Dark Descent

by Marlene Perez

  “Never put her niece in danger to exact revenge?” I replied. “She’s a Fate, Talbot. Get with the program. They killed their own sister.”

  He stared at the lighter like he’d never seen one before.

  Naomi walked into Eternity Road and I quickly pocketed the lighter. She kissed Talbot and then gave me a long measuring look. I met her eyes, but it took effort. Whatever she saw there seemed to satisfy her.

  “You don’t reek of alcohol,” she said. “It’s an improvement.” Her eyes were shiny with unshed tears and I felt like an ass for making her worry.

  Chapter Ten

  Talbot, Naomi, and I were holed up in the office at Eternity Road, searching a map of Minneapolis for clues to the location of Hecate’s gate to the underworld.

  “You can find Hecate’s gate at a three-way crossroad,” he said.

  “Where can I find a three-way crossroad in Minneapolis?” I wasn’t a native, but my question stumped my friends, too.

  We studied the map.

  “I can’t tell anything from this tiny map,” I said.

  Talbot got out a magnifying glass, and we took turns staring at the roads of a miniature city.

  “Hell’s Belles is near a three-way crossroad,” Talbot said. “And we were attacked by a wraith there not that long ago.”

  “You think Hecate sent a wraith after me?” I asked. “I thought the prophecy was supposed to work in her favor?”

  “Do you have any better ideas?” Talbot replied. “She might not have the motive, but she definitely had the opportunity.”

  He was right. You couldn’t walk in the underworld without tripping over a dead person. Or so I’d been told.

  “Bernie knows something,” I said. “I just don’t know what.”

  “She’s a demon,” Talbot reminded me needlessly. “She’ll never talk.”

  “We’re going to have to find a way to make her talk,” I said.

  “The location seems too obvious,” Naomi said. “Right in plain sight.”

  “It’s not like anyone can stroll into Hecate’s domain,” I pointed out. “She’ll have some nasty surprises for the unwary or uninvited.”

  “Talbot’s not going with you,” Naomi said.

  His face darkened. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” he said and then he pulled her aside, while I tried to stare at anything besides them. I tried to look busy, but my gaze returned to their angry faces. Talbot’s eyes had turned to silverlight, which was never a good sign.

  I’d never seen my best friend and my cousin argue, not once, since they’d started dating, but it was clear they were fighting now.

  I felt more awkward by the moment, and even worse, I was wasting valuable time. I cleared my throat. “Uh, I’m taking off,” I said. “See you later.”

  I walked away, but Talbot caught up with me down the block. “You were gonna just bail on me?” he asked.

  “I recognized that look in Naomi’s eyes,” I said. “And I didn’t have time to watch your lovers’ quarrel.”

  “She’s stubborn,” he said. “But I’m worse.”

  “She’s a Fate,” I said, suddenly serious. “Don’t ever forget it.”

  “Naomi would never do anything to hurt me,” he replied. “Or you.”

  I wished I were as certain of that as he seemed to be. “The supper rush should be over by now,” I said. “The restaurant will be emptying out. Maybe Bernie will want to talk.”

  Talbot snorted, but didn’t say anything, We were almost to the café when he put a hand on my arm. “Someone’s tailing us,” he whispered.

  “Are you sure?” I looked back in time to see a shadowy figure dart into a doorway.

  He nodded and then increased his pace. “We need to bail on this idea.”

  “No way,” I replied. “What are they going to do? Beat us to death with a pie?”

  The figure moved again and a streetlight illuminated his features.

  “It’s just Doc,” Talbot said. “He’s harmless.”

  “You sound disappointed,” I said. “My cousin isn’t enough excitement for you anymore?”

  “None of your business,” Talbot replied. There was an odd note in his voice, but my attention was focused on the homeless guy.

  “Who’s Doc?” I asked.

  “The guy who helped us with Elizabeth.”

  Now I recognized the mutilated face of the guy tailing us. “Hey, wait a minute.”

