Page 53 of Harbinger

Dione surreptitiously wiped her eyes.

“Come, we have much to talk about,” Thetis said.

A knock came at the door just as the queen and her sisters cleared the couches so they could all sit. An attendant wheeled in a cart filled with fragrant tea and cakes, served them their drinks, and bowed before leaving the room.

“Tell us what happened to you,” Thetis ordered once the door closed.

Cassius met the sea Goddesses’ tense stares.

“You should start,” he told Tisiphone.

The Fury nodded, her expression grim.

The blood gradually drained from Thetis and her sisters’ faces as Tisiphone recounted everything that had taken place from the time Elios captured them to their ill-fated escape from the Seventh Purgatory. She related how they had lived hidden in dozens of fractured realms through the past few hundred years, always on the run from Elios.

Cassius told them about Chester Moran and Loki, Lucille Hartman and Eden, and Elios subjugating Demetrius, the Reaper God, and Boreas with his corruption until he, Morgan, and Victor had freed the three deities.

“What?!” Thetis mumbled.

Cassius had just described Theo’s awakening as the new South Star and wielder of the Spear of Light, and Nildar and Archon’s intervention when part of London had ended up in the Hells.

“Rohengar lives again?!” Dione said hoarsely.

Panacea and Amphitrite choked back sobs.

“The new South Staris devilishly handsome,” Tisiphone stated.

Dione’s shock shifted to disdain. “None was more stunning than the first prince of Rain Vale.” Her expression turned chagrined as she cast a sheepish look at Cassius. “Present company excluded, of course.”

Tisiphone grinned. “Nice save, Di.”

Some of the tension oozed out of Cassius. “Both Rohengar and Theo beat me hands down when it comes to looks.” A sigh left him. “But I’m afraid their hearts belong to Coraos.”

Thetis dropped her cake. “Eh?”

“Huh?” Amphitrite mumbled.

Panacea sucked in air. “Coraos? Coraos is alive?!”

Cassius nodded. He told them what Pan had revealed after the battle to save the Spirit Realm and how Victor had more than atoned for the sins he had committed under Hypnos’s influence when he was known as Coraos.

“Ivmir’s brother was not of sound mind when he took Elios’s side in the War?!” Dione said, aghast.

“No, he wasn’t.” Tisiphone’s expression hardened. “And there’s more.”

The Fury described how Elios had used Tenebra, Alecto, and Megaera to attack Earth and Ivory Peaks and how their ultimate target had been Morgan and the Sword of Wind.

Thetis swore. “Tenebra’s Rot is consuming Ivmir’s soul?!”

“Elios has the sword?” Dione said with a scowl.

“Yes.” Cassius swallowed. “Atropos believes the Golden Apples guarded by the Nymphs of the West could counteract Tenebra’s poison and save Morgan. But we do not know where the Hesperides ended up after the Nether tore.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Tisiphone explained. “We heard a rumor a while back. A Nereid saw Ladon fall through a crack between the realms when the Nether tore. The dragon ended up in the Astrea Sea, only briefly we believe. This Nereid has returned to your kingdom. We need to find her.”

Dione’s cup clattered on her saucer. “Wait. Did you say Ladon?!”

Tisiphone bobbed her head.

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