Hecate's Spell

by Lacey Carter Andersen

  Easy. Right?

  I shudder. At least there shouldn’t be any reptiles in the Underworld.

  7

  Hecate

  Andros stands at attention by the door, his back to me. I sit on a stone slab, waiting for the doctor to come back. He’d poked me, prodded me, huffed, drew blood, and left. But the nice thing is the typical masochist doctor is gone, and my favorite doctor is down for one of his rare visits. I have no idea if something’s wrong with me or what it could be, but this doctor is the best...at anything magical or human in nature. If there is something wrong with my magic, he’ll figure it out.

  Which scares me to my core.

  “You’re going to be okay,” Andros says, his voice soft.

  “And what if I’m not? What if being away from the earth and my magic for so long means I can’t connect to it anymore? Then, then I don’t have a use here…”

  “We just have to hold on a little longer.” But there’s a note to his voice that sounds like he’s barely holding it together himself.

  I curl my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them. “Yeah, just a little longer.”

  The truth is, I don’t know what to say. I’m not that woman who needs rescuing. I’m the first witch, the most powerful witch in existence. I had used my powers to protect innocents. I had stood toe-to-toe with gods and challenged them to their faces. And as powerful as they were, they knew I was capable of incredible things. I was feared and loved by many.

  And then Hades took me.

  So now, after failed attempt after failed attempt at escape, I’ve put all my eggs in one basket. I’m trying to believe, despite all logic, that Andros’s mysterious brother will somehow make it to the Underworld and save us both. Even though it’s completely irrational. Andros has been dead for years. If his brother was going to save him, wouldn’t he have done it by now? And yet, it seems that’s our last hope.

  I hear the sound of a door opening and look up to see Asclepius. He’s a god. He looks permanently young, like all the others. His hair is a soft brown color, and he has a beard of the same shade. Around his neck is a chain that looks like a snake, and at his throat is the snake’s face, with two gems standing as his eyes.

  My stomach clenches at the sight of him. Asclepius spends most of his time on the surface world, but comes down here to help Hades on occasion. He has a gentle heart, as the father of medicine, but has only been allowed in the Underworld on several conditions, conditions he can’t break, like by freeing me. He was the person who helped me when I became pregnant with the demon’s baby, and he was the one who brought my daughter safely into the world. Looking at him brings so many memories screaming back to me.

  Asclepius pulls up a chair to the table. “Hecate, I’ve gone over all of your results.”

  I fight the tears that sting my eyes and stiffen my back. “Just say it.”

  “Listen, there are so many--”

  “Just say it.”

  He sighs. “You have no idea how much I hate Hades sometimes.”

  I stare at him, my eyes blurred by tears. My magic is gone. That has to be it. And Hades will cast me into that dark eternal prison with the titans. And the titans will do horrible, terrible things to me.

  “I’m so, so sorry, Hecate, but you’re pregnant again.”

  The world rushes at me. Andros slowly turns around, his eyes wide, the slight green pallor to his skin growing paler.

  “But we know more about demon pregnancies this time. We’ll make sure you survive this, as will your child. Unless...unless that’s not what you want.” Asclepius’s words come to me as if from far away.

  All I can see is Andros. My daughter, Em, was a blessing that came from something awful, but my love for her washes away the horror of what I’d been through. Yet this time, I’m having a child with the man I love. And it also means I’ll no longer be able to call up my prophesies at will. Just like the last time, the prophecies will seem to come at random, and I will have no control over them.

  It’s strange. It makes sense. Even though I never considered that I could be pregnant. Gargoyle pregnancies are so damn rare, and Andros is...well, not a ghost, not an undead. I’m not sure what he is.

  “I’ll do whatever you wish,” Asclepius tells me, then reaches out and takes my hand.

  I look into the good doctor’s eyes for the first time. “I’m keeping the baby. But does Hades have to know?”

  He frowns. “Eventually, before you start showing, he’ll have to know. For now, I’ll tell him that to connect with your magic you need more exercise, time out of your cell, and low stress.”

  I feel a tear roll down my cheek. “Thank you, doctor.”

  He pats my hand and lets it go. “I only wish I could do more.”

  “I know,” I tell him. “I understand.”

  He sighs and stands. “And listen, you’re really early in your pregnancy, I’d guess four to six weeks, so take it easy.”

  I touch my stomach. Four to six weeks? A smile spreads my lips that I can’t hold back. There is a little child, Andros’s and mine, already growing in my belly.

  The doctor reassures me that he’ll be back frequently to check on my pregnancy and that he’ll inform Hades of my new needs. Then Andros leads me back out of the room, and we move through Hades’s castle as if in a dream, or maybe even a nightmare. My daughter, Em, had brought so much joy and so much happiness to my life. The thought of another child, it’s such a blessing. But to have that child here?

  I’m not sure how to feel.

  My steps falter, and I remember looking at my daughter’s face and knowing that I couldn’t let her grow up to be a prisoner. I’d started planning, planning how to get her free before she got old enough for Hades to use her the way he’d me. And because I used myself as a distraction, she had escaped this place, to go to the surface...alone. I think of her each and every day.

