Hellequin Chronicles 4: Prison of Hope

by Steve McHugh

  “What do you want?” Hera asked.

  “The information you have on Nate,” Hades said. “All of it. You will also relinquish all claim on Tartarus. You have one week to do both. If it’s not done, Lucie here will go to Merlin with the information we have on your role in Cronus’s escape. And one last thing: you will never take action against, Eos, Selene, or their friends and family.”

  I was dumbfounded. I had no idea that Hades had any kind of plan in place to deal with Hera, but the fact that he was doing it, even partly, to protect me made me very grateful for his friendship.

  “And if we say no and decide to go it alone anyway?” Hera asked. “I’ll have destroyed Nate’s life; that’s quite an attractive prospect.”

  One second there was no one behind Hera, and the next, Eos was standing there with a blade against Hera’s throat. “If you do, then I’ll kill you,” she said, her voice utterly calm. “Also, now that my family and I are free from your influence, if you ever cross us again, there’s not enough light in the world to stop me from getting to you.”

  Hera had no option but to agree to the terms. Everyone left happy. Well, not Hera, but I didn’t give a shit how happy she was.

  Ares stopped at the door and turned toward me. “You hurt my boy,” his voice was deep and menacing. “There will be recompense for that.”

  Images of Mordred and what he’d done in Ares’s name flashed into my mind “One day, you’ll try,” I said without breaking eye contact, “but not today.”

  He looked around the room as if really considering it. “No, not today.” And then he left.

  Everyone else filed out, leaving Hyperion and me alone. “You hated me for a long time,” he said.

  “I was wrong,” I admitted. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Nothing to be sorry for. You got Cronus back without having to kill him, stopped Pandora, and helped my children break free of Hera. I’m sorry you needed to be lied to for so long. I assure you Selene didn’t want to do that.”

  “I know, and thanks.”

  “So, you two . . .” he trailed off.

  “I don’t know. We’ll see, I guess.”

  He walked over to me and offered me his hand, which I took. “You’re a good man, Nathan. If it does work out between the two of you, you have my blessing. She’s been unhappy for too long. Change it.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “One last thing,” he said before he left the room. “Don’t come back to Tartarus anytime soon. Cronus will kill you. Or at least try. I’m only going back to ensure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

  “I’ll make sure it’s not on my list of holiday destinations.”

  Once the meeting had finished and Hera had stomped her way off the grounds, I found Lucie and Sky as Lucie was getting into her helicopter and thanked them for their help. Sky punched me on the shoulder and walked off.

  “What you did back then, after your wife was murdered,” Lucie said, “it was wrong. But right now, having you on our side is better than not. We’re going to need your help one day, Nathan, and you will say yes to that.”

  “Who’s ‘we’?” I asked as the helicopter’s engine started.

  “You’ll find out. Good-bye.”

  I watched her fly off and was suddenly joined by Eos. “You should stop that,” I said.

  “I like making people jump,” she said with a smile. “Have you spoken to my sister?”

  “Not since we caught Pandora. I get the feeling that’s a question I’m going to be answering a lot. Your dad got there first. We both need time to deal with things.”

  “So no wedding bells in the immediate future.” She gave me a piece of paper with two phone numbers on it. “Top one’s mine, bottom one’s Selene’s. She doesn’t know you have it. Don’t call unless it’s an emergency. But I think she’d like you to have it. I’m sure she’ll contact you soon enough; after all, she’d lost you for a century. I saw her yesterday, and she was like a teenage girl. She fucking giggled, Nate. I don’t know what you did, but it’s very discombobulating to hear my dragon-kin sister giggling.”

  I laughed. “Sorry.”

  “Yeah, well, I just wanted you to know. I think my father likes you. He feels bad about everything.”

  “We spoke. He gave me his blessing to date his daughter.”

  Eos laughed again. “Bloody hell, did he try to crush your hand or tell you not to stay out after curfew too? I think maybe he’s been watching too much TV.”

  I joined in the laughter. It felt good.

  “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again.” She walked off, and I went to find Hades, who was sitting on a bench overlooking a small pond at the rear of the complex.

  “Thanks for what you did,” I said.

  “I look after my own. Even those who aren’t technically my own. You did a lot to help me, Nate. I owe you more than I can possibly say.”

  “You don’t owe me anything.” I said and sat beside him. “Did Persephone tell you how much of Cronus’s ass she kicked at Stonehenge?”

  Hades nodded. “She’s a rare woman. You pissed off some powerful people, Nate. Ares isn’t about to give you a pass for what you did to his son, and Hera will definitely be keeping a close eye on you. And then there’s Pandora.”

  “I’m used to it,” I said and got up.

  “You staying in town?” he asked. “Persephone is in Tartarus, but we’ve got some of our other children over in a few days. It’s been awhile since the whole family was together, and it would be nice to have you there.”

