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Ultimately, I nod my agreement.And the second condition?
A slow, enigmatic smile spreads across Hecate’s lips. “You will grant me influence over nightmares once more, as I had for my followers in the waking world. As the goddess of Ghosts and Magic, I wish for my apparitions and spells to creep into the dreams of my witches, weaving their destinies in the shadows. It’s been too long since the days of my followers stripped to their glorious mortal skin and danced around fires under the harvest moon while chanting praises to my name.”
Naturally,I agree.The world is due for more pagan raves. Who doesn’t love a good old-fashioned fire dance?
“Selene will appreciate the mystical comeback as much as I.”
Despite my humor lightening the moment, I consider her demands, the weight of the decision pressing on me. Yet, the need to reclaim Zenya and invade Morpheus’s border outweighs the potential consequences.
I accept your conditions.My choice is firm, and I grant her the gesture of good faith, drawing a claw across my flesh to spill my blood, black and thick.
Hecate’s smile widens, a glint of satisfaction in her eyes. She surges tendrils of firelight from her torches to spiral around my blood drops, catching every one before she directs the blood into the very mouths of the dogs who lap it up eagerly.
“It is done,” she declares. With a wave of her hand, the ghostly dogs let out a silent howl. The torches flare. “Prepare yourself, Nyxion. The path ahead is fraught with peril, but you are resilient enough to overcome. As is Morpheus. Hopefully, this Zenya will be, too.”
Fraught with peril?
“Mmm…a temporal storm encroaches in the Realm of Dreams. I imagine the war brewing between you and Morpheus, the tension, and such supernatural, organic artifacts as the Eye and the hyoid bone embedded within the flesh of a mortal will disrupt the balance. Such delicious conflicts, don’t you think? Neither good nor ill. After all, dreams may neutrally test beings. Let us see what this little weaver is made of.”
A temporal storm. It could bring any outcome. I don’t underestimate Zenya when it comes to any subconscious conflict. She will rise to the challenge. I only hope Morpheus does not wield too much of his influence.
She is still mine. My dark, little killer. She belongs with me in the Realm of Nightmares. With every tattoo pulsing on the left side of her being, she knows this.
As Hecate’s presence begins to fade, the air around us returns to its previous stillness.
I feel a renewed sense of purpose, but also a lingering unease. Hecate’s presence heightens the stakes. The disruption of balance will only intensify those stakes—as treacherous as it is vital to tether Zenya to our world.
But the true cost of Hecate’s assistance remains to be seen.
Chapter 15
A scream tears from my throat as I fall—forever falling.
ZENYA
“Fireflies” by Owl City
“Mirrors” by Justin Timberlake - Sam Tsui and Kurt Hugo Schneider Cover
Morpheus laughs from a distance as I rush through the magical house of mirrors, escaping through narrow passageways, bumping the glass.
The God of Dreams loves to play games. And I am an eager player.
The mirrors transform into a shifting kaleidoscope, shadows, and light reflecting all around me. The ethereal labyrinth seems to stretch infinitely in all directions.
Each mirror flickers with a portal to a different world, beckoning me with hypnotic and mesmerizing imagery.
I pause, lifting my fingers toward one mirror displaying a forest bathed in moonlight, its gold and silver leavesshimmering while Fae folk dance around bonfires. I envy their midnight blue skin, speckled with starry-like glitter, sharp and delicate features, and hair of elemental materials—leaves and vines to sheer water droplets like liquid braids.
The next mirror reflects a night sky of swirling constellations. They form new shapes. Dancing ladies. Wolves howling at the moon. Roses showering down petals.
Another shows an underwater scene where colorful fish waltz among endless coral reefs.
Shadows twirling along my bare legs are my first signal.
I smirk and lunge for the next opening. Strong arms catch me from behind just like the first time we met.
“Got you, little wonder,” Morpheus purrs low in my ear, raising all the hairs on my skin. I whimper as his lips roam along the side of my neck. “You can’t hide from the Ruler of your wildest dreams.”
