Page 62 of Snatched By the Sandman

“Or a monster.”

She deadpans. Phantasos shifts his weight, tugging his cap down over his eyes.

“Have you met your monster, Zenya?” wonders Hecate.

“My father called it an amygdala hijack,” I clarify, wincing at the first time I’ve truly mentioned him in this world. Everything has been moving too fast, and I’ve been swept up in the storm and loving every second. “It’s this moment when your rational brain fades away to unleash the beast within you.”

“Not all beasts are evil,” Hecate proposes, tilting her head while flashing her sharpened wolf teeth.

“Of course not. But they’re not safe.”

“You’re not safe, Zenya.”

I nod my agreement. “Maybe we’re all just a million shades of gray.”

“Some live in a black-and-white denial,” Phantasos adds, popping a macaron in his mouth and saying between bites, “But to do so is to deny the complexities of the soul.”

Hecate arches a brow in surprise. I smirk to one side and scrunch my brows in pleasant surprise.

“What?” he shrugs, darting his eyes between us. “I’m the God of Imagination. I live in the surreal and fantastical, darling.” He leans over to kiss my cheek.

“You’re safe, Phantasos.” I tap his newsies hat.

“You’re making me blush.” He winks.

“Naturally, I love the dark feminine wedded with firelight and moonlight.” She cuts into a lava cake, gushing with the warm, melted chocolate. “What about you, Zenya? Tell me your aesthetics.”

“Um…” I press my lips together to contain my giggle as I circle a finger to my tattoos.

She scoops a drippy bite of molten cake and lifts it to her mouth. “I want to hear it from your pretty lips and that violently beautiful mind.”

My nerve endings feel like a live wire as I hunt through my mind, searching for the best in-the-moment description. “The ones like me…I am bursts of blood and darkness on one side and light and color on the other. Constantly craving more gray…but afraid to lose my angels and demons, my highs and lows.”

“I’m a rainbow!”

The three of us turn to the entrance of the throne room as Ivy strolls in, scrambling right for Phantasos. “Hmm…” I tap mylips, tilt my head, and weave her a ruffly rainbow dress with extra flair and glitter.

“Eeep!” She spins a few times, clapping her hands as the ruffles twirl like a kaleidoscope. “I love it. Thank you, Z. Can I call you Z?”

She throws her little arms around me from behind, and I squeeze her hand as warmth spreads through me. But it’s tinged with wistfulness. How can a little girl full of so much life and color be in these dark places? No wonder she’s so drawn to Phantasos.

She turns to him and points to his lap in a silent command. I hold back the burning emotion in my throat and hide it behind a smile as Phantasos snorts but rolls his eyes and scoots out so Ivy can sit on his right knee. She grabs a handful of macarons but stops when she spies Hecate.

“Oh, who’s that? She’s so beautiful. In a scary way, I love it!”

Hecate shows her wolf teeth. “Goddess Hecate of Witchcraft, Magic, Crossroads, and a few other things.” She waves her chocolate-coated fork in the air.

“Wow…What kind of magic?”

Hecate’s eyes turn somber. “Not the kind you are seeking, my child. That is for the Sisterhood of the Fates. And Thanatos and Hades.”

Ivy looks down at her macarons, staring right through them, and a wave of remorse crushes my chest. “Hades sounds really scary.”

The Goddess shakes her head. “Far from it, little one. Oh, he’s such an OCD zoning bore, but if you should ever meet him, he will have a special place in Elysium for you. That much, I do know. It is the realm for the heroes. And you have been quite a heroine to Phantasos.” She gestures to him.

He pauses midway through his red velvet cupcake, the icing a smear on his lips. Ivy turns to beam at him. I don’t bother toponder where Death would take me. I already know. At best, I’d be locked in Purgatory for all time.

Ivy leans closer to me, diverting my attention. “What does it feel like?” she asks with that childlike wonder twinkling in her eyes. “Dream weaving?”

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