Page 87 of Salt & Blood

“Sol!” Pandora screamed, desperate to make him understand this was the only way. “I couldn’t save your mother for you. But you can save mine. Please, I ambeggingyou!” Tears spilled from her eyes, but she kept her gazed fixed on that dark, swirling vortex that was coming for her.

Midas yelped and scrambled away, but Pandora gripped him firmly by the arm, careful not to touch his skin. She held him there, and when he reached for her, trying to use his powers to turn her to gold, she kicked him in the groin, and he crumpled. With her boot, she held him there, refusing to let him go.

“Now, Sol!” she shrieked.

To her relief, Sol obliged, taking Gaia’s arm and wrenching her away from the storm.

“No!” Gaia moaned, reaching for her daughter. “I will not lose you again, Trivia!No!”

A sob tore through Pandora as she aimed her black magic for the shadows in the sky. “Come for me!” she called. “Come for this power!”

The shadows released a cry of delight as they drew closer, swallowing up Pandora and Midas. When the tornado had enveloped them, Pandora unleashed it all with a roar of pain.

“With the power of the Titans, I seal up this darkness. Let it be contained and controlled, sealed up by my essence. Let it forevermore be bottled up within the box from whence it came.”

A harsh, grating screech reverberated from within her as the goddess realized what she was doing. Once more, Pandora saw that blinding light as Apollo destroyed her. The force of that power ripped her apart for a second time, and this time it trulywasher. Not another person’s memories, buthers.

Pandora’s.

Trivia’s.

They were now one and the same.

Pandora fell to her knees. Beside her, Midas sobbed like a child as the darkness consumed them both. Walls closed in on them, trapping them alongside the darkness. As the box sealed them up, Pandora caught a glimpse of Sol struggling to pull Gaia away from the scene. But the two watched, horror-stricken, as the black shadows ripped Pandora’s soul from her body, using her aura to contain it all.

I love you,she thought to them just before she was yanked from eternity, doomed to drown in the box’s depths forevermore.

VOW

CYRUS

Cyrus knelton the forest floor, pressing his hands into the dirt where the Titans’ portal had vanished. His fingers sifted the earth, his hardened gaze fixed on those small grains, trying to determine if there was any trace of Titan magic remaining. Anything he could use to track them so he could get his wife back.

Evander appeared by his side. Cyrus could feel his brother’s panic mounting; Evander’s fingers kept clenching into fists, and he was trembling.

“Cyrus,” Evander said, his voice strained. He seemed moments away from combusting entirely. “We have to do something. Mona—I can’t?—”

“Wait,” Cyrus said, his voice surprisingly calm given the turmoil raging in his chest.

My wife is gone.

The Titans have her.

She isgone.

The rage and desperation swirled within him like a storm, twisting faster and faster until he felt ready to burst.

But he forced himself to remain still. He closed his eyes, searching within himself for that god sense he had trusted for so long.

It was so very different now; not at all like he remembered. He wasn’t sure if it was his mortal body or the Titan powers flowing through him.

He had expected the Titan magic within him to fade, like Apollo’s had, but it was still there. Perhaps it was because that particular brand of magic was stronger than any other.

The air pulsated, and the earth began to tremble. Cyrus pressed his fingers deeper into the earth until the dirt covered his hands entirely. Sparks ignited along his arms, and lightning crackled in the air. He sensed Evander jumping backward to avoid getting struck.

A deep, pulsing thrum resonated from within the earth, warming Cyrus’s fingers and coaxing the flames of his power to life. The magic of the realm encircled him, claiming him as the rightful ruler of the Underworld once more. It should have accepted him immediately after Apollo had forfeited the challenge. But the power of the Titans had been overwhelming, no doubt making it difficult for the magic of the Underworld to reach Cyrus.

But it was here now.

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