  Will that be the fate of this child too?

  “He’s coming for us,” Andros says without looking back at me.

  I say nothing, because I want that to be true so badly. If his brother just saves us, all these problems will go away. Unfortunately, that’s not the way life usually works.

  We return to my cell, and he follows me inside. Instantly, his arms wrap around me, holding me closely, and I can feel the tension and pain within him, swelling his chest. He kisses my face, over and over again, then lightly presses a hand to my stomach.

  “I always wanted a child,” he whispers in my ear, his voice filled with heartache.

  Yes, he wanted a child. On the surface. With his brother Orion. Not in the Underworld with his imprisoned lover. This is something beautiful in a world full of ugly, and I want him to see it that way, if only for a moment.

  “It’s a blessing,” I tell him.

  He drops his hand and holds me tighter. And neither of us say what we’re both thinking: that if we can’t find a way out, our child will be a prisoner too,

  At just the thought, the cell feels cooler, and I shiver in Andros’s arms.

  8

  Hades

  Before the doctor can speak, I lift a hand. My spies had already told me all I need to know. The witch is pregnant. By another prisoner, a demon. I don’t care who the fuck the father is. I care how this will impact me. The next time I want to use her powers, I want them working properly.

  “She’s pregnant,” I say.

  The doctor’s eyes widen. Yes, now he’ll know that I have someone listening to his little appointments, but I don’t care. This place is my domain. I will know everything that happens within it.

  “She’ll need fresh air, exercise, good food, and less stress, or the child…”

  “I couldn’t give a shit about the child.”

  “That seems foolish.”

  I stiffen as my wife enters the throne room. She wears a beautiful pale blue toga that reaches her feet, where golden sandals just barely peek out. Her hair is like spun wheat, braided down her back, and a dark crown made
of black diamonds is nestled in her hair.

  Even after so long, I’m proud when I see my wife. She is truly one of my greatest possessions. She’s lovely, if not very bright. I can understand why the loss of her daughter sent Demeter into such a rage, causing the seasons. I’m enraged every time she returns to the surface.

  Few people willingly give up their pretty things.

  “Why would that be foolish?” I ask her, trying to keep my tone respectful.

  She saunters through the room and comes to stand beside the doctor. “Because of what the fates told me.”

  My entire body stiffens, and I lean forward in the throne. “You spoke with the fates? They advised you about this situation?”

  She nods and gives a little giggle that doesn’t reach her eyes. “I told them of the witch with her unruly tongue whose powers you value so greatly. They said that one day she will have another child, and should we kill her just as the child is taken from her body, her baby will have all her powers. Then, and only then, can we raise someone to use as a tool and follow our every command.”

  My heart sings. “We could finally be rid of the witch?”

  She nods, and the doctor looks between us, his face shocked.

  “Then we will give her any and everything she needs to ensure that the child that springs forth from her loins will be healthy and everything we could ever want.”

  My dear wife gives a little bow. “You are always so wise, husband.”

  I lean back in my throne and send for wine, and men and women for my bed. Tonight we celebrate. We celebrate the beginning of the end for Hecate.

  She will be dead soon enough. And her child? Her child will be mine.

  9

  Orion

  We’re loaded with packs of food and supplies as we finish the last leg of our journey to the passage to the Underworld. The ocean beneath us is strangely beautiful. For years, I haven’t found anything beautiful. I haven’t felt excited or happy about anything. But now that we are on a path to save Andros, the world is changing for me once more.

  Memories come back to me of Andros and I fighting together, laughing together, and eating together. We were the other halves of each other's souls. Immortality didn’t seem so bad when I was in it with my best friend.

  But for so long all I thought about was what Hades would do to a gargoyle in the Underworld. I woke up in a sweat, imagining the ways the bastard god would torture him. Even now, I feel a cold sweat on my body at just the thought of all he has endured since his “death.” I know he’ll never be the same again, but I hope one day he and I can have happiness together, with Blaise as the third in our Brotherhood. In our family.

  “There’s the island!” Blaise points off in the distance.

  We fly faster toward it, and I cast a look at the phoenix. His wings aren’t lit, since it’s mid-afternoon. But even so, the sun seems to light him in its glow. I have no idea how someone who has been through as much as he has still seems to see the good in everything. Sometimes it makes me feel weak, and yet, Blaise has a way of making me feel strong, like a hero. I suspect he does it on purpose, but I never can prove it. Still, it’s nice not to have to face this alone.

  Suddenly, two figures drop from the clouds above us.

  My sword is in my hand in an instant, and Blaise stands at the ready beside me.

  The two phoenixes have their own swords out, but they look surprised as they glance between me and Blaise.

  “We saw you in the distance and thought a gargoyle had taken a phoenix prisoner,” one of them says, his gaze narrowed.

  The other smirks. “But now we see it’s only Blaise, the outcast.”

  A growl rumbles in the back of my throat. “He is no outcast to me.”

  The smirking one runs fingers through his dark hair. “It’s sad, really. The only one who would take him are the asshole gargoyles.”

