Page 73 of Harbinger

Cassius trembled with joy and pleasure as Morgan hitched his right leg around his hip and enthusiastically mated their tongues together, not a sliver of space left between their sweetly straining bodies. For a moment, he forgot all about the Goddesses, the Naiads, and even the dragon watching them.

“Does Ivmir not see us?” Daphne asked Atropos in a worried voice while the Naiads giggled.

Atropos sighed. “I don’t think he cares.”

“That poor Awakener is going to be ravished before our very eyes,” Ladon murmured with all the avid curiosity of an eighty-ton dragon.

Cassius finally wrenched his mouth free from Morgan’s, ears flaming and face flushed, the bond between their soul cores so strong and bright he was surprised no one could see it.

“Morgan! We have company!” he berated in a low hiss, his embarrassed gaze darting to their audience.

Morgan grumbled something indistinct before scowling at the group observing them with bated breath. The newly arisen demigod looked terribly annoyed by the presence of their eager onlookers.

“How about you ladies take a hike?” he told the four Goddesses and the smirking Naiads sullenly. He squinted at Ladon. “You too, lizard.”

Ladon sucked in air before huffing smoke out of his snouts. “How rude!”

32

Dawn was breakingacross San Francisco when they emerged from the portal that connected Earth to Argent Lake. Morgan inhaled deeply and closed his eyes for a moment as the first rays of the sun touched his face, a deep sense of relief coursing through him at the same time the crisp scent of the ocean filled his nostrils.

I never thought I’d see this city again.

To his everlasting surprise, the queen of the Naiads had kissed his cheek gently when they’d bidden each other goodbye in front of the gateway she’d opened in the gardens of her palace.

“Look after Icarus, will you?” Daphne had murmured. “He…went through a lot tonight.”

“I know,” Morgan had said quietly.

He’d looked over to where Cassius and Atropos were saying farewell to the red-eyed Hesperides and Ladon. Having accidentally crushed a fountain when he’d landed in the grounds of the palace, the dragon was looking sheepish and doing his best to keep still while a crowd of Naiad attendants hovered around him in awe, their blue wings shimmering under the starlight and their limpid eyes full of admiration for his majestic form.

Though the last two days had felt like a dream, one Morgan had been afraid he would never wake from, he was deeply conscious of the fact that Cassius had achieved the impossible, back on the island where the Hesperides had hidden the Garden of the West.

Though they were called fruits of resurrection, the Golden Apples didn’t work on corpses.

It was Cassius who had sparked his soul into life once more, enough for the Golden Apple he had fed him to fully revive him.

Even Atropos appeared troubled by that fact, the furtive looks she kept stealing at Cassius full of questions. Though humans believed death was beyond Gods, deities were just as liable to meet their demise at the hands of a power greater than their own. Morgan knew Cassius would talk to him about what he’d done one day, when this was all over.

The terrace doors slid open behind them. Morgan turned. Victor came out. Shadows ringed the demigod’s eyes. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

He froze at the sight of them.

Morgan startled when he rushed over and closed his arms tightly around him.

“We’ll give you some space,” Cassius said with a soft smile.

He squeezed Morgan’s hand and headed inside with Atropos. Cries of joy erupted in the apartment.

“You look like shit,” Victor mumbled in Morgan’s ear.

Morgan’s insides twisted. Victor was trembling slightly.

“Oh yeah?” He hugged the demigod back just as hard before pulling away and studying his wan face critically. “Well, you don’t look so hot either.”

Victor smiled weakly. There was a darkness in the depths of his eyes. One Morgan knew was tied to the guilt he still carried from the recent fight in Ivory Peaks.

“You know you did everything you could, right?” he said in a low voice.

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