Once Nathan’s injuries were addressed, and he had gotten some rest, he was already healing nicely. A lot of the bruising had lightened to pale yellows, greens, and purple. The broken bones will be completely healed in a day or two. Everyone was now in the huge dining room at the big round oak table. They kept the chatter to small talk during the meal. When the last plate had been removed and the desserts served, Nathan told Maria that he would see that the dessert dishes were removed, cleaned, and put away. Smiling, Maria nodded her head and left the room.
Hyperion seemed like he was waiting for someone before they got started discussing the issue of getting to Katia. When Cronos shimmered into the dining room, Nathan understood then. Hyperion started right away, “First Brother, how dare you keep this from me. My daughter is still alive and in the hands of our father. That monster and what are you doing hanging around with him?”
Cronos held his hands up in front of him, letting his brother know that he did not want a fight, “I kept it from you because I was sworn to secrecy. I worded the announcement of her death, so you would figure it out. You, dear brother, should have been the first to figure it out and, if not you, then Theia. But you could not see past your grief and anger. I am hanging with the enemy because he knows I am the one that will take his place, so he thinks if he keeps me close, he will see it coming.”
“Where is Lucifer?” Theia asked.
“It is his turn to visit Katia today. He may appear and then again, he may not. It seems that Katia wants to visit with us less and less. She is happy just her and her wolf. Sometimes, though, she acts as if she misses contact with others and allows us to stay the entire day.” Cronos filled them in.
Selene sat quietly listening to news about her Titi. She was so heartbroken to hear that her sister was happy being alone with her wolf. She should have known that though. They were happy with just each other in the darkness. Until she pulled them out and awoke them to who they were. She should just have left them alone. Give up and try again at another time in the future. A tear slipped down her cheek and Mark wiped it away with a gentle smile.
Nathan burst out, “Where is she, Cronos? Take me to her.”
“I can’t. I don’t know exactly where she is.” Katia’s uncle replied.
“You visit with her. How can you not know where she is?” Mark asked.
“All I can tell you is that she is on an island of Uranus’ creation. He controls everything there. He sends us there and when we let him know we are ready to leave he brings us back.” Cronos informed them.
“Where is the island? What landmarks are there? Maybe we would know if you could give us some more information about the island”, Dalia said.
Cronos thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to make them understand. “The island has only two inhabitants, Katia, and Aza. Uranus has allowed the magic that lets them live as two separate entities. The island is always changing to whatever Katia wants. It is like it reads her mind. There is a mountain, lake, beach, forest, fields, and whatever should be living all together but is. If she wants a garden, then everything appears for her to have a garden. If she wants lobster for dinner, then the lobster will be in the fridge. She mentioned one of the times I was there that she would like to have a tree house and the last time I was there she had a luxurious tree house. Katia refers to it as her and Aza’s vacation home.”
Dalia said dreamily, “Where could I get one of those islands?”
Kelp hushed her, whispering, “We wouldn’t be able to afford one.”
Pouting, Dalia responded, “Maybe one of my god relatives will gift me one next Christmas.” And she winked at all the gods around the table.
Kelp groaned, shaking his head at his mate’s outlandish behavior. Nathan said, “Dalia, we can talk about your Christmas gift when the time gets closer. We need to focus on finding my mate.”
Everyone at the table burst into laughter at that because it was obvious that Nathan was not paying attention to his sister’s comments. Nathan just sat there looking confused and Selene had to explain, “Nathan, your sister just asked for an island like Katia is living on for a gift, and you told her it could be discussed closer to the holiday.”
Nathan turned to look at Dalia and asked, “You asked for what? Really? Dalia focus on the issue here.”
“What I am focused. I just mentioned it would be nice to have my own island like that.” Dalia retaliated.
Hyperion stopped the brother and sister from arguing when he asked what was on everyone else’s mind, “Why did father not kill her Cronos?”
Cronos gave the same explanation he had given Kane. “Uranus is acting as if he regrets what he has done to the twins and is trying to make up for it. However, if he did not kill her, then she could not let anyone know she was alive. She agreed. Lucifer was there when the deal was made and was sworn to secrecy. Katia called me to her before she went to make the deal and asked me to make sure that Uranus kept his part of the bargain. Which he has so far. He spends time with his granddaughter getting to know her and I sweat there are times he comes back from visits and is filled with guilt. He has all of us imparting the knowledge of the gods to her and teaching her things. She has matured quite a bit and so has her wolf. I do not think they will ever lose their ability to be childlike though. Although he is acting like he truly is done with using the twins for revenge, I can’t help thinking he is up to something. He hates us to much. Especially you, Hyperion and Crius.”
Theia states, “I agree with your take, Cronos. But where could he have her and this island?”
Kane interrupted, asking, “Could he make a different realm or something?”
Selene is drumming her fingers on the table as she listens to all the others. Hyperion stated, “Maybe she is still in the earth realm but in a different era.”
“Maybe he created another whole world, and he put her there”, Chip said.
Selene still sat listening to all of them while something was pulling at her brain. Uranus is a smug bastard when he thinks he is smarter than everyone else. He would want to make them all look stupid when they figure out where Titi is. He would want her close by. He would want to put her where he could get to her anytime he wanted, and it did not register he was leaving his prison. Which he has somehow figured out how to do. No one has picked up on that yet. For that to happen, he would have to keep her in the god realm. If Uranus left the god realm, everyone would know he had figured out how to escape his prison. So where in the god realm could he hide an island with a person on it? It would have to be somewhere the gods frequented often, so he would go undetected. Somewhere right under their noses. Drumming her fingers harder and faster as she kept going over everything in her head. It just kept turning around in her head. Loza was right there with her spinning it all also. “Think Loza. Where could he put Katia, Aza, and an island, and they remain undetected by everyone? Where would it be close enough to him but right under our noses? Where could he come and go with no one realizing he was leaving his prison?” Selene asked her wolf.
Everyone was still throwing ideas out and discussing how or why it was not applicable. Dalia was quiet to and Selene could see the wheels turning in her head also. Suddenly, Selene and Dalia looked at one another, standing at the same time, and bellowing out, “I know where he has her! Mount Olympus!”