Page 51 of Harbinger
The sea Nymph he’d addressed didn’t move from her spot.
“With all due respect, Minister, you should listen to what my captain has to say,” she said in clipped tones.
Polyx’s face reddened.
“That can’t be good for his blood pressure,” Cassius muttered worriedly to Tisiphone.
“Serves him right if he blows an aneurysm,the little tit.”
Several of Nais’s soldiers swallowed snorts. Cassius squinted at the Goddess.
Tisiphone shrugged. “Hey, I’m a Fury. Being vengeful is kinda my default state.”
“Get me the commander of the Royal Knights!” Polyx finally screeched, spit flying from his mouth. “I want these fools apprehended and chained in the palace dungeons this very—!”
He choked on the rest of his words.
Shadows had exploded around Tisiphone. Her hair ends sprouted snake heads. Her features shifted into a deathly mask that caused several palace officials to faint.
Polyx paled.
Cassius had to admire the guy for still standing after witnessing the Fury’s wrathful appearance.
Tisiphone leaned her face close to the councilor’s. “Look, you decrepit old fool! How about you pipe down and let Nais—!”
“Tisiphone?!”
Cassius and Tisiphone turned at the sound of the crystal-clear, musical voice echoing around the quadrangle.
A breathtakingly beautiful, blonde sea Nymph wearing a crown of red coral and a white silk dress trimmed with gold had appeared from the direction of the palace, a handful of attendants at her side.
The darkness around Tisiphone abated. Her expression cleared. “Dione.”
24
A memory sparkedthrough Cassius’s mind at the name Tisiphone had uttered. The Nymph crossing the quadrangle at a determined pace was a Goddess andsister to the queen of the Astrea Sea.
Clothes rustled and armor clinked as the Nymphs and Potamoi in the courtyard bowed to the deity.
“Your Highness,” Polyx mumbled. “I beg your forgiveness. I shall deal with this matter—”
“Shut up, Polyx,” Dione snapped as she marched past him, her pupils flashing gold.
The sea Goddess ignored the spluttering minister and threw her arms around Tisiphone.
“It’s so good to see you!” Dione pulled back, emotion bringing a flush of color to her cheeks. “Where have you been all this time? What of your sis—?” She froze when she registered Cassius’s presence. Her eyes rounded. “Awakener?!”
Polyx looked like he wanted to disappear into the ground. Nais cast a derisive glance at the Potamos.
“Hmm, hi,” Cassius said awkwardly, conscious of the battery of furtive stares being aimed at him.
Tears bloomed in Dione’s eyes. Her gaze roamed his face, as if she were committing his every feature to memory.
She closed the distance to him and clasped his hands. “We thought we’d lost you, Prince of Rain Vale.”
She pressed her forehead to their raised knuckles, wetness soaking her cheeks.
Cassius’s chest tightened at the affection in Dione’s trembling voice and touch. He hated that he couldn’t easily reciprocate the feelings of the Goddess before him. Not for the first time, he cursed Elios for using Hypnos to erase his past and that of so many.