  “I’ll be around. I’m off to go see Kurt and Petra.”

  “Give them my regards.”

  I took a few steps and then paused. “We still don’t know who the Vanguard’s liege is. Pretty much everyone who worked for him is dead, but someone is out there pulling the strings. Could it be Hera or one of her people?”

  “Possibly, but they’re unlikely to tell us, and I think I’ve used up my ability to get answers from them for the foreseeable future. They’ll all be watched more closely now. Whoever it was made a move and lost this time. They’ll make another. No one puts this much effort into a plan that fails without having a plan B in store. Someone screwed around with those Vanguard’s heads and someone sent them here to die. We’ll find out who did it and stop them.”

  “And if we don’t?”

  “Then we’ll be dead. So it won’t matter.”

  “Maybe I should go back to Avalon. Someone there is definitely involved. I could talk to a few people.”

  “You really think you’d be welcomed back? You think you could stand to see Merlin again?”

  I thought about it, about why I left, about what had happened between Merlin and me. “No. There’s almost nothing in this world I’d rather not do.”

  EPILOGUE

  It was a few weeks after I’d left Hades’s compound in Germany when I finally got the information I needed on Mara and her witches. Almost everything else had been dealt with, but I wasn’t about to let someone who used her own daughter as bait and helped Cronus escape the compound get away scot-free.

  I found myself sitting in the dark, in a small meeting hall in the New Forest. I’d been waiting for about an hour when the front door opened, and the lights switched on. Emily Rowe and Mara Range walked in, Emily closing the door behind them.

  Emily wore casual jeans, a white T-shirt, and trainers, and Mara wore a bright yellow dress that on anyone else might have been called pleasant. On Mara, the happiness and joy the yellow signified were diminished by her presence.

  “I wondered how long it would take you,” Emily said, removing a revolver from the back of her jeans waistband and holding it by her thigh.

  “Well, I had a few problems tracking you down,” I explained.

  I looked around the room. It was also used as a hut for Scout meetings and other occasions that would need the dozens of chairs stacked up against the walls under the barred windows. There was a small stage behind me, and although it wa
s only a foot off the floor, it still had curtains on either side.

  “I wondered if you guys put on plays?” I asked. “Macbeth, for example.”

  “Is that meant to be a joke?” Mara asked.

  I shrugged. “Take it how you wish.”

  “Why are you here?” Emily asked.

  “Put the gun away. I’m not going to attack anyone. I came to talk.”

  “Sorcerer’s lies,” Mara said.

  “If I wanted you dead, you’d both be dead. I know where you live. I know where you drive every other day at 1:00 p.m., Mara, when you go to meet that lovely man who’s married, while he’s on lunch break. I know a lot about you. About you and all thirty-eight members of this coven.”

  Emily put the gun away.

  “What are you doing?” Mara screamed at her.

  “He’s right, if he wanted us dead, he could have attacked at any time.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “I’m most disappointed in you, Emily. You lied to me. Mara’s not just a member; she runs this whole coven. And you’re their enforcer.”

  Emily shrugged. “People lie. I’m not going to feel bad about it. You’re right, though, I am the enforcer. I didn’t lie about everything. Too many witches do follow Demeter and Hera without thought. And Mara is an idiot. But she’s also the coven leader and I’m honor-bound to protect this coven.”

  Mara glared at Emily, who pointedly ignored her.

  “That’s why you killed those Vanguard in Germany, yes?” I asked. “Because they screwed up and let Cronus escape? But they also knew too much, didn’t they? Did Sarah know you were going to do it?”

  “It was her idea,” Emily admitted.

  “You used the same chameleon potion you brewed in your hotel room to cover yourself. The one you gave to Cronus. It was obviously a good potion.”

  “How’d you know it was me?” she asked.

  “Because you just told me.”

  Emily’s smile faded. “So you’re here to take us to Avalon?”

  I shook my head. “There’s no evidence. Anything between Mara and Sarah is never going to be found, and while I’m loath to allow Chloe to stay with the psychopath who used her as bait, I can’t really do much about that. Mara behaved in such a way as to ensure all attention was on her at all times. The annoying, shrill pain-in-the-ass who berates people and says unpleasant or unnecessary things. I imagine it didn’t take much acting on your part.”

  Mara’s face darkened.

  “But,” I continued before she could interrupt, “there’s no evidence you did anything other than act strangely and brew a potion in your hotel bath. At best, you may have to pay a hotel fine.”

  “Then you can leave,” Mara told me. “This place will have to be cleaned as is, just to get your stench out.”

  “But you’ll wash away all of your lovely runes.”

  Mara’s eyes grew wide and she readied a spell, but nothing happened.

