From Titans (Book 4) (6 page)

I concluded two things:
She had to be a titan, and she was no doubt a lunatic. Thoughts of
Sky no longer held me through the anger and darkness. Something was
happening to me, but I couldn
’
t pinpoint what. It swelled in
the pit of my gut, warning me. When I stood, I stumbled backward.
My head spun, vision blurred, and I dropped to my knees. As I
toppled over, a different kind of darkness engulfed me.

Skylar

“
When do you think
she
’
ll awake? Can
’
t you do something about
it?”

My
mother
’
s voice hummed from a distance. Hearing indistinct murmurs, I
knew I was coming out of something. Had I fainted? A hand stroked
my hair as I fluttered my eyes open.

“
Skylar, can you hear
me?”

“
Mom?” My vision cleared,
setting on her lovely face. Her cascading hair blocked my view so I
had no idea who was still around.

“
Let me help you
up.”

“
How long was I out?” I
groggily stood, realizing we were still at the meeting room and
everyone
’
s eyes pointed at me.

Hades patted my back. “So,
when the going gets tough, Skylar takes a nap.
We
’
re still here, little sis. It
’
s your call.”

“
My call?” I swallowed.
“What
’
s my call?”

Zara took a step forward to me, holding the
invitation that was half the size of me. “We voted while you were…”
She guested her head to the floor. “And we decided to leave the
decision up to you.”

“
Oh.” I brushed my hair
back with my fingers. The surprise news had me in a spiral of
dizziness. I didn
’
t have time to process it, let
alone decide what to do. Obviously, the engagement was a hoax and
could even be a trap. However, if we didn
’
t go, then I would never
know where Mason was or how he was. I needed to see him. From
there, we could devise a plan to help him escape.

“
I say, we go. Mason needs
us. And if it
’
s a trap, well,
don
’
t you think we
’
re capable against any odds?” I
asked.

“
Good choice.
I
’
m
in.” Nick stood next to me.

All those in favor of my decision trickled
one by one behind me, except for Zeus.

“
Are you sure, Skylar?”
Zeus asked. “I should
’
ve kept Eris locked in the iron
cast. I also should
’
ve seen her revenge coming. After
she was released, she fled quickly.”

Zeus had no way of knowing
Eris
’
s plan, let alone of reading her thoughts. I
didn
’
t blame him. I only cared about Mason. My heart fluttered.
The thought of seeing Mason and bringing him home dominated my
mind. We waited a month to get any clue or basically any word from
the kidnappers. Was Zeus crazy to turn down the chance? My mind had
been made up from the moment I read his name.

“
Yes,” I said with
conviction. “What do we do? How do we get there?”

Zara lifted the
invitation. “All you have to do is press a finger to your name and
you
’
ll be taken where you need to go.”

Tara,
who
’
d been quiet, said, “I
’
m afraid not everyone can go.”
She pointed at the fine words on the bottom, smaller than the other
words. “Our names are not on there and neither are
Skylar
’
s mom or Victor.”

“
What?” My father groaned.
“We need to be there.”

“
My name is on there,”
Nick said.

“
And so is mine,” Everett
added.

“
I
’
m not on the list.” Noah
sounded relieved.

“
I
won
’
t be going with Hades,” Persephone pouted, caressing
Hades
’
s face. “But I
’
m not surprised.”

Hades kissed her hand.
“Sorry, love. But I
’
m glad you
’
re not invited. It
won
’
t be a pleasant journey, I can assure you.”

“
Mine
isn
’
t,” Amada hissed. “But at least Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades
will be there to protect you.”

It didn
’
t matter who or how
many people went. I would go by myself if I had to. “Then we
shouldn
’
t waste any time. Let
’
s go.”

“
Skylar, please be
careful.” Mom embraced me, and then Dad did.

“
I will.”

Zara pushed the invitation in front of me.
Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Nick, Everett, and I touched our names at
the same time. The lettering glowed, and then it peeled off,
floating in midair in gold. Then my name, letter by letter, started
to swirl around my feet. As it snaked up, still illuminating, the
parts of my body it swirled around disappeared. When I glanced
down, half my body was gone. The same thing happened to the others,
too.

