Page 173 of The Spider Queen
“A siege,” Thane said, his gaze dark.
“Why aren’t you there?” I asked in curiosity. Gabriel was dressed in brown leather and had armored wings. Clearly he was a warrior ready to fight.
“Did you not hear that I am a fallen angel?” he asked softly. “I am not welcome.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but Thane placed his hand on my thigh to stop me.
“Did you come to tell me this?” Thane asked.
“Yes. I know you’re on a quest to remove the wards on Purgatory, but you aren’t the only being the mage is keeping contained.”
“What else is trapped?”
“Don’t you meanwho?” I asked.
Thane shot me a look. “No, I mean a what.”
“The Titans,” Gabriel said.
Thane cursed. “Freeing me means freeing the Titans? Are you prepared for that level of destruction?”
“What other choice do we have?” Gabriel demanded. “If we can get the Titans to fight for us, we’ll have a chance at defeating Lucifer.”
“The Titans are mindless brutes. What makes you think you can reason with them? They’ve been imprisoned for eons. They’ll be stricken with insanity.”
“Youwere imprisoned for thousands of years,” Gabriel pointed out.
“It’s not the same,” Thane stated, his jaw tight. “I had the means to experience the outside world. I had communication with my Hunters and with…” He looked at me.
I smiled slightly. “It’s okay. I realize you have a past, Thane.”
He took my hand and brought it to his lips.
“Can you do that later?” Gabriel asked with annoyance. “We need to focus.”
“Is there a way to free Thane without releasing the Titans?” I asked.
“No,” Gabriel said. “And Lux won’t risk leaving Heaven to recapture the Titans.”
“Who is Lux?” I asked.
“He’s the general of all angels,” Gabriel explained.
“What about Zeus?” Thane asked. “He’s the one that imprisoned them before. He should be able to do it again.”
“Zeus has disappeared. Olympus is dark with Hera’s wrath.”
My mind whirled. “Zeus, Lux, Lucifer, Hera… Judeo-Christian, Greek…”
Gabriel’s mouth curled up into a semblance of a smirk. “What? You didn’t think there was just one ideology, did you?”
“So Olympus and Heaven aren’t the same?”
“No.” Gabriel said.
“Whoa,” I said.
“Her mind is in danger of exploding,” Thane said with a teasing grin.
