37. Chapter 37
Chapter thirty-seven
Corre
I t all clicked into place.
“You’re Markus’s what?” Corre asked, but he was already walking down the corridor.
“You heard me. Now, let’s go. We don’t have much time. The general will realize you’re missing, and Tartarus will be in a frenzy until they find you.”
She hurried along as he wound into the complex labyrinth. “I have so many questions,” she said, but the man only grunted and kept moving. “Are you going to tell me how we’ll take down Thanatos?”
“We’ll need to find Markus first.”
Her heart soared. “Really?” She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.
“Really.” He took a sharp right, hurrying along, but she didn’t miss the warm chuckle that accompanied his reply. Corre tripped, almost falling as she hurried to stay close behind him. His shoulders fell slightly, and he paused before answering. “The night Markus was taken,” he started, his voice low, almost reverent, “I was terrified. My wife was inconsolable, and I was furious. We had no say in Markus’s ugly fate.” He took another sharp turn, and Corre had to follow him even closer to hear what he was saying. “I did what I could. I begged Zeus, but he wouldn’t listen. There were no other candidates, he’d said, so I did what I had to. I followed my son down here.”
“Markus has no idea, though. He thinks you don’t care about him. He thinks his parents abandoned him.”
Thomas sighed. “Well . . . I’m sad to hear that, but I can’t say I’m surprised. Thanatos is a master manipulator, and he’s been with him a long time.”
Pain flickered in Corre’s chest. “You’ve loved him all this time. And—wait. How did any of that make you mortal? I know Zeus took your immortality, but how did he justify it?”
“I was caught. Zeus has spies everywhere. When he found out I went against his wishes and was trying to find a way to bring Markus back, he banished me from Mt. Olympus and made a point to paint me as a traitor. My powers and immortality were taken from me, and I had to stay here, mortal and alone.”
She fell silent, wishing she knew what to say, but the next thought that came to her was of the man’s wife, and how Zeus had wanted her for himself. “Your wife stayed on Olympus,” she said quietly, though she wasn’t sure how much she should reveal of what she knew.
“I’m afraid so. Lily almost came with me, but I convinced her to stay. One of us had to stay on Olympus. If we were both cast out, there would be no way we could bring Markus home. She reluctantly agreed, but I was racked with guilt. She lost her family that day. Her son and her husband.” He was silent for a beat. “I still feel terrible, but we both agreed it had to be done.”
Corre weighed her words before deciding to finally ask him. “Do you know what happened to her?” She didn’t want to be the one to tell him what Lily’s fate had been, but she needed to understand everything, and so did he.
“I do, and by the sound of it, you do, too.”
Her cheeks flushed. “She married Zeus . . . but why did he want to marry her so badly? He already had Hera.”
He gave her a sidelong glance. “Do you know Zeus? I swear he has more wives than followers these days.”
Corre’s eyes fell, but she kept her feet steady so she wouldn’t trip again. It was still hard to believe that someone she’d thought was a good person—someone adored both on Earth and Olympus—was such a pig. A pig who was also her father.
“And she had a daughter with him,” he added. “That’s how I found out the truth of how to give Markus the throne so his life as a slave could finally end.”
The man stopped abruptly, and Corre bumped into him. He didn’t seem to mind, though. He stood there, standing at a set of enormous metal doors. The mysterious entrance was as black as night, with handles of gold that curled in the shape of two serpents facing each other. Those small glimmers of gold were the only indicators that the blackness wasn’t made of shadow; they were the only reason Corre could tell this large space was a set of doors.
She looked at the man’s stoic expression. Quietly, she spoke. “Why did Zeus’s daughter help you?”
He chuckled. “That kid loves mischief. It’s probably one of the reasons she led you here to begin with.”
Corre thought about the silver-haired girl in the forest. "Tyche knows everything, too?"
Thomas nodded and stepped to the door. “Despite all her antics, she has a good heart. She’s been helping me for years. She loves Markus, and somehow, she’s been able to slip between Tartarus and back undetected. And through her constant wandering, as well as her curiosity and Zeus’s leniency with her—and his gross underestimation of her—she was able to find out just enough to give me a lead.”
Corre watched with bated breath as the man grabbed hold of the gold handles, but as soon as his flesh touched the surface, he made a sound of pain and jumped back. “What’s wrong?”
