“What can I do? How can I fix this? How. . .you said that everything would be—”
“Look at me, Summer,” Darce commanded. I began to tremble as I lifted my gaze to his. My entire world was crashing around me. Everything that I had suddenly become familiar with—everything that I had only just begun to accept, was crumbling.
“I love you,” he continued. “I love you, and this is far from over. I’ll be back for you.”
“When? When…?”
Darce leaned forward, pressing his lips against mine. My arms wrapped around him tightly; I wanted nothing more than to fold myself into him. I wanted to free him from his chains and go back to Greece. It would be so easy to disappear into my world. We could go back to the small town we had ventured to; release another set of lanterns into the evening sky—and make new wishes. I wanted to go back to the Underworld; disappear into the place just beyond the river that had been meant for him and Persephone. I wanted that place to become ours now.
As I parted my lips against his, I heard Zeus clear his throat behind me.
“That’s enough,” he said with finality.
“Summer,” I heard my mother call for me. As I pulled away, I kept my forehead against his, wanting to ignore them. But in an instant, I heard Zeus’s fingers snap.
The roar of the sea came to life and rang in my ears. I was too afraid to know what he was planning next.
Darce was the first to take a step back and turned his eyes to Zeus. He motioned for Darce to step toward the railing. Darce growled. A shiver cascaded down my body as I watched Darce make his way to his brother. My mind began to race with thoughts of what Zeus might do. Was he going to push Darce off the boat?
As my gaze reached beyond Darce, I realized a large fast-moving whirlpool had formed in the sea. The waves lapped over each other, drawing everything into a funnel of darkness.
“No!” I gasped, darting towards the rail. Morpheus’ hands were suddenly around me again; he held me against his broad chest.
“Stop,” he murmured against my ear. “There’s nothing more you can do. This has to happen, Summer.”
“No!” I sobbed, shaking my head. Everything became a blur around me.
With the power he possessed, Zeus lifted Darce over the edge of the railing with ease until he was nearly floating above the fast-moving whirlpool.
Morpheus drew my face against his chest; his words gentle in my ear. “Don’t look.”
I wanted to look. I wanted to see Darce before he disappeared from me, forever. I wanted to save him. But I gave in. I sunk against Morpheus, squeezing my eyes shut. I wanted to shut everything out—everyone and every sound.
I thought I heard his roar filling my ears before the sound of him was gone. And then there was nothing. Just stillness. Quiet. The sea began to calm again.
Someone’s cry filled the air, until I realized it was my own.
I was crying. Hard.
Harder than I had ever cried before.
I was crying for all that I had lost. My life. My home. My dad. And now, Darce. Lifting my shaking hands, I gazed at them blindly. Before I knew it, I fell to my knees; the world was becoming smaller and smaller, and then there was nothing but darkness.
Chapter 14
I awoke alone and cold in a darkened room, listening to the stillness.
How long had I been sleeping? Was it night already? I felt dizzy and groggy all at once.
Where was. . .
Then I remembered. I remembered Darce, chained and in pain. I remembered Morpheus and his gentle arms as he held me against his chest. I remembered the hatred that filled me as I begged Zeus for his life. My mother, and her cruel smile.
Darce’s scent still lingered on the pillow, and I borrowed my nose into it more deeply. Fresh tears began to pool in my eyes, soaking the fabric of the pillow case. The haunting image of Darce being tossed into the large, rushing whirlpool made my heart twinge.
“Darce,” I whispered as another tear rolled down my cheek and nose. “D—Darce. . .”
Somewhere, deep inside of myself, I wished. . .hoped that somehow he could hear me. If only he could hear me and know that I hadn’t given in. That I wouldn’t give up without a fight.
I jumped at the sound of my door closing and jerked myself up from the blankets. The sheet pooled around my arms as my gaze met Morpheus’. He was clothed in black, while his wings were out, extended and free.
“W—what are you…” But I paused as he took a step towards me. His eyes were soft; as if they knew. Knew how I was feeling.
