Chapter 19

 

 

 

The magic spat me out in my living room, and as I clutched the guys with my fingers I tumbled on the carpet, falling with my face upward, hands prostrated before me, pretty much performing a yoga posture. So much for graceful manners and keeping up appearances. Durga, Shiva, and Raphael rushed to help me and lift me up; after they saw I was fine, Raphael and Shiva tended to the guys, checking on their health.

“Michael, Loki, and Enki! I’m so happy to see you alive and well,” Durga twittered cheerfully and hugged them, giving them a hard embrace. But their empty stares and numb bodies turned her face uneasy as she realized they had lost their senses. “My goodness, what happened to them?” she asked worriedly.

“That slimy worm...the shadow walker cast a spell on them or something to keep them under control. I tried pouring magic into them, but it made no difference. I’m afraid we might need something stronger to shake them up and dispel the sorcery,” I said. I’d pressed my head on Raphael’s chiseled chest; the touch of his warm skin soothed my strained nerves and exhausted body. He slid his thumb down my spine, his movement sending butterflies to my stomach. I pressed tighter to his chest, and Raphael drew his head closer to me, his lips brushing against my neck. A wave of heat shot through my belly down my legs, and the desire to make out with him clouded my vision. This rescue mission had completely worn me out, and what better way to recharge than drink from the archangel’s lips? Ah, but Durga and Shiva were present, so I had to hold my horses before I could make out with him.

“Let me try healing them!” Raphael said and suddenly pulled out from my embrace. He kneeled by the three guys and placed his hand on Michael’s belly, his other hand on his head. Raphael’s shimmering light of blue-greenish magic poured onto Michael, infusing his skin, spreading over his whole body, then spread to Enki and Loki, encompassing them, too. A flutter of life sparkled in the guys’ eyes, but except for that, they remained in the same state of mind, brainwashed. Damn, Mukkhi’s sorcery was powerful! I rejoiced that he’d die a painful death soon.

“Holy moly, it’s not working!” Raphael exclaimed, his eyes gawking at the dozing-off council members.

“We need something stronger! I’d better fetch Tulsi, she should take care and heal them,” Durga said and cast a spell. Sparkling glyphs shimmered in my otherwise normal living room, and a silver cloud blew across our faces. The spell took her and the three brainwashed guys. I hoped she’d succeed.

Shiva turned to me. “Now, you must tell us what happened in Hades’ Underworld. Is he involved in Drogo’s evil schemes?”

I sucked in a deep breath and confirmed, “Yes, Hades works together with Drogo. At least for now.”

Shiva’s brows crept up and I added, “He plans to get rid of Drogo, eventually—claims that Drogo is weak and stupid, since I beat him in his own castle.”

Raphael chuckled. “He’s right, Drogo proved to be stupider and weaker than you.” Amusement sparkled in the archangel’s eyes and Shiva nodded with his head in confirmation.

“Right. But here’s the disturbing news. Hades intends to unleash a new global plague, but this time he said it’ll affect supernaturals, too. Basically he’s all about depopulation and natural selection. Only the fittest and strongest species would survive and the rest will die if his plan comes to pass.”

“That motherfucker!” Shiva hissed, clenching his hand into a fist and then slammed it hard onto the sofa’s recliner. I’d never seen him that angry before and I was gawking at him. His otherwise beautiful forehead was creased by small wrinkles and angry flames the size of large beans glowed in his blue eyes. Once serene, now his eyes looked ferocious, possessed by wild rage. “We should have figured it out, but Hades is a tricky fella. He denied any involvement with Drogo during the magical plague. He claimed Drogo or someone else had stolen the Scroll of Lies when we confronted him,” Shiva said, his voice agitated, his eyes sparkling with unnatural color. He went on, “We don’t have control over Hades’ underground domain. Whatever happens in the Underworld stays in the Underworld.”

Nice ring, I thought, but only asked, “Then who has control? There must be a way to stop his apocalyptic plans.”

Shiva scratched his stubble and mused aloud, “Well, technically Hades is not part of the Black Court, and neither is he in the White Court. He’s sorta independent. But he has one controller and it’s Zeus.”

Zeus, the head of the Greek pantheon. It made sense.

“But isn’t Zeus a member of the White Court?” I asked.

“Yes, he is, but oh boy, is he hotheaded,” Raphael said as he rubbed his temples and collapsed in the sofa, releasing his arms from my body. A sense of longing fired up inside my chest, spreading through my whole being, and I slid onto the sofa, joining him.

“We have to talk to Zeus and convince him to stop that asshole of a brother he has!” Shiva said, his voice booming with determination.

Raphael pursed his lips. “The question, though, is can he stop Hades?”