  I owed him money and he owed me an explanation. I wanted to know why he’d given me my mother’s emerald frog. I wanted to know why he had magical powers, powers that people would pay for, but instead, he was homeless. I wanted to know who he was, really.

  He took off running. Fast for an old guy.

  “Stop!” I said. I took off after him. “I just want to give you some money. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  If anything, that made him run faster.

  I chased him for three blocks, but he gave me the slip.

  “Why are you chasing him?” Talbot asked, panting as he came up behind me. “I told you he was skittish.”

  “I just wanted to ask him some questions,” I said.

  “You probably scared him,” Talbot said.

  “He knows something,” I said.

  “Freaking him out isn’t going to get you answers,” he said.

  He was probably right. “What do you know about him?”

  “He’s been coming around the store since I was little. Dad feeds him, tries to get him to stay, but he always slips away.”

  I was unconvinced. “I need to find him.”

  “Another time,” Talbot urged. “I’ll let you know next time he’s in the store. We have things to do, remember? Finding the gate? Claire?”

  I reluctantly let him point me toward Hell’s Belles. We walked for a block or so in silence.

  “So what was the argument with Naomi about?” I asked.

  He hesitated. “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Try me.”

  “Hard to believe, but the aunts don’t think I’m good enough for her.” Underneath the joking tone, there was a hint of hurt.

  “Why do you care?”

  “Because I’m in love with her,” Talbot said quietly.

  “You couldn’t have picked a worse future mother-in-law,” I said.

  “I thought you liked Nona,” he objected.

  “She’s the best of the worst,” I admitted. “They probably disapprove of you because we’re friends.”

  “That’s what I thought,” he said. “But it’s more than that.”

  The restaurant was dark, which was strange, since Hell’s Belles was a twenty-four-hour diner.

  Talbot checked his watch. “Now what? Hell’s Belles is closed.”

  “This is our only chance,” I said.

  “We picked the one night Bernie closes,” Talbot said.

  “Even better,” I said. “She won’t be there.”

  When we checked, the main part of the restaurant was dark, but I could still see a light in the kitchen.

  The front door, though, was locked.

  “Let’s check the back,” I said.

  We went around to the rear of the building. There was a smelly Dumpster and the area by the door was littered with cigarettes.

  Talbot put his hand on the knob and turned it slowly. “Door’s unlocked,” Talbot said.

  The back kitchen was in darkness.

  “What now?”

  “I doubt the gate is out in the open. It’s probably somewhere in the kitchen or—”

  “The basement,” Talbot interrupted. He pointed to an interior door.

  From down below, someone was chanting. We followed the sound down stairs lit by rows of lit candles.

  We tried to be as quiet as possible, but the stairs squeaked as I reached the bottom.

  Talbot and I froze, but the guttural chanting continued.

  We hid behind a stack of restaurant supply boxes. Bernie stood before an elaborate wooden altar carved with
Tria Prima symbols.

  As we watched, she drew a blade across her hand and spilled drops of blood into a golden goblet.

  “Don’t breathe it in,” I whispered to Talbot. “And whatever you do, don’t get any on your skin.” Demons’ blood wasn’t like ours. It scalded the skin, and if it got into the bloodstream, it did much worse.

  When I turned back again, Bernie was no longer standing there.

  “Did you see where she went?” I asked Talbot.

  He ignored the question and moved closer to the altar. “Look familiar?” he asked. He motioned to the wall. Hanging on a hook by a silken thread was a key, twin to the one I’d found at Gaston’s.

  Talbot went up to the altar, careful to avoid the goblet full of demon blood. “Do you hear that?” he said. “I hear a dog.”

  He pressed his ear to the wall and stayed like that for a long minute. “Definitely a dog.”

  There was only one goddess who came to mind when I thought of dogs. Hecate.

  We went back to our hiding place. “Now what?” Talbot whispered.

  “We wait.”

  I had almost dozed off when Talbot nudged me. “We’ve got company.”