“I thought you might be…” he murmured softly before pausing. “I thought I could bring you a pleasant dream.”
“I don’t want a dream,” I replied quickly, shaking my head. Diverting my gaze down to the sheets, I waited for him to leave. I just wanted him to go. “Just go away.”
Morpheus released a breath but didn’t move. Everything was so still, so silent between us.
“Summer,” he began again. I could hear the hitch in his breath as he took a step closer. Angrily, I glared at him.
“I said go away.”
“Are you sure?” Morpheus raised a brow, unwilling to give into my demands. I didn’t know what I wanted—and yet, I did. I wanted Darce, but he was gone. Did I really want to push away the one and only person I knew I could trust? Morpheus hadn’t tried to help Darce; didn’t try to reason with Zeus at all. Instead, he stood by and watched. Was he truly any different from the rest of them?
I knew, deep down, he was. He was my friend. He had been Persephone’s friend. And, for the time being, he was all I had left.
“I don’t know,” I confessed, sliding my hands over my face. Morpheus crossed the distance from the door to my bed with ease. The mattress shifted under his weight as he sat down beside me.
“He’ll be alright, Summer. You have to know this.”
“But I’m not alright,” I remarked, feeling miserable. The ache in my heart was all consuming. “I just watched my own mother. . .” my voice broke as I slipped a hand to my lips. “And Zeus. His own brother! I don’t understand how. . .” I couldn’t make sense of my own words. Sucking in a breath, I wiped away a stray tear.
“They’re monsters.”
“We all are,” Morpheus said with a sigh. “Haven’t you learned this already?”
I lifted my teary gaze to his before shaking my head again.
“You’re not.”
“I am,” he admitted with a nod. He reached for my hand, gently gliding one long finger over my skin.
I stared at him, confused by his confession. “You?”
“Haven’t I ever told you about the time I first met Persephone?” Morpheus asked as he shifted himself on the bed. Sitting back, he eased against my pillows, tucking his wings tightly behind his shoulder blades. He slid his silver hair behind his shoulder, before turning his dark gaze back to me.
“No,” I replied. “But I don’t think I ever asked either.”
Morpheus smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked so at ease, resting beside me. It was hard to imagine why he thought of himself as a monster.
“Well,” he began. “Persephone thought I was quite a scoundrel. There were quite a few times that she didn’t enjoy the dreams that I had sent her. Not that I can blame her. She was mostly right—I too, was a scoundrel.”
I nestled more deeply into the blankets, settling in to hear his story. Even if this was his way of creating an elaborate way of distracting me, I would welcome it.
“I admired her strength,” Morpheus admitted softly. “She came to the Underworld, shining as brightly as the mid-morning sun. She filled the halls of the palace with laughter, and for the first time, I saw my Lord smiling. At first, the whole thing seemed odd. A woman of the light, living in our darkened halls. I felt strange about her.”
“Why?”
Morpheus gazed at me before shifting his eyes towards the ceiling. He shrugged silently for a moment.
“There was somethin
g about her. Something that was so other-worldly, and beautiful. She was unlike anything. . .anyone I had ever met. When I learned who her mother was. . .of what had happened when my Lord came to the Underworld with her. . .I suppose I expected the end. I was afraid of the change she’d bring. To him, and to me.”
“Do you think she changed you?”
Morpheus smiled. “What do you think?”
“I didn’t know you then. I only know who you are now.”
“Sure you do,” he replied with a smirk. “Recall the first time we met? In the library?”
I remembered coming to the Underworld for the first time, in full defense. I didn’t understand what was happening to me, or who Darce really was. In the quietness of the small library, tucked away in my wing of the hall, I first met Morpheus. He had merely touched my face and filled my mind with the images he wished for me to see. Like magic.
“I used to do the same thing to Persephone, as I did to you that day,” Morpheus admitted with a small chuckle. “Though, at first, I sent her terrible dreams. I wanted to. . .extinguish the brightness she brought. I suppose I wanted things to stay as they were. I didn’t want the foolishness of Zeus’s palace to come to what had become my safe haven.”
