Ascension (22 page)

“It is my duty to tell you what I see. It is up to you to determine what it means.”

Kyana freed herself from Geoff’s grip and studied the Seer. “I know your kind talks in riddles, but do you think you could cut to the chase just this once and tell us what the hell that’s supposed to mean?”

Nettles simply shook her head. “In order to find the truth you must look outside the circle to see the world.”

“Think outside the box,” Geoff whispered.

Kyana glared. “Yeah, that one I got.” But it still didn’t offer a single answer. All she’d done since taking this mission was think outside the bloody box. She was beginning to think the box was surrounded by nothing but a huge black void.

“Okay, let’s break it down,” she muttered. “
One not of this realm.
A ghost? A ghost wouldn’t be from this realm, but rooted to it before death.”

Geoff shook his head. “Wouldn’t work. A spirit could get into Tartarus, but it couldn’t use the key.”

Kyana drummed her fingers on the table, replaying the first part of the Seer’s prediction.
One not of this realm, but firmly rooted within it, walks through time.
An image of Haven’s charm came to mind. “What about astral projection? That’s here, but not here, and the soul’s on a time limit when it’s out walking about on its own.”

“Very few are left alive with the ability to perform such magic. It’s not taught or encouraged.”

“Yeah, I know, the gods frown upon it, but is this why? Because the spiritual body can go undetected where other souls can’t?”

“If that were the case, it would be law, not a recommendation.”

“Bloody hell,” Geoff hissed. “Thought you were on to something there, lass.”

“Yeah, me too.” But a part of her was relieved. The last thing she needed was for every Witch who had tried to cast the spell or owned a Charm of Nine Gods to be under suspicion. Hauling Haven’s ass before the courts wouldn’t make any of them happy.

Kyana paced the small room, running all the possibilities over in her mind. A row of framed photos lining a low table caught her attention. The family resemblance was too strong not to recognize Nettles’s family through the generations. A cross-stitch plaque was positioned above the photos. Kyana recognized the language as Romanian and had to search her memory to translate.
Alive in memory until we’re together again
.

Something Icky had shown Kyana burned through her brain. Cronos’s promise to return to his children. To live again. Dread settled in her belly like a boulder. Cronos was dead. There was no one alive powerful enough to resurrect him. So how could he make such a bold promise to the ones he’d created?

She returned to the table. “Could a restless spirit cause this much havoc?”

Nettles gave a small shrug. “Havoc, absolutely. But one could not perform the feats you’ve brought before me today. A spirit cannot grasp on to anything tangible. It is much like astral projection in that sense. Interacting with the physical world would be almost impossible.”

Kyana scowled. “Almost?”

“Well, certainly. But only gods are capable of such magic. It is how Zeus and others sired so many children with human women.”

Dawning slithered over Kyana’s skin. “They possessed the bodies of men to seduce their chosen women.”

Nettles nodded. “Yes. And to do so, they had to release their physical forms for a short time and enter the spirit realm before entering their host.”

Geoffrey frowned, his blue eyes darkening. “What are you playing at, lass?”

Kyana couldn’t contain her grin. “It fits.
Not of this realm, but once was, now leaving them to walk through time.
If this spirit is taking over another’s body, then they’d rule but have no real power.”

“But only gods—”

Geoffrey cut Nettles off. “I think you’re grasping at straws now.”

Nettles shivered. All color drained from her face. “I sense very dark, very powerful black magic at work here.”

“Dark indeed.” Glaring at Geoff, she silently willed him to catch on more quickly. “Only a god, Geoff. What god do we know who’d be willing to create so much devastation by unlocking Hell?”

“If you’re talking about Cronos . . .”

Nettles gasped at the mention of the fallen god.

“That’s exactly who I’m talking about. He promised he’d come back. Maybe he did.”

Nettles’s sputtering caught Kyana and Geoff’s attention. “But . . . but he’s
Cronos
. It takes a willing host to become possessed. Who would willingly allow Cronos access to his body?”

