Page 21 of Bride of Death (Netherworld Fae #1)

Sera

“Omegas are creation Goddesses,” Morpheus says as we reach a colossal entrance hall that seems to stretch up into the sky above. Literally. The ceiling is adorned in decorative clouds that move .

Nothing about this palace seems real. It’s all so dreamlike. Which makes sense given that we’re in Morpheus’s palace.

In the Mythos Fae Realm.

Which is… I don’t know where. I’m pretty sure Alina hasn’t even been here.

I should be scared. Nervous. Something . But all I feel is intrigued.

This place has sun . I can see it streaming through the frosted windows. And now we appear to be heading for the doors.

I can’t wait to go outside. To feel the warmth on my skin. To revel in the burn that follows. It’ll be like home .

“That’s what makes Alphas and Omegas so exquisitely paired,” Morpheus goes on. “Alphas are beacons of energy, and Omegas manifest energy. They create life, and Alphas guard that precious gift. It’s a symbiotic marriage between souls, a balance that helps Mythos Fae thrive.”

He pauses by a set of massive doors, his palm resting on an ornate gold handle.

“Is it safe out there?” Maliki asks, his tone holding an undeniably serious quality to it.

“No.” Morpheus opens the door. “It hasn’t been safe here for a very long time.”

With that ominous pronouncement, he steps through the threshold.

Maliki glances at me. “If I grab your hand, don’t let go.”

I swallow. “Okay.”

He nods once and follows Morpheus.

I squint before joining them, the abundance of sunlight brighter than I anticipated. It seemed natural through the tinted windows. Now I realize that tint serves a grander purpose.

Shielding my eyes, I move outside and gasp as intense heat bathes my exposed shoulders.

Yet in a second, that heat shifts into icy pricks.

I frown, not understanding what I’m feeling.

It should be warm. The sun is too bright to be this cold. But my teeth begin to chatter.

Until suddenly I’m swathed in a thick wool coat. Morpheus’s suit jacket . I can’t see it, but I feel it.

And I’m suddenly engulfed in his scent.

Fae. He smells like fresh cotton sheets. Or maybe that’s simply his detergent. It’s just so clean. Silky. With a hint of… of lavender.

I inhale deeply, my shoulders loosening beneath the jacket as every part of me relaxes.

“As I said, Alphas and Omegas create a utopian harmony, one that benefits all of Mythos Fae kind,” Morpheus says softly. “But Omegas haven’t existed for quite some time. Without a nurturing counterpart to steady the Alpha intensity of our world, our realm has become severely imbalanced.”

A flash of light nearly blinds me despite my still-closed eyes.

And suddenly, everything goes dark.

“Fuck,” Maliki breathes.

My nose scrunches as the stench of decay overwhelms my previous blanket of gentle scents, and my eyes open on instinct.

The sun is gone, the sky littered with fragmented lights.

And all around us are piles of dead earth. Rubble. Bones. Unspeakable remains.

When one of those lumps moves in the distance, I jump, and Maliki instantly pulls me into his side with one hand while brandishing a fiery purple sword with the other.

“Paradox Fae?” Morpheus asks, sounding impressed.

“One of the many gifts I received from my father,” Maliki mutters, his focus on the shifting ground ahead.

It’s black soot mixed with rock and what appears to be charcoaled roots.

“How is this real?” I whisper, confused by the juxtaposition between the palace we just left and this . “I don’t understand.”

“We’re outside my gates,” Morpheus murmurs. “Now you see why those Betas prefer maintaining my estate in return for protection.”

A growl echoes on the wind, the sound making my knees weak. Maliki’s arm tightens around me, his gaze still on our surroundings.

“When the Omegas disappeared, their souls could no longer be felt or sensed. Which should be impossible, as Mythos Fae cannot die. But their loss could be felt by everyone in this realm, especially all of Alpha kind. Many of those Alphas have gone mad. And with them, their Betas.”

Another growl accompanies Morpheus’s words, adding an ominous undertone to what he’s telling me.