  Hooded figures filled the room.

  We watched as the disciples slowly approached the altar one by one, and then, just as Bernie had, each one disappeared until the room was empty except for Talbot and me.

  “Should we follow them?”

  “We’d be outnumbered,” I said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Back in the Caddy, Talbot turned to me. “Now what?”

  “Now I check back with the Fates to see what they say.” I wasn’t looking forward to telling Morta that her mortal enemy had her daughter.

  Chapter Eleven

  I wanted to catch Morta alone, so I got to Parsi Enterprises early the next morning. Nona was still in a fog and I loathed Deci, so Morta was my only chance at getting some answers.

  Trevor was playing guard dog in front of her closed office door. Or maybe he was eavesdropping.

  Even from where I stood, I heard raised voices.

  “Heard anything juicy?” I asked.

  Trevor stepped away from the door and crossed his arms over his chest. “She’s in a meeting.”

  “Too bad,” I replied.

  I didn’t wait for his response, but pushed my way through.

  “You’re not going to believe what I found out,” I said.

  “I’m in a meeting,” Morta snapped. My aunt had the same high cheekbones as my mother, but where my mother’s hair had been a soft brown, there was nothing soft about Morta, not even her hair. It was the color of burnished steel and was cut at sharp angles.

  “So I heard.” I smirked at her until I realized who was sitting in her comfortable guest chair. Sean Danvers. The golf-loving necromancer who Jenny had briefly dated to try to get over Gaston.

  He wasn’t bad-looking, tan and fit, but his skin carried an oily film of evil. Or maybe it was his pungent cologne that left the residue.

  “What are you doing here?” My surprise made me ruder than usual.

  He stood and smiled pleasantly. “I was just leaving.” He picked up a grocery bag the right size to contain a six-pack. I should know. I’d bet money the bag contained what looked like innocuous orange soda but was, in reality, ambrosia.

  Then to Morta, he said, “You’ll consider my proposal?”

  She gave a curt nod. “Now if you’ll excuse us?” Her smile was pleasant, but her tone implied Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.

  “Good day, Ms. Foley. Mr. Fortuna.” His smile was robotic, like he’d programmed it into his hard drive but had no idea what it was supposed to do for him.

  It sounded weird to hear him address my aunt as anything other than Fate, but she didn’t seem to mind. Why were the Fates giving Danvers a free sample of their ambrosia? The formula was gone, missing since Sawyer’s death. What did Danvers have on them that they’d be willing to break into their limited stock?

  “I’ll walk you to the elevator,” my aunt said. “As long as my nephew can manage to stay out of trouble for five minutes.”

  I gave her a sunny smile. “I’ll try.” After they left, I took a seat in Morta’s chair, knowing it was going to irritate her.

  Trevor bustled in with a pot of black coffee and some Tums. The breakfast of champions.

  He slammed the tray down with more force than necessary. “You’re not supposed to be in here.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I have more right to be here than you.”

  “Quit bullying the help, son of Fortuna,” My aunt said.

  “I’ve been called a lot of things before, most of them by you,” I said. “But I’ve never been called a bully before.”

  “Then don’t act like one,” she said.

  I felt a twinge of shame. I didn’t like Trevor, even though I had absolutely no reason. “Sorry,” I said to him.

  “Apology accepted,” he said. “Now I better get back to the phones.”

  “What did Danvers want?” I asked, once Trevor was out of earshot.

  “He wants to invest in Parsi Enterprises,” she said carefully. “He’s particularly interested in our bottling division.”

  “I’ll bet he is,” I replied. The Fates had been trying to manufacture ambrosia, also known as nectar of the gods. Mortals would and had killed to get their hands on a way to stay young forever.

  “What did you want, son of Fortuna?” she asked, but I ignored the question for one of my own.

  “So what happened to Mr. Foley?”

  “He died,” she said. “Why do you ask?”

  “Seems to be one of the hazards of the job,” I said.

