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I turned onthe pain inI took three steps, but the sound of Irene’s voice echoed through the hall

"Wait"

I stopped and faced the to let any of you talk me out of it I don’t want to die, and I don’t want any of you to either, but sitting around here waiting for Cronus to turn us into bar-beque won’t do anything to help that"

"We weren’t going to stop you," said Dylan, and Ava shot him a look His eyes narrowed, and he squared his shoulders, but at least he didn’t say anything else

Irene cleared her throat "What my dear brother meant to say is that while we are ineffective in the Underworld, there are things we could do aboveground"

"Like what?" I said warily, wondering if it included f inding a spot to hide

"Create a trap," said Nicholas, the large blond who had acted as lance around the circle before I realized as talking "There are only so many exits Cronus can use if Henry--" He paused, and I knehat he meant to say

If Henry didn’t survive "If Henry isn’t able to keep hiht tip his hand early on and show us the route he intends to take We could create a trap for hi to hold him until we have a plan"

"He’ll have to open the gate f irst if he wants to reach the surface," said Dylan "I don’t see that happening anytime soon"

I looked at Ja at his hands "What do you ods looked at me as if I’d asked why one plus one equals two, and my cheeks burned under their stares

"Cronus is still behind the gate," said Irene "While he’s awake, he can reach corners of the Underworld most of us don’t even know exist Which is why the others kept him asleep all this time But what you saw earlier was only a very se would be catastrophic"

All of the blood drained from my face "That--that was only a piece?"

"Like a pinkie," said Dylan, wiggling his f inger for eht hie anything"