Page 85 of Salt & Blood

His gaze flicked to the two sisters. Their hands were clutched together as they tried to escape the Titans, but they were surrounded.

“Cyrus!” Evander bellowed.

Cyrus followed his gaze, then slammed his hands together. Lightning stuck again and again, leaving scorch marks in the earth. One Titan cried out, falling to his knees.

“Now!” said the purple Titan. He spread his hands, fingers twisting in the air, as if he were weaving threads.

A rippling black hole formed in the earth at his feet, and a fierce wind billowed around them, making the trees sway.

Shit.The Titan had opened a damnportal.

“No!” Evander cried, his wings pumping harder. But the magic of Typhon was spent, and, too suddenly, the wings vanished, sending him careening. He landed hard in the dirt, rolling to soften the blow. But his arms ached, and something had torn in his leg. Still, he crawled forward, desperate to reach Mona and Prue. They were shouting something incoherent to one another, clinging to each other.

Cyrus was sprinting forward, unable to use his lightning because the Titans were too close to Prue. He couldn’t risk hitting her.

Prue summoned more branches, wielding them as weapons. But the four Titans now surrounding her inhaled deeply, and the branches turned to ash.

Prue fell to her knees, her face growing paler by the minute. Evander knew the siphoning of her magic was taking its toll on her. Mona’s arms came around her, trying to drag her to safety.

“Mona, go!” Evander screamed. “Get out of there!”

Mona shot him a look of frustration mingled with sorrow, then shook her head slowly. Tears streamed down her face.

Another streak of lightning, but this one struck too far to make an impact. One of the Titans shot a gleeful look at Cyrus over his shoulder.

The Titan knew they’d won. And from the widening of Cyrus’s eyes and the pallor of his skin, he knew it, too.

“Prue!” Cyrus roared. His eyes were all white now as lightning danced around his fingertips. Power emanated through him, and yet… he was still powerless. He could do nothing but watch as the Titans put their hands on Prue, tugging her arms behind her back.

“Don’t!” Cyrus begged, his face crumpling. “Please, spare her! This is not her fight!”

The purple Titan bared his teeth at Cyrus. “Oh, but it is, little death god. And when you are ready to negotiate for her freedom, you know how to reach us.”

Cyrus’s cry was swallowed up in the roaring wind as the last remaining Titans shoved Prue and Mona through the portal. Evander’s fingers raked through the dirt as he frantically clawed his way forward, desperate to save them, to stop the portal from closing…

With a deafeningboom, the black hole vanished, and the wind died. Nothing but silence and stillness followed. Evander was gasping for breath, his face covered in tears he didn’t realize he’d shed.

And Prue and Mona were gone.

OFFERING

PANDORA

Pandora’s mindcouldn’t comprehend what she was seeing. King Midas was… here? Even though he was supposed to have been cursed to never return to Elysium.

“Uncle, what is this?” Sol asked slowly, his brow furrowing. “How are you here?”

“I do apologize for the deception,” Midas said, bringing his hands together with a sigh. “But it was the only way to ensure you would do your part to free me.”

Pandora shook her head, finally finding her voice. “Explain yourself. What did you do?”

“I told you that in order to activate the fail-safe within the wards, you had to combine sun magic and earth magic,” Midas said, his eyes glinting with triumph. “But in truth, the combination of the two actually… summonsme.”

Alarm raced through Pandora.No.He couldn’t be serious. “You’re lying,” she said at once. “Gaia would have known.”

“Gaia knowsnothingabout the wards,” Midas snarled. “I was the one who put them there. I was the one who included the fail-safe in order to bring me back when the time was right. With sun and earth magic, my powers can be restored. And with the death of sun and earth, my curse will be lifted.”

Pandora’s blood ran cold at the worddeath.She stepped forward, placing herself between Midas and Sol.

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