The Struggle (Titan 3)

“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “I was going to drag it out, cut little slices into your skin, turn you into a living fucking coloring book. You know they’re all the rage now. Then slowly burn you from the inside out, but not before I cut your dick off and shoved it down your throat and hang your balls around your neck like a noose.”

“Sounds like a fun evening.”

“It would’ve been, but, you see, I’ve matured,” I said, smirking as I took a step toward him. Hyperion tensed, and my smirk grew. “I’m not going to drag this out. I’m not going to take pleasure in turning you into a weeping mass of flesh and broken bone.” I paused, dipping my chin as I felt pure power rippling up my spine. “But I am going to take great pleasure in killing you.”

Hyperion’s lip curled. “You aren’t going to do anything. You’re not absolute.”

“Then give me your best shot.” I lifted my arms.

He didn’t have to be asked twice. Shooting across the room, he cocked an arm back. A second later, his fist slammed into my jaw, knocking me back several inches. I didn’t raise my hands or even try to stop him.

The pain actually felt good.

Like I needed to feel, because there was a part of me that deserved the first punch and then the second. I welcomed the fiery bite, a retribution for the pain I’d caused Josie. And when I hit the ground with the third punch, the air rushing for my lungs was a pittance for the pain I was most likely going to cause a whole lot of innocent people by the end of the night.

The kick in the stomach was enough.

Hyperion loomed over me, bloody fists at his sides. “You’re not going to fight back?”

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, I laughed coldly. “You’re a dumbass.”

He blinked.

I tipped my head back, smiling up at him. “I’m just playing with you.” Popping to my feet, I slammed my hands into his shoulders, knocking the Titan across the room and onto his ass. “Now you’re going to die.”

Chapter 35

Letting the purest, strongest power take over, I lifted my arm. Amber light lit up the room as a bolt of godly akasha whirled down my bicep. The world tinted white as I let the bolt of absolute power go.

It shot across the small room, smacking into Hyperion’s chest. He’d tried to move. He tried to dart to the side, but he wasn’t fast enough. I was done playing with him. That was it. It was over.

The fucker was going to die.

And it was like Atlas all over again.

A look of pure astonishment washed over Hyperion’s face as the whitish-amber light pulsed. The same dumb motherfucking look that said he couldn’t believe I just punched out his immortality card as he stared down at the gaping, glowing hole in the center of his chest.

Outside, lightning slammed into the ground and thunder cracked the sky wide open. The smell of burnt ozone filled the tiny room. Hyperion went down on one knee, the impact splitting the floor. I kept up, pulling every ounce of deadly power from within as he fought back, throwing out an arm as if to stop the stream of akasha. Air crackled and popped as the very fine network of veins lit up under Hyperion’s skin.

I lowered my arm. “I am absolute.”

He opened his mouth, but there was no sound as the light in his veins expanded, bled through the vessels and washed over his body. The light pulsed once more and then it was an explosion of fireworks that shook the ceiling and the floor—the entire building.

And then there was nothing but scorched earth remaining.

“No!” a female voice shouted.

I spun around. It was her—the female Titan. Power rippled over my skin. My chin dipped down as I stalked toward her. “Too late.”

She screeched as she drew back. Her screams ripped through the air as she spun in a dizzying circle. Black smoke surrounded her body as I summoned the absolute power once more.

She flew to the side, a mini funnel of rage crashing through a wall. Plaster exploded, pluming into the air. The female Titan was gone, most likely to alert the rest of the crew that their days were numbered.

Jaw working, I turned back to the spot where Hyperion had stood. A weight lifted from my shoulders. Wasn’t like we didn’t have the other Titans to worry about, but this one . . . yeah, this one had needed to go.

The charred floor had changed. Tiny specks of glowing red embers flickered. Closing my hands into fists, I walked over to the spot and stared down, brows knitting together. The flecks looked like—

“What have you done?”

My back stiffened. There was no denying who stood behind me. “Awful brave of you to show up after the Titan who captured your daughter is no longer in the picture.”

“I warned you once about questioning my loyalty to my daughter,” Apollo shot back. “I will not warn you again.”

I faced Apollo, ignoring his threat. “I think it’s pretty obvious what I did.”

“Do you have any idea what this could cause?” Apollo stepped toward me. “He needed to be entombed.”

“He needed to die!” Power crackled in the air around me. “Do you know what he did to Josie? There was going to be no entombing for that bastard. I will not have her living in fear. I will not have our—” I cut myself off.

“You will not have your what?” he demanded, and then he sucked in a sharp breath. I had no idea if he’d guessed the truth. I sure as hell wasn’t going to confirm it, because I didn’t trust the bastard. The god’s all-white eyes snapped electricity. “You may be a god now, but you need to understand that your emotions cannot rule you.”

“Oh, that’s really funny coming from you.”

His chest rose. “With godhood comes great responsibility—”

“Did you rip that off from Spider-Man?”

Anger tightened his features. “Is everything a joke to you?”

“Yeah.” I looked around the room. “Mainly you?”

He exhaled roughly. “If my daughter didn’t love you . . .”

“What?” I threw up my arms. “What would you do, Apollo? Turn me into a bush that smells like cat piss? Really? Don’t you think that’s a little played out? I’m not—”

Apollo moved faster than I could track.

One moment he was standing in front of me, and the next he had a hand around my throat and my back into a wall. Dirt filled the air as he leaned in, getting all up in my face. “You test every strain of my patience,” he growled as his fingers dug into my windpipe.

“This is my I-don’t-give-a-fuck face, in case you’re wondering.”

“You best learn quick who you’re speaking to, Seth.”

Wrapping a hand around his wrist, I bared my teeth. “And you best learn real quick who you’re messing with.” Slamming my free hand down on his, I broke his hold and threw him back.

Apollo caught himself as shock splashed across his face. His wide-eyed gaze met mine as I came off the wall.

“There’s only one reason why I won’t kill you,” I warned, stalking toward him. “But that does not mean I will not bring you to an inch of your death.”

A muscle thrummed in his jaw as several moments passed. “Do you have any idea of what you have begun? The chain of events you have started?”

I opened my mouth, but I really didn’t have an answer.

“Do you not remember what Ewan had said to you?” He straightened as he referenced the nymph. Apollo shook his head. “You better be ready.”

A cold shiver curled done my spine. “Ready for what?”

“There will be consequences,” Apollo said. “There will be consequences for what you have done tonight.”

“Aren’t there always?”

He lifted his chin as he stepped back. “Not like this, Seth. Not like this.”

~

Josie

I knew what’d happened the exact moment I woke. I realized my bed was empty and the world was shaking. It was like some kind of instinctual knowledge told me what happened.

I was going to kill Seth.

Okay. I wasn’t going to kill him, but I was most definitely going to hit him.

Throwing the covers off, I shot to my feet and grabbed my clothes off the floor, hastily pulling them on in case the entire Covenant came down on my head. I rushed from the bedroom and through the sitting room. Throwing open the door, I drew up short, coming face to face with a silver-eyed demigod.