Broken Knights (Gifted Academy #4) - Michelle Hercules Page 0,97

darkness. Monsters love the dark.

38

Daisy

The lights return just in time for us to see a great vortex of black smoke build up near the ceiling. My body is as tense as a coiled spring, while my heart feels like it’s a fucking freight train. Bryce’s powers are also engaged to the max as he stares upward. The vortex converges down, not too far from where we’re standing. Slowly, a shape takes form. The shadows recede, and Morpheus appears in front of us in his demigod form.

“What the fucking hell!” Bryce yells my exact thoughts.

I can’t believe I didn’t recognize Morpheus’s signature. My heart demands that I run to him, but my brain is commanding me to stay put. And when another shape materializes next to him, a woman with pale skin and jet-black hair, I become even more leery.

“Morpheus, you son of a bitch.” Phoenix strides toward him. “Did you want to give us a heart attack? What kind of bullshit entrance was that? We thought you were Chaos.”

The woman smirks and glances at Morpheus. “I told you they wouldn’t recognize you.”

Her tone denotes intimacy, which awakens the possessive side in me. “Who the fuck are you?”

She arches her eyebrows, looking surprised. “Oh my. You don’t recognize me?”

“Should I?”

“Daisy.” Morpheus takes a step forward. “This is Eris, my half sister.”

Magia’s mother. Shit. My anger deflates, but not completely. I’m still mad as hell at Morpheus for taking off. “Where have you been?”

“I had to take care of something important.”

“And you couldn’t tell us before you vanished?” Rufio steps next to me, glaring openly at Morpheus and his companion.

“No.”

“Don’t mind Morpheus. He hasn’t completely adjusted to being a demigod yet. He’ll be a cold asshole for a while,” Eris pipes up.

He furrows his eyebrows, and his eyes, which were glowing like molten gold, return to normal. “Am I still acting like that?”

“Yes,” everyone replies in unison.

“Morpheus!” Mrs. Malek pushes through the crowd to get to him.

She, unlike me, doesn’t hesitate to pull her son into a hug. He tenses for a second but then returns the gesture.

“I was so worried about you,” she says, easing off to look at his face. Then she does something wholly unexpected. She pinches his arm. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“Ouch! Mom, come on.” He steps back, rubbing the spot.

“No way he felt that,” Phoenix whispers to me.

Mrs. Malek glances over her shoulder. “Oh, he felt it.”

Oh, motherly powers. Good to know someone can keep him in check, even if he’s a demigod now.

“Sorry to interrupt the party, but we have an attack to plan.” Xavier approaches our group.

“An attack? Where?” Morpheus asks.

“We have the Neo Gods’ headquarters location,” I say.

“Then tell me and I’ll take care of it.”

“Alone?” My voice rises to a pitch.

“Yes, alone. Don’t look at me like that. I’ve just destroyed every single lightning-glass mine in the world. I can level another mountain to the ground and bury Neo Gods with it.”

“You did what?” Soren pushes through the small gathering to reach the front.

“You heard me.”

“Hold up.” Rufio raises his hand. “I must have misheard you.”

“Am I not speaking English? I destroyed all the lightning-glass reserves.”

“Why would you do that?” Jodie asks. “We needed those weapons.”

“Exactly. My father spent years to gain the trust of the leaders of the church, and you’re saying you fucking blew everything up?” Soren yells.

“I’m sorry that Gunther’s work was in vain. But destroying the reserves had to be done.” Morpheus glowers at him.

“Why?” I ask.

“Because they would do more harm than good in the long run. Surely you can see that. Those religious freaks had made an alliance with mercenaries. Their goal was to end all Idols, not only the Neo Gods.”

“You had no right!” Rufio takes a step forward, shaking with fury. “Norms deserve a way to fight. You just took that option from us!”

“I’m sorry, Rufio.”

“Bullshit! You’re not sorry. You did it because you don’t fucking care about anyone else now that you’ve mastered your demigod powers. You’re just as bad as Chaos,” Rufio spits out.

“I’m nothing like him.” Morpheus takes an aggressive stance, moving forward.

Fuck. This is escalating too fast. I jump in between them with my arms raised. “Stop it! We can’t start to fight among ourselves.”

“As far as I’m concerned, Morpheus clearly stated which side he’s on, and it’s not ours,” Rufio replies.

“You’re acting like a spoiled brat. It’s not my fault you don’t have your powers anymore,” Morpheus rebuffs.

Damn it. That comment hurt. It’s not his fault; it’s