A Seer for the Titan (TITANS #4) Read online

  A Seer for the Titan

  TITANS, Volume 4

  Sotia Lazu

  Published by Acelette Press, 2018.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  A SEER FOR THE TITAN

  First edition. December 6, 2018.

  Copyright © 2018 Sotia Lazu.

  Written by Sotia Lazu.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  A Seer for the Titan (TITANS, #4)

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Epilogue

  Previous books in the TITANS series:

  Book 0 – Under (FREE)

  Book 1 – A Nereid for the Titan

  Book 2 – A Maid for the Titan

  (Sign up for Sotia’s Newsletter, and get your FREE copy of Breathe – TITANS 2.5)

  Book 3 – A Guard for the Titan

  Book 3.5 – Above: A TITANS Novelette

  Chapter One

  Elpida squinted out the windshield at the vast darkness stretching around her full beams. Yup, still in the middle of nowhere.

  “Hey AVA, where am I?” she asked. Third time was the charm, right?

  Wrong. “I’m sorry, I’m having trouble with the connection,” came the reply of her phone’s Automated Virtual Assistant.

  “Fuck you, AVA.” Elpida tossed the phone onto the passenger seat, ignoring the automated voice’s protest that she didn’t know how to respond to that.

  You’d think Elpida’s precognition would have warned her that her car’s navigation system would die mid-trip, or at least that her phone’s GPS wouldn’t be able to lock onto her current location. Then again, the damned more-curse-than-gift she’d grown up with never gave her premonitions on demand, and the visions she did have were always about insignificant annoyances. Like, she’d know which pack of flour at the supermarket would end up leaving white puffs of powder all over her trunk on the drive home, but she wouldn’t know to avoid a call from her boss that would drag her to Pelion—four and a half freaking hours from Athens—on a Saturday evening, without GPS.

  “And did Daphne say please? Noooo. Will she say thank you?” Elpida snorted. “Fat chance. And she’ll probably be an ass when I ask for a day off to go see my brother and nieces this weekend. Ugh.” Talking to herself wasn’t a common occurrence, but it helped ground her against her fear of the dark. Especially since it was getting darker by the minute.

  The moon and a handful of stars above made a rare appearance between the clouds, illuminating the road up ahead and the olive trees framing her Ford Fiesta on both sides. There was a sign five hundred meters ahead—a real sign, not the kind only she saw—though it could be a light year away, the way she barely touched her foot to the accelerator. What? She didn’t know the area. What if she sped past the right turn, or—God forbid—run over a... baby sheep? Or something. What was Pelion’s fauna like?

  The sign pointed to the right, but the lettering on it was faded. Wasn’t this where her GPS said her next turn should be, before the screen croaked?

  “Thank God.” She sighed and hooked a right. A horn blared behind her, and a blur that could have been a truck sped down the road she’d just left. Guy must have had a lead foot. There had been no lights behind her for at least the past half hour.

  And it was sexist to assume only guys could drive trucks. She scolded herself, her attention on the road ahead. After the first few meters, it angled upward and wasn’t wide enough for two cars, but she doubted anyone else was nuts enough to be coming through here at—she checked her phone—midnight.

  Midnight? Daphne would kill her.

  “I’ll only be an hour late.” Only. That would never fly with her bitch of a boss, but honestly? Elpida shouldn’t have to get out of her fluffy pajamas and drive all this way at seven o’clock on a Saturday evening, just to pick Daphne up. “Nikos is lovely,” she told the empty car in her best Daphne voice. “He’s taking me to his parents’ place this weekend. I’m sure he’ll pop the question.” And of course Daphne considered that perfectly normal after only a month of dating. Elpida could have told her boss this weekend wasn’t a proposal excursion, but she wasn’t asked, and she’d learned the hard way not to offer Daphne unsolicited advice.

  Elpida could picture her boss now, waiting out in the cold—because of course Daphne would have made a scene of leaving Nikos’ parents’ place—lighting one cigarette after the other, while coming up with ways to torture everyone who crossed her path the next couple weeks.

  As if she wasn’t enough of a pain in the ass without recovering from a breakup.

  “Why don’t I just quit?” Elpida asked herself, not for the first time. She should, really. She had her Master’s degree, spoke three languages fluently, and after working for Daphne for two years, she could PA for the devil himself. But Daphne was the top event planner in Athens, and with the current economic climate, finding another Personal Assistant job that paid two thousand euro a month plus overtime was right up there with meeting Prince Charming in this godforsaken place—next to impossible.

  The car rocked, and the sensation of gliding smoothly along the road was replaced by the jerky crunching of gravel.

  Shit. While she was lost in her Daphne-shaped problems, she’d missed the part where asphalt gave way to dirt. And things weren’t going to get better any time soon. There was a field up ahead. As in, it was the only thing she could see. The road ended with it. The rocky slope to her right and the drop to her left ruled out even the thought of making a U-turn.

  Elpida was lost, and Daphne would kill her.

  As soon as she turned around, in the field up ahead, Elpida would call her. Tell her the truth. After confirming she was on her way, she hadn’t answered Daphne’s subsequent calls, because she didn’t want to deal with more yelling while driving. Now, she had to bite the bullet.