  “Shut up,” Blaise says, but his voice is barely louder than a whisper, and his head is downcast.

  My heart races at the sight of him so demur. “I’m proud to have him fighting at my side,” I say, my hand tightening on the hilt of his sword.

  “Proud?” the smirking one mocks. “No one could feel that way after what he did…”

  “Shut up,” Blaise repeats, but his sword hand has dropped to his side.

  I stare between them. Blaise never spoke of what led to him being outcast. I’ve always been curious, since he knows my deepest, darkest secrets, but I realized long ago that it’s just something I’ll never know.

  The smirking blond one raises his brows. “Does the gargoyle not know? Is he unaware of what the child killer did?”

  Child killer? No. That’s impossible. Blaise would never do such a thing.

  But Blaise doesn’t respond, doesn’t defend himself in any way.

  “Get out of here,” I growl, and fly a little closer to them.

  Both men look surprised. I grit my teeth and hold my sword at the ready. If they want a fight, I’ll give them a fight, and I’m not t aware of any time two phoenixes have taken down a gargoyle.

  At last, the smirking one shakes his head. “It’s not worth it. But this isn’t over, child killer. We’ll be back for you.”

  They dart around us and back into the cloud. My heart hammers, and we fly in place for one long moment as I study the clouds, hoping that the phoenixes aren’t dumb enough to try a surprise attack.

  When I’m sure they’re gone, I resheath my sword, and Blaise does the same, and we continue to the island. I expect him to counter what the phoenixes said. I expect him to pop up with his attitude or his positive spin, but his shoulders are hunched, and he says nothing at all.

  We spot the rocky area around the outside of the island and fly down to land, just as the instructions said. Then, feeling sick to my stomach, I turn to Blaise. “I need an explanation.”

  His dark eyes flash golden as they collide with mine, and the hurt in his face takes my breath away. “I’m here, with you, venturing to the Underworld to save your brother. I’ve fought at your side time and time again. Do you really need to know about my past?”

  I hate myself for saying it. “This time, when it comes to children, I do.”

  To my surprise, he collapses onto a rock, and runs his fingers through his hair. His movements are jerky and out of control. His whole body seems to shake. “It was all my fault. Stupid, but all my fault.”

  I stare down at him, waiting.

  He releases a slow breath. “Among the phoenixes, I’d had many lovers. But ultimately the women would choose someone they felt...was a better match. More responsible. More of a provider. And so, I wasn’t exactly liked in the community by all the exes of the women. But I didn’t care. I loved my life, and I particularly loved all their kids. Children...I don’t know. They’re so innocent. They laugh, even if it’s about something dumb. They don’t care what anyone thinks.” A sad smile plays across his lips. “I used to tell them stories about stupid things I’d done. A couple of their moms warned me to be careful, because the kids idolized me. Well, one day after a few too many drinks, I was flying back to my home, a little treehouse in our community. I ran into a couple of boys who told me they’d read about the tale of Icarus, the boy who flew too close to the sun, and the wings his father built, and his plummet into the sea and death.”

  Uh oh.

  “I told them that as a boy, my friends and I would challenge each other to see how high we could go. All their fathers had done it. It was just a silly thing that stupid boys did. And then I went home and passed out.” He stares down at his hands. “Later on that day, no one could find the three boys. I was woken to help find them, but there was no trace of them. Finally, one child stepped forward and told everyone how I had shared the old stories and that the three boys had decided to try it near the beach.”

  He rubs his face and runs his hands through his hair, looking everywhere but at me. I want to tell him it’s okay. I want to tell him that whatever happened, it wasn’t his fault,
but I know he won’t believe me.

  Slowly and softly he says, “They found their bodies washed up along the shore. They’d flown too high, probably gone unconscious, then plummeted into the ocean and drowned.” He releases a slow breath. “It didn’t matter that it was something kids had done forever. It didn’t matter that I’d never told them to do it. They said it was my fault. That my words had led to their deaths. And they weren’t wrong. So, I was exiled. As I flew away from my only home as the words ‘child killer’ were thrown at me.”

  “Blaise--”

  His gaze finally meets mine and the grief in his eyes overwhelms me. “I’m an idiot, Orion. A complete moron. Life had all just been fun and games. A never-ending assortment of pleasure. I helped those kids learn how to fly. I swam with them, taught them how to weave wreaths for their hair, and collect oysters on the beach. And then I killed them. I did. Maybe not with my two hands. But I should’ve known better than to say a word.”

  And then, more softly, he says, “I hate it all. But more than that, I hate this lingering feeling that there was more to what happened than I thought. Those kids were smart. I can’t imagine them flying until they passed out. And then there’s the way we found their bodies...they didn’t look like bodies that had been in the ocean for days. There was just something I could never put my finger on, but that felt...wrong.” He shakes his head. “They said between what happened, and the eclipse, I wasn’t in my right mind.”

  I stiffen. The eclipse? That was the same day my brother had died. I’d always wondered, on a night when all immortal beings were out of sync with the world, if the eclipse had had something to do with what had happened to my brother.