Page 72

Hypnos raises both hands, summoning the darkness around him.

I lift one finger.

The shadows freeze.

His eyes widen.

“How?”

I take a step toward him.

“Did you truly believe you could imprison the God of Dreams inside a dream?”

He snarls.

“This is my realm!”

“Then perhaps you should have chosen a different battlefield.”

I close my fist.

The black marble beneath us turns white.

The ceiling vanishes.

Stars blaze overhead.

And Calla’s prison shatters.

She falls.

I catch her before she touches the ground.

“Hello, little mortal.”

She throws her arms around my neck.

“I could kill you!”

I laugh.

“An unusual greeting for the man who just saved your life.”

“You were turning into a statue!”

“Temporarily.”

“Three thousand years is not temporarily!”

“Under the circumstances, I believe I deserve a kiss.”

She grabs my face.

And kisses me.

“Hades, woman.”

Even with my powers restored, nothing in existence compares to her.