We took the boat back, which was just as hellish as it had been on the way down. It jerked and jumped everywhere, but Darce held onto me and I let him.
It’s definitely going to be awkward after this, I thought.
And I was right.
Minthe waited for us as Darce pushed the boat up towards the dock. She was dressed in a long black gown, adorned with what looked like diamonds on the bodice and skirt. The dress wrapped around her one shoulder, and cascaded down the length of her arm. The fabric fell to the floor, creating a long train in the back, like a midnight waterfall. A sharp, crystal crown rested upon her head, matching the daggers piercing in her eyes as she glared at me. She looked like a true queen.
While I... I found comfort in my jeans and shirt.
Darce was the first to leave the boat, twisting the rope around one of the loops on the side of the dock. I gathered myself and my courage as I rose to my feet and followed behind him. Minthe turned her scorching glare to Darce and raised a brow.
“You were gone all day.”
“Summer and I had things to attend to.”
“In the human world?” Her question was quick, but lethal. I could hear the controlled rage in her tone. Her arm intertwined with his as she pushed herself against him. Darce took a step back and slid a hand through his hair.
“You kept me waiting,” she said between clenched teeth, “And for what? A stupid, filthy—”
Darce lifted his finger and shook his head as he clicked his tongue.
“Be mindful of what you say next, Minthe,” he warned. Darce glanced over his shoulder at me and tilted his chin towards the winding hallway.
“You should find something to eat before you wash up and go to bed,” he murmured. I understood his silent, hidden meaning. Go, now.
I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and lowered my gaze to the floor as I walked past him and Minthe.
Determined to get to my room as fast as I could, I decided against grabbing something to eat. Whatever might have been left out for me, I was almost sure I wouldn’t have liked anyway. I’d brace myself for whatever meal would be presented to me for tomorrow. I turned from one hallway to the next, through the glittering mirrored hall, into the marbled wing where my room was. I noticed one of the doors down the hall was partially open. If I remembered correctly, it belonged to the library. I walked to the door and carefully peered inside.
Morpheus stood by the fireplace, where a fire roared to life. His long, black wings were tucked behind his back, appearing more like a shadow. His dark gaze was latched to the licking flames as he twirled something shiny between his fingers. I could make out his tight muscles underneath his black shirt. He seemed tense—bothered. I wanted to go in and ask him what was wrong, but something stopped me.
Something told me it would be best to leave him alone.
He shifted his weight from one foot to another as I took a step away from the door.
“I know you’re there,” he said softly, breaking the silence between us. My breath hitched as I turned my gaze back to his still form. He hadn’t moved.
“I didn’t mean to bother you,” I replied. “I’ll leave you alone—”
“Don’t,” he beckoned and turned slightly, gazing at me. “You’re no bother.” He motioned with his fingers for me to come forward. My heart was pounding as I came into the library and took a seat in one of the large, plush chairs beside him. The fire’s warmth felt nice.
“So, did you just return from your excursion with his Lord?”
I slowly nodded as I tugged on the hem of my shorts. “We went to a small fishing village.”
“How quaint,” he teased as he shuffled the shiny object in his hand into his pocket. “And did you enjoy yourself?”
“Yes,” I said in reply, gazing up at his still form. Darce’s words from before echoed in my mind as I shifted in the chair. Morpheus had taken a liking to me, and apparently he had noticed. The curiosity of Morpheus’s friendship to Persephone filled me.
“Were you close to her?” I asked, leaning back. He rose his brow as he gazed at me perplexed. It seemed he hadn’t expected such a question.
“Persephone?” He asked thoughtfully. I silently nodded.
“Darce mentioned that everyone handled the loss of her differently. I wondered about you.”
“Me?” He asked, crossing his arms against his chest. “And why me?”
“Because it seems you care about me. And... I wonder if it’s because you all think I’m her.”
“We think you’re her?”
