Page 84 of Crimson Skies

They snapped their wings and arrowed toward him, the others in their wake.

Morgan clenched his jaw and grasped Elios’s wrist with one hand, eyes tearing up at the speed of their passage.

Shit! He’s fast!

Elios snarled and tightened his hold on his windpipe.

The Sword of Wind sang in Morgan’s grasp. It passed harmlessly through the inky wisps of the dark God’s dissipating shadows as he retracted his solid form. Elios glared at him.

Morgan stopped the corrupt blade arcing toward his core with a shield of wind and Dryad magic.

Elios’s eyes were jet black coals of madness as he tried to pierce the barrier. “DIE, IVMIR!”

Explosive heat filled Morgan’s soul, drawing a gasp from his lips. For a moment, he feared Elios had succeeded in carving through his defense. The warm glow that filled his veins and lightened his heart had him blinking in shock.

“How about you let my future husband go, asshole?” someone growled.

Brightness ignited the sky above San Francisco, ridding it of its murky mantle. Elios hissed and recoiled, arm jerking to block out the dazzling radiance.

A lightheaded feeling swept over Morgan. He looked up. The Abyss had opened once more. Cassius floated in front of the crack, his body and sword blazing with Heaven’s Light.

Atropos and Loki emerged behind him. All three of them were unharmed.

Morgan’s stomach dropped.

Something else was looking out of the void. It was the presence he’d detected the first time it had opened. He swallowed convulsively.

Is that—Chaos?!

“Icarus?” Elios croaked. “But—but how?!”

“Never mind how.” Cassius frowned. “Someone’s been a naughty God and needs to be punished.”

Morgan blinked.

Atropos and Loki traded a grimace behind Cassius.

“Chaos is rubbing off on him,” the Moira said.

“Yup,” the imp muttered. “And we were in there, what, two hours?”

A chortle that shook the realm of man escaped the Abyss, making Morgan flinch and drawing startled cries from the otherworldly in the sky.

Victor and Theo appeared beside him.

“What the hell is going on?” Victor said dazedly.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Morgan mumbled.

“Icarus,” Theo whispered, Rohengar’s presence underscoring his voice.

Morgan couldn’t keep his eyes off Cassius, so overcome with happiness he couldn’t have stopped the radiant smile that curved his lips if his life had depended on it.

He’s back.

* * *

Cassius’s hearttrembled as he gazed upon Morgan’s overjoyed face. Their bond pulsed deep inside him, fierce and strong and as bright as a newborn star.