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Shade! I let out a long breath and gave a short nod, and then the lights came back on. Halcon was examining the front door suspiciously, but then he shook his head and moved back to my side.
“I should warn you, we have a few ghosts around here. But they won’t hurt you. Come on, let’s go.” He motioned for me to follow him, and, confident now that I knew Shade was around, I did.
We descended the stairs, winding down at least two floors’ worth, to finally reach a large, spacious floor deep beneath the house. The ceilings were at least fifteen feet high, which accounted for the number of stairs, and the chamber into which we stepped was nearly as large as the entire first floor of the mansion.
Pillars and beams—no doubt load-bearing—were spaced evenly through the room. Toward the back, I spied a large throne, or perhaps it was just a massive chair, but it was huge, with a door beyond it. Four women were sitting around the base of the chair, and one I recognized from the picture that Faerman had given us. It was his wife, Syringa. They were harnessed, unable to go farther than their tethers, and they all looked afraid and exhausted.
As Halcon pushed me from behind, toward the throne, I realized that I’d just become Gulakah’s fifth…wife? Handmaiden? Whatever he was using them for. It took everything I had for me to force myself not to run. The sight of the tethers and harnesses were flashing me back to the chains Hyto had used to restrain me. Playful bondage with Smoky and his hair? Not a problem. The real thing with a megalomaniac who was also a god? No, thank you!
Halcon pressed on my shoulders once we neared the throne, pushing me to my knees. I swallowed the lump rising in my throat, but then, the door behind the throne opened, and I fell into a black hole of fear as Gulakah, the Lord of Ghosts, strode out in all of his reptilian glory.
Chapter 18
Fuck. It was him, in the flesh. Knowing Shade was around was no longer the panacea I needed to keep it together. I began to back up, the panic rising. I’d been in Gulakah’s mind. I’d sensed him from the inside out, the anger and love of destruction and hunger for power…it was all there, wrapped up inside him.
Backing away, I bumped into Halcon, who was standing directly behind me. He laughed low, and now the charm was gone and a sadistic delight filled his voice. He caught hold of me and pushed me forward.
“I brought you another one,” he said in a loud voice as he grasped my hands behind me to keep me pinned.
I struggled and he shoved me hard, knocking me to the floor. Something shifted inside, and as I began to stand up, I realized that the dress was skintight and shorter on me. Fuck. Apparently getting knocked to the floor was enough of an attack to break the charm.
As I scrambled up, Halcon let out a gasp. Gulakah hissed, the snakes on his head waving like crazy. He turned to Halcon.
“You bring a spy into my lair? I have seen her before! She is the enemy.”
“No—no, I brought you…I thought she…” Halcon looked confused, but he didn’t have a chance to say anything else because right then Shade leaped into the room out of the shadows. The commotion was earsplitting as the women screamed. Gulakah was heading directly toward us, and Halcon was scrambling away, looking terrified.
“Now—do it, Camille. We’ll be right behind you.”
“The women—”
“Don’t worry, there are reinforcements upstairs, making their way down here right now.” And with that, Shade gave me a sharp nod.
Cringing, petrified, I held out my left arm, palm up, and as Gulakah came into reach, I clenched my teeth and slammed it against him. The world fell away in a flash of lightning and thunder.
The gate was faster than a portal and more abrupt. I cringed as the world spun, throwing me against the Lord of Ghosts. At least he seemed too surprised to do anything, and by the time he started to rouse himself, we were on the ground, in front of the gates to the Netherworld. The world was a mist of silver and gray, and spirits passed by, unaware of me, but whirling into a frenzy when they saw Gulakah. I gasped, choking on the stale air that filled the space. I didn’t even know if I had to breathe here, but I didn’t want to chance finding out.
Gulakah looked around, then swiveled to me and charged. I screamed, dodging. As I managed to evade him, there was a soft sound to my left, and Morio and Shade were standing there. Right behind them, Vanzir, Smoky, and Roz showed up.
Morio grabbed my hand and pulled me off to the side. “We have to prepare. We can do this. The Greater Asa Mordente spell.”
I’d brushed up on the spell while waiting to leave for the meeting.
The Greater Asa Mordente was a soul-zapping spell that stripped away life like a torturer flayed away skin. It was gruesome and dark and painful, and it forever changed the person who used it too much.
“You think we’re ready?”
“Never more so, babe, and we don’t have time to argue.” He nodded to Gulakah, who had engaged Shade, Smoky, Roz, and Vanzir. They were fighting him with their silver weapons, dancing just out of reach of the writhing snakes. Smoky looked pale and wan here, and I could see how being in the Netherworld didn’t agree with him.
“Eat it, dirtbag.” Vanzir let loose with his feelers, and the neon tentacles writhed toward Gulakah, seeking purchase. The Lord of Ghosts laughed and went to swat them away but then let out a snarl as one wrapped around his arm and dug in, slithering beneath the surface to suck at his energy.
Shivering, I turned back to take Morio’s hands. “Yes. We do this.”
As the others kept Gulakah occupied, Morio and I lowered ourselves into trance. The energy of the Netherworld was seductive, seeping through everything like the perpetual mists that filtered through the realm.
Deeper we went, deeper, seeking the purple fire that coiled through the Netherworld, the fire of death, the cleansing fire, the fire of destruction, the fire of the phoenix, the fire that charred to ashes but did not burn. My stomach lurched as the icy winds blew past. More and more often, the stronger our death magic, the winds would come and reverberate through me, chilling me to the core.
My fingers touched his, and a crackle sparked between us.
