Page 60 of Crimson Skies

“What’s that bastard doing here?!” Pyri snarled.

“Calm down.” Hecate put a warning hand on the fire deity’s shoulder when he took an angry step forward. “You’re no match for him.”

Pyri gnashed his teeth, his eyes blazing with frustration even as he silently acknowledged this unfortunate truth.

“Who is that guy?” Jasper asked warily.

“That’s Hyperion, the Titan who commands Heaven’s Guards.” Hecate’s expression was full of misgiving. “The beings behind him are the Dominions of the Second Sphere of Heaven.”

“They are in charge of Heaven’s Gates,” Myrdin said quietly.

Eden swallowed heavily. Strickland stood pale-faced and mute beside her. Even Woody looked subdued where he levitated next to his mage.

Memories long suppressed surfaced at the back of Morgan’s mind as recognition slowly flared across Reuben and Jasper’s faces. From the way Victor’s knuckles whitened on his sword, he was also recalling who Hyperion and the Dominions were.

“I never thought I would see the day when they would grace this realm with their presence,” Boreas said guardedly.

“This is definitely one for the books,” Galliad concurred in a strained voice.

A gasp left Loki then.

Morgan flashed a tense look at the imp. “What is it?”

But Loki wasn’t listening. “Fa—father?!”

Morgan followed his frozen gaze. Another group had emerged from behind Hyperion and the Dominions. His stomach flip-flopped when they grew closer.

Are those—?!

Bostrof drew a sharp breath. “The Gargantua!”

“I thought they had all perished,” Daphne said, fairly stunned.

Hovering behind Pan and Demetrius were scores of imps who looked just like Loki.

The ground trembled when Hyperion and the Dominions alighted in the park with the Guardians of the Nether and the Goddesses. The Titan looked upon the otherworldly watching him with set jaws and suspicious stares before releasing a sigh that bowed the closest treetops.

“I knew I was going to regret coming here.”

“You should have stayed in Heaven then, shouldn’t you?!” Atropos snapped. “Let go of me, you insufferable bastard!”

She tugged in vain on the hand he held and uttered several colorful curse words that had Eden sucking in air and Kalliste’s eyes rounding in shock.

Morgan stared. “Why is he holding her hand?”

Cassius rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s because—”

“Hang on a minute,”Thetis interrupted. The Nereid’s eyes had glazed over. “I think I’m remembering something.”

Menippe squinted at Hyperion and Atropos. “Weren’t those two…betrothed?”

“Yes!” Dione’s face brightened. “They were the hottest couple in all of Heaven!My goodness, how could I have forgotten that?!”

A scandalized sound left Eden. The Hesperides and Ladon looked on with captivated expressions. Even the Reaper God seemed intrigued by this unexpected romance.

Atropos’s expression grew pinched at their enraptured stares.

“If I recall correctly, it has been over a millennium since their engagement ceremony,”Hecate said with a frown.“Atropos kept giving him the slip whenever he wanted to tie the knot.”