Page 7 of Summer’s Seduction (Sinful Seasons #2)
MORPHEUS
I needed a fucking drink. The moment Hermes left, Hades and his shadows transported us out of the pomegranate grove and into The Dark Palace. Since then, there had been a constant chorus of Hecate, Hades, and Persephone chattering with the staff about how to prepare for Zeus’s arrival. Larkspur had tried to flee in the chaos of planning, and she might have made it had it not been for Hecate.
“Sorry, Larkspur,” she said as a net of light flashed across the grand doors of the ballroom. “You heard Hermes. You and Lady Persephone are expected tonight.”
“And why the fuck would I stay here, waiting for an entitled asshole to judge me?”
Hecate raised a dark brow, allowing the silence to stretch under her glare.
“I’m sorry,” Larkspur breathed, the expression across her face looking almost like regret. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way, Goddess Hecate. But is it really necessary to wait? This war doesn’t involve me, and my sister?—”
“Yes, little monster,” I drawled, rolling my eyes. “Everyone is aware you’re eager to find your sister, but when The God of Gods requests a meeting, all must obey. Isn’t that right, Lord Hades?”
The temperature dropped as Hades’s shadows thickened. My lips twitched when his icy gaze met mine from across the room. It was almost too easy to elicit a reaction from him now that Lady Persephone had restored his emotions, but I was pleased to see The Goddess of Spring was just as angry. I was nothing, if not talented, at infuriating people. But there was always a reason.
“My brother is not my god,” Hades nearly growled.
“No?” I poked, pushing off the spot on the wall. Taking leisurely steps, I circled the ballroom as servants rushed to decorate the black walls and obsidian-marbled floors with flowers and precious gems. Garlands of diamonds were being strung in the image of clouds with citrine stones crafted in jagged lighting bolts beneath. “He sends your niece down, and with one swipe of her blessed dagger, you’re on your knees for him.”
“Morpheus, stop.” Hecate stepped in front of me as the temperature grew colder.
Ice pricked along my cheeks, biting at the exposed skin. Several servants gasped, glass and basins clattering to the floor as they fought to ward off the bitter cold. Persephone tugged on his arm while Hecate muttered something about me being an asshole, but we held each other’s gazes in a silent challenge.
Enjoying how easily the pieces were falling into place to stoke the embers of disquiet between the holy brothers, I smirked, letting all that arrogance and delight show with the tips of my gleaming fangs.
The precarious thread of control Hades had been clutching to snapped. Dark tendrils of shadows lashed out at the decor, breaking strings that had so delicately been woven and adjusting them until they were stretched across the ceiling, reminiscent of the night sky. Hades had arranged the citrine stones in groups around the edges of the diamond-clustered stars to resemble patches of dandelions.
“Please have the table set and dinner arranged,” Hades said, tearing his eyes away from mine to focus on the servants nearest him before sweeping through the double doors with Persephone on his arm. The shivering servants nodded, the bolder ones shooting me glares as they hurried to complete their tasks.
Such loyalty was rare. I was glad that Lord Hades was generally kind to his staff despite his heart having only been recently thawed. That would serve The Underworld well. It had been nearly a decade since Hades had ventured into The Darklands of The North for anything other than submerging a wraith across The Lethe.
With death magic consuming pieces of our realm and my lovely father itching for a chance to send Hades’s essence back to the void, it was no wonder The Lord of The Underworld had grown neglectful of my people. Persephone was the shield that stayed the hands of war, having come just in the nick of time to disrupt my father’s plans.
But Hades needed to remember who he was. Death magic no longer tore his realm apart, and his powers were no longer focused on preserving The Underworld. He needed to command just as much respect as Zeus did, more so if the balance of power was tipped in his direction.
“What was the point of that?” Hecate seethed, her voice dropping as fire blazed in her deep, green eyes.
“He’s an entitled bastard,” Larkspur chimed in, gesturing toward me. “Bastards do shitty things.”
The barb of that word rang through me, but there was a lightness to my little monster’s gaze. She didn’t know of my past, at least not the vulnerabilities of how that word pricked. Good. Because she’d already seen far too much of me from our brief encounters.
Allowing my grin to stretch until I was sure my fangs were on display, I shrugged and put my hands in my pockets. My appearance clearly confirmed my parent’s affair—the fangs from my mother and the golden hue of my eyes from my father’s lineage. It had haunted me all my life, but I’d learned how to take their scorn and use it to my advantage. “It takes one to know one, little monster.”
