Chapter 29
Morpheus
A Few Minutes Earlier…
Serapina is a fucking Goddess.
Her skin is flushed with excitement, her full lips parted on an endless moan, her eyes closed as oblivion echoes through her spent form all over again.
Hades has her hair in his fist, his eyes glued to her beautiful face as I hold her hips to keep her steady.
Our knots are pulsing inside her, the intensity leaving me breathless at her back.
I didn’t mean to claim her like this. I didn’t even know it was possible for an Omega to take a knot in the ass.
Yet here we are.
Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to mind too much.
I apologized into her mind, but she didn’t reply, her mental state swathed in pleasure once more.
Still, I purr for her, longing to provide comfort while I continue to fill her with my seed.
Hades rumbles as well, though his is underlined in a possessive growl, the Alpha inside him basking in the glow of connecting to his long-lost Omega mate.
It doesn’t matter that this is the reincarnation; I can sense how pleased his soul is right now.
A reunion of ecstasy.
One grounded in the exquisite nature of the awakening Goddess between us.
“She’s fucking unbelievable,” Maliki says from the pillows, one arm tucked behind his head as his other hand strokes his already re-hardening cock.
His libido rivals my own, something I’m very fucking impressed by.
Once Serapina returns from her submissive high, we’ll all take her again. Perhaps in different ways.
I wouldn’t mind experiencing her throat again.
And I’m sure Maliki would love her ass—something I hear him thinking about right now.
She’s tight, I think at him. And squeezing my knot with a vigor—
A sharp cry leaves Serapina, causing my focus to snap to her contorting expression. “Hades,” she pants, suddenly very much awake. “Hades, please…”
She goes limp in the next second, causing my cousin to look sharply at me and then at Serapina as he tries to rouse her.
Maliki is instantly on his knees, his brow furrowing. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know,” Hades says quietly, his palm against her face. “Something’s wrong.”
The moment he utters the words, I know he’s right. Because I can feel the change. She was writhing in oblivion just moments ago, moaning and screaming and passing out from the pleasure.
But now…
I can feel her fighting. Her mind. Her body. Her soul.
“The plane.” The words leave her on a tremble, her eyes opening once more. “The Omegas…”
She starts to panic, her fear causing my knot to subside without my command. “Serapina,” I whisper.
But she doesn’t seem to hear me.
So I try speaking into her mind. However, it’s a mess of chaos and sensation. “Can you understand her?” My question is for Maliki.
His answer is lost as Serapina straightens, her hands clamping down on Hades’s shoulders. I can’t tell if he’s still inside her because I’m no longer knotted to her.
“Serapina, talk—” he starts.
“Bite me,” she demands, talking over him like she can’t hear him.
And given her tumultuous mental state, I’m not surprised. It’s as though she’s not truly here, too lost to the mayhem unfolding inside her. “Hades,” I start. “I wouldn’t—”
But his palm is already on her nape, his gaze locked on her throat.
He’s lost to her command, giving in to her need without thought.
Which I understand, but something—
“Wait—” Serapina’s words are cut off as Hades sinks his teeth into her neck.
Electricity hums through the air, the zap causing me to release Serapina as I fall back to my haunches on the bed.
And then she’s gone.
With Hades.
Maliki dives into the spot where they were just seated, like he can somehow catch them and bring them back. Then his eyes widen. “What in the Styx…?”
“Fuck.” I’m on my feet in an instant, the world around us seeming to quake beneath a shock wave of unprecedented power. I can feel it whirring through the air like an invisible energy net, the presence too lively to exist in this labyrinth.
It’s going to crumble.
The thought is immediate, my Alpha senses firing on high alert.
Manifesting a pair of jeans and boots, I throw them at Maliki. “Get dressed.” I don’t pause to hear his acceptance, just create a pair of black trousers for myself and add some shoes. “We need to get back to the Netherworld Kingdom. Now.”
“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Reaper drawls as he appears in the bedroom. “Meet you… Where’s Sera?”
“With Hades,” I reply, hoping that I’m right. Hoping that he saw what was coming and took her somewhere safe.
All while worrying that I’m wrong.
But I can’t think about that right now.
“We need to go before this plane collapses.” I can already feel the chill seeping into my bones, the runes fractur—
A loud screech rings through my ears.
I don’t think; I mist, and find Athena outside the cabin with Hades’s unconscious familiar.
Ice floods my veins.
Maliki joins me in a shadow of energy, his eyes on the fallen animal. He doesn’t hesitate, bending down toward Ossa’s big head. “Hey, baby girl,” he whispers. “Look at me.”
Her silver eyes slowly blink up at him, her body otherwise still.
“Come on now, little beast. Don’t do that.” His fingers run through her fur, his attention quickly fixating on me. “Morpheus…”
“Shadow them back,” I tell him, trying to sound confident when I don’t feel that way at all. Because this… this is unprecedented. Wrong. Ossa, Howl, and Mort are Hades’s familiar. If they’re dying…
No.
