Captured (Shadow Guild Hades & Persephone #3) - Linsey Hall Page 0,11

planned to try to sway me, but that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was starting this journey and defeating Chronos.

“We must go to the main city square,” I said. “There is a meeting of the guilds there, and we need to tell them what we know.”

“Why?” The idea of working with others was clearly foreign to him.

“Because they have the power to possibly hold off Chronos while we try to stop him. His curse is spreading so fast that we may not have time otherwise.”

He hesitated briefly, then nodded.

“Good.” I turned back toward the city street, staring out through the open door. The crowd had thinned, so it was easy to step out of the library.

Hades followed, shutting the door behind him, and we started for the center of town. The crowd rushing past gave us a wide berth, no doubt due to Hades. He towered above them, but it was the magic that rolled out from him that kept people at a distance.

The shop windows were eerily quiet as we walked, the magically dancing displays now still. On one side, they were frozen over by ice. On the other, the magic had faded as the shop keepers had left. My heart thundered as we made our way toward the towering church that dominated the center of town. The stones had long ago been blackened by fire, though half of them were now covered by shining ice.

In the square in front of the church, over fifty supernaturals had gathered. The highest-ranking members of the local government—the Council of Guilds—stood together in the center. Each guild had a representative. Spread out around them were the members of the guilds best suited to fighting this kind of curse—the witches, sorcerers, and fae.

Three other groups stood at the edges. The Order of the Magica from Chicago in the United States was represented, along with a contingent from Magic’s Bend, the largest supernatural city in America. From what I knew, they didn't always get along, but they’d joined forces for this. Lastly, there was a group from The Academy of Magic in Scotland.

It was a meeting of the most powerful supernaturals from Europe and North America. Presumably, the supernaturals on other continents were having similar meetings. Everyone was shouting at everyone else, and the cacophony was deafening.

I looked up at Hades, who stood out like a sore thumb in his armor. He looked like he’d stepped straight from hell. Smoke curled around his feet and legs, smelling of firelight and brimstone. His eyes gleamed with fire as he looked out over the crowd. Everything about him screamed ancient power.

Technically, I was a god as well. But there was no way I gave off the same impression.

With one powerful gesture, he raised his arms, then lowered them in a sweeping motion. Silence fell over the crowd, magic binding their lips.

Shocked, the group turned to him, dozens of pairs of eyes flashing. They landed on Hades. On me.

And suddenly, I felt like I’d been taken into the headmaster’s office at school. Every important person in the western magical world was looking at me, and it felt like they all knew I’d done something wrong. That I’d been the one to release Chronos.

And I had.

5

Seraphia

The crowd of supernaturals stared at us, and I shivered. It was every powerful person I’d ever met in my life, and many that I hadn’t.

But I was standing next to the most powerful one of all.

“I am Hades.” Though he didn’t shout, his voice carried easily over the silence, magnified by his magic. “As the goddess Seraphia has explained to me, you have gathered to find a way to defeat Chronos.”

Whoa.

I hadn’t expected him to refer to me as the goddess Seraphia. That was a head trip.

Eyes widened as they observed me, and I felt my cheeks warming. I straightened my spine, hoping I didn’t look totally unfit for the title.

“Is this correct?” Hades asked. “Your goal is to slow the spread of Chronos’ curse?”

Though their lips remained magically sealed, most of the people in the crowd nodded. The others just glared.

I didn’t blame them.

Some of them were used to being the most powerful supernaturals in any room. They’d never been silenced like this.

“Good,” Hades said. “Your assistance is necessary. This is a battle I did not anticipate, but we will be victorious.”

I met the gazes of my friends. As expected, I saw skepticism in their eyes. They knew what “victorious” meant to Hades, and it wasn’t what we wanted. But