“You son of a?—”
“Ah-Ah,” I cut in, flitting the few steps between us and lifting my finger to her lips. They were plump and soft, the dusty rose color stark against my pale skin. I wondered if she tasted just as delicious as she looked—wondered how fucking perfect she would look with those lips swollen and used, tears glistening down her cheeks. “There’s no need to speak ill of the dead.”
Larkspur batted my hand away. “Bastard.”
“Yes, I think we’ve established that.” Her brows furrowed at the tinge of bitterness that bled through my voice, her anger giving way to something worse. Something that felt much too close to pity.
“Really,” Hecate cut in, exacerbation dripping from the words as she stepped between us, her back to me as she faced Larkspur. “You’re going to need to find a way to work with him if you want any chance of finding your sister. I’d like to help, but with the covens in disarray and Hypnos on the loose, I’m needed here. Morpheus might be insufferable?—”
“Hey,” I protested playfully. Hecate was immune to my antics, but I was rewarded with Larkspur’s smoldering glare. I wondered if she knew how close hatred was to love. If she thought about how fucking explosive we could be.
“And entitled,” Hecate continued as if she hadn’t heard me. “But he’s your only shot at Hades trusting you enough to leave The Asphodel Plains.”
Lark nodded, a lock of her umber hair tumbling forward to brush the dark skin of her cheek. There was a faint splash of freckles there I hadn’t noticed before. Another touch of unrivaled beauty.
“We’ll get through whatever threat Zeus is issuing tonight,” Hecate reassured her. “Then we’ll find Hypnos and be done with this once and for all.”
“All of this is,” Lark breathed, glancing at the organized chaos swirling through the room as the massive table was dressed in golden cloths and vases filled with freshly cut wildflowers. “ All of this is so Zeus can complain about Hypnos?”
Hecate started shaking her head, trying to find a way to explain the threat in a way Larkspur could understand, but I doubted even she knew the extremes my father could go to. “Hypnos is cunning and far more skilled at evasion than the gods realize.”
Larkspur turned those green doe-eyes up at me, her hatred radiating through the small distance between us. The air grew charged and electricity raised the hair on the back of my arms even with my leather trench coat in place.
Everyone stopped. Hecate was frozen to the spot, eyes wide, and all sounds of chatter had silenced. But my little monster had all her focus on me, oblivious to the serpent appearing in the garden. I knew what the single of electricity in the air meant. I realized who had manifested at the head of the table behind her.
The God of Gods had forgone his over-the-top announcement and accustomed entourage he loved so much, choosing instead to appear without warning. He must have wanted to catch Hades off guard, to have us scrambling on our knees for him. But I wouldn’t entertain his games. If Zeus wanted to come in like a nobody, I’d act like he was.
“Hypnos let Demeter think she was in control,” I said, talking only to my little monster and ignoring the god at Larkspur’s back. “He let the realms believe he was weak when he was strong, defenseless when there were layers of protection in place. You think he’s fled?” A low, bitter laugh escaped me, causing Larkspur’s pulse to flutter. “He’s just getting started.”
Lightning cracked through the room, reflected by the thousands of jewels overhead. Larkspur gasped as she spun, finding Zeus's smoldering eyes fading to their usual icy blue. I saw her body tremble, the small, reflexive movement igniting a wave of protective rage I’d only ever felt once before.
“You will tell me everything you know about Hypnos, boy,” Zeus boomed, waiting for me to coward like the rest of them, but I refused.
With my hands in my pockets and an infuriatingly arrogant smirk set in place, I approached the head of the long, adorned table with slow, measured strides. Each small delay caused the electricity humming in the air to grow, revealing more of Zeus’s true nature.
He was everything a god should never be: egotistical and entitled, but his paranoia made him unpredictable. After centuries of Hades slowly withdrawing his influence in The Above, it was time to remind them that Hades was, first and foremost, an Olympian—one of the three founding brothers. Once Zeus realized his brother was not only capable but ready for battle, I would have both of them hunting for my father while I rebuilt all that had been lost and neglected in the north. The crown and titles meant nothing to me, but my people deserved peace.
It wasn’t until Hades’s shadows opened and a chilly breeze of darkness billowed through the room surrounding him and his golden queen that I acknowledged The God of Lightning.
“Lord Zeus,” I bowed, far too shallow for his liking. “Welcome to The Underworld.”