by Steve McHugh
"The mythology shows Hera as a jealous, but mostly fair, matriarch."
"Mythology and truth are far apart in most cases. You'll learn that for yourself soon enough."
Kasey flipped through a few more pages of her notebook, but closed it without asking another question. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing," she said too quickly.
"Kasey, you're as bad a liar as your dad. Is that what all of these questions were about? Because you have something you really do want to talk about, and you were easing me into it?"
The barest of smiles crossed Kasey's lips. "My dad taught me to do that. Ease people into a conversation with easy questions, before asking the hard ones."
"Smart girl."
"Can I hire you?"
I didn't even try to hide my shock. "What? Why?"
"My mum got hurt. I know that she can take care of herself, but before I left I saw her. She was crying. I've never seen her cry. Not once. Agent Greaves told me that she's getting no back-up from Avalon. That someone has refused to send help. They told her that if she was unable to do it herself, that they would remove her. She's in danger. And dad will try to help her, and he'll get hurt. I can't have them hurt. I... I don't want—"
"They will be fine," I said, as Kasey wiped tears from her cheeks.
"You don't know that," she whispered with a lot of anger. "I need you to take care of them. I want to hire you to look after them. To make sure they don't get hurt."
Tommy was up from his seat and across the aisle to his daughter in a second, holding her against him as she burst into tears. "Kase, mum's fine," Tommy said softly, as he stroked his daughter’s hair. "And I'll be fine, too."
"No," she snapped, pushing away from him. "You don't know that. But you told me that Nate helps people, that he's good at it. I need him to keep you two safe. Jess lost her stepdad a few months back. Her mum's fallen to pieces, and Jess is a mess. I... I can't lose you, Daddy. I can't."
I stood and went to the rear of the jet, leaving father and daughter to have some alone time. I walked down a short aisle and opened a door to reveal a small bedroom. The double bed looked inviting. I lay down and discovered that the dark red duvet was as comfortable as it had appeared. I figured I'd wait until Tommy or Kasey came and found me, or until we stopped moving. I discovered a selection of books in a bedside cabinet, and selected the one that sounded the most interesting. It was about assassins, and I settled down to read, trying not to think about how upset my best friend and his daughter were.
I must have dozed off, because the next time I opened my eyes was in response to a soft knock on the bedroom's door. The blond flight attendant opened the door and told me that we were landing and that I needed to get back into my seat and fasten my seatbelt.
I thanked her and pushed myself up to a sitting position, stretching my arms before making my way back to Tommy and Kasey who were still deep in conversation.
Ten minutes later, we touched down with a slight bump and came to a stop shortly after.
The two flight attendants opened the jet's door, allowing freezing cold air to flow into the fuselage uninterrupted. "Your bags will be taken up to the house," the blonde one said with a smile.
"Cheers," I said, returning her smile and using a small measure of fire magic to warm my bare hands. I was grateful that I'd brought a large, thick coat with me, as the wind picked up the loose snow littering the airfield, and flung it around like children having a snowball fight.
Kasey, Tommy and I made our way across the tarmac toward a large building, the only one on the airfield. Just as we'd reached our destination, and the promise of a windless few moments, the door burst open and a man stepped out. He wore a long, black coat, but didn't bother to cover his bald head with a hat. He was over six and a half feet tall and while he was lean in build, he was still broad across the shoulders. Back when he was born, he'd have been considered a giant of a man. He walked toward us with no evidence that the cold was anything more than a slight inconvenience.
"Nathan," he shouted, wrapping his arms around me in a hug, before doing the same to Tommy. "And, this must be Kasey," he said with enthusiasm. "Come with me; let's get back to the house."
He led us into the building, which was basically one large room containing armed security who checked our bags and made us walk through a metal detector before letting us leave through the door on the opposite side. "Sorry about that," the man said. "If I don't let them do it, they get very whiney about the whole thing."
