"I want the cage, as well. Where did you hide it?"
Fighting the sense of urgency running rampant inside of her, the sense of loss and panic, she shook her head. "You can't have it. That belongs to Lucien. You only get the key."
"Do you want your lover to live?"
"If he dies, you will never get the key!" Tears falling freely, she scooped her hands under Lucien's head and lifted. She placed a soft kiss on his lips. I love you. I'll make everything all better. Please, please, please, let this make everything better.
"Much longer, and even I will not be able to bring him back," Cronus said cruelly. "As weak as he was, it took considerable effort to twine him and the demon together again to sustain Lucien's life a bit longer. Without the key, I will gladly pull them apart again."
Though she experienced a surge of hope that Lucien truly could be saved, her narrowed eyes flicked up at the god. "I will not cave on this. You may have the key. The cage belongs to Lucien. You once gave me a choice, Lucien or the key. Now I'm giving you the same choice. That is fair. That is just. And I will not budge on this."
He met her piercing stare with a scowl. What tumbled through his mind, she didn't know. Then he nodded, as though he sensed the absoluteness of her determination. Or perhaps he'd known all along that's how it would be, and had only hoped for more. "Very well."
"A deal is reached then. Lucien's life for the key." She was taking a terrible gamble, trusting a being she hated, who probably hated her. "If after this you take the cage from us, immortals far and wide will know of your dishonor. The Lords of the Underworld will turn against you and do all that they can to free the Greeks. There will be a war at a time when you seek only reverence. I know you consider yourself untouchable and stronger than mere immortal warriors, but know what? You were defeated once. You can be defeated again."
Cronus was silent as he raised his arms high in the air. A second later, they were inside Lucien's room in Budapest. Lucien lay on the bed. She could see the rise and fall of his tattooed chest. He was naked, and his wounds were gone. His skin was healthy and tanned, and she could sense the demon nestled safely inside him.
Cronus stood beside the bed.
Without a word, Anya flashed to where her mother and father were in hiding, an island near Anya's Hawaiian home. Dysnomia was standing in front of the cage, frowning down at it.
"Sorry, Mom, but you don't need to watch it for me after all."
Pretty Dysnomia gasped at the intrusion, her dark hair swaying at her shoulders. She smiled when she realized it was Anya. "Hello, darling."
"I know what you're thinking. Two visits in one day when I swore to stay away from you to keep the Titans off your trail. But you're still safe, so don't worry, okay?" Anya kissed her soft cheek. "Tell Dad I said hi and that I'll visit again soon. Promise," she said and, grasping the artifact, flashed back to Lucien.
Cronus stood exactly where she'd left him.
She placed the Cage of Compulsion against the far wall. Anya had to admit, she was surprised when Cronus merely raised an eyebrow rather than attempting to take it.
"I have kept my end of the bargain," he told her.
Now she would keep hers. Suddenly nervous, Anya kissed the sleeping Lucien and flashed herself inside the cage. "I'm ready," she said, gripping the bars.
The god blinked in surprise and confusion. "You want to be locked away? Without the All-Key, you will not be able to escape and anyone who steps inside this room will be able to command you to their will."
"I know." But this way, if she lost her memory of Lucien when the key left her body, she wouldn't be able to run from him, hurting them both because of the bond between them. He would have time to win her heart again. "I love him."
Cronus stroked his beard in puzzlement. "Astounding. And unexpected from one such as you."
She let the "one such as you" slide. Loving Lucien was the best thing she'd ever done, and she'd do anything for him. "Let's get this over with." She gulped, pushed out a breath, then uttered the necessary words. "I, Anya, known across the ages as Anarchy, freely give Cronus, king of gods, the All-Key. I do this willingly and with no reservations."
Humming with anticipation, Cronus reached inside her with a ghostly hand, just as she had seen Lucien do to the dead all those many times. Her chest burned…burned…. A sharp ache erupted as he pulled his hand back, and then a bright amber light was pulsing in his palm. Anya's knees gave out and she collapsed. Closing his eyes, Cronus placed that light over his heart.
His smile of satisfaction was the last thing Anya saw before her entire world went black.
"LET ME OUT!"
Lucien had never felt so helpless. He simply didn't know what to do. Anya had been locked in the Cage of Compulsion for four days. Despite their bond, she had no idea who he was. She possessed only the memories of her time before accepting the key inside her body. Constantly she demanded he release her. But he didn't. He couldn't. She would leave; she might even try to kill him.
She'd threatened it often enough. And he could still sense her emotions, so he knew that she meant it. She, too, could still sense his emotions and asked him daily why he loved her. Always she asked with confusion, as if they were strangers and he should view her with revulsion. Certainly she seemed to view him with revulsion.
Like a chained, hungry animal, he paced the length of his bedroom. She'd given up the All-Key for him. He hated that she'd done so and wanted to spank her and hug her at the same time. She'd lost her memories, but at least she hadn't lost her strength. He liked to think it was because of their bond. She'd once given him strength and now he was returning the favor.
If only he could make her remember him.
"Let me out of here!" she shouted at him. "You have no right to keep me. How did you move me from Tartarus without my knowledge?"
He stopped and stared over at her, his chest tightening. He hated what she'd given up for him, yes, but more than that, he hated to see her suffering. "Anya. We are bonded. Why do you not remember me?"
"Bastard." She reached through the bars and scratched his chest, drawing blood. "Come near me and feel pain. You got me? The captain was bigger than you and I killed him without blinking."
He sank to the floor in front of the bars, the last few days playing through his mind. When he'd woken up in his bedroom, alive, once again merged with Death, he had been overjoyed. Then he had seen Anya sleeping in the cage. Then she'd woken up and looked at him as though he were a stranger. Cursing at him. Hating him.
Would nothing go right?
It seemed a pall had settled over all the warriors. He'd learned that Paris had returned from Greece a broken shell of a man. Paris refused to talk about it, though, so no one knew what had happened. The warrior would soon be leaving for the States to join Gideon as planned, but Lucien couldn't help feeling guilty that he was the one who'd told the others not to worry about Paris. With the delay, that haunted look, something had clearly gone wrong.
Aeron and Reyes were in the States themselves, though no one had spoken with either and didn't know what was happening with them. Which, in turn, meant no one knew what had happened to Danika and her family. Lucien sighed. The other warriors were still searching for signs of the other Hydras. So far, no luck.
Lucien should be out there, searching with them. At the very least, he should be helping Paris recover from whatever had happened to him. That's the way things had always been. Something happened, and Lucien fixed it as best he could. But he couldn't leave Anya. Wouldn't. She was his life.