Hecate's Spell (Monsters and Gargoyles #7) - Lacey Carter Andersen Page 0,28
if he is the whole world.
“We’re escaping,” Andros tells him right back.
“We?”
Orion looks behind his brother and sees me. His eyes widen. “We’re here to get you, not some...monster.”
“She’s not a monster. She’s the woman I love.” Andros’s voice grows cold and angry. “We escape with her, or not at all. And we better decide quickly, because that distraction will only last so long.”
Orion draws himself taller. “Okay, let’s go. We know a better way out.”
“One thing first,” the other man says. He pulls a bag out of his backpack, then tosses the contents out on the ground. Gold coins rain down all over the bank, and wispy souls dive for them. If they should get a coin, they’ll finally be able to reach the other side. It’s another distraction to buy us time.
As I’m staring at the strange scene of spirits fighting, I see a strange shade climb out of the water far from us. She looks at me once, her golden eyes bright, then races toward our escape.
My heart aches. Someone is already beating us. Which means the people hunting us won’t be far behind.
And yet, the two strange men turn and head back the way we came. Not toward the exit, but to where the bank simply ends. Andros takes my hand and starts to drag me along.
“No!” I say, snapping out of my silent nightmare. “There’s no escape that way. We have to head in the other direction.”
“No, we don’t. It’s this way.” Orion’s voice holds an edge.
I’ve seen this part of the shore before and know it’s a dead end.
“We can’t,” I tell Andros, pleading with him. “We’re wasting our only chance at freedom.”
“Trust him,” Andros begs me.
“He’s a stranger to me!”
“He’s my brother. Soon you’ll learn to love him too. That’s how a Brotherhood works. We’ll share you as our mate.”
Is Andros serious? I’m just supposed to trust this strange man and plan to have him as a second husband? I don’t think so.
I stop, digging my heels into the black sand. “We’re going the other way!”
Orion spins and stalks toward me, and to my shock, throws me over his shoulder. Then we’re all running, the world spinning around me.
“Be gentle with her!” Andros shouts, but he’s running just as fast.
“Listen to me! There’s no escape this way!” Magic flares on my fingertips, and it’s strange. I don’t call the magic to this dark place unless I have to, but now my magic is unpredictable. What will it do to Orion if I remain upset? And yet, if we continue running in the opposite direction from freedom, we will all die.
“Put me down! You’re going the wrong way!” Fire erupts from my fingertips and catches his shirt on fire.
Beneath me, Orion gasps, and then his skin turns to stone. The fire continues to burn his shirt, but he doesn’t seem to notice.
“Damn it!’ I shout. “Andros, listen to me!”
Andros slows a bit, and our eyes lock. “Please,” he begs. “Give him a chance. I trust him with our lives.”
“But apparently not me,” I say, the words cutting.
Hurt flashes across his face, but I don’t care. His faith in his brother will get us killed. And his lack of faith in me is painful in a way I never imagined. All the years here, no matter what we went through, Andros and I were a team. And now we aren’t.
Orion stops running.
The phoenix says, “The map says it’s right here.”
“I don’t see anything!” Andros sounds worried.
“That’s because it’s a fucking dead end!” I shout.
The gargoyle who holds me growls low, “The map said it was here. It’s here.”
“You are all assholes!” I shout, tears forming in my eyes in a helpless rage.
And then, the phoenix says, “I found it.”
I freeze. Orion slides me from his shoulder. The phoenix pushes his hand through a place that should be solid, and it passes through and disappears.
There is a way out here…
Andros looks at me. “I’m sorry.” Then to his brother, “You know once we enter the tunnels, you can’t look back at me.”
Orion hugs him one more time. “It’ll only be a short time, and then we’ll be back on the surface and have eternity together.”
Andros whispers something into his ear. Orion stiffens.
They release each other, and then Andros comes to me and holds my hands. “I’ll make everything up to you, but you have to promise me to have faith in Orion. One day, I promise, you’ll love him the way you love me.”