Kyana stood and motioned for Geoff to follow. “Right-o, Nettles. Whoever Cronos possessed would have to be a follower of his. Someone who already worshipped him, dead or not.”

Geoff’s grin spread from ear to ear. “Someone who can obviously leave fingerprints behind.”

Kyana nodded. “If Hank finds a match to that print, we’re going to find the person who was willingly possessed by Cronos.”

“Yeah, not going to do us a lot of good since half the names Hank ran last night had records. It’s going to take forever to figure out who’s responsible.”

Geoff wiggled his eyebrows and smiled at Nettles. “Not necessarily.”

Slowly, Kyana turned to look at the Seer. “You’d be able to connect the dead Chosen to the person who killed them.”

“Presumably, yes.” Nettles reached out her small hand. “Give me your list and I’ll try.”

Kyana stood and held out her own hand. “For that, you’ll have to come with me.”

“You don’t have the list?” Geoffrey and Nettles asked together.

“Well it would be damned difficult for Hank to work from it if I took it with me every time I left the room.” Kyana motioned for the Seer to stand. “It’s just as easy for you to come with us. Spirits isn’t that far. You can have a look, point out any names that give you the heebie-jeebies, and then we’ll bring you home.”

“Perhaps if you had waited for the other as you were meant to, the list would be in your possession now.”

Kyana grinned. “Nice to know I can throw a Seer a curve. I never do what’s expected of me.” She motioned for Nettles to stand. “Let’s go get that list.”

Nettles shook her head. “You’ll have to bring it here. I’ll need tools to seek the link you’re searching for, and a Seer’s magic is always strongest in her dwelling. Come back to me with that list, and I’ll see if I can take you closer to the truth.”

Chapter Twenty-four

“T
his list is incomplete,” Nettles said, running her long fingers over the crumpled pages.

Kyana elbowed Ryker out of her way, trying desperately not to sniff him too obviously as she pushed past him, and sat down beside Geoffrey on the other side of Nettles’s table.

“We know. This is only a list of people whose ancestors were Cronos supporters. We realize there have been new recruits since then, but it was a launching point.”

Ryker was still glaring at her, angry that their first trip to the Seer’s had excluded him, but he was here now, so he needed to deal and stop boring holes in the back of Kyana’s head.

“This,” Nettles said, pushing a bowl of blue powder to the right of the list, “I’ve charged to link the deaths of the Chosen to your list. I feel it working, so you do indeed have a murderer here.”

Excitement spread through Kyana like a tidal wave. She felt Ryker squeeze her shoulder and knew he was feeling the same thing.

“But this . . .” Nettles moved a yellow powder bowl to the left of the list. “I’ve attuned it with your key. It has no energy at all.”

“So whoever has the key is not on the list,” Ryker muttered.

“I think not.”

Kyana leaned in, getting a whiff of overpowering floral fragrance that made her sneeze. “But someone who’s been killing Chosen, we do have
him
, right? Who?”

“He doesn’t work alone, and I don’t know his name yet. It will take a few moments for the powder to find the source of its power.”

Nettles closed her eyes and placed the fingers of her right hand inside the blue powder. She brushed off the excess, then smeared her fingertips along the pages. “There. Now we wait.”

“For what?” Kyana asked.

“You’ll see.”

Kyana fidgeted and stared at the paper, finally giving up when she saw nothing happen, and she looked up at Nettles again. “So, can we talk during this or is that a no-no?”

“You may speak, though I’ve already seen your question.” Nettles cocked her head to the side and smiled, though she didn’t look up from the list. “You wish to know why, if I’m as good as people say, I didn’t foresee the breakout.”

Damn. She
was
good. It was a question that had been bothering Kyana since meeting the Seer. “Well?”

“I am not an Oracle, Kyana. I am a Seer. I see what has been and what is, but only Oracles can see what will be. Why they didn’t predict the breakout is beyond me. Perhaps they were blocked by someone more powerful than they.”

