Page 35

“Your confidence is inspiring.”

I press my palm against his chest.

The marble is warm.

Then hot.

A violent crack splits the silence.

I jump backward.

“Oh, shit!”

Silver light races through the fractures covering his body. Stone breaks away from his shoulders, his arms, his stomach.

The entire pedestal begins to shake.

“Morpheus!”

He throws back his head.

And laughs.

A deep, magnificent sound that makes every hair on my body stand on end.

“Finally.”

Another crack.

His chest expands.

The white marble turns golden beneath the museum lights.

Not stone.

Skin.

Real, warm, impossibly beautiful skin.

I stare.

“Oh, my God.”

His smile turns wicked.

“Yes?”

The remaining marble falls away.

Including the fig leaf.

Oh.

Oh, wow.

I slap a hand over my eyes.

Then immediately peek through my fingers.