Page 25 of Salt & Blood

Pandora stiffened, then glanced at Farah. “Tethys and Neptune?” She hadn’t heard those names in ages. In addition, if there wereothergods that had dabbled in the same dangerous magic as the original Pandora, then perhaps they could help stave off the darkness unleashed from that box.

“Neptune is dead,” Romanos said, and his voice was filled with a savage pleasure that made the voices whisper louder in Pandora’s mind. She knew that thirst for blood quite well. “Courtesy of the Gorgon sisters.”

“And Tethys has fled,” Farah said. “We don’t know where she is, but she has no allies left.”

Pandora’s throat went dry. The Gorgon sisters were powerful enough tokillNeptune? Neptune had arguably been as powerful as Jupiter—whom Apollo had been too afraid to challenge head-on. He’d had to steal the throne through trickery and betrayal.

“Can the Gorgon sisters coerce Tethys into helping us?” Pandora asked.

Farah frowned. “Helping us do what?”

“Well, stoppingthis!” Pandora waved a hand at the ruins below them. “If we do nothing, the darkness will spread, and this realm will be destroyed like the others.”

“And how can Tethys help with that?”

“She’s familiar with the magic of the Titans,” Pandora said.

Sol sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes flaring wide. Evander went perfectly still, and Mona chewed on her lower lip, glancing in worry between Farah and Pandora.

Farah lifted her chin, her eyes narrowing. “You know of the Titans?”

“I’m Pandora,” Pandora said impatiently. “Of course I know.”

“Then you know that Titan magic isn’t to be trifled with.”

“So you’re just going to stand by andletthis happen?” Pandora argued. “You’ll do nothing?”

“I will not risk my coven and my people by dabbling with the exact magic that started all this!” Farah said sharply, her eyes burning with fire. For a brief moment, her pupils turned into narrow slits.

“You’re risking them already by doing nothing!” Pandora cried, unfazed by this woman’s strength and authority. “If this Titan magic is so uncontrollable and unstoppable, then perhaps we need that same kind of magic to end it.”

“You are afool,” Sol hissed, baring his teeth at her. “You carry the soul of the woman who was torn apart for daring to do exactly what you suggest.”

Pandora turned to face him, prepared to argue her point. But when she saw the anguished devastation in his eyes, she stopped short, the words dying in her throat.

She couldn’t.

She couldn’t fight him on this, not when it was her fault this fresh agony was haunting him so violently.

Mona gave her hand a squeeze and shook her head slightly. Pandora knew it was a doomed cause.

No one would trust her on this. And even if they did, she couldn’t be sure this idea would work at all.

So, she clamped her mouth shut and ducked her head in submission, letting the subject drop.

The party continued their descent down the dune. As the sand gave way to cracked concrete, Pandora couldn’t help but cling to this idea of the Titans’ magic. Apollo and Aidoneus had used the essence of Pandora to close the box, only because she had dabbled in the power of the Titans.

This meant the only force strong enough to cage these dark powers… was the same magic that brought them to being.

The Titans’ magic was quite possibly the only power in all the realms that could stop this.

TRAITOR

PRUE

For days,Prue worked tirelessly alongside Gaia to strengthen her magic. After she had successfully turned the entire throne room into foliage, Prue had been so drained she had slept for seventeen hours straight. Once she’d awoken, Gaia instructed her to withdraw all the foliage and return the throne room to what it was before. Conjuring and diminishing were both important skills to develop.

She also worked Prue harder than ever. Each day, Prue summoned her earth magic, twisted it, shaped it, and worked on specific details according to Gaia’s instructions. Once she had succeeded, Gaia ordered her to siphon it all back, to erase what she had created, to recycle that energy to re-fuel her magic.

---