Hecate's Spell

by Lacey Carter Andersen

  Hades’s mouth twists with anger, and he starts to rise.

  But the golden-haired man surprises us both by throwing back his head and laughing, a booming sound. “She certainly has the attitude of a great and powerful witch.”

  Hades gives me another look that promises revenge. “It’s lucky that Priapus tolerates your fucking tongue.”

  Priapus. I know that name. My gaze moves down and I see the massive erection tenting his toga. Uh, yes, the god of enormous, powerful erections, or some shit like that. Hades always has the best company.

  Geez. My lucky day.

  “So then, witch,” another man shouts. “Show us what you can do.”

  “What do you want me to do?” I ask, but my gaze is glued to Hades.

  He puffs out smoke from his pipe. “Give us a premonition, witch.”

  This is easy. I move to the fire burning in the center of the pillows. The flames dance as I gaze down at them, and I will myself to open up to the magic around me. I spread my arms and close my eyes. The magic seems to dance over my flesh, and I hear a few gasps from the gods.

  No, I don’t need to make this whole show of my premonitions, but I’m also not a fool. I don’t need Hades even more pissed at me, so I figure a good show might make up for the fact that I can’t be demure and respectful if my life depends upon it.

  I spread my arms wider. “Great and powerful magic, bring forth to me your second-sight!”

  It’s hard not to laugh, but I feel the flames jump in front of me. And I don’t kid myself that the gasps are because I’m just so awesome. These idiot gods are high as kites. All this cheesy shit is going to make them happy as hell. Pinwheeling my arms a little then flapping them a bit, I spread out my arms and stare at the ceiling. I jerk and tense, as if a powerful image is coming over me.

  Then, I actually relax and let the magic in. It sweeps through me like a playful wind. An old friend I’ve missed for so long.

  One of the things no one but the first witch can understand is that magic really is like a child. And just like I helped my own daughter to escape this dark place, I don’t like to bring the magic here. Magic didn’t like the darkness or the suffering of the Underworld. Its light, the joy that beams within it, dims in this place. And because I’m the first witch, and the magic is like a child to me, when the magic dims down here, it dims everywhere.

  And so even though I could use my magic here to make my life better every day, I don’t. Not unless I absolutely need to. Instead, I close my eyes and feel the magic, felt its happiness deep inside, and take comfort knowing that my sacrifice is worth it.

  But this is one of those rare moments I have to bring it here.

  I open myself up wider and wider to the magic and let myself go...I let myself accept whatever promotions the magic might bring. This is the moment the images usually slam into me. This is the moment I see things, some good things, some bad.

  And yet, nothing happens.

  I relax my body and frown, reaching harder and harder for the magic. I feel it dancing, brighter and more powerful than I ever could’ve imagined, but no premonitions come. This has never happened before. When I call the magic, it responds.

  Unable to help myself, I chance a glance at Hades. He does not look happy. My heart races a little faster.

  “I see...I see people both beautiful and wise. I see them living lives of happiness and pleasure. But I also see jealous figures who would dare to take some of their joy. Be wary, gods, for you have jealous enemies and must be cautious.” Then I open my eyes and come off of my tiptoes. I look out at the group of gods and hold my breath.

  They begin to clap.

  Priapus leans over a topless goddess and says, “I knew there were a lot of people that envied me.”

  “Me too,” she says, shaking her head before drinking her wine.

  Everyone seems happy. Everyone but Hades. I try not to look at him, but I can’t help it. His anger is more painful than the heat from a fire or the sting of a whip.

  He rises. “Excuse me. I shall escort my witch out.”

  My stomach is tied in knots as I follow him out, Andros at my back. This is not going to end well, not at all. If Hades is leaving his party, I’m in for trouble.

  We step out the two doors that the guards hold open for us, and we walk a little further until the doors close, cutting out the laughter and music of the throne room. Then, faster than a snake could strike, Hades whirls around and slams me against the stone, holding me by the throat. I can feel the tension in Andros. I see his hands curl into fists, but he stares straight ahead, not at us, and I know this is one more moment he’ll hate himself for.

