Page 53 of Summer's Seduction

“Cutting us off from The Realm of The Living would aid him if he managed to leave The Underworld and take The Sands of Time with him,” I countered. She nodded grimly, waiting for me to puzzle it out. “Unless you think he’s secured the passage in the north?”

Artemis nodded.

“Which would cut us off but allow him access to both worlds,” Camilla added.

“Gods below,” muttered Larkspur, echoing my thoughts as the two of us stepping aside while our pegasi crept toward Camilla.

“It’s just a theory at this point,” Megara said, glancing to where Camilla spoke softly to the Pegasi. I lifted a brow at how comfortable Megara seemed among the huntresses. Gods knew she deserved a bit of happiness, but I never thought she’d search for it here.

Camilla finished communicating with the pegasi, and then the great beasts took to the skies, returning along the same path we’d taken.“We need that key more than ever,” she added.

“My huntresses Cyrene, Arete, and Hebe will stay with us until the others return.”

She pointed to each of them in turn as she spoke. Cyrene was short with dark eyes and high cheekbones. The contrast between her pale skin and sleek, black hair gleaming with blue undertones was exaggerated under the moon’s light, causing her to look all the more stunning.

Arete stood taller, her broad shoulders and strong arms visible beneath her cloak. Wavy dark hair was tied back from her face, revealing a jagged scar cutting through her brow and continuing across the brown skin of her forehead and cheek. The pink scar was raised, looking like it had taken dozens of sutures to piece the skin back together.

Hebe was last, the curves of her body speaking to the honed strength of her legs and arms. Rows of braids were woven together, linking to form larger ones secured with golden bands. Where the other two wore the typical clothing of the huntress, Hebe wore a gilded breastplate and plated skirt set over black pants beneath her cloak—marking her as an Amazon warrior.

She met my assessing glance with a raised brow, the grip on the six-foot-spear clasped in her hand tightening as if daring meto question her right to be here.I leaned further into Larkspur, finding the edge of her lips lifted in a smug smirk.

“They are among my top warriors,” Artemis continued. “I trust them to keep you safe.

The huntress lifted their chins at the praise, the honored glints in their eyes brimming with love and undying worship. It was clear Artemis was not only their goddess but also their friend. They were one true family regardless of where they’d come from.

“Get the key, check the prison, and stop Hypnos for good,” Megara said, stepping forward to join Camilla and Artemis. There was a brightness to her gaze that I hadn’t seen in years. Even how she held herself with her back straight and chin up spoke to her hopefulness.

The huntress began their check of weapons, preparing for what was to come. Camilla demonstrated quick swipes with a dagger for Megara, but I knew it wouldn’t help. If the creatures in this forest were close enough to need a dagger, you were already dead.

“Wouldn’t that have been easier with the pegasi?” Larkspur asked, brow lifting once she’d seen to her own weapons.

Artemis shook her head as the three huntresses behind her grinned. “I won’t risk spilling their blood here for our endeavors. We’re about to enter Lycia, Lady Larkspur. Home to the Chimeras.”

MORPHEUS

Something in my chest twisted as the blazing torch lights of Lycia came into view. The bright, flickering light welcomed me back as I returned to the only place that had ever felt like home.

Large granite stones stretched the length of the castle, and the black stone was marbled with deep scarlet. The city was laid out in a hexagon with reinforced watchtowers set around the perimeter. Each tower and the subsequent battlements ringing along the walls were built with dozens of narrow slits and able to hold one hundred arches on any given side.

Rising from the dark forest with the sounds of savage beasts all around us, I could see why the huntresses and my little monster found it off-putting. Still, once they got past the sharply spiked portcullis and adjusted to the temperament of Lord Egerius’s court, they’d come to see the beauty beneath the mayhem just as I did.

“Stay close,” Artemis whispered, her bow ready and arrow notched. “Morpheus is convinced we’ll be welcomed and that our smaller numbers will work to our advantage.”

“Lord Egerius is an old friend. His court embodies what it means to be A Dark One, but he has always been loyal to me.”

“To you or your father?” Camilla asked, pinning me under her glare.

“Me,” I said confidently, knowing they wouldn’t understand. He had been my father’s commander but raised me as his own.

Silence stretched as we continued walking, and I found I no longer wanted to be cautious. It had been nearly three months since I’d seen him, my return home delayed with the realms falling apart and Hypnos plotting to undermine Lord Hades.

The chimeras were something to worry about, but those roaming the palace knew me. I’d played with them as a child and then their cubs afterward. I knew the secret passages leading to the throne room, those out of the courtyard, and all the ways in between. I knew Lord Egerius liked his parties to be memorable, with a surprise of some sort typically given at the end of dinner just before refreshments were brought out, just like I knew the people of Lyrica to be beholden to their laws and loyal to the crown, despite whose brow it sat on.

I was not yet born when Lord Egerius slaughtered the former lord and took the crown for himself, but I’d heard tales of his cunning and cleverness as a boy and had idolized him ever since.

“I’m sorry if I upset you earlier,” Larkspur called, her footsteps quickening to catch up to me while the others lingered behind. I slowed, lifting a brow at her guarded expression. “With the nightmares.”

“I don’t blame you for not remembering,” I said, stifling the urge to tell her my thoughts on everything I’d seen. On who she really was.

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