by K. F. Breene
If only this were a normal battle. But no, they were dealing with the magic of Hades, the pit dweller, king of the underworld—a blind spot for most of the other gods and their descendants. Hades had been dealt a bad hand, but he’d turned it around into something hard to combat.
A man stepped out of the air and into the center of the glowing circle. Wearing a smirk and tousled, wheat-colored hair, he looked around him in amusement.
Bria was staring at him as well. Then she was moving, grabbing up various candles and moving them around the circle.
“This all for me?” The spirit put out his hands, his smile wider now. He zeroed in on Kieran. “Look at you. You have the power of a Demigod, but you’re only a quarter god. That’s quite rare.” He hooked a thumb in his pocket. “I think you got touched by the divine, that’s what I think.”
Alexis stood slowly, her hands out, braced for action.
The spirit turned in a circle, looking at each of the Six in turn, none of whom could see him. Didn’t matter. All of them awaited Kieran’s orders.
“Loyalty. I like it.” The spirit nodded, coming to the kids. “And children, in a potentially dangerous situation. Odd parenting choice.”
“I never claimed to be mother of the year,” Lexi said, then her teeth clicked shut. She hadn’t meant to say that.
The spirit chuckled, as though he could tell.
“And then our resident Necromancer, with all her bells and whistles. Or…candles and boards, in this case. You’ve gone old school, my dear.”
Alexis repeated what was said.
“I had to brush up on my reading skills, but yeah, I got the gist,” Bria said as she finished shifting a candle and picked up a bell. “It oughta hold you. I have everything placed exactly as it should be, moved at the right time. I’m sure of it. It’ll hold.”
The spirit bent to study the boards, turning as he did so, until he was all the way around. He pointed at one. “Weak link, right there. It is an inch too far to the right.”
After Alexis relayed what was said, Bria paused in what she was doing, studying the offending candle. She ignored it and turned to another. “He certainly doesn’t have any problem with lying.”
The spirit laughed merrily. He turned to Alexis. “And another quarter god, this one without the divine touch. Our god clearly doesn’t like you as much as his god did him. But look, you’ve tried to amend that all by yourself. That shows initiative. I don’t think any other Spirit Walker in history has had a Demigod as a soul mate.”
“Is he still talking?” Bria asked, checking her watch and then moving around the circle to switch out a candle.
“Mouthy, that one. I like her. She’s definitely one of Hades’s.” The spirit winked at Alexis. “So.” He sat down with crossed legs. “Why have you called me? I don’t feel your influence, which means you aren’t trying to control me. You have faith in your friend.”
“Kind of. Look, I’m just…” Alexis lifted her chin and walked closer, stopping just in front of Kieran. She was assuming control of the situation. “I’m not trying to control you because I’d like you to help me of your own volition. I don’t like the idea of forcing people to do my bidding.”
“But I am not a person. I am a spirit.”
“The only difference between you and me is the outer crust. I have a body. You do not. But a soul is a soul. I’d prefer not to force anyone to do something they don’t want to do.”
“Very poetic of you. Yet you dragged me here and trapped me in a poor man’s circle.”
“Number one, I didn’t drag you anywhere. You chased me…”
“Yeah, that was good sport. I couldn’t refuse.”
“Two, you tried to root around in my middle last time. This is a necessary precaution.”
The spirit spread his hands. “Touché. So. Why am I here, then, in this poor man’s circle?”
“You’re really worried about the engineering of the circle,” Alexis muttered, sitting cross-legged in front of Kieran. Bria muttered about the wastefulness of blowing money on a fancier setup. “I called you here because I’m in need of training, and I don’t know anyone else who can do it.”
“Don’t you? You must’ve come from someone. Who is your father or mother?”
“My mother was not a Demigod, and she died. She asked not to be called back, and I will respect her wishes. My biological father kills his kids.”
“Ah.” The spirit nodded. “Not ideal, no. Magnus would crush you. Well I’m sure the other Demigods of Hades would give their left foot to have you at their disposal. There is no one better to train you than them.”
“They’d give their left foot to use me. To turn me into something I don’t want to be.”
The spirit’s eyes flicked to Kieran. “But hasn’t he used you in the same way?”
Kieran shifted slightly from side to side, guilt pressing into him, but Lexi didn’t even hesitate.
“No. He tried to push me away. I became the weapon I most feared in order to protect the people I love. I’d do it again if I had to, although I hope I never have to.”
“Hmm.” The spirit looked over the flickering candlelight into the growing darkness. “I’ve killed a great many people.”
“I know.”
“Good people, too. I’ve trapped and used spirits at will. I’ve toppled leaders and murdered minions. Babies? Sure, why not. Killing good people for money? Yes, please. I do love gold. Some would say I don’t have a heart. Others that I do, but it is as black as the hole whence I came. Many agree that I am the absolute worst. Just the worst. The worst what? Everything. It’s a catchall. And yet you want to be trained by me?”
“I’m kind of between a rock and a hard place right now. You’re all I’ve got.”
He laughed again. “Way to make a guy feel wanted.” He nodded and looked around at the grass, the trees, and the house. “A palace would’ve been nice. This is a little…domestic for my tastes.”
