The Underworld (The Atlas Series Book 3) (13 page)

The Titan tried to throw her off, but Kala used his momentum to smack him back down on the cave floor.

Cronus flipped his body over, attempting to drag himself toward Hades. Kala held on tight to his legs. It would almost be comical if Cronus’s intent wasn’t so dire. Elbowing the base of Cronus’s spine caused the Titan to scream in pain. Yet again, Kala wished she had a better grasp on her powers, more specifically what she
could
or
could not
do. Kala hated the fact that she had access to a treasure trove of internal weapons that her own mind restricted her from.

Kicking his feet, Cronus managed to land his heel across Kala’s cheek, causing her to lose her grip. Taking advantage, he leapt toward Hades, his hands wrapping around his son’s neck.

Could a Titan strangle an Olympian?

It seemed too easy and absurd, but Kala didn’t have time to wonder logistics. Reaching behind Cronus’s neck, Kala tried the same tactic herself, using the full force of her Atlas strength, squeezing Cronus’s windpipe. He let go of Hades’s throat to clasp onto Kala’s forearms and their vise-like grip.

At least it prevented the Titan from hurting his son.

Kala thought that all the commotion might have been enough to wake Hades, but the god still slept soundly on the cave floor. At this point she almost wished Hades would open his eyes on his own if only to help her fight Cronus.

An electric surge jolted Kala clear from Cronus. Every nerve in her body felt as if it had just been lit on fire. It took a few seconds before Kala had any sensation in her limbs. Her jaw unclenched from the pain.

Cronus threw his hand out toward Hades. Yellow fire poured from Cronus’s outstretched palm and engulfed Hades’s body in a ball of crackling flames.

Still the god didn’t awake.

Without thinking, Kala lifted her arms, pointing to the dripping ceiling. Water poured down from seemingly nowhere to extinguish the deadly fire.

A twinge inside her.

That feeling she experienced when being buried in the dirt came back to her tenfold. Kala was connected to the earth. Before it had simply
recharged
her battery, but now…

On instinct, Kala imagined holding onto a piece of rock from the wall, then pictured it flying at Cronus full speed.

The rock lazily fell to the ground.

That didn’t work.

Cronus saw the rock and laughed. “Was that you?”

Kala was about to deny it out of sheer embarrassment, but she nodded. “I’m still learning, and you make a great guinea pig.”

Cronus stayed his distance and rubbed his neck from where Kala had tried to choke him. “Why are we fighting?” he sighed. “We can be on the same side. It’s
you
who’s deciding to be stubborn.”

“Stubborn? Because I don’t want the world to end? You are so delusional.” Kala shook her head in amazement.

“It won’t
end
. Nothing ever ends. It’ll just be different.” Cronus pleaded for Kala to see
his
reason. “And
we
will be in charge. We’ve lost our power in this world. The humans own it now with their technology and science. And I showed you: it’s only going to get worse. Yet you continue to align yourself with the very man responsible for it all.”

He was referring to Turner, of course. Kala had seen the future and Turner’s role in it: killing thousands of people to keep the population down. Was that a future Kala could really get behind? The doubts still lingered.

But side with Cronus? Where
billions
of human lives would be lost if she didn’t complete her Atlas task? No. Cronus’s way gave no thought to humans. And Kala was human, partly anyway. At least Turner’s future actions were for the greater good, no matter how despicable.

“Just stop talking.” Kala brushed him aside.

“Atlas is still in you and I
know
he’d hear me out,” Cronus seethed. “He’d side with his people, not humans.”

“I may have Atlas’s memories, but he’s gone. It’s just me in here. I hate to blow your little theory on consumption, but it doesn’t work the same way as when your mommy hid all you kids inside her by eating you whole. I can’t spit the guy out. He can’t take over my body. He’s dead and I inherited all his mojo and knowledge.” Kala loved proving Cronus wrong, just to watch him squirm.

“You don’t know that for sure,” Cronus fished.

Kala leveled her gaze at him. “Yes. I do.”

Before Kala could react, Cronus leapt forward and grabbed her arm.

Instant paralysis overtook her entire body and a surge of heat traveled straight to her brain from his touch.

Cronus was inside her head, probing, trying to find anything that would help him figure out who or
what
Kala was – or more likely: what she was capable of.

It was worse than when Lotun, the leader of the Malaks, jumped inside Kala’s brain. Even though Kala had been physically paralyzed that time, the pain wasn’t this intense. It was as if Cronus had taken a heated fire poker and jammed it in her ear. And unlike Lotun’s intrusion where Kala knew exactly what the Malak was seeing, Cronus was able to hide his discoveries from her.

Kala concentrated as much as she could, though the searing heat thwarted most of her efforts.

His voice was like breaking glass as he soothed, “Don’t fight it. It’ll only make it worse for you.”

But he was wrong: the pain only fueled Kala. She wasn’t the kind of girl who gave in. The fire only made her want to fight harder. Yes, fighting made it hurt worse, but Kala was trained to withstand torture. As an elite soldier, Turner and Clifton had to rely on their men not spill national secrets. Pain be damned, she wasn’t about to let Cronus violate her like this.

The pain became an isolated thing, like a button in Kala’s brain. She switched it off. Pain meant nothing. Only destroying the source mattered.

Pulling from deep within, Kala took her free hand and grabbed Cronus’s neck.

Shock registered in his expression. She relished it for only a second as she squeezed with all her strength.

As Kala pressed harder into his throat, this time the Titan didn’t budge.

He was desperate for what was inside her head, positive Kala must be hiding something from him.

And now she was.