He let us toward a small motorcade of cars- three black, four-wheel drive Mercedes. We climbed into the middle one, the seats inside had been arranged so that the front passenger could swivel around to talk to those in the rear.
He swivelled round once the car started. "It's good to see you all. I'm glad you called Nathan. It sounds like we have much to discuss."
Kasey raised a hand.
"You don't need to do that," the man said warmly. "Just ask away."
She lowered her hand, but stared intently at the man in front of us. "Who are you?"
"Nate and Tommy didn't tell you who you were visiting? My manners must seem horrific." He straightened himself in his chair and readjusted his collar, before extending his hand to Kasey. "Hello, Kasey, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've gone by a few names over the years, but you can call me Hades."
Chapter 24
"I'm sorry my dear, did that shock you?" Hades asked Kasey as we exited the car. She'd been very quiet since learning of his identity.
"It's just..." she started in a whisper, "you're Hades. We learnt about you at school."
"I am he, yes," he said with a large grin in place. "You must tell me what they're teaching these days. Last I heard it was all kidnap this and pomegranates that. Persephone was always entertained with that one. She doesn't even like the blasted things."
We followed Hades up the lengthy path and under a grey-stone archway to the dark wood, front door, where he caught Tommy glancing around. "You're wondering about my security, aren't you?” Hades asked.
"Glass windows, grey brick structure, wooden window frames. I assume you have runes etched into everything."
"Every single brick has a rune on it. The wooden frames also have them." Hades tapped the glass panel in the front door. "Bulletproof glass. It's in every window, pane of glass and door in the house. I assure you, we are safe here."
Hades opened the door and took us into the foyer – a grand room with a wooden staircase on one side and selection of dark brown couches on the other. The staircase matched the door and window frames in colour.
"The stairs lead to nine bedrooms," Hades said. "Your bags will be taken to the empty bedrooms at the end of the hallway. Each has its own bathroom, so please feel free to make yourself at home."
As if on cue, several women in uniform appeared, taking our bags upstairs without a sound. They were like tiny, luggage carrying ninjas.
"Why don't you go and get yourselves settled," Hades said to Tommy and Kasey. "I'll be outside with Nate when you're ready."
With anyone else, Tommy would have glanced toward me to check that I would be okay. But there was no need with Hades. We both trusted him with our lives, and although we didn't always agree, he would never attack us. Besides, if he'd wanted me dead, I wouldn't even have made it to the hanger once we landed in Canada.
"Let's go talk," Hades said to me when we were alone.
I followed him through several rooms until we reached the massive kitchen. A counter ran almost the length of the room, chairs pulled up along one side so that people could cook and serve the food at the same place.
The smell of cinnamon wafted through the room. Someone had been baking.
"Our cook makes apple strudel," Hades said. "I had her make Tommy one all for himself."
"I'm surprised he hasn't caught the scent and run down here like a bulldozer."
Hades laughed, as he opened a large glass door and stepped out into the conservatory.
I wa
lked to the glass window and looked out across the fields behind Hades' house. A large building sat several hundred meters to my left. It hadn't been there when I'd last visited. "What's that for?"
"Ah, we built a small house there for guests we don't trust to stay in the main building. There's two more down by the lake. Persephone had wanted another built to house the swimming pool, but I convinced her that moving the entire swimming pool would be best left to Poseidon himself, and I doubted he would be keen on coming over to help my wife redecorate our house."
"How is she?"
"Persephone? Probably on the phone shouting at someone. She's been looking forward to seeing you again. The last twelve hours have been a whirlwind of activity that I'd decided it was best to avoid."
"Sorry for causing you any problems."
"Not me, my friend, but my staff might not be so enthusiastic." He pointed back into the kitchen. "You see those spotlights above the kitchen counter?"
"They look very nice," I said, hoping that was the correct answer.
