Page 40 of Scion of Chaos

None of my guards disagree about my priorities, which is more concerning than it should be. But I’m not wrong; the higher races don’t like me. The reminder that if they behave badly enough they could wind up under my thumb doesn’t sit well, but it forces them to handle their own shit so I don’t have to. Hell, they’ve even put down one of Hyperion’s other brothers who managed to slip out of my grasp and find a seat among the gods. Learning that Ouranos finally suffered his long-deserved punishment was a relief.

It isn’t my job to have an opinion on who breaks the rules, though. I am neither judge nor jury; I am merely the warden for those who get put away. Whether they deserved their sentences is not for me to decide.

I’m not ready to examine the implications of us all being in agreement for once, the dick-swinging bickering of earlier notwithstanding.

I wave my hand at the map and the globe expands until we’re viewing an aerial topographic image of the mountain range near Litochoro, Greece—the seat of the gods, once upon a time.

“Wow, they stepped up fast for dragons,” Cerberus says, leaning over to peer at the zoomed-in view of an archaeological dig site teeming with black and white dragons.

Alcides lets out a disconcerted grunt. “They should have left the place buried.”

“We’re lucky they were there, or our job would be a lot more difficult.” I cross my arms, scowling at the scene.

“They can’t open the doors, can they?” Cerberus asks.

“No. Not without the key,” I say.

“And where’s the key?”

I grit my teeth. “It’s safe, for now.”

The others stare at me expectantly. “You know we’re on your side, boss,” Alcides murmurs.

I take a deep breath. “It’s in two pieces. Chaos holds half, Fate holds the other. Suffice to say I don’t see the two of them teaming up and allowing the Titans into the Halls of Olympus when it would disturb the status quo. They’d have to worry about somethingotherthan themselves for once.”

“Fair enough,” Alcides says. “But if either of them can be manipulated into giving up control of their piece, we might be in trouble.”

“Who else knows they hold the key?” Campe asks.

“A handful of gods who want the Titans in power even less. And the Realm of the Gods is as off-limits to the Titans as Olympus is right now.”

“We need to track them down while they’re weak. Let’s start with Olympus. I need Cerberus, Chrysaor, Alcides, and Pan with me.”

Alcides stiffens and clenches his fists. “Boss… Going back there…”

“We aren’t going in. Not without the key,” I tell him, hoping it’ll soften some of his reticence.

He winces, but closes his eyes, takes a breath, and nods. “Fine.”

“Good. I need Campe on standby on the off-chance we need to do some dragon diplomacy.”

Campe frowns and shakes her head. “I haven’t interacted with my own race since my sister sold me out and had me sent here. I doubt my voice would hold any weight, even if they could remember who I am. Or who I used to be.”

“Your voice is what we’d need, not your significance to them. You still sound like your sister, and that’s all that matters.”

Her expression turns incredulous. “You want me to do the very thing that got me locked up to begin with? I’m not impersonating the fuckingMother Dragonagain. Are you fucking kidding?”

I pin her with a stare. “She can’t touch you here, Campe. You areallunder my protection. Not a single god can touch you—not even Chaos or Fate.”

Alcides raises an eyebrow and gives me a dubious stare. My stomach churns.

“She’s here now,” I say under my breath. “So if Fate really is acting on me… onus… hopefully we can keep any damage contained. Maintaining the integrity of the prison is a priority, but it also means I have to do something I’d hoped to avoid. I need to check in with both Chaos and Fate to ensure they don’t do anything stupid.” Chaos may be my boss where matters of the prison are concerned, but now that we know what the Titans’ target is, this goes well beyond maintaining the security of this place.

That announcement makes all of them blanch. They’re used to dealing with Chaos since he’s the creature we technically report to, though when they aren’t called upon for a major job, they really just visit for chocolate and booze when he shuts me down, then proceed to tell him way too many secrets for my comfort.

But Fate is another story. The androgynous primordial is a devious fucker with a pack of hounds who could likely tear any of them to shreds if they looked at them sideways.

But I can’t take a chance that the Titans can somehow manipulate either of them into giving up control of their piece of the key.

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