Page 80 of Summer's Seduction

“I can’t have you obsessed with someone more than me, now can I?”

Her fingers curled into a fist, and I swear I felt her magic tighten around my soul before she jerked her hand back. There was a cracking sound in my mind followed by a hollowness as everything went silent.

“I am your one true love, Morpheus.” Aphrodite’s voice spoke into the quiet, the sound splitting and vibrating in multiple octaves simultaneously. She repeated it again and again until I knew no other name. Until my only desire was to make her happy.

My one true love.

“Yes,” I said, my unblinking gaze fixed on her. I was vaguely aware of the dark-haired man with cerulean eyes shouting in front of me, shaking my body, but I couldn’t feel anything beside her warmth. Her love.

“Prove your love to me, Morpheus,” Aphrodite sang, her words burning through me. “Kill the imposter called ‘Larkspur.’”

“Yes,” I said. I’d do anything—anything—for her. It felt like my veins were about to burst, like acid was rushing through my body, and the only way to quiet the pain, the torment, was to make my one true love happy.

“Find her, Morpheus. And bring me her head.”

Larkspur

“We need to retreat,” Persephone called, brow slick with sweat as she called forth another tangled of vines, but the gorgons smelled through them without a second thought.

I understood the frantic, devastated look flashing across her face as she looked at me. Every part of my body ached from wielding spell after spell. We’d killed dozens of them, but there always seemed to be more.

The gorgons’ skin was composed of scales impenetrable to everything we’d tried. Their bronzed talons in place of fingers cut through shields, wings, and muscle as if they were nothing. And their rage—their unending need for blood had to have been glorified by Ares.

“Hades?” I asked as I called forth another wave of magic, knowing Persephone would understand my question.

She shook her head, dropping back as dark ones surged forward to kill the gorgons she’d snared with roots. “He’s using all the death magic he can to keep Ares and the cursed souls of Cocytus from surging forward. Any more, and he could lose himself.”

My first instinct was to remind her that Hades consumed by death magic was a small price to pay to save The Underworld and finish this war, but then I thought of Morpheus… and knew there was nothing in this realm or any other that could make me forfeit his life.

Persephone looked my way, anticipating a retort. It hurt, but I knew it would be a long road and earning back her trust.

“We’ll find another way,” I breathed, waiting for her and The Dark Ones to get behind me before I faced the fresh rush of gorgons stepping over their fallen for the chance to kill me. “Stop!”

The magic left me in a wave. I stumbled back from the loss, my vision spotting as I fought to keep on my feet. Soft hands caught me as I swayed. I looked up, finding Psyche’s violet eyes looking down.

“Careful, sister. The battle has only just started.” Her hands began to shimmer, the faint light along her fingers feeling likea comforting warmth sweeping through my mind. Her magic pushed. It was gentle but searching, the pressure growing before withdrawing completely. “You need to remember who you are before it’s too late.”

My brows furrowed as my lungs worked to pull in enough air. Psyche looked beyond me, seeing things nobody else could on this bloody field set in the shadow of the castle that was once my home. The sky had started to lighten, the moon near set and still there was no sign of Artemis.

“You must remember before Hypnos reaches us.” Psyche grabbed my hands, shooting bursts of warmth through her touch. This time, it stung, pricking quiet places in my mind.

I jerked back, my heart beating against my chest as I searched my sister’s face for answers. But she only shook her head, gasping as she focused on something past me.

Following her line of sight, I turned, watching as Lucius rolled over human remains, narrowly avoiding the sharp end of a blade. I looked up, expecting to find one of Ares’s followers or perhaps a gorgon that had broken through our ranks, but it was neither. Standing over Lucius with his golden eyes ringed in red was Morpheus.

It made no sense. Lucius pledged himself and offered his army to aid us. What could’ve changed since the battle had started?

“Morpheus?” I said, starting forward.

His head snapped up, tilting at an unnatural angle as he studied me. A chill slid down my spine as I slowed, unaccustomed to the crazed glare staring back at me. This was the ruthless prince from his memories, the one that maimed and killed without thought—only that wasn’t true. Not exactly.

Morpheus had always cared. He managed to disassociate from his actions and give into the madness of war for a time, buthe always returned to himself. ButthisMorpheus, this Prince of Darkness, looked as if he wanted to murder me.

He took a calculated step forward, sword gripped firmly in his hand. I had to fight the urge not to flee and instead lifted my empty hands, my blade sheathed at my hip.

“It’s me, Larkspur.”

My name was a trigger, unleashing the beast hidden within my dark prince. He sprung forward as I retreated with a shriek. My boot squished, sliding among the entrails of the dead, closing the already precarious distance between us.

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