Kala didn’t want him to know that Gaia was her mother.

Yanking at Cronus’s neck did nothing. The heat still burned her insides, though her training kept the sensation at bay.

“ENOUGH!” A woman’s voice echoed through the cavern.

All at once, the burning was gone. Cronus was no longer touching Kala and Kala was no longer clutching Cronus. Their bodies were forced apart by an invisible hand much stronger than the two of them.

Gaia stepped forward, her face a mask of rage.

And Kala saw something she never thought she’d see.

Cronus.

Cowering.

“Mother?” His voice was timid as he stared at Gaia in disbelief.

“I will
not
let you destroy this world, Cronus. You
will
let Kala do her job.” Gaia scolded her son as if she had just seen him yesterday and not the thousands of years it had actually been.

“But the humans, Mother. They must be stopped.” Cronus slowly recovered from the shock of being face-to-face with Gaia.

Gaia took a step closer to her son, her expression still livid. “Our time is through, Son. We’ve had this planet long enough. You had your chance, but you and your siblings wasted your lives hiding in the 5
^th
Level of Hell terrified someone would steal your power. The very thing that you did to protect yourself ended up fulfilling your worst fear: the world went on without you. And now the humans are growing more powerful that we ever were.”

Cronus sounded like a three-year-old as he argued, “That’s the Grigori’s fault! They taught them everything, just like we thought they would!”

Gaia lifted her arm to stop him from speaking and he complied immediately. Kala cocked her head in appreciation. She wished
she
could shut Cronus up that easily.

Gaia spoke more calmly. “It is no one’s fault. It is just the way destiny works.” She turned to Kala. “Now go. Wake up Hades.”

Kala gave one last wary glance at Cronus then walked towards the Olympian’s sleeping figure.

Cronus screamed in fear and rage and leapt toward Kala as if to tackle her to the ground. Kala crouched in a defensive pose, ready to thwart the Titan’s attack, but before his body could reach her, Gaia suddenly re-appeared between Kala and Cronus. Just as Cronus crashed into his mother instead of Kala, Gaia said to her daughter, “Be safe.”

When Cronus’s hands hit Gaia, they both vanished.

It took Kala a moment to take in what had just happened. She had no idea where Gaia took Cronus, but Kala didn’t want to waste a second of her own time. Who knew if Cronus had back-up ready to stop her from completing her mission.

Just like in her vision, Kala took a deep breath and reached down to wake up Hades. Her hand glowed brightly.

And the Olympian moved.

Since she had already seen these same events play out, it was no surprise when Hades coughed and sputtered as he finally awoke from his long slumber.

“Hades.” Kala nodded in greeting, playing her part.

“Who are you?” Hades asked.

“Atlas. My mission was to wake you,” she replied calmly.

“That’s unfortunate,” Hades sighed. “For you, anyway.”

Kala knew what was going to happen next. She almost wanted to mock Hades and tell him she already knew what he intended, but Kala simply let Hades reach up and touch her forehead.

Dropping to the cavern floor with a small thud, Kala felt the darkness surround her completely. Her last thoughts were of Jack, wondering if his death had felt the same and hoping she’d see him soon.

Time seemed to vanish and lose its grip on Kala’s reality.

And she knew with certainty that she was truly dead.

DAY ONE

Chapter Ten

“You’re as beautiful dead as you are alive.”

Kala heard Asmodeus’s voice in the blackness.

She opened her eyes. Nothing felt quite real. It was almost as if she was in a dream: surreal, slow, her focus slightly off.

And gray.

Everything was gray: from the dirt below, to the sky above, to the forest of trees in front of her, to the sluggish river behind. All gray.

Kala slowly sat up, trying to gain some kind of bearing. Jumping slightly at the sight of her own gray skin, Kala noticed that even her attire – loose drawstring pants with a tank top – was the same gray color. She wondered who dressed her, or were these even real clothes? It was better than being naked, but eyeing her skin again and flinching at the gray and pasty texture that looked like everything else around her except…

Asmodeus.

Crouching next to her with his usual grin, Asmodeus stood out like a rainbow lollipop in the middle of a rain cloud. Everything about him was bright by contrast. His skin looked so full of color compared to her own.

Out of curiosity, Kala pulled a piece of her hair to examine it. Normally, auburn red, it was now just another shade of charcoal.

Kala knew she needed to adjust quickly. More importantly, she needed to focus. She was dead. What had she expected really?

“How did you get here?” Kala asked the Demon.

“I used to be on Team Cronus, remember? He apparently hasn’t changed the locks on me yet.” Asmodeus surveyed the area with some disdain. “I try to stay away from here, as you can imagine. It’s not really my design ascetic.”

“Is it all gray like this? I feel like I walked into a black and white movie.” Kala stretched out her arms and legs, carefully getting to her feet. Asmodeus stood with her and even offered his hand to help up Kala the rest of the way. “And why are you in full Technicolor?”

Asmodeus’s smile seemed extra bright in the grayness. “I’m not dead, silly.” Then he motioned at the scenery. “I’m afraid the entire Underworld is all this same varying form of drab, the only exception being the Fields of Elysium.”

The Fields of Elysium.

Kala had managed to keep her secondary mission hidden from everyone. She had tried not to think about it too much after Penny told her where to find Jack, in fear that Talan or Zeus or even Asmodeus would hear her thoughts.

But ever since Penny revealed Jack’s location…

She was going to get him back.

“Do you know where the Fields of Elysium are?” Kala asked without making eye contact.

Asmodeus cocked his head to the side thoughtfully. “Talan told me about your plan to rescue the Olympians. They aren’t in the Fields.”