“The realm is now a wasteland of violence. There are no nurturers here. No life. No love. No pleasure. No joy. Our heart is quite literally dead. So all the Alphas can do is try to survive. Feral needs take over. Dominance wars become a trivial playtime.” He shrugs.

“The sun no longer has a need to even shine.”

“Then why does it glow outside your palace?” I whisper, my pulse thudding loudly in my ears.

“Because I live in a world of dreams,” he murmurs. “I manifest fantasies, and the fantasy of my Betas revolved around what used to be.”

It’s such a sad answer. So disappointing. So heartbreaking .

“And how did this happen?” I ask, afraid that I already know the answer based on what little I’ve learned about Persephone.

“No one really knows,” he says, surprising me. “But it’s believed that an Omega betrayed her Alpha by mating him for the sole desire of stealing his energy. And she used his energy to suffocate Omega souls once and for all.”

I stare at him, no longer seeing or hearing anything else around us. “How is that possible?”

“Because that Alpha is the God of Death. His power revolves around ending life for good. Freeing souls to a world no one else can find or feel. And it’s assumed that his Omega tapped into that power to end all of Omega kind.”

I’ve forgotten how to swallow.

Because that Omega is Persephone. My soul .

And the God is Hades.

No wonder he hates me…

It’s a miracle he hasn’t tried to kill me for what my soul did to him.

“What is lesser understood, though, is her mother’s involvement,” Morpheus goes on. “Persephone and Demeter were very close. And Demeter was an Alpha renowned for hating many of her kind. What I wonder is if Persephone helped her willingly or if Demeter forced?—”

A screech cuts him off as an animal comes from the sky and strikes a creature just as it appears within inches of Morpheus’s back.

Maliki shifts, his sword angled toward the two tussling beasts, a shock of silver and gray feathers whirling in a pile of… of… Is that dirt?

I can’t figure out what I’m seeing. It’s like a glob of skeletal remains made of charcoal.

And it appears to be fighting an owl.

Morpheus growls at it, the low rumble of sound underlined with power.

Power that’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt.

Power that makes my knees give out beneath me.

But Malaki catches me with his arm, his body holding mine as every part of me longs to supplicate.

Only for Morpheus’s purr to rumble through me in the next breath as a cloud of mist overtakes my vision.

In seconds, we’re back in the room we originally arrived in.

Except that feathery beast has followed us. Its orange beak releases a hiss that has Morpheus chuckling. “Sorry, Athena. I know how you feel about getting your feathers dirty, sweet girl.” He coos at the thing that’s too massive to be a bird.

However, it looks like an owl.

A really big owl.

Like the size of a large dog. But with feathers. Huge wings. Talons. And stars for eyes.

Literal stars.

I blink at it, convinced I’ve lost my mind.

Maybe all of this is a wicked dream. That would make sense. God of Dreams. Mythos Fae Realm. Dirt zombies fighting oversized owls .

I shake my head and curl into Maliki’s chest.

Which is when I realize he’s holding me in his arms. In the air.

I blink again, not sure when he picked me up. And I’m suddenly not all that eager for him to put me down.

Yep. I’ve definitely lost my mind .

“I think she’s had enough of a lesson for today, Morpheus.”

The God of Dreams nods. “Yes, I agree.” He’s not looking at us but at his massive owl. I’m pretty sure he’s giving the beast a treat.

I have no idea where he found the item in his hand, nor do I know what it is. But Athena is staring at it with a greedy expression.

When he releases it into the air, the item flaps once before Athena catches it with her talons.

And promptly disappears.

Yep. Not even going to ask. I’m just going to close my eyes and try to wake up now .

I hold on to that hope as Maliki and Morpheus discuss returning to the Netherworld Village.

And I feel as though I’m manifesting my dream—whereby I wake up and none of this is real—until I hear Hades’s cold tone say, “Welcome back.”

Oh, fae.

This isn’t a dream. It’s a nightmare.

And it’s never going to end .