I wrinkled my nose. It was still hard to say...to admit. I wasn’t sure if I was fully accepting of the idea of truly being a Greek goddess, when I was just barely a college student.
“Don’t change the subject,” I responded and mimicked his movements, crossing my own arms against my chest. Morpheus clicked his tongue and moved to the seat beside mine. His wings draped along the back of the chair, reminding me of a veil of darkness. He seemed lost in thought as he lifted his gaze back to mine.
“Yes, I was close to Persephone,” he said carefully.
“Did you love her?”
“Love,” he laughed mockingly as he shook his head.
“I don’t mean love love, I mean...did you?”
Morpheus stared at me darkly. As if he were upset that I had uncovered some deep, dark truth. My mouth suddenly felt dry, and I nervously tucked my hair behind my ear.
“I did,” he confessed softly. “I still do.”
I didn’t know what to say. He swallowed hard and turned his black gaze back to the fire.
“It was hard to watch him suffer. It was hard to watch everything in the Underworld change. And yet, a part of me rejoiced in his pain. Because I loved her too.”
“Love love?”
The corners of his mouth pooled into a sharp smile.
“As if there were any other kind.”
So Morpheus had loved her. Morpheus had become her friend.
“When Darce was away from time to time, I was her companion. She inspired many dreams I gave to others. She taught me goodness and light.” He slowly turned his eyes back to me.
“And when she was with her mother, I came to Mount Olympus to occupy her time until she returned home, to Hades.”
“I’m sure she appreciated that.”
He slowly nodded, chuckling at what seemed like an old memory he was rediscovering.
“She was sharp and witty like you.”
“What did you like most about her?”
He exhaled and slid a hand through his long, silver hair.
“The same things I like about you, Summer. You’re one in the same. Your smile brings the warmth of the sun to those who see it. You’re strong-willed and determined. You’re gentle, and delicate in your own human way. But a Goddess...courageous.”
“Me? Courageous?” I snorted. I was no better than a cowardly lion.
“You dared to argue with the God of the Underworld. You’ve faced Minthe…”
I flashed a quick smile as I nodded.
“Yeah, I guess I did,” I replied with a shrug. I slowly rose to my feet and motioned towards the door.
“I guess I should get to bed. It’s been a long day.”
“Of course,” he said as he lifted his hand, motioning towards the door. “Go.”
As I took a step away, I quickly turned and smiled.
“Thank you for telling me about her.”
He nodded his head silently. Only as I reached the door, did I hear him murmur, “Sweet dreams, Summer.”
Something bright invaded my eyes. It was sharp and hot, like sunshine.
I reached up to cover my face, slowly opening my eyes while trying to avoid the beaming rays of light above me. Once my vision focused and the spots were gone, I could see white clouds hovering above me. I was back outside? But how?
Darce had brought me back to the Underworld.
Everything felt hazy and strange, as though my body wasn’t my own.
A cool breeze blew by, caressing my skin with its gentle touch. Where was I? I looked from side to side, trying to get a better understanding of my surroundings. The moment I realized I wasn’t in Greece; the world became clearer. It was as if the fog had been chased away and the strange feeling had gone with it.
This was home.
This was Rhode Island.
I looked down at my arms, smoothing my hands over the armrests of a patio seat. I recognized the floral cushion beneath me as it was part of a matching set we left on the back porch of our home. I noticed the tan paint was still peeling from the wooden boards, so this had to be real. Right? As I laid there, I was mesmerized by how blue the sky was; how beautiful the clouds were forming and shading.
This was home. I was home.
And that could only mean one thing. I sat up so fast in my seat, my head started spinning. There he was, tampering with the grill like a neurologist trying to disarm a bomb. He never knew how to use the thing properly. Dad.
He looked over at me and smiled.
“Whatcha doin’ Sunny?”
Sunny. My heart twisted in my chest as I quickly pushed myself up onto my feet. I wanted to cry. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to hug him and never let go. Dad. He was really here.
