God of My Dreams (Greek Heroes #1) ✅ Completed

Chapter Twenty-Five: Being Human Really Blows

Being Human Really Blows 

Morpheus fell to his knees as a wave of unbelievable pain washed over him. It felt as if his body was being torn apart as an essential piece of him was savagely and mercilessly ripped out of his core. The pain was awe-inspiring and seemed to last a lifetime. Nothing existed except the misery of his existence. When it was finally over, Morpheus found himself face down on the crossroad, barely able to breathe.

What the hell was that?

“Hades took your powers, genius. You’re mortal now.” Aphrodite’s voice seemed to come from someplace far away but Morpheus knew she was a lot closer than that, as a matter of fact she was standing directly over him. He had an excellent view of her black leather boots as they were right in his peripheral vision from his prone position on the ground.

“What?” he tried to raise his head but it was like trying to lift a piano made of lead, coated in iron with only his nose. Zeus! Was this how humans felt like every second of the day?

It freaking blew.

Aphrodite snorted in a most unladylike fashion. “Gods above, you really are a thick one – you’ve suffered a beat down by a Greek god, Stephen Hawking. What you’re currently feeling is the human effect of living through something so nasty. I can’t imagine it’s a walk in the park right about now.”

With great effort Morpheus managed to roll onto his back so he didn’t have to talk with dirt and Hades knew what flying up his nose. Aphrodite crouched down next to him. He didn’t have to be a god to feel her power as she scanned him, her intense perusal moving through him until she reached his vital organs. Morpheus wished with all the power of Olympus she would just leave him to his quest in peace.

No such luck.

Aphrodite gave his bruised ribs a dainty poke though it felt more like a direct hit from a mini weapon of mass destruction. “Count yourself lucky. It could’ve been so much worse,” she remarked.   

“Lucky?” Morpheus managed to wheeze out. If this was the human version of good luck then he didn’t want to be an unlucky bastard running around like most people  

Aphrodite stood up, her eyes never leaving his now fragile and very mortal body as she continued, “Absolutely. All in all you’ve only suffered a mild concussion, a few bruises, and a cracked rib or two. Hades was pretty generous; no internal bleeding, hemorrhaging organs, or missing limbs – all in all, pretty amazing, really.”

“Enlighten me as to why you consider that so damn amazing, Aphrodite?” he snapped. “I feel like warmed over Satyr crap over here.  

She shook her head at his ungratefulness. Why did male gods have to be such whiny, she-babies all the time?

“Because you could just as easily be sitting there like a big pile of disgusting mush instead, night stalker,” she said impatiently. “Zeus! It was probably harder for Hades to keep you in one piece while he took your power then to rip you apart. Have you ever tried to do something so complicated? I don’t think you would be too keen on saving your precious Gwen-Stacey with every single bone in your body broken? I can’t imagine there’s much of a success rate in that sort of thing. If it had been Poseidon, he probably would’ve cut off your legs after you’d made the deal – at least his brother’s playing fair.”

“You call making me mortal ‘playing fair?’” Morpheus asked incredulous. He was sick of looking up to the love goddess and attempted to rise from the ground once more. His ass hit the dirt road hard and suddenly standing up seemed like the hardest thing in the world. How in the name of Olympus was he going to get to Hades’ palace if he couldn’t even get off his damn ass?