“
See you on the other
side, sis.” Hades winked with complete composure.
“I
’
ll see you soon.” He blew a kiss to Persephone as his arm
vanished.

I
’
m coming,
Mason. Hold on.

Chapter
7

Mason

My body drifted with a sea of clouds,
floating endlessly, peacefully. I felt no pain, no sadness. Only
emptiness. Memories of Sky and my family wove through my mind, and
then…blank. I desperately held on to the memories, afraid they
would disappear like me. I struggled, gripping tighter to the
memory, but they were slipping…slipping…slipping.

Bam! I jerked, tumbling and swirling in
emptiness. My body stretched out, pulling in every direction for
what seemed like eternity. Then a light glowed. My vision tunneled
ahead, as if I looked through binoculars. A woman with blonde hair
and blue eyes stood before me, studying me, but everything about
her blurred. Come to think of it, everything my eyes landed on was
unclear.

“
Hello. Can you hear me,
Mason?”

I tried to answer, but I
couldn
’
t move my lips. Why couldn
’
t I speak? Where was I? Who was
she? Though her voice sounded muffled, it also sounded familiar.
And the smell of apples…I wanted to throw up. My knees buckled. I
struggled to stand steady, but it was too much effort when my
vision spun. Finally, I held my stance.

The
woman
’
s lips curled into a satisfied smirk. “I command you to stay
right here. Don
’
t move.” Then she walked
away.

“
Wait.
” My voice muffled in my
mind, unable to say the word out loud. I tried to follow her, but
my legs wouldn
’
t budge. What was wrong with me?
Then I noted I couldn
’
t move my arms either.

The lady came back. “Follow me,” she
ordered.

Her back came into my
view, again unclear. Oddly, my body followed behind her without my
consent. I tried to stop moving but couldn
’
t. Then I realized I had
left one prison for another. And the smell of apples and the sight
of long blonde curls crashed on me. She shrank? Or I grew into a
giant?

“
Stay by the tree until I
command you to come out.” Her tone was light and fluffy, too
excited. “Our guests will be here shortly.”

Skylar

We appeared the same gradual way we
disappeared, but head first and at last our feet. I had counted six
people on the invitation, and five people stood before me.

“
Where are we?” Nick
glanced around.

“
I have no idea.”
Poseidon
’
s eyes darted from left to right. “There are a lot of apple
trees.”

Trees lined either side of an endless dirt
road. Zeus held tightly to his staff, and Everett ruffled his hair
and groaned.

“
Now what?” Nick huffed in
agitation and kicked a pebble. With a thud, it hit what seemed like
an invisible wall in midflight and bounced off.

Hades said what I thought.
“Invisible wall. At least we know there
’
s an end.”

When we reached the invisible wall, we
waited for instructions, but none came.

“
Are you trying to torture
us, Eris?” Zeus waited for a reply. With no answer, he continued.
“It
’
s rude to make your guests wait.”

“
It
’
s rude not to invite a
friend to a party,” a voice answered in my mind.

Zeus rolled his eyes. “You
hold grudges way too long. It
’
s no way to live.”

“
I can
’
t help myself. After
all, I am the goddess of chaos.” Her tone was seductive, yet high
pitched, and chills prickled down my spine.

“
Show yourself.
I
’
ve
missed seeing your lovely face.”

“
You
’
re still the same,
Zeus. So flirtatious. But you
’
ve always had good taste in
beautiful women. I
’
m surprised Hera
hasn
’
t left you. Maybe she
’
ll find a real man this
time.”

Zeus frowned and tightened
his fists. “
She
doesn
’
t need a man when she has a god of Olympus by her side.
Speaking of which, did you
have
to get engaged to one of my descendants? Oh,
that
’
s right. You kidnapped him, and you
’
re forcing him to marry you.
Doesn
’
t sound like you can find a man to love you. The only way
you
’
ll ever have love is by force.”