  “What the fuck was that shit?”

  “I don’t know what you m--” His hand closes around my throat, cutting off my breath and the words.

  “Lie to me, witch, and I will have the gargoyle whipped raw.”

  The pressure around my neck decreases, and I suck in deep breaths. My eyes are locked with Hades. And in their depths, I see the truth. He already knows I faked my vision. Lying will only piss him off.

  “My visions didn’t come. I don’t why. It’s never happened before.”

  I expect him to beat the shit out of me or to fly into a rage. Instead, he releases my throat and his brows draw together. “Andros, take her to the doctor. I will know before the end of this day what is broken with my witch.”

  He turns and heads back to the throne room, but I swear I’m more afraid of this than his beating. What if something is wrong with me? If he can’t use my powers for his amusement, he no longer has a purpose for me. He’s told me should that day ever come, that he’ll lock me away with the titans in a dark, bleak eternity I can never escape from.

  The thought of that dark place with the titans fills my nightmares.

  “Come on,” Andros says gruffly, grabbing my arm roughly and dragging me down the hall. But his thumbs rub my skin softly, reassuring me even if it’s the only way he can.

  The main doctor in the Underworld isn’t known for helping people. But he sure as hell knows how to hurt us.

  I’m in trouble. Serious trouble. Unless I get lucky.

  6

  Blaise

  Okay, so I’d been around almost forever, but I have some rules my mama had drilled into me from the time I was born until...well, until she turned away from me the day I was exiled. And one of those rules is to knock at a lady’s door, monster or not. So I lift my hand and rap lightly on the door, trying not to scare the woman inside.

  Well, woman...monster...I’m not sure, but I like to look on the positive side of things.

  A second later, I hear the lock on the door get turned and the door opens up, casting firelight out into the dark night. For a moment, there’s only the shadow of the woman, and my stomach clenches as I wonder if I made a mistake, but then my eyes adjust, and I see a remarkably beautiful woman with long brown hair and a gown that’s green and brown and woven. I can easily imagine that this woman is a queen of the swamps and blends in when she moves through it.

  “Uh, hi, I’m Blaise.”

  She lifts a brow. “You have one minute to tell me why you're here before Furry eats you alive.”

  Furry? I don’t know who the hell she’s talking about, so I snap into action and respond, “My friend and I are trying to save someone that Hades has prisoner in the Underworld, and we heard you have a map that shows how to get in.” My rambling words stop, and I stare at her, wondering what the hell she’s going to do.

  “So...you want to do something to piss off Hades?”

  Slowly, I nod, hoping that whatever the hell Furry is, it isn’t about to eat me.

  “Well…” She flashes a smile. “Come on in. I’ll do anything to make that asshole’s life harder.” She opens the door wider, then looks behind her. “Don’t hurt him, Furry, he’s a friend.”

  My heart sinks, and I slowly turn around. A snake lifts its head from the waters. A snake that could easily eat me in one bite. It stretches its n
eck out longer and longer until it towers over me and the house. I swear, I shrink back. Another mutant reptile? I hate this damn place. It must be something in the air, because my legs are shaking and my blood feels like ice through my veins.

  “Watch out!” I hear Orion shout.

  He’s in front of me with his sword in an instant.

  “Whoa! Whoa!” I say as the snake hisses and flashes its fangs. “They’re friends. She’s letting us in, and the snake, Furry, isn’t going to hurt us. Right, Furry?” I coo the last part, unable to help the way my voice shakes.

  “Have you lost your damn mind? She’s just letting us in... A snake called Furry?”

  I put a hand on Orion’s shoulder. “Trust me, okay? Put the sword away before you get us both killed!”

  For one minute I think he’s going to ignore me and leap onto the snake, but then ever so slowly, he resheaths his sword and turns back to the woman in the doorway. Their eyes meet, and tension sings between them. I wonder what it must be like for a monster and monster hunter to meet. And I have the unsettling thought that I wouldn’t blame her for having that snake attack us right now, after the many monsters Orion has killed over the years.

