Page 30 of Harbinger
“No.” The Reaper God shook his head. “They wish to stop the eldest Black Fate before she—”
A sinister energy saturated the atmosphere. The Reaper God froze. Cassius’s eyes widened.
The plague mist surrounding Tenebra had grown into a howling storm of darkness.
“I think she’s pissed,” Eden mumbled.
Coldness raised goosebumps on Cassius’s flesh. The ring of bones and dark fire on the Reaper God’s finger had morphed into an eight-foot-tall, black scythe that was sucking the warmth out of the atmosphere.
The Reaper God moved, flesh giving way to his skeletal form. “Stop, Mother!”
Cassius and the others startled.
The Reaper God’s roar was swallowed by the sound the Ring of Death made as it connected with Tenebra’s claws. He leaned close to the Black Fate’s furious face.
“REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE, GODDESS WHO BIRTHED ME!”
His voice boomed across the ocean and dispersed the clouds above them.
Tenebra blinked. Gold glinted in her dark pupils as Kes and Orena joined the Reaper God.
“Kes?!” she mumbled. “Rena?” Her gaze shifted to the Reaper God. “Temir?!”
Her breath choked off, the corrupt core within her seeking to control her once more.
The Reaper God’s orbits bloomed crimson and gold. He raised the Ring of Death and brought it pointed tip down toward her chest and Elios’s dark seed.
The plague mist blocked his attack.
Madness filled Tenebra’s face. She was about to charge the Reaper God and her sisters when something made her pause. Her scowling gaze locked on a spot a short distance to Cassius’s left.
Cassius’s breath froze. The way his soul core was pulsing could only mean one thing. Theo sucked in air, his face brightening as he too sensed what was drawing near.
A rift opened before them.
Two Goddesses in golden armor stepped out of it, the one who’d carved open the portal with her blade sporting long, silver hair and white wings, while the other had rippling, coal-black locks and dark wings.
“Shit,” Loki muttered, the word underscored by unease even as recognition flared on his face. “When it rains, it pours.”
Cassius’s gaze flitted across the deities’ strangely familiar faces before focusing on the shadows inside the portal, his heart racing with equal trepidation and hope. Victor emerged from the gloom.
He sported a bruised jaw and a nasty cut on his temple and was holding an ashen-faced Morgan around the waist.
Horror widened Cassius’s eyes. Their Stark Steel armor was dented and covered in slashes, blood congealing on the metal.
Morgan raised his head weakly where he clung to Victor. A weak smile stretched his mouth as he met Cassius’s tearful gaze.
“Hey,” he croaked. “I hope we’re not late for the party.”
Cassius was barely aware of the wetness staining his cheeks as he took his lover from Victor and gently hugged him.
Theo bolted into Victor’s hold, his eyes glittering. He faltered before carefully pressing their lips together. Victor closed his arms around the demigod and kissed him back with wild abandon, unheeding of his wounded jaw.
Morgan’s warmth slowly thawed Cassius’s frozen heart as they embraced. Cassius swallowed a sob.
He could feel the dissonance within his lover. The wrongness in his soul core. Morgan was not out of danger yet.
“Cedric?” Eden looked anxiously past Victor to where the portal had closed. “Is he—is he okay?!”
