’t realize that her dark guardian was already there, present, and poised, just waiting to make his move.
Pressing closer through the atmosphere, he landed on the road behind the men, his feet touching down with no sound.
“Don’t worry, darling,” the inane male pinning her against the cold wall sneered. “We can’t promise to be gentle, but we might drop you off back here once we’re done with you.”
“No!” She was definitely afraid that time, her diminutive figure attempting to push her bully away.
Her cry provoked a primal response in the god lurking in the shadows of the street.
No one was allowed to elicit that reaction from her, except him.
She didn’t belong to some miserable street thug. “Don’t, please!”
Kronos rounded on the male pressing her against the building. Though still, the imbecile failed to listen to his body’s senses. If he’d been paying attention, he’d have realized the peril coming up behind him, but of course, he didn’t.
They never paid attention. They never learned.
Not until it was too late.
“Shut it, bitch.” One of them shoved his palm over Kristina’s mouth in an apparent show of force, and even though his act of propriety riled Kronos, he took a moment to watch her response.
Shock flashed in her blue eyes before her self-preservation instincts kicked in. Her nails clawed at his hand, producing irritated squeals from the idiot until his little friend swiped her fingers away, pushing them down her body and holding them out of the way.
“Looks like we’ve got a fighter!” His tone was mocking, and Kristina’s eyes squeezed closed at the sound, her lungs pulling in a slower breath.
What is she thinking?
He knew she was terrified, but something had given her the presence of mind to close her eyes and try to calm her nervous system.
The little human apparently had more sense than he’d given her credit for. More than she’d demonstrated when she’d gone wandering off into the evening.
There was hope for her. She wasn’t only a fascination he could break down before he rebuilt her, but something else, something greater—the possibility of someone who could enthrall him even more than Shelley.
His lips twisted at that. Kristina was down, but not out, and he saw the fire gleaming in those blue orbs when her eyes flew back open.
“Reckon she likes it rough.” The moron unzipped his clothing as though he had any chance of actually assaulting Kristina. “Let’s see, shall we?”
The woman whose insolent approach had first attracted Kronos’ attention cried out from behind the guy’s hand, her eyes wild as she searched the area for someone who might come to her aid.
There were no people to be found, but little did she know that help was only seconds away.
“Ain’t no one coming to save you, princess.” The one holding her wrists laughed harder. “No one gives a shit.”
“Wrong.” Kronos had witnessed enough.
He’d known the three men in her vicinity had malicious intent on their minds and had suspected that if she didn’t listen to his advice, she would fall foul of the peril they posed, but she hadn’t listened.
That failure to obey would be a matter he’d return to once she was safely ensconced in his care, but the present moment required action.
Reaching for the back of the jacket of the one pinning her to the wall, he flung the idiot away with the ease with which a mortal might flick an insect from their sleeve.
The imbecile yelled with shock, his limbs flailing as he plummeted to the unforgiving concrete. Kronos hardly noticed the noise of several bones snapping when the male landed, his focus already on the one who’d been stifling Kristina’s cries.
Stepping out of the cloak that the ether provided, which was invisible to human eyes, he revealed himself to the men who had thought to touch what was his; the horrified expressions on their remaining faces improved his mood considerably.
“Hey!” Evidently in shock about the seven-foot god who’d just materialized in front of him, the male released Kristina, turning toward Kronos as though he had any chance of being the victor. “Who do you think you are?”
Eyeing the pathetic attempt at a foe, Kronos let out a booming chuckle. “I’m the reason you’re going to wish you’d stayed at home, pretty boy.”
Kronos moved like lightning, far faster than any human eye could follow, grabbing the fool by his neck and sending him flying across the street to join his broken friend.
His agitation called forth his scythe, which flew from the atmosphere to meet his outstretched hand before he directed his attention to the remaining one of the impudent trio.
“And you?” Kronos glowered at the fool, though he briefly acknowledged the look of astonishment on Kristina’s face. That was an expression he looked forward to seeing a lot more of. “Do you also choose to fight?”
The guy raised his hands in defeat, his head shaking as he backed away. “No way!” He swallowed, his gaze traveling to see what state his friends were in. “We were just having some fun. We didn’t mean nothing by it.”
“Fun?” Kristina stepped forward, her fear and reverie at Kronos’ sudden appearance morphing into anger that glinted in her expressive eyes. “You think it’s fun to hurt me?”
She screeched the words in the idiot’s direction, jabbing her finger into the air for good measure. “You think it’s fun to threaten me with sexual violence? How fucking dare you?”
“I’m going!” Abandoning his so-called friends, who were moaning in pain behind Kronos, he turned on his heel and ran in the opposite direction, almost slipping on a pool of ice as he went.
Standing on the frozen street, Kristina pulled in a deep breath, and slowly, she turned her head to look at Kronos.
“Th-thank you.”
She looked her liberator up and down as though he was nothing more than a trick of the light. Not that there was much illumination coming from the solitary streetlamp flickering across the road.
“You’re welcome, Kristina.” The scythe vanished from his grasp, and Kronos folded his arms across his chest, his lips curling at her widening eyes.
It was the moment he’d been waiting for.
The first precious seconds in her physical presence.
Whatever transpired between them, neither of them would ever forget those initial fleeting moments of realization.
Silently, he sent a magical ward out across the rest of the street.
The wall of protective energy would ensure the road remained free of any other interruptions while he took what belonged to him.
“How do you know my name?” A small gasp escaped her throat as she stumbled back to the wall she’d been trapped against.
“The same way I know your number and the name of the loser who spurned you, Kristina.” Kronos’ smile stretched wider, relishing the way she gulped at the admission. “I told you I’d be seeing you soon, and now, here I am.”