Page 55 of Summer’s Seduction (Sinful Seasons #2)
LARKSPUR
M orpheus flew toward the maelstrom, batting pouches of sand back toward the furies as he went, but there was always more. I knew he needed to end this—to stop Hypnos once and for all—but gods did I wish I could join him.
Hypnos had been plotting with Demeter. They’d been the reason I was taken from my adoptive father, the reason my sister was imprisoned, but more so, Hypnos was the reason I was driven from my home. Hecate had stolen my memories and bound my magic—which I still hadn’t forgiven her for—but I believed her when she said it was the only way forward after what Hypnos had done.
I wanted to tear and gut and hurt Hypnos more than I’d ever wanted to hurt another in the many years of my long life, but I’d have to find another way of enacting my revenge.
The sun crested the horizon, the howls of the Chimeras growing louder as its ray flared infinitely brighter. Heat pressed through me like a wave washing over and capturing me in its pull.
All the aches and soreness from my newly formed wings along my spine faded. I felt invigorated like any remaining traces of Hecate’s binding magic had been cleansed.
The sounds of horses whining amid the brilliant sun caught my attention. I heard the rattling of metal and dozens of feathered wings beating. Artemis and the huntresses had returned, and they’d brought Apollo.
He was the God of Light and Healing, god to music, prophecy, knowledge, and truth, and right now, he might just be the reason we won this war.
Everywhere this golden light touched, beings healed. Those affected from The Sand of Slumber were awakened, some finding they’d been ripped apart by furies and dying within moments, but others rose to fight.
Silver arrows rained down upon black feathered wings, furies dropping to the ground after a single strike. I turned, finding the gorgons at our back nearly finished by the huntresses.
Raising my palms, I called forth my magic. This time, it felt like a living thing, like a web I could shape and mold. I wove it around the gorgons, ensuring every last one of them as Hades called on his whip and the huntresses loosened their arrows… and then I pulled.
Stop.
I didn’t say the word out loud, but I pictured the gorgons stopping—their bodies and hearts. I imagined them falling lifeless to the floor. And when I opened my eyes, that’s where I found them.
Hades’s chariot stilled, his eyes finding mine. They were entirely black, his shadows thick and swirling around him. Persephone looked spent, the golden light beneath her palm pressed to his chest dimming as she, too, met my gaze.
Hades dipped his head, his ram horns framed by his great, bat-like wings nearly the same size as Morpheus’s. “Thank you, Larkspur. We are in your debt.”
My stomach flipped at his genuine gratitude, and I swallowed back the wave of emotion. Persephone gave me a soft smile as if to say she knew exactly what I was feeling.
“Let us finish this before we make celebration plans,” Artemis said, voice hard as she stepped forward. Camilla was at her side, with Hebe and Cyrene on the other. “My brother will heal Hypnos’s poison and Hephaestus will reclaim his wife, but there are many enemies yet to slay.”
“Hephaestus?” I asked as our troops repositioned to join The Dark Ones at the line of battle.
Artemis nodded, her gaze lifting toward the sun. “Beneath the cover of my brother’s light.”
I looked up at the sun's shining brilliance, catching the hint of a shorter, stockier figure just behind Apollo. He was broad across the shoulders, his arms as thick as tree trunks, and he clutched a chain-link net in his hands.
A steel chariot broke away from the golden one at its side, the metallic horses smoking as their engines churned, swooping down right over where Aphrodite stood firing arrows. She didn’t see him until it was too late.
Hephaestus threw the enchanted net, the links fanning out until they covered Aphrodite. The ends then snapped together like magnets drawn to one another.
“Time to come home, wife, and reap the punishments you’ve sown.” Hephaestus rumbled, reaching over the side and scooping up the net with Aphrodite still inside.
She screamed and kicked, but Hephaestus simply tossed her over his shoulder as the mechanic horses rose, aiming for the shifting patch of sky, and then slipped through the portal.
Ares’s snarl shook the ground, his horses bucking and spitting fire as he turned his back on the troops and started after them.
“We need to press our advantage,” Hades bellowed, kicking his dark beasts into action. The souls of Cocytus were in disarray without Ares to lead them, making quick work for The Lord of The Underworld.
“Let’s go hunting, girls,” Artemis called, lifting her silver bow to the fury-filled sky.
“Our pleasure,” Camilla grinned, looking like a cat set free on a mouse.
I noticed the pouches containing The Sands of Slumber had ceased, but I couldn’t see Morpheus through the cloud of battle. Focusing on our connection, I turned inward. There were flickers of rage, remorse, and resignation all mixing together. He was engaged in battle somewhere. I pulled back, not wanting to be the distraction that got him killed.
Instead, I called to the howling beasts in the trees, coaxing my chimeras to join me in a feast of blood. Their lion roars had picked up, growing louder as the sounds of goat hooves pounded the forest floor.
The first reached my side, nuzzling my hand as its blue serpent tail coiled around my wrist.
“Good to see you again,” I cooed, scratching behind its ears as the snake released me, turning its attention to the throng of humans stumbling toward us. They were still bewitched, most of them with bodies that had burned past the point of saving.
“Stun those who can be saved,” I commanded. “And enjoy the ones you can’t.”
With a lick of its sandpaper tongue, the beast was off, leading the charge. I watched as my creatures did my bidding, linking my darkness with their consciousness as the pack cut through the humans with ease.
It was like looking through the lens of a hundred eyes at once. I was still in my body but also theirs, relishing the bite of flesh and the tear of muscle through my lion’s fangs while also remaining apart.
We coiled and struck, teeth ripping as we thinned the enemy’s line until only one battle was left. Until we were staring at Morpheus, my beautiful Dark Prince, faceoff against the one being we wished to see dead more than any other: Hypnos.