Captured (Shadow Guild Hades & Persephone #3) - Linsey Hall Page 0,1

quickly, looking for anything helpful. As I worked, I fell into a trance, lulled by the soothing sound of Cordelia chomping away on her Cheetos. I’d skimmed through half the books when my hand flickered, briefly disappearing.

Shock lanced me.

“What was that?” Eve asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Your hand just disappeared.”

“Yeah. That’s not normal, is it?” My voice was high pitched even to my own ears.

“Nope.” She grabbed my hand and inspected it. “Still looks normal.”

It flickered again, disappearing briefly, and she jumped.

“Shit.” My heartbeat thundered. I’d only seen this once before. On Hades.

“What is it?” Eve asked. “You look like you know something.”

“Um…I might.” My voice had gone faint.

“Oh, tell me it’s not bad.”

“It’s kinda bad.” I swallowed hard. “This is happening to Hades, too. It’s a curse that weakens his ties to the underworld. He starts fading every thousand years until he’s eventually dragged to Tartarus.”

“Oh, shit.” Her gaze flashed to mine. “So you mean maybe you are being dragged to Tartarus?”

Head buzzing, I nodded. “Maybe. It might have happened when I was trying to send Chronos back to Tartarus. I fell into the pit that leads there. Hades saved me, but maybe being so close to it cursed me or something.”

“This is not good,” Eve said. “Very not good.”

“You’re telling me.” I shivered. The room suddenly felt quite chilly. I turned to check the fire. It blazed merrily, but a faint blue glow emanated from the other half of the room, and the floor, ceiling, and walls were coated in ice.

I blinked, shocked. “Eve, turn around.”

She frowned at me in confusion but did as I said and gasped.

A thin layer of ice crept across the floor, already inching its way up the chair that Cordelia had fallen asleep in. In the flash of an eye, the ice crept over her still form, almost as if it had been drawn to her.

“Cordelia,” I shouted.

She jerked, her eyes opening. But it was too late. The ice crept over her furry little body, freezing her solid.

Horror opened a hole in my chest, followed closely by sheer terror. The ice inched across the floor toward us.

Eve moved toward Cordelia, but I got there first. Avoiding the ice on the floor, I snatched the raccoon out of the chair, shocked by how heavy she was. Immediately, my hands and arms felt icy cold. Numb.

Crap. I called upon my magic, forcing it to surge forward. I had no idea if it would work, but as Persephone, my power was based in life. Surely that could combat the deathly nature of whatever curse created the ice.

It worked, barely, and my arm returned to normal. But the ice kept traveling across the floor.

“Come on,” Eve shouted. “The door is iced over. We need to head up.”

Clutching a frozen Cordelia to my chest, I raced toward her. She dug into a bag that she must have pulled from the ether and yanked out a potion bomb that she hurled at the ice. It exploded in a blast of pink powder, and the ice stopped growing briefly.

“I don’t think it will hold for long. Come on.” She raced toward the stairs, and I followed.

Heart pounding, I pounded after her. We reached the second floor and sprinted into the nearest room.

“The window is our only option,” Eve said, pointing to the opening. “I can fly, but I can’t carry you. Maybe I can help you get to the ground, though.”

“You can’t touch Cordelia.”

“Why not? You are.”

“I’m using my magic to keep from freezing.”

“Damn.” She fumbled with the latch and opened the window.

I hurried to her side, looking out as fresh air rushed over my face. The ice wasn’t in the courtyard, thank fates. I looked back at the door.

The ice had crept up the stairs and was just beginning to enter the room. I could fight it with my magic if I had to, but for how long? Just holding Cordelia was making me feel numb and weak, and I had to constantly feed my magic toward the arm that held her.

“You need to get out of here, Eve,” I said.

“Not without you.”

“I’ll find a way.” I turned back to the window and leaned out.

It was nearly twenty feet to the ground below. Too far to jump. Too far to throw Cordelia so that I could climb.

My gaze caught on a few bushes at the base of the tower.

“I’ve got it,” I said. “Those bushes. You get out of here, though.”

She glared at me. “I’m waiting right outside the window, and