Page 29 of Becoming Monsterous

"He knows," Lise tells me, leaning in and pitching her voice low for my ears only, though I have no doubt that my trio will hear as well. "He knows that you're Aphrodite's conduit. And he knows how to steal her powers for himself. There's some requirement that has to be met—and he's the only one who knows how to meet it."

"How?" My mind whirls at the possibilities this sets into motion. "How could he possibly know what the requirement is?"

Hearing this, Morpheus turns towards us and raises a brow. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Enlighten us," Aleron tells him, joining the conversation.

Morpheus's bitter answer is, "Because he's the one who made those frat bros summon Aphrodite in the first place. He's the reason why we're here."

My mind reels.

It makes perfect sense when you think about it.

All that power, all that influence—he won't be stopped.

He's going to come for Aphrodite's powers.

The only way to keep him from them is to get there first.

As if on cue, he turns towards me, his malice-filled eyes looking me up and down.

I feel a shiver of fear at the cold hostility of his eyes. But I do my best to hide it, so he doesn't know we're onto him.

Instead of tucking tail and running in fear, I laugh and turn my hear towards Lise. In a voice pitched loud enough to be overheard, I ask her, "Do you really think it's that unconventional? Three boyfriends, all of them monsters?"

She chokes, her wide-eyed expression of shock genuine. Then smiles wide and grips my arm tight.

"After this, we're talking about what happened to you in the Shadow World," she says, while behind her, Aleron just sighs in irritation. "I've always wanted to know the secrets behind the darkness."

Don't we all.

Especially the man in the middle of the powerful magic users who enslave that darkness to their will.

His eyes are still on me, and I get the sense that we haven't fooled him at all.

He knows that Lise is spying for us, and I have no doubt that he slipped that information to her on purpose. It's too obvious—though I won't tell her I suspect this, since she clearly gets something out of feeling useful.

The Magistrate wants us to look for the key to inheriting Aphrodite's powers.

Then he wants us to kill her, so he can try to take those powers for himself. That way he won't even have to look for her body or find a new conduit for her powers.

We have to get the information we need before he acts.

It's a race to the finish line.

And the remaking of the world hangs in the balance.

Chapter23

Morpheus

I've known hundreds of men like the Magistrate. Foolish mortals, full of hubris and incapable of backing down from a fight.

They all live to see their dreams crumble.

But not before they take countless others down with them.

"Something changed while we were away," Angus says to me, leaning his massive head down towards me. "They've never been this overtly hostile before. Usually they at least play at being our beloved allies."

---