  Instead, she lifts a brow. “A gargoyle who’s working to piss off the gods? I thought your kind loved your handshake deals with those assholes.”

  “I’m not a gargoyle anymore. I’m more an avenging angel,” he says, and I realize how true those words are as he speaks.

  She studies him for a long moment, then gestures for him to come in. He does, and I follow quickly behind, eyeing the damn giant snake. She closes the door behind us, and I freeze. The house looks nothing like I expected. On one side is a neat little kitchen, rustic, but tidy and well-cared for. A little table sits beside it with a chair. On the side of the room, there’s a roaring fireplace, a bed tucked into one corner, and a sitting area with wooden chairs, and what looks to be fresh tea on a table.

  She gestures to the sitting area, and we take our seats.

  Then she goes to the kitchen and brings two more cups and sets them on the table, before pouring us all a cup. “Sugar? Honey?”

  “Lots of sugar,” I say.

  Orion lifts a brow, then takes the tea with nothing in it.

  “You’re not more of a man because you don’t like sugar,” I mumble.

  He huffs, something he loves to do.

  To my surprise, the woman, Ryane, flashes a smile. “So, a gargoyle who doesn’t hunt monsters with a phoenix as his partner. That must be a strange story.”

  “Just as strange as a feared monster serving us tea,” I counter right back.

  Her eyes widen, and for a second I think I’ve stuck my oversized foot in my mouth again, before she laughs, a charming sound. “You have a point there. So, tell me, who do you plan to free from the Underworld?”

  “Does it matter?” Orion huffs.

  She lifts a brow, dropping sugar into my glass, then sugar and honey into her cup. “It does if you want to bring back an asshole. The ladies of this day and age have enough to deal with without exes and jerks coming back from the dead.”

  “Excuse my grumpy friend,” I tell her, taking the mug she offers. “He might have some unique views as a gargoyle, but you can’t take the stick out of a permanently clenched ass.”

  She laughs again. “I had no idea phoenixes were so charming. I’ll have to file that information away for when I look for my next lover.” She has a smile on her face, but the words have a sad edge that I don’t understand.

  Then she casts me a coy look.

  It’s almost an invitation. But as lovely as she is, Little Blaise makes the decisions about the women we sleep with, and he’s not even getting the slightest rise from the gorgeous monster.

  “We’re actually trying to find his brother. We have reason to believe...well, that his brother didn’t die in the traditional sense and may be more of a...prisoner than an actual dead person in the Underworld.”

  Her brows draw together. “And what makes you believe that?”

  “Well, for one,” I clear my throat, ignoring Orion’s glare, “gargoyles work the same as most immortal beings. The only real way they can die is from being beheaded. But his brother, he wasn’t beheaded.”

  “So what happened?” she asks, frowning and taking another sip of her tea.

  I blow on my own tea and take a sip. Hell, okay, so swamp tea is good. Everything else about this place sucks, but this is easily the best tea I’d ever had, flowery sweetness in the best possible way. “Orion isn’t quite sure.” It’s the truth, if not a half-truth.

  She settles back in her chair. “I’ve actually heard of a certain gargoyle guard.”

  “That’s him!” I say, at least according to the shade.

  She nods, then sets her tea down. Rising, she drags a chair from the table and takes it to the kitchen. She reaches above the cabinets and pulls down a small, rolled-up piece of parchment. Then she climbs down and unrolls it on the table.

  When she looks at us, she says, “Come on then, let me show you.”

  We set our teas down and go over to her. My heart pounds as we come to stand in front of the strangest map I’ve ever seen.

  “This is a map of all the known locations that go from the earth to the Underworld.” She points to the top of the map, where there are tiny sketches and little notes. Then she points to the map that spreads over most of the parchment. “This is the only known map of its kind. It shows paths in and out of the Underworld that only three people know exists.” She points to one area. “The Queen of the Underworld has a few important visitors that she prefers to keep secret. They use this path to get in. I should warn you, it’s scary as hell, no pun intended, but it’ll get you to the Underworld in record time.”