“Dad?” I could feel tears begin to sting my eyes. Had he been alive all along? Was all of this a nightmare I had suddenly woken from? His grin only grew as I came closer to him. As if he knew what a surprise this was in seeing him again.
“Dad?” I asked again, before I reached out and hugged him tightly. I could smell the faint scent of his cologne on his maroon t-shirt. I felt him squeeze me back. Hot, fast tears ran down my cheeks as I tucked my chin into the crook of his neck. His hand brushed over my back until he finally began to ease me away from his chest.
“It’s really you,” I whispered, as I felt a tear roll down my cheek. “I love you, Dad.”
“I know you do,” he said with a nod. “I love you too, Sunny.”
“I…I miss you.” The words just poured out of me. It was all I could do to keep to breathing. My entire body was trembling from joy—shock—every feeling on the emotional spectrum.
“I know,” he replied faintly, turning to close the lid to the grill beside him.
Nothing about him had changed. He still looked the same—still smelled the same. Even his hugs were the same. While the rest of the world had changed all around me, he had remained the most constant thing from my past.
“I was so worried I’d never see you again,” I whispered, wiping my cheeks with the back of my hand. “Is this a dream? Is this real?”
My dad grinned as shook his head. “Just because this is a dream, doesn’t make it any less real,”
his thumb brushed over my tear-stained cheek, “I see you everyday, Sunny. I watch you.”
My eyes began to fill with tears again. “You do?”
“I do,” he said with a chuckle.
“It feels like forever since I’ve seen you. So much has happened, you almost wouldn’t believe it.”
“Forever hasn’t nearly even begun to pass, Sunny,” Dad murmured. “We won’t be parted for that long.”
“And mom?” I asked. “Did you know about mom?”
Had he known about her true identity? Or did she use him as a means to an end? He was a regular guy living a normal life with a woman who was really a Goddess. Not to mention his daughter was the supposed reincarnation of another Goddess. He had loved history, but did he know he had been living it?
“Your mother?” He asked with a smirk. “I suppose knowing what I do now, it all makes sense. Everything makes sense. Life is so much clearer here. Life is...calm and peaceful. There’s nothing left to wonder or worry about.”
I darted my gaze around the surroundings and raised my brow curiously. Was this what heaven looked like?
“It’s home,” I mentioned. “We’re at home.”
“It is home, Sunny. Being with you girls. You were both my paradise. So I chose to remain here and wait.”
“Wait?”
He gestured towards the house with his finger. “Your room is waiting for you when your time comes.”
His words echoed in my ears as I allowed them to sink in. My father was waiting for me. And he seemed perfectly content in that. There was no dire need to reclaim me or make me join him. I had time.
There was a tranquility about him that I suddenly envied.
If only all grieving hearts could know that calm—that peace. Mine, instead, ached and ripped my chest apart. Tears slipped down my cheeks as I searched his face. I wanted to commit this to memory, I wanted it to overshadow my final moments with him. I wanted to remember his happiness. I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around him again. If I could have one wish, it would be that I’d never have to let go. I wished so hard on that now-distant lantern. I never wanted to say goodbye.
“Sunny,” I heard him say.
Then I opened my eyes and found myself hugging nothing but myself. My surroundings had changed, and my home had dissolved into a random street somewhere in Greece. A sob broke through me as I desperately looked around for my dad.
Just before I took a step forward, I noticed a small object before me.
It was the pot I had placed on the dock’s edge back in the small town, covered in it’s red cloth. Another sob tore through me as I sunk to my knees. I just wanted to go home. I pushed the pot over, watching as the water poured onto the cement. I didn’t care about the future—or who my ‘destined-to-be’ was. My hair-tie laid in the puddle of water as I wiped the trail of tears from my cheeks.
