Page 51 of Summer’s Seduction (Sinful Seasons #2)
MORPHEUS
M y little monster was incredible. She reached toward Lady Persephone without hesitation, wielding her power of persuasion like a magical web, snaring the gorgons while the souls ended them. As brilliant as she was, more were coming. Which wasn’t helped by the fact that Lucius was leading what looked to be three-quarters of the army right toward me.
With my wings wide to shield Psyche and sword drawn, I searched for a way this could end differently. Larkspur trusted me to keep her sister safe. We’d only just managed to break her out of prison, and now we were going to die.
“Stay behind me,” I called over the sounds of clashing steel and beating wings. “I’ll request a duel with Lucius. If he takes it, you must flee when our swords meet.”
“I won’t be doing that,” Psyche said. Her voice had lost some of its dream-like quality, returning to a pitch a few octaves higher than Larkspur’s. She also seemed less dazed as she stepped to the side of my wings and waved at the descending army.
“What are you doing?” I scowled, attempting to block her once more.
She laughed as Lucius landed, thousands of boots rattling the earth as the army at his back followed suit.
“Get to Larkspur,” I yelled to Psyche, but I could see she and Lady Persephone were losing ground, unable to keep up with the gorgons pressing forward. Psyche turned and ran, fading into the mist and melted snow.
Hades was locked in battle with Ares, unable to divert more Elysium warriors to their aid, and there was a throng of humans swarming from the portal.
Their broken bodies had piled high along the cliffside, forming a bloody extension of the ledge beneath the portal. It was clear they were spelled. Only madness could cause humans to dive into The Underworld and splatter their bodies against the rocky shards again and again until enough survived to turn their attention toward the fighting. They moved like a deranged swarm, running and tumbling down the last of the slope and racing right for us.
“Morpheus, Dark Prince to The Slumber and Nightmare Kingdom,” Lucius called, stepping forward from the other with a hard solemnity to his features I’d rarely seen. “We were once like brothers, sharing the same dream of uniting The North and ushering in a new era of peace.”
My jaw ticked as his eyes darted from me to Psyche, to the failing line held by my little monster.
“And yet, here we are,” I said, drawing his attention back. He may have tried to spare Larkspur in Lycia, but it meant nothing if we were going to die in what remained of her broken kingdom.
Lucius’s lips twitched as he twirled his sword. I tensed as he stepped forward, preparing to meet his blows with my own… only for him to kneel.
“I pledge my loyalty to you, Morpheus of The North.”
I blinked, watching in stunned disbelief as the rest of the army followed his lead.
“To be your blade in battle, your confidant in the palace, and your friend in life.”
I blinked, stunned at the turn of events. Just moments prior, I’d been ready to duel to the death, to cut down the last semblance of family I had. I was ready for blood, for loss, but loyalty?
There was a lot of shit Lucius and I would need to work through before trust could be established, but this was a great fucking way to start. Swallowing, I stepped forward, placing my hand on his shoulder. “I accept your vow.”
A cry rose from the army, swords clattering against their shields as Lucius stood. That cocky smirk of his was firmly in place as he shouted commands. They broke off in groups, split between the three points of attack.
“I know we have much to discuss,” Lucius said as we surged forward, bolstering the division heading toward the manic humans. The sheer volume of the horde was by far our greatest threat.
“Much,” I echoed, lifting my blade as the first human reached me. Dark rings circled his wide eyes, his cheekbones protruding, and his skin pulled taut over his skull. His hair had fallen out in places, his body thin as if he'd been starved for weeks, and there were stains of red across his worn clothes. Somehow, he managed to lift his blade, murmuring intelligible words as he threw himself at me.
I ducked, ending his life with a quick flick of my wrist. “Was this Hypnos?”
“In part,” Lucius grunted, slicing through three of them as his blade whirled. I paired the next wave, the two of us moving wings-to-wings as bodies piled up around us. “They were already mad from lack of sleep, but Aphrodite is the one you need to look out for.”
“Aphrodite?” I asked, using my foot brace against the chest cavity of a body as I slid my sword free.
“Why do you think Egerius betrayed us?” Lucius swiped with his sword as he spun, the taloned tips of his wings shredding through others. “Aphrodite enchanted Melpomene to fall in love with Achelous. She nearly drowned chasing after him.”
“Achelous, as in the river god?” My brows furrowed as I cut down ten more, my blade slick with red, but more kept coming.
Lucius nodded grimly, using his wings to slice through another wave. He glanced toward the portal, still teaming with humans. “She was hit with a golden-tipped arrow, but it’s the black ones you need to watch for?—”
“Look out!” I called, diving forward as an arrow shot straight for his chest. It moved with imaginable speed, cutting through the air with a deathly wail. I flitted forward, spinning as I knocked Lucius out of the way.
“Where the fuck did that come from?” I growled, looking down to find the shaft protruding from my gut.
It had sliced a thin slit through my wing, the cut already healed. I gripped the arrow and pulled, tossing it to the muddy ground. The once pristine banks of snow were now covered in bodies and gore. I raised my sword, only to stop short at the horrified look etched on Lucius’s face. It was only then that I noticed the arrow was tipped in black.