Page 76 of Summer's Seduction

I dashed left, only to draw back, narrowly missing snapping fangs.Fuck.

“Thisisthe way we came,” snapped Larkspur, her fear dousing the air as the black wings followed the writhing heads.

He was moving too quickly, his serpentine body slithering through the newly shattered hole.

“Toward the moon,” Psyche said in her melodic voice.

Two taloned feet crawled out, crunching over shattered glass as his torso rose. Bands of muscle were covered in black and red scales, his chest expanding out into broad shoulders with dozens of serpent-like dragons emanating from his back forming a ghastly mane around his face.

“What is that?” Larkspur gasped.

His black hair hung loose to frame a ferocious grin set along a square jaw. The fire dancing in his eyes flared brighter as he fixed his immortal gaze on me.

“That is Typhon,” I said, hating the way the dragons slithered and hissed as they heard their name, loathing how fear pricked through my veins at the amused grin he let show just for me.

I turned, flying as fast as I could for Psyche’s room.

A chorus of hisses rang behind us as I swooped low, snapping my wings close as we careened through the open door. Larkspur and Psyche tumbled, my little monster rolling to a stand and up on her feet while Psyche gave a thrilled giggle.

“The door,” she sang.

Larkspur and I raced forward, slamming it shut as the ground rattled with his thundering approaching steps. Magicflared beneath my palm, sealing the room and trapping us inside.

“Up we go,” Psyche said, climbing back into my arm as if I were a horse ready to heed her command.

Larkspur and I shared a worried glance, before she spoke.

“There’s no ‘up’, Psyche. We’re trapped in the same cell you were in for years. We’re completely fuck?—”

“Hold on,” Psyche cut in a split second before the creature crashed into the sealed door.

Larkspur jolted forward, slamming into my chest. I was somehow able to keep my balance amid the shattering vases and tumbling plants, but Larkspur had been right. We’d played the cards we’d been dealt and now there was nowhere else to go.

“Once more should do it,” Psyche said, lifting her face to the ceiling. “I can almost feel the stars.”

“What are you…” I followed her closed-eyed stare up. A large fissure had formed from Typhon’s impact, streaking from the door, all the way to the tip of the tower.

Larkspur must have noticed too, because she reached around my neck, holding on tight as the sounds of Typhon’s taloned footsteps rocked the ground, his distorted image growing larger through the murky glass.

“Hold on,” I warned, launching us up a moment before Typhon smashed through the glass. It splintered and then shattered, sharp shards raining down as I pushed us up.

“Morpheus,” Larkspur warned, her grip tightening as the crumbling walls shook.

I heard the slither of Typhon’s dragons cramming into the small room. It would only be a matter of seconds before his wings wedged through the door.

Ignoring the burning muscles along my back, I forced my wings to beat faster. The damp, muggy air of The Glass Palacegave way to icy torrents, the wind whipping against me as I soared higher.

A bellowing growl pierced the storm. Unable to help myself, I looked down, finding Typhon poised on the edge of the crumbling glass tower. The dragon heads echoed his call, and his wings stretched wide.

“That’s better,” Psyche cooed, her violet eyes unfocused. “He was locked down there for so long. It must feel nice to stretch.”

Larkspur shot me another worried glance, but I had nothing to offer. I kept us hovering among the clouds, concealed from Typhon’s hunting gaze as she reached for her sister’s hand.

“You’re safe now, Psyche. We’re going to take you somewhere you can hide. Morpheus and I will return as soon as possible, but we intend to stop Hypnos once and for all.”

Psyche tilted her head to the side. The traces of violet in her otherwise blue gaze seemed to grow brighter momentarily, she answered.

“No.”

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