I felt a hand touch my shoulder, and I quickly turned to see Morpheus. His large, black wings were open and stretched out to their full size. They were magnificent and terrifying. And as they slowly began to wrap around me, his velvety voice enveloped me in a hushed whisper, “It’s alright, Summer. I’ll protect you.”
He tipped my chin forward as his lips pressed against my jaw and cheek. There was warmth found in his arms—the sort I never wanted to be parted from. And just as I lifted my gaze to meet his, Darce’s eyes were there instead. Morpheus’s wings suddenly transformed into a maw of black smoke, the kind I had seen Darce summon when he had transformed himself. It loomed as large as Morpheus’s wings and had me wrapped in its embrace.
“Stay with me.” His fingers unfurled before me, revealing small pomegranate seeds in the palm of his hand. “I’ll never let you go.”
A sudden, searing pain came from my shoulder. I looked down at my arm, panicked by the sight of blood trailing along my skin. Then, from the shadows of his darkness, a flood of white moths erupted and fluttered around us. Two of them landed on the trail of fresh crimson. Were they drinking my blood? They flew away, their little white wings spotted with red.
This was too much. I wasn’t Persephone. I didn’t want to be prey to Darce, or to any other God or Goddess. I wanted to just be me—Summer. I pushed against Darce’s chest with all of my might, falling back into nothingness.
I woke as I landed on the floor. A jolt of pain pierced through my arm as I cried out. My room was still illuminated in soft candlelight. Everything was still and silent. I sat on the floor as fresh tears began to spill over onto my cheeks.
“It was just a nightmare, Summer.” I tried to tell myself calmly.
But what about dad? That had felt real. My hand went to the spot on my arm where it had been wounded in my dream. It came away clear—no cut, no blood. Just a tender spot where it had impacted with the ground. I rested my head against the mattress and tried to remember dad’s face.
Then the relief came and suddenly, I wasn’t afraid.
Somehow, even in the afterlife, he made me feel brave.
Chapter 22
“You look like hell,” Arae quipped when I greeted her the next morning.
A part of me wanted to trip her on the way to breakfast. But instead, I bit my tongue and remained silent. I ignored her comments about my jeans and comfy sweatshirt,
too. I didn’t care enough to respond. Despite trying to go back to sleep, I hadn’t been able to. I had wanted to slip back into the dream and be with my dad again but...
God, I just wanted my dad back.
I wanted to close my eyes and go back to our home...back to him and I... couldn’t.
Tears stirred to life in my eyes and I quickly turned my gaze away. The last thing I wanted was Arae to bring me unwanted attention, especially at breakfast. As we turned into the dining area, I was relieved to find the dining table empty. It was only Arae and I for now. I was even more grateful to find toasted bread on a plate, with different sorts of spreads available. When I was a kid, my dad and I would eat toast with cinnamon and sugar.
Maybe Darce had actually been paying attention then.
“Someone looks a little weary,” Thanatos said as he slid into a chair across from me. I hadn’t heard him come in. I kept my eyes downcast as I bit into my buttered toast.
“Who knows what’s wrong with the human now,” Arae said with a snicker. “She’s been as dead as a corpse since I found her this morning.”
“No need to be cruel, Arae,” a voice called from the archway.
I knew that voice. Morpheus.
I dared a glance in his direction as he entered the room. He wore a dark shade of maroon trousers, with a white tunic. Golden threads were interlaced in the fabric, reflecting brilliantly in the candlelight. And over his left shoulder, he wore a strange, copper shoulder plate, which was held in place with a strap that wrapped around his chest. He reminded me of a warrior. His long hair was swept to the side, and was tied back with a leather string. His black gaze met mine as the corner of his lips turned into a smile.
I lowered the toast onto my plate, remembering Arae’s words from before. Morpheus delivered dreams. He gifted them. He had said something to the effect of, “My dreams are well crafted.” It dawned on me then that he probably planted the dream—or nightmare. Who else would have done it? I rose to my feet, pushed by anger.
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