Thomas inspected his hands. “I can’t go in.”. It sounded like he was talking more to himself than to her, and the sorrow in his voice nearly broke her heart.
“Why not?”
He dropped his arms and threw his head back, swiping a hand down his face in frustration. “I assume it’s because I’m mortal.”
Corre bit her lip and thought for a moment. She tried not to lose hope, but all those hopes were crashing down at lightning speed. “What are we going to do?” she said quietly.
“You’ll have to go alone,” he said. “But you don’t know these tunnels,” he added with a sigh.
“How do you ?” she asked, not meaning to sound as rude as she did. “I mean, because you’re mortal, it seems you can’t enter.”
“I’ve lived down here for years. I just apparently can’t make it into this part of the labyrinth—the one leading to Hades’ domain. But I know where you and Markus must go. If Tyche is right, and my hunches are correct—the knowledge I’ve gathered over the years, rather—then you’ll need to go deep below Tartarus. To a place Markus probably doesn’t even know about.”
Corre’s mouth dried up, but she squared her shoulders. “Tell me everything I need to know, and I’ll relay it to him. I promise.”
The man gave her a half-smile. “I know you will, but it’s important you don’t forget any of this. Especially, the incantations you must recite once you get there.”
Her heart raced. “I’ll do my best.”
“No,” he said curtly. “You have to succeed. This is his only chance.”
Her skin went cold. “But what if I can’t do this?”
The man put his hands on her shoulders and lowered his gaze to hers. “You can . Just listen carefully and find Markus. He should know these incantations. He learned them once before. He simply needs to remember, and it’s important he knows to use them. The right ones at the right times.” He leaned back and let go of her shoulders. “It’ll be okay. Just listen closely and be quick. Remember, they’re looking for you. Nikias probably already knows you’re gone.”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “Tell me everything.
Markus
Markus swung the sword at the thirty-headed beast, trying his best to sharpen his focus. He hadn’t been given a difficult opponent for the last week, until now. There was a small part of him that hoped it was Thanatos’s way of letting him heal before facing such a vicious creature. Up until the last few months, he would have let himself believe that, but he knew better now.
His master could care less about him, so that week-long rest period made him suspicious. Thanatos was hiding something.He had to be.
The creature lunged forward, but Markus slid out of the way, moving with quick precision, and slicing off another one of its heads. The next hour went just like that—him dodging the beast’s blows before striking—and soon, he realized that this creature wasn’t as difficult as he’d thought. Maybe all his extra training—and punishments—these last three months had paid off.
He could hope, anyway.
When the last of the heads dropped to the dungeon floor, Markus let himself slump onto the rocky surface along with it. His head fell back against the wall as he caught his breath. He rested his eyes and thought back on the last time he’d approached Thanatos, just a few weeks before.
He’d just slain one of the creatures that had plagued the Underworld for centuries, from the beginning of the first Titan’s creation. He’d been so sure this would finally earn him the throne, but his master only laughed and said that tale was only that—a legend to make him feel mighty once he defeated the beast.
It was all part of his training, Thanatos had said. “You’re a long way from the throne,” he’d mocked, cackling as Markus left, the young god’s blood boiling and the last few strands of hope tearing inside him.
He opened his eyes. Correlia would be here any day if she wasn’t here already, and Thanatos would home in on her next. What kind of punishments did he have lined up for her? Maybe that was why he’d given Markus this rest period. He was trying to soften Markus and distract him while Thanatos tormented Correlia.
Fear tightened his chest, and Nikias’s words echoed in his mind. “I’ll touch her enough for both of us.” His blood turned to fire, and he jumped to his feet. He couldn’t let that weasel of a man get a hold of her.
If he hadn’t already.
No. He would’ve heard Nikias’s gloats by now. There was no way his rival would give up the chance to taunt him. Markus had to act now. He had to find Nikias and warn him of what lay in store for him if he so much as placed a finger on Correlia. If there was one thing the gangly blonde was, it was cowardly. When he didn’t have half an army to back him up, he wouldn’t attempt to fight back. Nikias knew who the stronger of the two was, and Markus intended to show him just how strong he’d become.
He swung the dungeon door open and strode into the hall. His fists tightened as he thought of Nikias. Of his stupid, smug grin. Of his nerve. He’d regret his threats, and he wouldn’t live if he’d already followed through with them.
