Page 31 of Harbinger
Victor reluctantly lifted his mouth off Theo’s and dipped his head at the young mage. “He’s alright. He’s helping his family deal with the aftermath of what happened in their kingdom.”
Eden sagged, face pale with relief.
Cassius’s insides churned at the guarded light in Victor’s eyes and his careful tone. He could smell the demon’s trepidation. Whatever had happened in Ivory Peaks had scared the demigod.
They jumped when a voice boomed across the sky.
“It seems I must put this fight on hold for now.”
Cassius and the others turned to face the Black Fate who had attacked San Francisco. A portal had appeared next to Tenebra. She made to enter it.
“Don’t go,Ten!” Kes yelled.
Orena and Kes rushed toward the Black Fate. The Reaper God and the dark-haired Goddess who’d accompanied Victor and Morgan blocked their path.
“Get out of our way, Tisiphone!” Kes snarled.
Orena scowled. “Move, Temir!”
The dark-haired Goddess shook her head, her expression full of sorrow. “You cannot follow Tenebra where she is going, Kes.”
“She is right,” the Reaper God said calmly.
He had assumed his human appearance once more.
A muscle twitched in Tenebra’s cheek. She fisted her hands, fighting a force she could not hope to defeat.
The silver-haired Goddess hovered a short distance from the shadow-wreathed Black Fate. “Is it true, Ten?”
The air trembled around her, her divine strength drenching the atmosphere with a golden haze that warmed Cassius’s cold flesh even though her voice was devoid of emotion.
“Does he torture our sisters, like Alecto told us?”
Tenebra closed her eyes briefly. Her head swiveled, slowly, painfully, as if she were a puppet fighting the strings controlling her. A silver tear bloomed in her left eye and tumbled down her cheek.
She vanished silently inside the rift, the brief awareness that had flitted across her face gone as quickly as it had appeared.
The silver-haired Goddess was still for a timeless moment. Then she raised her face to the sky and howled her rage at the weak Gods of Heaven who had allowed all that had come to pass to unfold.
14
“It’s called Rot,”Atropos said quietly.
Tension churned Cassius’s stomach.
The Goddess sat next to his and Morgan’s bed. Her armor and helmet had returned to the golden dress and laurel-leaf crown that denoted her station. His gaze shifted from her flawless face to his lover.
Morgan slept fitfully, his jaw tight with pain and his flesh soaked in sweat. His fingers twitched from time to time in Cassius’s grasp.
Cassius gently wiped the demigod’s brow with a cool towel. It took all of his willpower to quell the fresh wave of panic threatening to swallow him. Morgan was never cold. Yet, his skin felt so icy it almost burned his hand.
“Is that what attacked Ivory Peaks and is trying to destroy Earth?” Victor asked.
The demigod was leaning against the wall opposite the bed, his expression somber.
“Yes.”Atropos clenched her jaw. “We had hoped to find Tenebra and the Furies in time to stop what Elios intended, but it seems we were late, once again.”
Her frustration made the air vibrate and spark with flashes of gold. Loki’s ears twitched where he’d curled up next to Morgan’s pillow in his demon cat form, his ochre eyes focused unblinkingly on the Goddess. A mirror rattled on the wall.