I can’t think about it. Not right now. Not here. Not like this.
“Athena and I will meet you at Death’s Palace,” I tell Maliki. “Go. Now.”
He doesn’t argue, just wraps his inky strands around the burly beast and disappears from view.
“You, too,” I tell Athena, referring to my command to go.
But she doesn’t move, her focus on a blue cloak lying prone on the ground.
Pip.
I start forward, only to freeze as the bundle moves.
And Fleur peeks out from beneath the robes, her big blue eyes telling me everything I need to know.
Pip’s gone.
What? Maliki demands into my mind. What do you mean, “Pip’s gone”?
I can’t respond to him. I didn’t even mean to voice that to him to begin with.
Instead, I hunker down and open my arms for Fleur. “Come here, sweetheart.”
She doesn’t immediately obey, but as the maze wall behind her begins to split, she jumps out of the cloak and right into my chest. Athena grabs my shoulder next, both familiars terrified as sounds of ice cracking echo all around us.
Holding Fleur close, I mist her and Athena to Death’s Palace.
Only for the sound of shattering to follow us.
My eyes widen at the demolition happening right before us—the walls splitting into jagged pieces of obsidian rock.
“Fuck,” I breathe, misting once more to the center of the Netherworld Kingdom—to the courtyard. Dozens of Death Fae and Corpse Fae have gathered here, all of them obviously terrified as the skeletal trees shake in an invisible breeze.
“Morpheus,” a loud voice booms from across the courtyard, drawing my gaze to the Hell Fae King.
My jaw clenches. I do not have time to deal with him right now. This entire kingdom is going to collapse if someone doesn’t bolster it.
“Go and hide in Serapina’s old hut,” I tell Athena and Fleur.
The pair of them fly off together as I look around for a source of power. Anything I can use to fix this mess. To… to serve as a boulder. A way to—
“Morpheus,” Typhos repeats, sounding furious.
“I’m not currently capable of explaining this to you” is all I say before misting back up into the Netherworld Mountains that frame the kingdom below.
The Soul Yards are sputtering in the distance, the constant flow of death seeming to be… dying. Which is a ridiculous concept, but those geysers serve as a source of resurrection energy.
The Blood River is no longer flowing.
And the Fairy Catacombs are all… crumbling.
Orcus appears at my side in a flurry of black feathers, his eyes red. He doesn’t speak, just lifts his arms and sends a shock wave of deadly power cascading across the valley before us.
Everything freezes in an instant, his chilling energy creating a temporary reprieve from the collapsing infrastructure.
It won’t hold for long.
He’s basically inserted himself beneath an avalanche, the weight of it crushing down on his shoulders and back.
This is Hades’s kingdom. His world. It’s his power that keeps everything thriving.
Orcus is a God of the Afterlife, his ties to death similar, but not the same.
And it shows as his expression turns to fine lines of granite.
He needs help. A net. More power. But I… I’m the God of Dreams. This isn’t my realm of expertise.
Still, I dig deep, trying to find a way to bolster his strength, give him more of a backbone, and help him bear this impossible force.
Where are you? Maliki demands.
In the mountains.
Helpful, he mutters back at me.
Near—
A fierce stream of light comes from Orcus’s palm, his bellow carrying across the valley in an icy wave of deadly energy. He’s shattering, I realize. He can’t—
Reaper and Alina appear, the Omega instantly wrapping her arms around Orcus’s middle, her head resting against his heart.
The light morphs into snowflakes, raining down softly into the kingdom as Alina calms her Alpha. Reaper stands beside them, scythe in hand, like he’s ready to fight anyone who dares to interrupt Orcus and his Omega mate.
Moments pass.
The frigid state of the kingdom remains.
And Orcus’s shoulders slowly relax.
Balance, I realize, utterly in awe of the demonstration of their bond.
Because it’s not just the Alpha-Omega connection, but that of the entire mate-circle.
Reaper’s tattoos writhe in response, the air chilled around him to the point that ice has formed on his metal blade. And I have no doubt Flame is radiating the same intensity from somewhere in this kingdom. Maybe even Thea, too.
“Thank you, Alina,” Orcus whispers against his mate’s ear. “I love you more than words can express.” He kisses her soundly, causing my heart to ache.
Where are you, Serapina? I whisper, hating that I can’t feel her. Our connection is fully severed, her soul nonexistent. Like she’s been taken to another dimension. Or worse…
“Someone had better start talking,” Typhos Lucifer says as he joins us on top of the mountain with the Hell Fae Commander, Azazel, right beside him. “And where the fuck is Hades?”
“I wish I knew,” I admit aloud. “I really fucking wish I knew…”