Talbot and I took the Hell’s Belles entrance to the underworld. Hidden in the basement storage room were an altar and an express entrance to the underworld. It was quicker, but was also more likely to be heavily guarded by demons.
“Did you and Naomi find a way to kill the demons en masse?” I asked as we cut through the kitchen to the basement altar that was the shortcut to the underworld.
“I may have found something,” he said. “But I’m not sure it’ll work.”
There was no sign of Hecate’s hounds. I didn’t even hear a bark. I assumed they were guarding their goddess’s body.
We crossed over, not far from Hecate’s castle. A purple haze masked a moon the color of blood. Twisted black trees lined the path. The wolfsbane, mandrake, belladonna, and dittany had flourished since my last visit and threatened to overrun the path.
It was easy to get lost on the path, but Naomi had left a few magical bread crumbs the last time we were here.
“There was a mention of demons unable to stand silver and salt,” Talbot said, “so Naomi made me something special for them. Silver, salt, and a nasty little spell. It should melt the skin off their bones.”
“I hope she’s right,” I said.
Hecate’s palace seemed to be empty, but I caught a glimpse of a skittering thing, black and thin as a shadow.
Another of the insectlike creatures joined its friend, and then another. The marble floor echoed with the sound of hundreds of the insects.
“Got any bug spray?” I whispered.
“What do you think they eat?” he whispered back.
“Let’s not find out.” I sent a fire bolt into the middle of the creatures. The flame spread until the smell of roasting insect filled the room. They let out high-pitched squeaks as they burned.
The sound brought a horde of demons running. Talbot lobbed the ball of silver and salt into the middle of the throng. It exploded. The demons shrieked as their skin bubbled.
We raced through the castle, checking each room for Hecate’s physical form. I found the locked door where I’d first encountered the chimera.
I tried every unlocking spell I knew, but the door wouldn’t budge. I sliced open my palm and held it over the knob. “Open,” I commanded.
The door creaked open and we stepped into the room.
Hecate’s body was in a white aspen bed carved with Tria Prima symbols. She was dressed in a simple white gown, but the bottom was festooned with more of the Tria Prima symbols. Her long dark hair fanned out on her pillow and her skin was as pale as her dress.
“She looks dead,” Talbot said.
“I wish.”
We stood there staring at the body of the goddess. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Maybe she’s booby-trapped,” Talbot said. He pointed upward. There was another of the skittering black insects hanging above the bed. The thing looked at us with its tiny red eyes.
I sent a bolt of flame toward it. It dodged the fire. Instead of running, it jumped, landing on my face. It felt like I was being stabbed by hundreds of tiny knives. Talbot managed to pull it off me. He threw it on the floor and stamped on it, but the insect still twitched. I threw my athame and skewered it.
“What are those things?” Talbot asked.
I shrugged. “An underworld bedbug?”
I checked, but didn’t spot any more of the insects.
I grabbed one of Hecate’s arms and her eyes opened. They were opaque and unseeing. I dropped her arm and took a step back.
“Think she knows we’re here?”
Talbot shrugged. “I think we should hurry. One or two demons might have escaped and rushed to tattle.”
I repressed a shudder and picked up Hecate at the knees. I slung her over my shoulder and we started the long hike back home.
We didn’t spot any demons, unless you counted Bernie, who was in the kitchen when we came topside, dragging Hecate’s body with us.
“Son of Fortuna,” Bernie said. “Please use the back door when you leave.” Which I took to mean there were demons waiting for us at the front entrance.
We took the rear exit when we hauled Hecate’s body out of the restaurant and into the back of the Eternity Road van. Doc was in the driver’s seat, and he started the vehicle when he saw us.
“I’ve literally become a body snatcher.” I grunted as we set our burden down. “Not my highest point, career-wise.”
Talbot laughed, but then sobered quickly. “She’s going to come after you with everything she has.” He closed the back doors and Doc floored it.
“Let her,” I said. “This is the only way Willow is going to be free. She wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for me.”
“You don’t know that,” he replied. “Hecate was looking for a way out of the underworld. You had nothing to do with putting her there.”
“She has a grudge against my entire family,” I said.
“You know you’re giving her what she wants,” Talbot said. “By taking her body out of the underworld, all Hecate has to do is climb back in and she’s truly free. She won’t need Willow anymore.”
“I have something planned,” I said.
“What are we going to do with the body?” Talbot asked. “We need it close so Hecate has another container.”
“We’re taking the body to Parsi. They have the perfect spot to stash someone.”
“Dungeon?” Talbot guessed.
“Zoo,” I told him.
My aunt Morta was there waiting for us. She’d even brought a body-size dolly with her. Talbot and I heaved Hecate’s prone form onto it and followed Morta. Doc trailed behind us and kept his distance from Morta. She didn’t even acknowledge him. Maybe she didn’t realize he was there. Doc had the ability to fade into the background when he wanted to.
“You are surprisingly resourceful, son of Fortuna,” Morta said.
“So you think it will work?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.”
It didn’t take long for us to relocate Hecate’s body to her new prison. It was decidedly less luxurious than her palace in the underworld. The rest of Morta’s “guests” went silent when we entered the corridor with the body of the goddess.
The plan was to free Willow and to trap Hecate, this time so she couldn’t possess anyone ever again. Hecate’s body was the bait.
“What now?” Talbot asked.
“We wait for Hecate to realize her body is missing.” It shouldn’t take long. We’d killed a dozen of her strongest demons.
Aunt Morta’s lackeys provided a couple of folding chairs. We sat in front of the warded room and waited.