Page 2 of Kronos’ Consort

Squeezing her eyes closed, she fought against her rising alarm, but she was increasingly sure the breathlessness wasn’t her imagination. It was getting harder to breathe. The painful burning in her chest and the disorientating way the world had started to sway despite her closed eyes confirmed her plight.

Oddly, in that pivotal moment of peril, the terror in her body numbed, superseded by her familiar old foe, anger. Swirling in the pit of her stomach, it stretched its heated tendrils past her icy fear and, despite her diminishing oxygen levels, it demanded answers.

What was happening to her?

How had she found herself in such a dangerous circumstance?

She was more intelligent than that, wasn’t she? She didn’t take needless risks like illegal drugs or going home with guys she didn’t know, so why was she sprawled out and slowly dying?

The lists of questions did little to explain her predicament, her rage crashing into her dread to confirm that she had been right all along. Whatever had happened to her, this was her end.

“Kristina!”

The sound of someone calling her name cut through her miserable anguish, though still, she couldn’t move her head to acknowledge the male voice.

“Kristina, wake up!”

Wake up? Indignation spiraled in her listless body. Did whoever it was think she was stretched out sleeping? Couldn’t he see that she was being deprived of oxygen and struggling to breathe?

“You’re breathing now.”

As though the owner of the dulcet tone had somehow read her mind, his reassurance seemed designed to smooth over the concern she hadn’t been able to articulate.

Her brows knitted at the perplexing riddle, the gesture revealing her ability to once again move the muscles of her face. Buoyed by the progress, she wriggled her fingers and toes, excited when her limbs responded to her brain’s commands.

“You’re okay, Kristina.”

The soothing tone continued, and in that moment, she realized she recognized the voice. It belonged to someone she used to know. Someone she’d developed feelings for. Someone who’d taken her right to the edge of sanity.

“Open your eyes.”

Chapter Two

Kronos

The suffocating trepidation that had once bloomed as he watched Kristina’s inert form shifted into something subtler in his stomach. She was breathing again. She was alive, and Kronos knew why. Sealing his mouth over her lips, he had pushed the air back into her, yet even though he could see the rise and fall of her chest, she still hadn’t been brought back to life.

Not properly.

Her cheeks had pinked up, and gazing down at her, he noticed the way her fingers fidgeted, yet her wonderful blue orbs that he had so easily fallen into remained closed.

For one dreadful moment, he was seized by the terror of paranoid what-ifs. What if he’d got to her too late? What if she’d been there unconscious on the marble for longer than he realized and her brain had been denied oxygen for too long?

He could bring her back to physical consciousness, but she might never be the woman he’d learned to adore. What would he do then? Even his magic couldn’t bring her back from that boundless brink.

Steadying his scrambling emotions, he skimmed his palm over her skin, smoothing her golden stray hair from her face. Her flesh was warm and inviting, reassuring him that all was well, as did the calm and regular heartbeat he sensed pounding in her chest. While Kronos was no medic, he had been around mortals for many lifetimes, and he knew what their bodies required. His magic ensured that she had everything she needed, and the physical signs of her improvement were good.

Glancing up to the wall of glass, he scowled. Somehow, she’d got past his protective charms and opened the door to the cloud garden—matters that would need to be addressed when she was in better health—but doing so had meant she’d run out of air and lost consciousness.

“Kristina!” His voice was terser that time, his concern and irritation mingling with exasperation. “I know you’re awake.”

He didn’t know anything of the sort for certain, but he was willing to wager that, if all was well, the one thing that might coax her back to reality was the risk of his consequences. The mortal he’d met had both loved and loathed them.

Leaning closer, his voice deepened as he whispered the next three words over her face. “Open. Your. Eyes.”

She swallowed at the warning, a scarcely noticeable signal of her awareness, but so focused on her well-being was Kronos, that he immediately acknowledged the deed. Lips curling at the gesture, he was more and more certain that her unconsciousness was all for show. At the very least, it appeared she understood what he was telling her.

“Or, perhaps you’re not opening them on purpose.” He paused, aware vaguely of the smirk that painted his expression as he went on. “Maybe you know how much trouble you’re in and you don’t want to face your master.”