Page 47 of Summer’s Seduction (Sinful Seasons #2)
LARKSPUR
W e spent the next two days scouting out The Glass Palace, noting small paths of escape, as well as possible hiding spots along the mountainside if we were wrong and Hypnos had an army waiting.
The plan was to act like we belonged. Morpheus would pretend that Egerius hadn’t just tried to kill him, presumably on Hypnos’s orders, and I would pretend not to know I was the lost princess to The Nightmare Kingdom.
Gods below, that sounded scary. I wasn’t sure I could be a queen. It was a huge responsibility to care for an entire kingdom, but I damn well knew I’d do a better job than Hypnos.
“I hope my powers kick in,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time as I stretched along the mossy earth alongside the enchanted stream. We’d bathed after worshiping each other only to fall asleep right after. It reminded me of our time in the caverns when I’d only just started to learn who Morpheus was. Now, I couldn’t imagine going through all of this without him.
I could have survived it. I would have found a way, but I was beginning to see that relying on another wasn’t a weakness. Not always.
Memories had been flooding back, the rush of decades all jumbled together, but I remember pieces of my time with Medusa, just enough to prove that if I hadn’t had my memories erased and powers bound, I wouldn’t have had to struggle under Demeter’s thumb.
“Me too, little monster,” Morpheus answered.
“At least we don’t have to feel weird about the age gap,” I smiled. “For all we know, I could be older than you.”
He leaned over and kissed me, taking his time tasting me, studying the way my lips felt against his. “I remember seeing you when you were first found.”
“You do?” I said, sitting up.
“Vaguely. I was a boy, but I still thought you looked younger than me.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” I said, deflecting the tangle of emotions that raged inside me. We’d been so close to each other, even as children. What could have been if we’d been given a chance at life without our parents deciding war was the only option?
Morpheus gave me a soft grin before rolling to the side, reaching for a bundle of clothes before tossing me mine. We’d hardly dressed these last two days, donning clothes only for spying during the night before shedding the garments under the warm sun.
We’d shared in each other’s bodies in every way imaginable, both of us feeding to the point where it felt like I was nearly in tune with his emotions as I was my own. I was sore and a little tired, but in the best way possible.
It felt like another life, a wonderful reprieve from the horrors of reality. But our time was finally up. The moon had started her ascent. If everything went well, we’d have my sister safe at our side in just a few hours.
My stomach fluttered at the thought as I slipped into my huntress outfit, not quite believing it, but needing it to be true. We were so close to things finally going right.
“Nothing new from Hecate or Artemis,” Morpheus said, reaching for his boots now that he was fully dressed. “Anything when I was flying over the north side?”
I shook my head. “Hecate said if Artemis didn’t appear with anything new, then we were to proceed as planned. You and I will unseal The Glass Palace, retrieve Psyche, and bring her to these caves where one of Artemis’s huntresses will be to protect her.”
“All while Hades, Artemis, and any others who are aligned with us march on The Nightmare Kingdom,” Morpheus finished, securing his hair back with a leather strap. “I know this is our best option to stop my father, but the misty forest shrouding your kingdom makes it nearly impossible to spot an army.”
My kingdom. I let those words roll off me before they could take hold. “I don’t like it, and I doubt Hades or Hecate do either, but their troops are already moving. Hypnos has already convinced Ares and Hermes to join him. If we don’t do something now, it might be too late to stop him in the future.”
“It’s a shitty option but our only option,” he sighed with a nod, drawing me into a hug as I finished lacing up a pair of boots Artemis had left for me. Morpheus pressed a kiss to my head, looking out across the horizon. “Maybe everything will work out for us. There have been no guards—day or night—and The Glass Palace feels… different.”
I raised a brow. “Different how?”
“Like an ancient temple that’s been left undisturbed. I can sense a great presence, an impregnable force… and a resounding hollowness.” Morpheus pinched my chin lightly, lifting it until my lips met his. “The night is growing late, little monster. Let’s go save your sister.”
Morpheus
I circled The Glass Palace for a third time, ensuring no soul was around. “It’s clear.”
“As it has been every time we’ve checked,” Larkspur said, but the tension across her shoulders said she was just as worried as I was.
I circled one last time before landing on a bank of snow in front of where the glass doors would be. The opaque material was thick enough to conceal what was on the inside, not to mention that glass forged by sand from The Cornucopia was embedded with its own type of magic.
With my wings taut and spine stiff, I stepped forward. Larkspur’s boots crunched along the snow, keeping pace with me as I approached the massive doors, now mostly hidden by the towering banks of snow, and pressed a palm to the frozen surface.
Energy surged beneath my hand, my fingertips buzzing with magic. I felt connected to the entire prison, aware of every dark, abandoned place that had been forgotten after being buried by the torrent of lava that had consumed the palace. I also sensed malevolence lurking in corridors. Most angry spirits were contained, but others had somehow escaped their cells, passing among the hallways of the once grand palace but never able to leave.
And there, still slumbering in the tallest tower meant to house The Cornucopia containing The Sands of Slumber, was a brightness among the dark: Psyche.
“I don’t feel The Cornucopia,” I said, eyes closed as I sent my magic out, searching once more. Still nothing, only that subtle warmth. “But I know where Psyche is.”
I opened my eyes to find Larkspur watching me intently. Her’s were ringed in red, the scarlet circles around her deep green irises put there by my blood. My life-force. Gods below, I’d never get enough of seeing that.
“In the tower,” she said, sensing what I did through our blood bond. She turned, finding the tip of the spire peeking through the snow. “But the only way to reach it is through the palace.”
I nodded, knowing she had already realized what that meant. “If The Cornucopia is truly missing, it means my father has everything he needs to finish this war. We need to move quickly and update the others.”
She nodded, eyes still fixed on where her little sister was trapped beneath the banks of snow and long-cooled flows of lava.
“If things get messy, keep going. Get Psyche and yourself out. Before my father turned against Hades, the two of them worked together to leash primal monsters. Because I am Hypnos’s heir, my blood might draw the worst of the creatures forward.”
“I’m not leaving you,” she said, lips set in a grim line.
“You will, Larkspur. If it comes between me and your sister, you need to choose her.”
She looked like she wanted to protest but wasn’t sure if she could without making false promises.
“It’s okay,” I said. “There are things I wish I did differently. Saving Psyche will be my first step toward correcting those mistakes.” Hopefully, it won’t be my last.
With a slow, silent nod, she withdrew a blade and held it at the ready. The moon shifted, reaching her full height in the night sky. There was a buzzing of power in the air as if the seal around The Glass Palace had come to life.
“Whatever comes, my dark prince, we’ll face it together.”
“Together,” I echoed, knowing that I wouldn’t let my little monster place herself in any more danger for my sake.
With a deep breath, I pressed my palm flat against the door. Drawing on my magic, I let it rise, ringingly with the energy buzzing around the palace. I could feel the molecules neutralizing, like two exact opposites merging. The palace drew heavily on my power, draining more and more until it was difficult to stand.
Just when I thought I’d pass out from exhaustion, the siphoning stopped. And the ground shuddered.
Larkspur offered me her wrist, the flesh already torn and bleeding as the doors clicked. Being careful not to take too much, I lapped at the underside of her wrist, taking only enough to banish the buzzing in my mind and the lightheadedness.
I withdrew my blade just as the doors swung open. A blast of stale air blew the wisps of hair that had pulled free from Larkspur’s braid. It smelled like the damp, upturned earth of a massive tomb, and I couldn’t help thinking that was exactly what we were walking into.
“Whatever comes, little monster, know that you have been the single greatest thing in my life.” Without meeting her searing gaze, I dove into the darkness.