Page 33 of Summer’s Seduction (Sinful Seasons #2)
LARKSPUR
I crashed into the damp earth at the bottom of the pit, my shoulder hitting first as I rolled to minimize the bit of impact. The fine silks of my dress were coated in mud and grime, all revery of the night destroyed. The half-domed drains were set into the base of the cylindric towering walls, linking to the sewers under the castle and crawling with rats. Mold and decay coated the slimy stones, and my previous visits here proved they were much too slippery to climb.
“Fly, daughter. Call on your wings, or this will be your world for the next month.”
My cheeks burned with anger and humiliation as light eyes and silver-blonde hair looked down at me from above. My father’s disgusted glare stung—my mother’s absence even more.
It was my tenth name day. All our people had come to celebrate, even some from The Slumber Kingdom and, if rumors were to be believed, a witch that could travel to The Realm of The Living. I’d been looking forward to it for months—a little bit of light in this otherwise tired world. But Father had destroyed all of that. And Mother had let him.
A rumor had been circulating about my birth, one that had called my mother a whore and me a bastard. Nothing about my looks or magic was similar to my father, but he was fair where Mother was dark. It wasn’t unheard of for me to take her likeness. He would have brushed it off most days, but Father had already been drinking, and my lack of wings was a sore subject.
I’d embarrassed him. By doing nothing but existing, I’d earned his disdain.
And he’d earned mine. I hated him more than anything in this world. The great King Olysseus was nothing but a fragile, hollow man. It was my mother’s line who’d kept this throne through millennia of living in The Underworld. Not him.
If my nursemaids were to be believed, he appeared one day in the forest, looking as if he’d never flown a day in his life with his gray wings dragging behind him. He’d attack Mother upon seeing her, fangs ripping through skin like a boy on the cusp of becoming a man, unable to control his impulses.
Nostrils flaring at the hypocrisy of it all, I found the worn rock along the far edge and slumped down. Retreating into my mind, I imagined belonging to a loving family who didn’t care if I never grew wings. I pictured what it would be like to have a sibling, a little sister, maybe. She would follow me everywhere, and I could teach her everything there was to know about The Kingdom of Nightmares.
Images of a blond-haired girl with rose-colored eyes flashed through my mind, the two of us giggling at two squirrels bickering along the trunk of an oak tree. One day, when we were old enough, we’d rule this kingdom ourselves. One day, no one would have the power to hurt me.
Drawing my knees to my chest, I tried to bring that life into being. Then, the wisps of a man flickered before me. He was screaming my name, golden eyes wide with the effort but no sound came from his lips.
Brows furrowing, I stood, reaching out to the ghost and wondering if today would be the day my mind finally broke. His hand gripped mine, his touch warm and oddly familiar.
My childhood melted away, years flipping through my mind in a rush of pain and grief and then finally slowing into something that felt like relief as recognition flooded my veins.
“Morpheus?” His name broke on a cry as confusion gripped my throat.
“Yes, little monster,” he breathed, pulling me into his arms in a fierce embrace. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”
A sob rocked through my chest, but I fought to listen to what he was saying.
“This is a dream, one that my magic can’t snap you out of.”
Holding on to him, I dared a glance around. My breathing hitched as the blood drained from my face. The pit I’d been standing in moments ago was gone, replaced by a shifting landscape of snowy mountains and sharp glass spikes jutting from the white torrents.
They were beautiful, reflecting rainbow prisms across the undisturbed snow, but a thin sheen of sweat pricked my brow when I saw them.
“Larkspur,” Morpheus breathed, taking my face gently into his hands, forcing me to focus on him. “I need you to bite me. My blood should give you the strength to get us out of here.”
With more confidence than I had, I nodded once before leaning down and drinking.
M y head felt like someone had slammed a boulder into it repeatedly. It hurt to think, the throbbing behind my eyes spiking as I rolled to the side.
With a groan, I blinked my eyes open, finding the sun low in the sky. It was late afternoon, meaning Artemis would insist on leaving soon, despite the threatening migraine. They weren’t uncommon for me, and always seemed to preside over my poor night of sleep riddled with nightmares.
I could tell from my groggy state that I’d had fitful sleep, but the details evaded me.
“Are you okay, little monster?”
The fear-tinged gentleness of Morpheus’s voice drew my attention. He looked more pale than usual, his golden eyes staring at me as if I might collapse at any moment.
My brows furrowed as his gaze raked over my body, looking for injuries he wouldn’t find. Gods below, it must have been a horrible dream.
“I’m fine,” I said, trying to calm the thick panic in the air between us. “It’s just a migraine. They sometimes occur after I’ve slept poorly.”
“You don’t remember?” He shook his head in disbelief, thumb reaching up to drag across the edge of my lip.
I tilted my head to the side, unease twisting my stomach as I stared at the drop of blood on his thumb. “I bit you?”
He nodded slowly, holding my gaze. He opened his lips as if to say something, but a rustling of branches and the thudding of heartbeats stilled his words.
Carefree conversations carried through the air, revealing the huntresses with Artemis at their head. She stepped into the clearing just as I tugged the blankets over my nakedness.
The easy smile lightened her face twisted into horrified realization as she looked from me to Morpheus, who hadn’t bothered to cover up.
“Gross,” Artemis mumbled, shaking her head as she averted her eyes. “You two couldn’t find a cave?”
Camilla appeared beside her, her eyes wide and cheeks flushing as she saw what had startled the goddess. An awkward giggle bubbled from her lips as she turned, catching Megara by the arm and leading her and the others away.
“Gods below,” I muttered, wanting to curl up and die right then.
Artemis glared at me as if saying this awkwardness was all my fault and I had no right to be upset about it. “Get dressed. If we leave now, we’ll be there before moonrise.”