  The car half-drove, half-climbed onto the bank, and Elpida killed the engine, leaving the lights on. She reached for her phone, but it had slid off the seat. She undid her belt and dove into the leg room of the passenger seat, blindly pawing at the floor. Her fingers finally closed around the sleek casing, and she started to sit up, when the ground shook. Had the engine somehow turned back on? No, the rumbling continued, and it came from outside.

  Earthquake?

  Only thing Elpida feared more than the dark. She tried to sit back up, but in her panic, bumped her head hard on the underside of the glove compartment. Ouch. Another hard tremor had the car swaying from side to side. Fuck. At least she was safe out in the open. Nothing to topple on top of her.

  When the shaking stopped for more than a couple heartbeats, she tapped on the screen. Five more unanswered calls. Awesome. She was in for the yelling of the century. Good thing Daphne needed her help, to get back to Athens, or she’d fire her on the spot.

  Aaaaand that was still a possibility, because Elpida had no signal. “Ugh. What ass-backwards place has no cell-phone coverage in 2019? For fuck’s sake.” She resisted the urge to slam the phone into the steering wheel, and tried again. And again. An
d once more.

  Yeah, she had to get out of the car. Find better reception. She’d stay on the strip of land lit by her headlights, and she’d be safe. Not like any psycho killers would be out here, waiting for her. There hadn’t been any unsolved murders in the Magnesia region lately, had there?

  God, she’d seen way too many horror films for this.

  The car radio had gone the way of the GPS—dead—but she pressed the Off button anyway, before opening the car door and gingerly stepping out. Thank God she’d worn sneakers. The high heels she’d trained herself to balance on at the office couldn’t have negotiated this terrain. The earth was moist under her sneakers, and the smell of rain enveloped her. The weather report mentioned a thunderstorm in the early morning hours, but for now, the night was warm, despite the humidity.

  And she still had no signal. She huffed a fuck you to her phone, tossed it back into the car, and closed the door. She should be reversing and speeding back to civilization, but she needed a moment.

  For one heartbeat, Elpida allowed herself to forget Daphne, forget why she was out here at this hour, forget that she was fucking terrified, and breathe in the fresh air. Enjoy the stillness. Her life was too busy, too perfectly planned, for moments like this, but mostly, it was loud. Noisy.

  Here, now, there was perfect quiet.

  Which made it easier for her to hear the sound of the earth cracking open a few feet away.

  Chapter Two

  “Wake up.”

  Epimetheus knew the voice. Rhea. Kronos’ soulmate.

  His thoughts muddled, he tried to open his eyes, but wet pressure against his eyelids made him stop. Where was he? His last memory was of fighting Kronos. And the bastard won. Had he thought Epimetheus dead and buried him?

  There was something after that. Like he was awake, and then...

  “Wake up and kill the girl. It’s easy. Snap her neck, and you’ll be free.” Rhea’s tone was emotionless. As if she were talking about snapping a twig, not ending a life.

  But whose life? Was the girl Rhea referred to here with him? Why was his head so fuzzy?

  “Where am I?” he tried to ask, but dirt filled his mouth. So he was buried. He wasn’t worried—Titans didn’t need to breathe—but it tasted like ash and blood and soured his mood. Sputtering made things worse, and trapped at his sides, his hands wouldn’t obey him to wipe his mouth. If he was at his full strength, he could rip his way through the earth, but he’d rather not test his power when Rhea was nearby. Her loyalties were questionable. He bit back his annoyance and repeated his question mentally, aiming it at her.

  “In the ground of Pelion, where Kronos put you. Don’t blame yourself for losing. Madness made him stronger.”

  Stronger or not, Kronos might have lost if he hadn’t cheated. Epimetheus hadn’t realized his older brother’s invitation was a trap, until it was too late. He’d believed Kronos honestly wanted him to broker peace between Olympians and Titans. Then again, Epimetheus always had a blind spot for those he loved. A hollow ache pinged in his chest, where he’d buried the memory of Pandora, the only female he ever loved. The one blamed for every misfortune that befell the human race.

  But he was done mourning her, and this wasn’t the time for reminiscing. He had to focus on freeing himself, but he wasn’t the thinker; Atlas was. Epimetheus was good at building things with his hands. Better at destroying them.

  He concentrated on the now and on Rhea. “And what do you want? You here to gloat for your man? Or maybe beg me not to rip him limb from limb when I get out?” he asked. His fingers met with resistance, but he flexed them anyway. The ground containing him shifted. He still had his power. If he didn’t care about drawing attention from Titans and gods alike, he’d burst his way out now.

  Rhea gave a tortured sigh. “You’re too late. Zeus took care of him for you. I’m only here to warn you. The curse your brother put on you isn’t done unfolding yet. He means to torture you, even from Tartarus. You have to kill the woman he sent for you on sight. Only then will you be truly free.”

  The gods’ sending him a woman the first time around had been a scheme to both punish humans for having fire, and him for being one of the two Titans who bestowed such a gift upon mortals. The gods knew Pandora would open the jar; they’d created her full of curiosity for exactly that reason. Did Kronos think him such a fool, to fall for it once more? Epimetheus wouldn’t be anyone’s pawn ever again.