“I guess that part makes sense,” I replied.
“In truth, I wanted to keep her at an arm’s length.”
His words took me off guard. A knot in my stomach twisted, and I watched him in the dim darkness of the room. His eyes were so contemplative, as though he were reliving the quiet moments in his mind.
“Why?” I asked softly, sliding my hand over the coolness of the pillow.
“I didn’t want to love her.” His wing flexed behind him on the word love.
The words filled the room. They seemed to carry a weight I hadn’t noticed before. A weight that made me feel uncomfortable, yet curious. My body buzzed with the nerves he had stirred up inside of me.
“So, I sent her dreams about terrible monsters,” Morpheus explained, a small smile growing on his lips. “They were of men who died gravely in mortal battles. Of Darce, being pulled apart by Zeus himself. I filled her mind with such terror. Yet, each morning, she greeted me with a smile that was unmatched. She was still happy, still shining. Persephone was truly a woman in love.”
“So your plan backfired?” I had never seen that side of him before. It was almost unreal to me that he would send someone he loved, so many horrible dreams. I couldn’t imagine him doing something like that to me.
“Unsurprisingly,” Morpheus said with a shrug. “Eventually, Persephone came to realize it was me who was sending her those images. When she confronted me, she gave me hell. Threatened to tell his Lord too. I knew he’d give me a stern talking to, but I knew I had nothing to fear. He and I had been friends for. . .centuries.”
“She yelled at you?” I asked with a small smile.
“Yes, she did. I deserved it. It was then I realized no matter how many dreams I sent to her—no matter how many nightmares I asked my brothers to send her way, there was no escaping how I felt about her.”
Morpheus paused before turning his dark gaze back to me.
“Each time she left, I felt empty. Each time she departed from the Underworld, I sent her dreams of us. Of Darce and me. Of the river. Of all the things she loved.”
My heart ached at his words. The love he had carried for her was written in his eyes—even still.
“When she came back, she seemed even more pleased than before to see me. And that thrilled me. That made me feel. . .powerful. I finally understood why his Lord loved her so.”
I bit my lip as I imagined the beautiful, golden-haired goddess greeting Morpheus upon her arrival to the Underworld. Though I had not been there, I knew a friendship had bloomed between them. One that had lasted just as long as Darce’s love for her. If I concentrated hard enough, I could see the flashes of their time together, sharing stories and laughter. It gave me a sort of comfort to know they’d had each other then, just as I had him now.
“We grew to understand each other,” Morpheus whispered. Our gazes locked and he nodded slowly. “Just as we have.”
“You’re my only friend,” I whispered. “And right now, I feel so alone.”
“You’re not alone,” Morpheus murmured, turning slightly to face me. His eyes were serious as they bore into mine. “I won’t leave you behind, Summer.”
“I want to go home.”
“And you will,” he replied. “I promise.”
“How? How can you be so sure? If Demeter and Zeus succeeded in keeping Persephone away from Darce. . .Lorena, Celena. . .Winnie…”
“She was never really that successful,” Morpheus snorted. “Fate is in your favor, Summer. Don’t take that for granted.”
“And it’s not in yours?”
Morpheus gently began to tug the blankets up around my shoulders. He didn’t want to answer my question, so I took his silence as an answer in itself.
“What happened after I blacked out?” I asked, sinking deeper into the warmth of the bed.
“There were a great many discussions that occurred. I brought you down here to the room. Aphrodite tended to you for a few hours, and then Eros took watch. I had only just left to get a glass of water in case you woke.” He gestured to the glass sitting on a small table, nearest to the door.
After a moment, Morpheus continued, clearing his throat. “I spoke at length with both Poseidon and Zeus.” The words echoed in my ears, and I felt my heart beat fearfully in my chest.
“And? What are they going to do with me?”
“Zeus has decided that the boat will anchor near Plaka.”
