Page 33 of Harbinger

Strickland stood in the doorway of the bedroom. “Somehow, I have a feeling Lucy won’t be able to help.”

His brow furrowed as he looked from Morgan to Atropos.

The Goddess dipped her chin at his shrewd stare. “You are correct, mage. Your magic cannot heal him. What ails Ivmir is not of this world.”

Silence fell in the wake of her somber statement. Strickland’s knuckles whitened at his sides. The Argonaut director looked like he had a hundred things to say to the Goddess. Theo’s voice stayed his words.

“Is Victor sick too?” Though his voice quavered, the demigod glared at Atropos. “I mean, his wounds should have healed by now and they—” Theo stopped and swallowed convulsively, “—they haven’t!”

Victor took his trembling lover in his arms, unease darkening his eyes. “Hush, my love.”

“The poison hasn’t affected Coraos as badly,” Atropos said. “Still, it would be best if it were out of his system soon.”

Theo chewed his lip at her stiff words.

They all jumped when Strickland’s phone rang.

The Argonaut director straightened when he saw the screen. He took the call.

“How are things looking?” Relief flooded his face as he listened, making him look ten years older. “Good. Keep me posted.” He ended the call and met their tense stares. “That was Reuben.” He frowned at Atropos. “It appears your plan to control the plague is working,” he admitted grudgingly.

“Tenebra may be the strongest Black Fate, but Kes and Orena are a force to be reckoned with.”

Cassius glanced between Strickland and Atropos, his pulse racing. “They used their powers to stop Tenebra’s contagion from spreading?”

“Yes. They share the same abilities, after all.”

Cassius’s belly clenched on a wave of hope.

“Does that mean they could do the same for Morgan and Victor?” Theo asked before Cassius could voice the very same question. “Can they stop the Rot inside them?”

Atropos hesitated. “No. Once a Black Fate’s poison enters someone’s blood, the only thing that can end it is the one who unleashed it.” Her knuckles blanched on her lap. “In Morgan’s case, Tenebra’s Rot is already eating at his soul core.”

15

Fear choked Cassius’s lungs.Loki let out a soulful meow.

Adrianne stifled a whimper and covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes round with horror. Julia touched the sorceress’s trembling shoulder, her own expression dark with grief and anger.

“What about Ivory Peaks?” Victor asked roughly in the tense hush. “The plague there—”

“Tenebra would have given Alecto and Megaera a seed of her powers to unleash the contagion.Now that they are no longer in that realm, it will die a natural death.”

Cassius blinked. He turned and stared through the glass wall overlooking the terrace at the same time as Atropos. Loki’s ears twitched. The demon cat raised his head, his posture wary. Three divine soul cores were fast approaching the building.

Relief colored Atropos’s voice. “They’re here.”

The glass rattled when Kes, Orena, and Tisiphone alighted outside the apartment. The shadows around the Black Fates receded as they retracted their powers. Tisiphone’s scourge disappeared into thin air.

The Goddesses headed for the sliding door that separated the bedroom from the terrace, their armor and helmets melting into golden dresses and laurel-leaf crowns as they tucked their dark wings against their backs.

Kes opened the door and traipsed inside like she owned the place. Orena and Tisiphone entered more gracefully in her wake.

Loki shot under the bed with an angry hiss. Cassius sensed there was some kind of history between the Keeper of the Eternity Key and the Goddesses.

Kes frowned at the spot where the imp had disappeared before looking around critically. “Hmm. This place is smaller than I thought it would be.”

Atropos smiled faintly. “Well done, Kes, Rena.”

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