  She gave me a level stare to let me know she wouldn’t be prodded into revealing anything else. “Is there something you wanted?”

  “I found Claire,” I said. “At least I’m pretty sure I know where she is. But I need your help.”

  “Where is she?”

  “I think Hecate has her.” I expected her to freak out or something, but she didn’t even blink.

  “Then fetch her.” Her lips pressed together tightly. She wasn’t as calm as she tried to appear.

  “That wasn’t part of the deal,” I objected. “How do you expect me to bring her back from the land of the dead?”

  Morta gave me a look that would have chilled the bones of a mortal man. “That is not my problem. I have no power there.”

  Her lips curled like it hurt to say the words. Maybe it did.

  “You’re asking a lot of me.”

  “Your beloved, is she not worth it?” she asked.

  “She’s not my beloved anymore.” I shifted uneasily at the knowing look in her eye, but Morta didn’t comment on the pathetic state of my love life. Elizabeth had been the means to an end for her.

  “It is settled, then,” she said.

  “How did the Fates manage to trap Hecate in the underworld?” I asked.

  “None of your business,” she snapped. “I wouldn’t put it past you to free her just for spite.”

  “She can’t be much worse than you three,” I muttered, but Morta heard me. She looked at me with more contempt than usual, if that was even possible.

  “You have no idea,” she said. “Whatever you do, do not set Hecate free and fulfill the prophecy.”

  “I don’t believe in the prophecy,” I said. I folded my arms across my chest.

  “Then you have nothing to fear, son of Fortuna,” she replied, but she didn’t seem to believe her own words.

  She refused to call me Nyx. It had been her mother’s name, my grandmother’s, and I’d appropriated it a long time ago. I don’t know why I kept using it, except it fit me now. And it pissed Morta off, which was always an added bonus.

  Chapter Twelve

  On Saturday, the pawnshop was full of window-shoppers who spent hours looking at the knickknacks. Talbot watched them with an eagle eye, but I was bored.

  “I’m going back tonight,”
I said.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Talbot said.

  “I don’t have a choice,” I said. “Deci doesn’t let the Book of Fates out of her sight and Morta refuses to help me.”

  “But Claire’s her daughter,” Talbot said.

  “Doesn’t seem to matter right now,” I said. “And if I can’t get her out of Hecate’s clutches on my own, my aunts will hunt Elizabeth down and hurt her. They probably already know where she is.”

  “Then I’m going with you,” he replied.

  “Talbot, haven’t you noticed? People get hurt around me.”

  “That’s life, Nyx,” he said. Then he slapped his hand on his head. “I forgot. I’m supposed to go out with Naomi tonight.”

  “Then go,” I said. I was relieved. I didn’t want to have to worry about both of us getting out of there alive.

  “No way,” he said. “I’ll make up an excuse.”

  The store finally emptied out about an hour before closing and Talbot flipped the sign over and locked the door.

  He laughed at my surprised look. “Nepotism pays sometimes.”

  *

  I parked the Caddy a block from Hell’s Belles and we walked the rest of the way. We could have hoofed it, but I liked knowing I had a quick getaway if I needed it. The restaurant’s sign was in sight when I realized there was a flaw in our plan.

  “How are we going to get in without being noticed?” I asked. “We’re walking in right in the middle of the dinner rush.”

  “We can’t use an obscura spell this time,” he said. “Too many demons around.”

  Unlike mortals, demons could see right through an obscura spell, which is why Talbot and I had been hiding last time we were in the basement. They weren’t completely immune to magic, but it took dark magic to get a demon to do your bidding. I wasn’t interested in trying.

  “You’re right,” I said.

  “Which is why I brought this,” he said. He took out a map and handed it to me with a flourish. “We’ll go this way instead.”

  There was the sound of running footsteps and then Naomi called out, “Wait up!”

  “Did you tell her?” I asked him.

  “Of course not,” he replied.

  I surveyed her. “What are you wearing?”