Hecate's Spell (Monsters and Gargoyles #7) - Lacey Carter Andersen Page 0,35

and phoenix.

And then everything had gone wrong.

“No one should know about that,” Conley rushes out. “We all swore the secret would stay with us.”

I can’t help but say, “Yes. The man responsible for killing several young phoenixes has a vested interest in making sure that secret remains buried.”

His eyes flash gold and lock onto mine. “And the man responsible for selling the soul of one of his gargoyles wants the secret known?”

It’s like a punch to the gut. If my people ever learn what I did, I’ll be cast out. Maybe even turned to stone forever and shattered.

“Well, I don’t want two groups of powerful people to know I had anything to do with this either,” the human admits, his face twisted in anger.

“Exactly,” the god drawls lazily. “I have done all I can to ensure that the only people who could tell our little secret, well, that they stayed dead. But recently Andros has...disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” The word comes with an ounce of arrogance.

Hades moves a hand and I go flying, smashing into the wall and shaking the whole building. The air is knocked from my lungs for a long moment before I gasp in air. It takes me a minute to come shakily to my feet and stumble to my chair.

Hades lifts a brow in my direction. “Are you finished?”

I nod, realizing I should’ve been more careful. “I just...I just meant to ask how he could be missing?”

Hades shrugs. “Either he’s hiding after some chaos in the Underworld, or he’s currently making his way to the surface. But if he should be successful, his soul will return to his body. He’ll remember the ritual that Gary performed to remove his soul from his body and leave it empty for the titan. He may even remember that Conley murdered three phoenix children for the spell.” He glances at Peter. “He could even recall a certain human who has learned the darkest witchcraft and performed a certain spell. A spell that went horribly wrong, screwing us all.”

“What do we do?” I ask, the room suddenly feeling far too small and far too hot.

Hades taps his fingers on the table. “Gary, do you know where Andros’s body is?”

“I did. I might. Why?”

The god smiles, a terrifying smile. “If you remove the head from his body, even if he reaches the surface, his soul will return to me.”

“And us?” the human asks.

Hades's smile widens. “A certain god who owed me a favor has told me how I can send people to track his soul, but they must be newly dead. And they must be people with a vested interest in making certain Andros never reaches the surface.”

“Newly dead?” Peter frowns.

“What’s more, Andros has help. The help of Hecate. And, I suspect, others. They will need to be punished for these crimes against me.”

The phoenix shakes his head. “How are we going to get newly dead people to track them for us?”

Hades snaps his fingers. Two glowing red necklaces appear around Peter’s and Conley’s throats.

“What is this?” Peter asks.

Hades snaps his fingers again. Two shades are suddenly behind the men. My mouth opens in a silent scream of warning, but the shades are faster. They rip the men’s heads off, spraying blood across me, the room, and the table. The two bodies fall to the floor, and the shades laugh while holding the heads, then disappear.

A minute later, wispy shadowed forms of the men hover above their bodies, their red necklaces burning brightly.

“Spirits,” Hades addresses them in a bored voice, “I task you with bringing the soul of Andros back to the Underworld and with punishing anyone found in his company. I also give you the power to track them anywhere: on the surface, in the Underworld, or on the paths between.”

The spirits look pained and frightened, but vanish within seconds.

My heartbeat fills my ears. Hades...killed them. Just like that. What will he do to me?

He turns to me, that sick smile still on his lips. “Find the body of Andros and remove his head. If you don’t, I’ll remove yours.” Then he leans in closer. “And Gary, I know all the many awful things you’ve done in your long life. I have already thought of glorious tortures for you.”

He stands.

“I understand,” comes out in a voice that sounds too afraid to be mine.

“Oh,” he says, looking back from the doorway. “There was also a little problem. Many of the monsters you and your gargoyles killed have returned to the surface. You may want to