  But he’d loved every moment he spent with Pandora. He wouldn’t trade their time together for the world.

  Pain, too old to be this intense, tightened in his gut, and the earth surrounding him like a cocoon shook again. His hands trembled, and he instinctively pulled his arms closer to his body. The movement was easy, compared to minutes ago, the dirt more loosely packed now. And if a quake gave him more room, reducing his mass would make digging himself out easier. Assuming he was right side up and wouldn’t be heading toward Tartarus instead. Eh, if this didn’t work, he’d use his full strength to dislodge the burden pressing down on him, stealth be damned.

  “That’s it,” Rhea hissed in his mind.

  As he surfaced to complete awareness, her voice faded from his mind. Made sense. He had a mental link with his twin and could occasionally hold conversations with his other brothers, when they were open to it, but never with a Titaness.

  He’d had a mental link with Pandora.

  Much good that did him; he hadn’t read her intentions, nor had he kept the guilt from eating at her until her old age.

  Pandora was gone, and he was still here. And he wouldn’t rest until he saw for himself that Kronos was dead.

  Now fully in control of his thoughts and his body, he could blink anywhere in the world. He considered it for a moment. He didn’t know where he was, and he was curious. He’d blink home after he was out. He shrunk his form to a human size and swiveled, kicking his legs. He moved faster than the dirt poured down to fill the void, propelling himself upward.

  Fresh air hit his skin and nostrils. It smelled... different. Darker, somehow. Thicker, with a hint of smoke. And was there an oily undertone to the scent? He shook his head from side to side, ordering a gust of wind to clean the dirt from his face and long hair, before finally opening his eyes.

  His night vision was perfectly clear, so there was no doubt in his mind he saw what he did. A dekapous from him stood a female—the one Rhea wanted him to kill, no doubt—beside a beast he’d never laid eyes on before. It was the blue of the sea when the moon glinted off its surface, with round eyes that glowed like the sun.

  No creature he’d come upon till this moment had been able to physically harm him, other than his own brothers, but for all Epimetheus knew, this might be something Kronos imbued with unprecedented power. And despite the novelty and possible danger the thing presented, Epimetheus’ gaze kept sliding back to the female.

  Her legs were fully covered in a form-fitting wrap made of cloth as dark as the evening sky, and on her torso and arms, she wore a tight, short, blood-red chiton that left her slender neck and the sun-kissed swell of her breasts bare to his inquiring gaze. And the face above that... He hissed a breath at the perfection of her rosy cheeks, her full lips, and wide eyes—as rich a brown as that of the soil around him. She batted her long eyelashes rapidly, in confusion and... fear?

  “Kill her. Kill her.” The memory of Rhea’s voice echoed in his skull. Was it true this beguiling creature was sent by Kronos? But if she was meant to destroy him, would she be staring at him this way?

  He blinked across the distance between them and towered over her. He could hear her heart hammering in her lovely chest, and a sniff confirmed that she was terrified of him. Except she wasn’t moving. Not trying to run away. She licked her lips and held his gaze.

  “Who are you?” he asked. “What do you want of me?”

  She frowned and shook her head, a few tufts of honey-colored hair escaping her simple updo. She said something that sounded like, Den katalaveno. What language did she
speak?

  He repeated his question, and when she squinted at him and took a step back, thumped his chest with his open palm. “Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus,” he said.

  The woman looked startled, but a flash of recognition flashed across her face. So she did know him? She was sent for him. He squeezed his hands into fists. He should kill her. Part of him screamed that he needed to, but he wasn’t used to killing indiscriminately, especially humans who had no chance against him. Besides, why would any human work for Kronos? They were created to support gods’, not Titans’, rule over the world.

  And apparently he wasn’t that in control of his functions, because he hadn’t even considered reading her mind till this very minute. Fast as lightning, he clasped her forearms and looked deep into her eyes. “Show me,” he ordered mentally.

  And got nothing for his troubles, except for a terrified woman fainting in his arms.

  Chapter Three

  Elpida rubbed her cheek against the warm male chest. Muscle stretched and bunched, hard and utterly lickable.

  Huh? She didn’t remember sleeping with someone. Didn’t remember meeting someone to sleep with. When could she have? She was driving to pick up Daphne—

  Fuck.

  She opened her eyes and rolled away from the hard planes, only to drop indignantly into the cold, wet earth. Looking up gave her a too detailed view of the crazy—and crazy-hot—stranger’s scrotum and fully-erect penis, so she dropped her gaze to his huge feet. And come on, the situation allowed for her to think of his... things as balls and dick.

  “What—? What—?” What to ask first? A naked guy had literally crawled out of a hole in front of her, and if she wasn’t mistaken, told her in Ancient Greek that he was Prometheus’ brother, Epimetheus.

  And that was all she understood, because high school was a dozen years ago, and her knowledge of Ancient Greek came from a couple books she half-heartedly skimmed through, to pass the class. Also, brother to sounded almost identical in the ancient and modern version of the language.