Hecate's Spell (Monsters and Gargoyles #7) - Lacey Carter Andersen Page 0,15
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