“Someone like Cronos,” she muttered. Every single minute that passed, Kyana grew more certain that Cronos was responsible for everything happening. From the breakout, to the possession of a body that turned the key to Hell. She was beginning to fear that his promise to Icky’s people hadn’t been an empty one. Maybe he really was trying to rise again.

When she voiced that fear aloud, however, she received three incredulous stares in response.

“You really buyin’ that, lass?” Geoffrey smirked. “And who’s going to raise him? I certainly don’t know anyone powerful enough, and I know
everyone
.”

Kyana snapped her glare toward Ryker. “And you? You think I’m gullible too?”

He shrugged, towering over Kyana as he twisted his mouth in contemplation. “I think it’s far-fetched, but I’m beginning to think Cronos is the only one powerful enough to do any of this. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades alone aren’t powerful enough, even, but together as brothers, they could manage the feat if their powers weren’t fading.”

“So you agree? Cronos could be trying to rise again? It makes sense, you know. Who else would want to possess someone and open Hell? The only person who knew such a feat was possible. Cronos. Think about it. He would have to possess a body to actually hold the key, true, but only Cronos wouldn’t alert Hades to his presence. It might have been someone else walking down the halls of the Underworld, but it would have been Cronos’s soul. Undetectable since technically, he
was
Hades and Zeus and Poseidon before they ever reigned. He’d have permission to enter because no one would have thought to prevent it.”

“All right,” Geoffrey offered. “Suppose the two of you haven’t completely gone mad. Why would Cronos bother with any of this, then?”

“Who
wouldn’t
want to come back from the dead?” Kyana pushed herself from the table and paced behind Nettles, who seemed just as intrigued by the topic as everyone else. Her gaze kept returning to the pages, checking to see if anything magical was happening, and since it wasn’t, she pressed on. “Killing the Chosen means there’s no one left to replace the gods. Gods Cronos would feel cheated him out of his own power. He tried to kill his sons once. It would be a lot easier to try again if they were weak.”

She knew better than anyone the lengths a person might go in order to obtain power. Hell, if she was Cronos, she’d certainly do everything she could to come back and reclaim what was rightfully hers.

“One problem,” Ryker said. “To raise Cronos, one would need all four Eyes of Power. Zeus’s staff, Hades’s amulet, Poseidon’s trident, and Cronos’s own ring. All of which are still safe and sound. No immediate danger of having him pop up.”

Good point. But Kyana wasn’t convinced. Who was to stop Cronos from getting his hands on the Eyes of Power? He’d already proven he could possess bodies and sneak around.

“What did you do with that ring, anyway?” she asked.

He glanced at Geoffrey. “The less people who know, the better.”

Did he not want to say in front of Geoffrey? Or did he mean he wasn’t planning on telling Kyana either? She opened her mouth to ask but Ryker cut her off.

“And why unlock Tartarus? Just to create chaos?”

“Maybe. Chaos that had us all running around like mad, saving anyone and everyone when the real focus was on the Chosen. Besides, I’d think it would drain the gods even faster if they had to use their powers to clean up the mess of the breakout. Two birds plus one stone equals—”

“Hush now.” Nettles’s interruption would have pissed Kyana off if the Seer hadn’t looked absolutely delighted with herself. She pointed a shaking finger at the papers. “The magic is working.”

When her hand touched the pages again, her body gave a small tremble. “The blood of the Chosen pools at his feet. It circles and surrounds, but doesn’t touch him in any way.”

“So he’s ordering their deaths, but his hands remain clean.” And
he
had to be Cronos. Kyana was sure of it now.

“Correct.” Nettles pushed the list across the table and tapped her nail on a name that was lit up with blue glitter. “This is one you seek. The other, he is not listed here.”

“I’ll be damned,” Ryker said, a whoosh of escaping breath making the candles on the table flicker. “You found him, Ky.”