“Greece?”
Morpheus nodded. “Yes, Greece. And from Plaka, we all will ascend to Mount Olympus.”
“So we’re still going to Mount Olympus?” Had this not been entertainment enough? Now they planned to drag me up a mountain to further my suffering. I wanted to stuff my head into a hole and stay there.
“The yacht was only a detour.”
“Was it always a part of their plan to get rid of Darce?”
Morpheus hesitated. “No. . .I don’t believe any of this was planned. But as you can see, the whole situation worked out in your mother’s favor.”
I closed my eyes and groaned. That was the last thing either one of us had wanted. I resisted the urge to be angry with Darce. I knew. . .I understood why he had said the things he had said. I understood why but. . .
“This is it. Either I fight my way out, or I just let her kill me. . .the same way she killed them all.”
“I don’t see you being the sort to just. . . give in. Particularly not after Minthe.”
“Is she going too?”
Morpheus cringed as he spoke. “I believe Zeus gave her permission to return to the Underworld.”
“What?!” I sat up in bed, my eyes wide and my mouth agape. “Minthe went back? What for?”
“Can you imagine what Arae will say when she sees her again?” There was a hint of humor in his voice. I couldn’t bring myself to laugh though. I knew Arae would do all but kill her. But what about Darce? She had him cornered, like a cat coming up against a mouse; he had nowhere to go. At least, that’s what she probably thought, given his situation. I would even bet she thought he would come running to her for comfort, because she was a delusional box-dye blonde with a superiority complex.
“But Minthe…”
“His Lord was able to handle her once. He can surely do it a second time.”
The stakes had been different before. He had put up with Minthe for the sake of his companions and the Underworld. Now, there was us to consider. Would he really settle down into their old ways, all to keep her happy? For what? I didn’t want to imagine it.
“But he can’t—”
“Let it rest for now,” Morpheus said softly. “There’s nothing we can do.”
“You can go to him. You can do something.”
“And what about you? I can’t just leave you here.”
I knew he was right. I didn’t want to be here alone, without someone I knew I could rely on. Besides, Darce had told me to stay with Morpheus.
“I just…” I sighed, feeling tears spring to life again. “I feel so powerless.”
Morpheus gently pulled me down to rest, readjusting the blankets around my shoulders.
“If you permit me, I could give you some sort of peace. A dream; something to make your heart hurt less than it does already.”
A tear rolled down my cheek, and my eyes began to feel heavy under their weight. I didn’t want to cry anymore.
“I. . .I don’t think I could bear it,” I admitted.
“Will you then permit me to at least stay with you?” The question seemed so simple and easy. Morpheus wanted to stay. He wanted to be with me—fill the room with something other than the vast emptiness I felt in my heart.
“Stay?” I echoed.
“I only wish to help you keep the nightmares at bay,” Morpheus murmured. I wondered if there was something more behind his request. Did this stem from how he had felt for Persephone? Was it his love for her that kept him beside me? I didn’t want to ask my questions aloud. A part of me didn’t want to know at all.
“Are you going to give me nightmares instead?” I asked, sliding my fingertips over the silver threading on his shirt.
He chuckled and shook his head. “No, I’m going to make sure you sleep peacefully tonight.” His finger brushed a stray tear away from my cheek. “I want to protect you, in the way I never had or could for Persephone. I want to make things right.”
“You don’t owe me anything, Morpheus,” I replied. “I’m not her.”
He nodded begrudgingly. “Perhaps not exactly, but. . .” He drifted into silence as his arm wrapped around me gently. He pulled me closer, tucking me into the crook of his arms. It was there, in the safety of his embrace, I felt myself finally crumble. All of the events of the morning, the sudden loss of Darce, it was all too much. My heart felt as though it were caving in on itself. A small sob erupted from my chest as I tucked myself closer into Morpheus.
“I have never loved anyone as much as I do you, Summer,” Morpheus whispered against my ear. “And I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
Gilded Ruins Page 14