"Well, one of the bulbs was flickering. Persephone equated this to the end of the world. Apparently, flickering lights are some sort of sign of the apocalypse. Who knew?" Hades walked to a drinks cabinet at one side of the conservatory, and removed a bottle of coke. "Drink?"
"Why not," I said. "Thanks for the bottle on the jet."
"You're a terrible flyer. I saw no reason to burden everyone else with your lunacy."
I laughed as I accepted a bottle and took a seat on a leather arm-chair. "Thanks for seeing me on such short notice."
Hades sat opposite me and took a drink. "You call, I answer. I owe you too much for it to be any other way. Besides you said the magic word. Lich. That gets my attention pretty goddamn quickly."
Before I could say anything the door opened, and Kasey and Tommy joined us. Kasey had a can of coke in one hand, and Tommy was eating an apple with the enthusiasm of a man who hadn't eaten in days rather than hours.
"How's your accommodation?" Hades asked.
"Awesome," Kasey said immediately. "My room is massive."
"I'm glad you approve." Hades turned back to me. "Now, let's discuss this lich you're concerned about."
Tommy glanced at his daughter. "Maybe you shouldn't be here for this."
"No," Kasey snapped. "I'm not a little girl, Dad. This monster is responsible for Mum being attacked. I need to know what it is."
"I'm not sure," Tommy said.
"Please, Daddy," Kasey pleaded.
"Tommy," I interrupted. "I'd never tell you what to do, but do you remember what we were doing at twelve?"
"Hunting deer," Tommy said. "You?"
"I was learning how to kill people," I said honestly. "If I remember correctly, on my twelfth birthday, Merlin had me doing sword practice in the morning, and herbs in the afternoon. I believe we had cake after."
"Well, I certainly don't want her hunting this thing," Tommy said. "But you're probably right, Kasey; you are old enough to know what's happening."
Kasey beamed as if a huge victory had been won, and then stopped the moment her dad glanced her way. "Nate told me that lich are monsters," Kasey said.
"They're more than that," Hades explained. "A lich is created when a sorcerer uses some very dark blood magic to twist himself. They murder people in a very specific way and absorb their victims' souls as they ebb away. Then, when they've finally taken enough, they kill themselves in as violent a way as possible.
"And there's one more thing they must do. As they die, they must focus on the one person they hate above all others. A lich is created through a combination of the magic, the sacrifices and the hate. They're known as those born of hatred. And once they've been created, they're capable of such evil as you can't imagine."
"What makes them so powerful?" Kasey asked.
"Each lich can make up to six ghouls. Each ghoul is created by the lich absorbing the spirit of the human, and then replacing it with some of his own life energy."
"That's why we smelt so many different scents," Tommy said.
Hades nodded. "Yes, the lich will contain the scents of all the souls it's absorbed, all merged together. But even worse, it means that you can't kill the lich until you've killed all of his ghouls. Otherwise a part of him still exists out there, and he can come back again and again."
"So, they're un-killable until then?" Kasey asked.
"A lich with six ghouls alive is stronger than your dad is, just as fast, and nearly impossible to hurt in any meaningful way. Magic and weapons will hurt him, but not for long. And once you've killed all of the ghouls, you need a necromancer to kill the lich for good, by removing whatever twisted visage is left of his soul and destroying it. Only then can he be killed."
"So to stop him, we have to destroy all of his ghouls, and then remove his soul before killing him?" Tommy asked, before turning to me. "I see why you don't talk about your past lich problem very often."
"It wasn't much fun," I agreed. "I'm here to ask for your help, Hades. Do you have a necromancer who could be spared?"
"I'll make a few calls and get someone to the UK as soon as possible. Are you certain it's a lich?"
"Yes," I said. "I saw him with my own eyes. His name is Peter Jarvis."
"The trick will be to find this lich before anyone else dies. If you really did kill one ghoul, you have a few days before he will fully recover from his weakened state. He won't risk losing another so soon after."
"Can't he just make more?" Kasey asked.