  “That’s the path we’ll go then,” Orion says, his words gruff.

  Then she points to a different sort of path near it. Instead of a nearly straight path down, it’s a twisty path that leads to various small chambers. “This is the quickest path back out. And what’s more, Hades’s men do not know about it, and even if they did, they couldn’t go in. I don’t know much about it beyond that, except that it has tests to ensure that the wrong sorts of people aren’t using it.”

  “What does that mean?” Because we’re usually the wrong sorts of people for everything.

  She shrugs. “I’m not really sure, but it’ll be important to keep your wits about you if you use it.”

  Orion begins to run his fingers over it, as if memorizing it.

  Her gaze meets mine, and she smiles. “You can take the map with you, as long as you promise to use it to cause as much trouble to Hades as possible.”

  Orion’s head jerks toward her, and he doesn’t even hide his surprise. “You would give this...to us.”

  She shrugs. “Call me a bleeding heart, but I’m rooting for you to save your brother.”

  “Thank you,” he says, and the words hold so much emotion that it hurts me to hear.

  “Another thing.” Her gaze is intense. “If you find his soul, get him to follow you, but you have to know the rules of returning a soul to the world of the living.”

  “Which are?” I ask, holding my breath.

  “Do you know the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice?” she asks.

  I say no at the same moment Orion says yes.

  She sighs. “Orphesus was a man whose wife died. The story goes that he was allowed to bring her back from the Underworld, as long as he never looked back on the long journey to the surface. It is said that he was nearly to the surface when he became convinced his wife wasn’t there and that he was being tricked, so he turned around and saw her spirit drift away, then lost her forever. The tale is mostly true, except that it’s actually explaining the one loophole to the Underworld. Anyone can come and take a spirit with them, as long as they never look back to see if the person is following them. So if you find your brother, you can lead him out, and his spirit will return to his body. But if you look back to ensure h
e’s there, not only will his spirit return to Hades, you’ll never be able to get him out again. You have one chance.”

  “Fuck,” Orion whispers, then looks down at the map.

  I force a smile. “It’s okay. We weren’t planning multiple trips down anyway.”

  Ryane returns my smile. “Well, I wish you the best of luck.” Then she goes and gets something the same relative size and shape as the map. She rolls the map up, ties the leather binding around it, and puts it safely into the little case, securing the top. “One more thing: bring a lot of food with you. If you eat a single piece of food in the Underworld, you’ll never be able to leave.”

  Wow. The more we learn, the more dangerous the place seems, in new and unexpected ways.

  “Thank you,” I say.

  Orion takes the map and meets her gaze. “Sincerely, Ryane. I owe you a life debt.”

  She shakes her head. “You don’t owe me anything. Just save the person you love. That’s how you can repay me.” And again, there’s a sad note to her words that makes my chest tighten. Has she lost someone she loved?

  I want to ask, but I know I can’t. Lost loves aren’t exactly appropriate conversations for strangers.

  We head for the door and she opens it. I glance out, looking for whatever horrible little bastard reptiles might be waiting for us, but I don’t see anything.

  “Oh, and your brother’s body is somewhere safe?”

  Orion frowns and looks back at her. “Yes, why?”

  She gets the strangest look on her face. “Because if he should lose his head before you can save him, you won’t be able to return his spirit to his body.”

  Orion’s entire body stiffens. “He’s safe.”

  But I know he’s thinking the same thing I am. His body might be hidden, but there’s no one guarding him. No way to guarantee he remains safe while we’re gone.

  There’s also nothing we can do about it.

  “Be careful,” she says with a little wave.

  We nod. My wings unravel and I make them glow, lighting the dark swamp. Orion doesn’t turn to stone, but he lets his stone wings grow from his back. We exchange a glance, then dart into the sky. I guess we need to choose which entrance to the Underworld we’ll use, pack enough food and supplies for a long time, and then save his brother.