Page 31 of Hades

Hypnos’s eyes narrowed and flickered, black invading his silver irises at the threat to his son.

He stepped forward, his black leather trousers tightening over his muscular thighs and his loose dark shirt not hiding the hard flex of his biceps as he clenched his fists. “I will deal with it. There are few places Morpheus could be.”

There was a scuffle behind Hypnos and Thanatos, and both gods twisted to look back at the palace, revealing the exit of the tunnel to Hades.

“Apparently, the palace is one of them,” Hades growled and glared at the god of dreams as two guards hauled him towards them.

The crimson plumes on the helmets of their black armour marked them as one of the temple guards, which meant Morpheus had come to him. Hades issued a silent order to the guards when they halted a distance away, and they marched forwards, pushing Morpheus ahead of them.

The black-skinned leather-winged god kept his starlit eyes on the ground as he approached, appearing meek. It didn’t fool Hades.

Hades let him see that when the god dared to lift his head and glance at him. He stared the male down, revealing to him that he had walked into his doom. It was enough to have Morpheus striding ahead of the guards, heading for him at speed now.

“My god-king, I swear I did not know!” Morpheus stepped into the temple, his blue-violet gaze wild and desperate. “As soon as I heard of Mnemosyne’s betrayal, I came here to you.”

He hurried towards Hades.

Hypnos stopped him with a hand in the centre of his chest, and whatever look the god of sleep wore, it was enough to have Morpheus looking both worried and afraid, and defeated.

“I swear, Father.” Morpheus’s starlit gaze beseeched Hypnos and then he turned it on his uncle, Thanatos. “I swear, I did not know. I would never do anything to harm my god-queen. I meant only to give her a peaceful dream to help her sleep. I thought I was helping her.”

“Helping her,” Hades snarled, losing patience, and pushed to his feet. Behind him, the trench of fire that ran the width of the temple burst to life, the flames as tall as he was as he narrowed his eyes on Morpheus. “By handing her over to the enemy?”

“I did not know! I did not use my power to transport her physically into the dream. I swear it!” Morpheus tried to lunge towards him, his look desperate again, but Hypnos held him back. His father had twice Morpheus’s weight in muscle and at least six inches on him in height, but it wasn’t the difference in their strength that stopped Morpheus. It was the look Hypnos gave him, one that was part disappointment and part hurt. Morpheus eased back and his shoulders sagged as his voice dropped to a whisper. “I did not know, Father. I did not.”

Hypnos was silent for a full minute before he murmured, “I know. You were sleeping and carrying out Hades’s orders. There is no way you could have known.”

Hades turned his glare on Hypnos, his anger mounting as the god of sleep chose the side of his son over his own king.

Thanatos stepped forwards. “My brother means no disrespect, Hades, and neither do I. We have tasted betrayal, just as you have, and we understand your anger, but you must hear Morpheus out.”

“I do notneedto do anything,” Hades growled and advanced on the three gods.

He silently cursed when Calindria chose that moment to appear with Keras. The two of them landed a few feet behind Morpheus. Keras looked surprised to see the god of dreams there, and Calindria’s blue eyes leaped straight over him to land on Hades.

And then she looked at Thanatos.

His daughter was wise. It took her all of a second to realise her beloved was in danger.

It took her another second to place herself between him and Thanatos, sparing the god of death a reminder that he was not the one in charge and it was in his best interests to remain loyal to him.

“Does he know where Mother is?” she said, hope lighting her eyes.

The thought of disappointing her was like a knife in Hades’s chest, but he forced himself to look at Morpheus and ask the question anyway.

“Do you?”

Morpheus shook his head.

Calindria’s face fell and Thanatos placed his hands on her shoulders and held her from behind as she sank against him. “She must be somewhere. Could you find her if she was sleeping? Could you enter her dreams?”

“I tried,” Morpheus said. “As soon as I realised what I had done, I tried to enter her dreams, but I could not… I cannot find her.”

“What if—what if they’re holding her in a warded cage? We might never find her.” Calindria’s face crumpled, her fair eyebrows furrowing as she cast a worried look at Hades.

He wanted to hold her, even when he knew she wouldn’t allow it, even when it would make him appear weak to everyone, revealing a softer side he strived to keep hidden from prying eyes.

Thanatos wrapped his arms around her and jealousy lanced Hades’s heart, envy that the god was allowed to hold her like that, to comfort her while she kept her distance from him and the rest of her family.

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