“Weren’t you kept in a dungeon?”
The spirit stood in a fluid motion. “You should never listen to gossip.” He dusted himself off and shot a pointed look at the boards in front of him. “Yeah, sure, I’ll train you. But you gotta let me out of this place.” He met her eyes again. “Without trying to control me. I’ll only do this as a free man. I was forced into slavery in life. I will not be forced into it in death.”
A shock of anxiety rolled through Kieran from Alexis, matching his own. She hesitated, thinking about it. Then she moved forward to let him out.
15
Alexis
“Wait,” Bria said after I’d filled her in. She moved another candle. How she could keep the positioning straight was beyond me, because she hadn’t written anything down. “Wait. Let’s think about this.”
I took a step back. No emotion crossed the spirit’s face. He was too calm by half. Smooth as they came. More charismatic and handsome than a spirit had any right to be—at least one I’d need to spend a bunch of time with.
“What happened that last time he had free rein?” Bria asked as hot wax ran over her fingers. She grimaced but didn’t move to put the candle down.
“We didn’t have a chance to chat last time,” I answered, adrenaline running through me. I was making things up at this point. I didn’t trust him to save my life. But I needed him. I hadn’t been lying about being between a rock and a hard place. It was either him, a spirit I could control in a pinch, or a Demigod who could control me. Eventually, the choice would be taken from me. “He was disorientated.”
“I was testing her,” the spirit answered. “This time, too. Your soul mate has boosted your power, Alexis. He’s positioned you smack dab in the middle of a level five and a Demigod. I want to play with it. Maybe with you, if he’ll share.”
“Ew.” I didn’t relay that last bit to the rest of the group, although Kieran, of course, heard it. His muscles went taut.
“But you have been raised with morals,” the spirit went on, his smile faltering. “You h
ave been raised to know the difference between right and wrong. It is one of the first things stolen from a Spirit Walker. And while you are courageous in the face of your fear, determined when you are out of your league, and steadfast when your loved ones are in danger, you are still mortal. You are still human. You can still be broken and then reprogrammed. A Demigod will know how. It is only because of the Demigod beside you that it has not happened yet. You got lucky, lady. Real lucky. But luck is not eternal. You need to start designing your own fate.”
“Yeah.” I gestured at him, suddenly impatient. “That’s why you’re here.”
His smile spread again. “So it is.”
“What’s he saying?” Bria asked, still moving around the circle. Another dribble of hot wax ran over her fingers.
“What we already know,” I answered. “Except he’s surprisingly horny for a spirit.”
“Slap him in a woman’s body and let some nasty-ass taboo hunter take a turn with him,” Bria replied. “That’ll calm him right down. They don’t like when they’re the ones who are put upon.”
“No one likes being put upon,” I muttered, shivering in disgust.
Amazingly, the spirit’s smile just kept spreading.
He turned as Bria walked around to another spot on the board circle.
“I take it back,” he said. “I’ll take her. She’s more my speed.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, is everyone ready?”
Bria straightened up, her expression surprisingly serious and intent. “You need to be absolutely sure about this, Alexis. This is on you. You are the only one here that can control him. The only one that can send him back. He’s above my pay grade. I can help, and I’ve got a few tricks I can use, but you are the muscle, and neither of us have experience. Think this through. We can find another way if we must—”
“No, you can’t,” the spirit said over her. “The buck stops with me. Well, me or the kid-killing Demigod with love issues. If any of the other Demigods land you, the kid killer will just steal you away again. He’s the strongest of them all.”
Bria’s mouth stopped at the same time as the spirit’s. I almost asked her what she’d said, but I already knew. She was saying she couldn’t get me out of this one. The pupil had finally surpassed the teacher, and unfortunately, the pupil still had no real clue.
“Take the spirit by the balls,” Daisy said, making a fist. “You can do it, Lexi.”
Mordecai nodded. Light flickered across his strong features. “This is the only way. If anyone can do it, it’s you, Lexi.”
Warmth and fear unfurled in my chest. Those kids usually forced me out of terrible ideas. That they were behind me, rooting for me, meant they believed in this. In me. Believed that the only way I could properly defend myself was by rising to the challenge of potentially controlling a strong spirit more experienced in my magic than I was. If I could see this challenge through to the end, I could face the next one.
I nodded, and Bria nodded with me.
“Just go ahead and blow out the…red candle. Yes, the red candle,” she said. “Blow out the red candle on that board in front of you. If something goes wrong, force him back into the circle, keep him there until I can relight the candle, and Fanny’s your aunt.”
“Fanny.” The spirit grinned. “That’s what the Europeans call a lady’s poontang.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Gives fanny pack a different meaning, doesn’t it? I’d like to pack her fanny.”
“Gross,” I said softly, bending quickly to blow out the candle. I didn’t want to give him any ideas while I was down there.
The spirit watched the smoke rise for a moment before stepping over the board. On the other side, he rolled his shoulders and then his neck. When his gaze came back to rest on me, he said, “Now what?”
I stared back at him. I had no idea.