  “I had a friend of mine, a lovely lady by the name of Lucie . . . well, ‘friend’ is the wrong word. I get the feeling she doesn’t like me, but she does trust me. An odd combination. Anyway, she’s an enchanter. She can’t remove the runes placed by another enchanter, but she can remove the ones put there by a bunch of witches. All of them are gone, replaced with brand new ones that stop anyone from using magic.”

  I glanced down at the rune on the back of my hand, and I clicked my fingers, drawing a small flame onto them. “Except for me, of course. I can still do magic.”

  “What do you want?” Emily asked.

  “Well, I considered burning this place down as a warning, but that was counterproductive as it’s in the middle of a forest. So I was going to threaten you to leave, but I don’t have the time to go around checking that you’ve actually done anything.”

  I stood and folded the chair, placing it over by the rest. “No, I figured I’d come here to tell you that, while no one has any proof of your wrongdoings, we all know what you did. This coven has been marked because of your actions, and Avalon will be keeping a very close eye on you. Not because we believe you’re doing anything wrong, of course, but because you were involved in a traumatic event in Germany, and they want to make certain you’re all okay.

  “There will be site visits, probably at random, maybe in the middle of the night. There might even be interviews with all the members, just to verify that everyone is happy and healthy.”

  “You can’t do that,” Mara said with barely contained rage.

  “I’m not. Avalon is—well, technically, Lucie is, but she helps run the place, so she’s probably qualified to tell whether people here are happy and healthy. Did I mention the random visits?”

  “You think this is funny?” Emily asked.

  I shook my head. “I think it’s deadly serious. A group of witches used by Demeter and Hera broke Cronus out of Tartarus, witches who used the coven leader’s own daughter to get the job done.” My stare could have bored holes in Mara.

  “Emily, I’m not going to underestimate you again. I promise you that. And Mara, dear sweet Mara. Your daughter is a delight. If you remove her from school, if you hurt her, if anything happens to her in any way that results in my friend’s daughter telling me of her unhappiness at your parenting, I will come find you. And I promise, once I’m done, no one will ever find out what happened to you.”

  I made my way toward the door, my piece said.

  “You think that you can threaten me, Mister Garrett?” Mara said, her body shaking with anger.

  I continued walking and opened the door before pausing for a second.

  “You can’t come into my coven and demand things,” Mara continued. “You’re a thug, a man with no vision who does what his masters tell him. I’m not afraid of you. You don’t scare me.”

  I didn’t turn back toward the two women as I spoke, “Then clearly you haven’t been paying attention.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  My wife, Vanessa, is always going to be the first person I thank, and not just because I don’t want to sleep on the couch for the next month. She’s supportive, helpful, and allows me the time to write. I can never really thank her enough.

  My three beautiful daughters, who inspire me to write every day. Except when they’re misbehaving; then they inspire me to buy a shed and live in it.

  My parents, who constantly sound interested when I talk about the next tiny plot detail. Thank you for your enthusiasm.

  My family and friends: without their support I wouldn’t be where I am today.

  The incredible D. B Reynolds, Michelle Muto, and Melissa Olson, all three of whom helped make the book what it finally became. I’m very lucky to know you all and to be able to call you friends.

  My agent, Paul Lucas, whom I’ve enjoyed working with very much. I look forward to where the future leads.

  Denise Grover Swank, Richard Ellis Preston Jr., Mark Barnes, Amber Natusch, Jack Horn, Stant Litore, and all the other 47North authors who help create a group of people I’m proud to call my friends. Never have I met a greater hive of scum and villainy, and I couldn’t be happier to be a part of it.

  Sana Chebaro, Emilie Marneur, Neil Hart, and everyone else with the Amazon publishing UK team: Thank you for time, friendship, and help; it’s been great working with you all. It means a lot. Also, to Britt Rogers, the force behind the 47North US team: you were a joy to work with.

  My editor, Fleetwood Robbins. An awesome name for an awesome editor. I look forward to working with you in the future.

  Ken McDaniel, who’s always available to answer questions about the military or weaponry—thanks, man. Any errors that ever exist to do with those things are mine and mine alone.

  There are probably dozens more people who should be mentioned by name, but to everyone out there who has supported me over the years, thanks. It means a lot.

  Last, but not least, thanks to Scott Hollander, Zoe Mountain, and Kyle Felis Key, the three people who won the chance to name a character in book 4. They picked Sarah H
amilton, Magali Martin, and Robert Ellis, respectively. I hope the three of you enjoyed reading about the fates of the characters whose names you picked.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Photo © 2013 Sally Beard

  Steve McHugh is the author of the popular Hellequin Chronicles. He lives in Southampton on the south coast of England with his wife and three young daughters. When not writing or spending time with his kids, he enjoys watching movies, reading books and comics, and playing video games.