"Once a lich-created ghoul is dead, that's it. They've lost that portion of their life they placed inside the beast." Hades was about to say more but the doors opened once again and a woman joined us in the conservatory.
Stunning was the wrong word to describe Persephone. She was one of the most beautiful women I've ever laid eyes on, someone who could give Aphrodite a run for her money in the desirable stakes. Her long dark hair flowed freely over slender shoulders, and a diamond clip in the shape of a butterfly sat just above one ear, which was pierced several times. She wore a simple white t-shirt and a pair of jeans that appeared to have been created especially for her.
She kissed her husband on the cheek before beckoning me to stand and giving me a hug. "It's been far too long, Nathan," she said before releasing me and doing the same to Tommy. "And you must be Kasey," she said, and embraced her as if they'd known each other for years.
"Hi," Kasey managed weakly.
"Are you done here?" Persephone asked Hades.
"I need to talk to Nate, but you're welcome to continue with whatever plan you have, my love."
Persephone's smile increased her beauty tenfold. "Good, Nathan you can join us when you're finished. I'm going to take this lovely young lady and her father for a tour of our home.” And without another word, Tommy and Kasey were ushered out of the conservatory.
"It's been a long time since we had any kids around," Hades said absentmindedly. "I think Persephone misses it. The house is always full of people, but security, business and staff do not make for a substitute to the sounds of a child's laughter."
"Are you getting broody, old friend?" I asked with a laugh.
"Maybe. We have five children of our own and adopted six more. Our youngest is twenty-two now. Maybe it's time to extend our family once again." He shook himself, as if clearing the thoughts out of his head. "A discussion for another time. I assume you didn't come all this way to hear me lament."
"Can we go somewhere private?"
Hades stood and opened the door behind him, bathing us both in the freezing cold air of a Canadian winter. Fire glyphs spread across the back of my hands, warming my body, but I was still grateful for the thick hooded top I wore. Hades didn't even seem to notice the cold at all. He wore only a black shirt and trousers, but he might as well have been wearing a thick fur coat for all the cold outwardly affected him.
"You need to teach me that trick," I said as we walked down a path in his garden, moving past stone statues of mythologica
l beasts – griffins, harpies and even a stone ogre sat amongst ornate and beautifully tended bushes, their colour a deep green, even for the time of year.
"You have an impressive gardener," I said.
"If you hire an earth elemental, your garden tends to stay how you want it." We stopped walking at a statue of Pegasus and Hades glanced up at the magnificent sculpture. "Have you ever seen Pegasus?"
I shook my head. "Before my time."
"Ah, he was a beautiful steed. Poseidon created him by feeding the blood of Medusa to a normal horse. Not sure when that was twisted to become he was born from Medusa's blood, but there you go. I remember the day that Bellerophon captured him. Zeus was furious that anyone would dare steal such a sacred creature."
"Bellerophon I've met a few times. He was always full of anger."
"He started to believe his own press, and eventually he challenged Zeus. Twice. The first time, Zeus beat him with a warning never to cross him again. The second time, Zeus was not so kind. He almost killed Bellerophon, probably would have, too, if not for Poseidon. It left Bellerophon a bitter and twisted man."
"I killed a ghoul today," I said, wanting to get the conversation away from the past and back to events closer to our current time.
Hades fell silent, but didn't turn to look at me. "I know, you've already told me. You've done that before, though."
"With magic, Hades. I killed a ghoul with magic."
That got his attention. "Are you sure?"
"I burnt his head clean off. I'm very sure he was dead."
"They can heal-"
"He didn't," I interrupted. "Hades, I killed a ghoul with fire magic. How is that possible?"
"It certainly requires some investigation."
"And I healed from being stabbed by a silver dagger in a matter of hours."
Hades raised one eyebrow. "Before it happened did you feel anything, a surge of strength or light-headedness?"
"I'd been stabbed. I was pretty much focused on the not bleeding to death portion of the day."
"Think, Nate. It's important."