“Why don’t you start with checking the repellent magic on the house?” Kieran said softly. “We’ll stay close, just in case.”
“But if we do that, I can’t wander in at inopportune times to stare at you.” The spirit winked.
“Good point, Kieran.” I wanted to clarify which idea had been the good one. I started walking toward the house.
“Lesson one, and a little payment toward mutual trust.” The humor dripped off the spirit’s face. “When you call someone from behind the veil, especially someone that was in there deep, or someone that was there for a long time, they will be attached to the item used to call them. In this case, my pocket watch. That is now my home base. Not you, not this place—unless I eventually grow more attached to you than the watch. Now, I can still roam, but it will drain me quickly when I’m away from the watch for any period of time.”
I nodded, since I already knew that about spirits wandering. I stopped at the back of the house.
“Show me the watch,” he said, standing beside me.
I hesitated, and he waited patiently. He probably had the power to move the watch. Take it from my hand and place it elsewhere. But he wouldn’t be able to hold it for long. He might be powerful, but he was still a spirit, governed by the same rules as other spirits. The watch would be safe.
However, it was essential for me to keep the pocket watch away from that living magical klepto I’d met earlier.
I held out the watch in a slightly shaking hand I was not proud of. The spirit met my eyes before his gaze dipped to the watch. Suddenly, spirit blanketed my hand in a way I’d never seen before. Sparkling and almost living, it roamed my palm like tiny mites.
“Wait, wait. Is he showing you something?” Bria darted toward us holding a stick of burning incense in her fingers. She pulled a candle still emitting smoke out of her open backpack. She was clearly not worried about her own safety. “Here, here. You need to see it with your eyes first. That’s how you learn.”
“Oh, really?” The spirit cocked his head. “That’s an unfortunate handicap. We need to rectify that somehow. I don’t have all the time in the world.”
“But don’t you?” I asked sarcastically as smoke rose around us.
“No. You’ll bore me eventually. And then I will try to get one over on you, and you’ll send me into the bog again.”
“Good tip.” I studied the spirit floating around him, now turning colors in the smoke. Oranges and blues—what I’d already determined as the power of the Line and spirit, respectively. But he called upon different colors, too—purples and reds, pinks and greens that reminded me of the little ribbons attached to the souls of the living. I could grab them up and yank on them when they were still in a body. But as he coiled and turned them over the pocket watch, I realized he was making a sort of box. A cage. He draped it over the item, spinning it like a spider.
“It keeps falling away,” I said, watching in awe. Feeling the pulls and yanks in the fabric of the spirit around me, telling me someone was messing with it.
“That’s because I am without a body and also because I can’t cage my own spirit.”
“I’d be caging your spirit?” Tingles of apprehension moved over me, reminding me of Kieran’s mom’s skin, kept in a cage so Valens could ensure her spirit was caught in the world of the living. Of the way spirit magic could be woven with air magic to keep spirits imprisoned in a building—the opposite of what I did with my repellent spells. The magic was complex, beautiful, but I had sworn I would never do that to a spirit. I would never be as vile and disgusting as Valens.
The spirit, sensing something was wrong, stopped his hands and chuckled. “What if you need to protect those you love?”
I squinted at him, knowing manipulation when I heard it.
“You need to learn it, but that doesn’t mean you need to use it,” Kieran said softly.
I gritted my teeth and nodded my head. His mom had been hurt by a spell like this. If he wanted me to learn how to do it, I couldn’t really say no. Besides, I did basically know how to do this. I’d already taught myself what this spirit would probably call the poor man’s version. Learning to do it correctl
y made sense.
Or so I convinced myself as I tried to replicate what he was doing.
A half-hour later, I was doing the spell like I’d been trained all my life. All it had taken was a guiding hand, so much easier than trying to figure it out myself without knowing the rules.
“Right. Good work. Now, through the watch, I am tied to you. Maybe you can slap me in a body and I can be tied to you in— No, that’s not right. Never mind.” The spirit’s face soured. At least he had standards.
“What if I lose the pocket watch?” I asked.
“Yes. Good point. You could use the watch to compel me more easily. If someone else should get the watch, I will still be tied to it, but the new holder will not be able to compel me unless they break your magical hold and apply their own. Given the power you applied, only a Demigod or Hades himself could make that happen.”
“But I thought you said you wanted to be free?” I asked, sensing a trick.
He shrugged. “You’re easy to trust. What can I say?”
“He knows that he is vulnerable with that watch out in the world,” Kieran said, studying the spirit. “You are easy to trust, that’s true, but he’s only doing it because you’re likely the only one he can trust in the Hades line. If that watch fell into almost any other hands, he’d end up right where he was in life.”
“But there are a few things people can use to summon and bind him, aren’t there?” I replied.
The spirit was analyzing Kieran the same way he was being analyzed. A smile slowly spread across his face. “You are older than your years, junior. Well? Answer the lady.”
“Demigod Zander has his possessions, and Zander is of Zeus’s line. He doesn’t want anyone to be able to access your spirit. Bria could give the Hermes Demigod’s guy a run for his money in thievery.”
“Cheat to win,” Bria murmured, now monitoring the incense.