Markus swept his dark hair from his face and focused on the path to Nikias’s room, but just as he passed his chambers, he heard someone’s footsteps bounding toward him. He would have thought it was Nikias, but the echoes were too light. Too hurried. The general walked in careful strides as if he had something to prove.
He slowed his pace and waited for whomever it was to approach him. The footsteps quickened, making the young god curious. It almost sounded like whoever it was was running from something, but there were no scratches from the claws of demons, and it wasn’t Nikias. Who was this creature?
He didn’t realize he’d stopped walking until he saw who it was. Because as soon as he saw her, he couldn’t breathe, let alone move.
His eyes were playing a cruel trick on him. There was no way Correlia was standing there in front of him, having rounded the corner before meeting his gaze and freezing in place just a few feet away.
He didn’t move, as if any movement would make her disappear. She stared back at him long enough for him to realize that this wasn’t a dream or a mirage. She was even more beautiful than he remembered, and she was wearing a gown that fell from her delicate shoulders and fluttered like the flowers outside of her house.
She was radiant.
And she was real.
Excitement surged through him, and that same excitement lit on Correlia’s face, too, and they ran to each other. His heart nearly burst from his chest as he grabbed her and kissed her with every ounce of strength he had left inside him. He threaded one of his hands through her hair, the other cradling her face.
She kissed him back, throwing her arms around him, and the world around them was gone. Tears stung his closed eyes as he kissed her and kissed her, that familiar fire blasting through his blood. It tore through him in such beautiful bursts. Kissing her again, touching her, feeling her against him, healed every broken part of him. Every shattered bone and bruise.
And she tasted even sweeter than he remembered. He wished he could put the taste in a bottle and drink it, feeling it warm his body as it slid down his throat. He kissed her deeper, sliding a hand to the small of her back and pressing her tightly against him.
He couldn’t think. He couldn’t feel anything but her. The way her arms wound around the back of his neck. The way her chest fluttered against him in quick, flurried breaths. Her lips against his, every nerve shocking him to life, awakening more and more with every urgent press of her full lips.
A tear escaped his closed eyes, and he wished he could save this moment in time. If only he could cut them out of reality so this kiss could last forever.
He’d missed her. So much.
It had driven him mad. Utterly insane. She could do anything she wanted to him, and he’d love it. He wanted all of her, now and always. He needed her, and he was finally okay admitting it.
He would do anything for her. Destroy Tartarus. Create a new world. Anything. Whatever she wanted, he would do it without a second thought. He longed to keep her in his arms forever, never forgetting any part of this sensation. And that would keep him going one day at a time.
Finally, she leaned back, her heels falling to the floor. She looked up at him, and his heart flitted in his chest. Her lips were ruddy from their kiss, and she smiled, her nose scrunching, causing her freckles to dance along the bridge of her nose. Her cheeks dimpled, and he forgot to breathe all over again.
“Markus,” she whispered, and another tear fell down his face.
He closed his eyes and started to cry. He let his head fall to her shoulder, then he fell to his knees, and she wrapped her arms around him and held him against her. “I missed you so much,” he whispered, and she kissed the top of his head. He looked up at her, and she smiled, a tear skating down her face and falling onto the tip of his nose.
“I missed you, too,” she said. “And I have something important to tell you.”
“What is it?” he said, still marveling that she was really in front of him.
She gently grabbed his face, and he eclipsed her hands with his. “I know how you can take the throne.”
His heart stopped. “What?”
She nodded excitedly. “Your father told me.”
His brows pulled together as he got to his feet. “My father?’
“Yes. He’s . . . He’s been caring for you from afar this whole time. I can explain more later, but we have to go now.”
He frowned. “Correlia, you must be mistaken. My father doesn’t care about me. I haven’t seen him since—”
“He does care about you. And he told me how to save you. How to dethrone Thanatos.”
He studied her gaze. She was telling the truth. But . . .
His head spun.
He needed to breathe.
“It’s okay,” she said softly, stroking his cheek with her thumb, and all his fears and muddled thoughts melted away. “This will all make sense. I promise. Just listen, please. I know how to help you.”
He smiled and let his face rest in her palm. Then he kissed it and said, “Go on.” She smiled, and his knees were weak. He couldn’t help leaning down and kissing her one more time. “Tell me how we can take the throne.” He let his forehead rest against hers. Her breath was warm against his lips, and his own breath snagged in his throat before he added one more promise before whatever came next. “I want to give you everything,” he said, “and I’ll do whatever it takes to do it.”