“We have to try,” Shiva retorted.

“I’m sure Hades will deny all accusations,” Raphael noted.

Now it was my time to intervene in the conversation. “But I can testify as to what Hades told me back in his Underworld.” A very shitty underworld, I thought, but nonetheless his residing place.

“He’ll claim Drogo manipulated your perception and deceived you.” Raphael waved his hand dismissively.

“Oh. Can he really do that?”

“Probably.” The archangel shrugged. “See, Hades can twist truth the way he wants to, and since he’s unaffiliated with either Court he’ll get away with any lie he puts out.”

How dare he! “Will Zeus allow him to play this game of deception?” I asked.

“I think the god will probably fall for Hades’ trickery. There’s one negative thing about Zeus, besides being a self-centered narcissist, and it’s his refusal to see evil in his relatives. Hades is his brother.”

Yeah, I remembered that important bit. But still, would this make Zeus not believe us no matter what I presented to him?

I turned to the guys. “In the worst case scenario, let’s stipulate that Hades launches a new plague on the entire population, on both humans and supernaturals. What can we do?”

Shiva’s brows furrowed and he rubbed his forehead. “We must take countermeasures. For now, the shadow walker community is defeated thanks to Aiyana.” He flashed me a grateful smile and went on, “Neil Murdoch is safe and sound, so he owes us. We’ll use that to our advantage and request he give us some of his best mercenaries. We’re going to need back-up.”

As Shiva mentioned Neil Murdoch, something clicked in my mind. Fates, I’d totally forgotten about the Magic Council’s CEO! I’d killed Mukkhi Bernett, the skin-walker who’d been possessing Neil, but I’d never wondered what had happened to Neil. “You checked on Neil Murdoch? I was busy slaying that ass Hades, and totally forgot about the werewolf.”

“He’s safe. He connected with Durga about half an hour before you came back. He woke in his room with complete amnesia about what he’s been doing for the past few days. Basically since the skin-walker possessed him. Durga filled him in,” Shiva explained to me.

“But how come he found himself in his bed unharmed by the shadow walkers? Didn’t some of your angels check his house when Loki, Michael and Enki disappeared?” I asked. The whole thing with Neil, his disappearance then reappearance didn’t make any sense. Or perhaps these were the perks of shadow walkers.

“I suspect once the shadow walker leader got our guys, he released Neil’s soul, mind, and body from his clutches and spared his life. Maybe he cast an invisibility spell on Neil so that our angels couldn’t see him? I dunno. I have trouble understanding shadow walker sorcery.” Shiva shook his head.

Relief fluttered in my chest. It wasn’t just me, then. If the most powerful god of Hinduism couldn’t grasp how exactly skin-walkers’ dark magic functioned, it was really a messed-up system.

“Mukkhi spared Neil’s life? Really? How generous of him,” I said, not even trying to hide my mocking tone. “Killing and feasting on the other two shifters was fair game, but not Neil Murdoch? Hmm, interesting. Was it because of Neil’s status as the Magic Council’s CEO?” I would never have guessed skin-walkers cared about hierarchy.

Raphael turned to me. “Neil’s the primordial, alpha werewolf. All adept skin-walkers have mastered the ability to shapeshift, therefore, they’re bound to respect Neil Murdoch. Well, everyone in the supernatural world does. I believe this is the reason why Mukkhi or whoever possessed good ol’ Neil decided not to kill him.”

“Well, it pays off to be the primordial alpha werewolf, then,” I cracked a reply.

“Yes, and with great power comes great responsibility,” Shiva said. “This applies to us as well. We need to host another meeting of all Council of Nine members, and this time in Eden Hall, but our injured boys must recover first.”

“They will—I couldn’t heal them, but Mother Tulsi will,” Raphael remarked. He shot a futile glance at Shiva, uncertainty creasing his handsome face. “I hope I don’t come across as reckless, but before we set out to defeat Hades and drag down Drogo for good, could we perhaps host a little celebration? Durga offered the same thing during our last meeting, if you remember.”

Celebration was the last thing on my mind, but given how crazy the past few days had been, especially the last 24 hours, a little party wouldn’t hurt. “Yes, I’d love that, too. And I know the best place for our celebration. Durga shares my opinion, too.”

Shiva’s brows furrowed; he obviously wasn’t in a party mode, nor did he recall Durga’s suggestion in the small smoking room to gather at Jeff’s pub and celebrate our victory over Drogo. Before he could ask me, I added, “McManus’ pub is the best place to host our own party. I can talk to Jeff and convince him to reserve the pub for us only. I mean the Council of Nine members,” I added, realizing I wasn’t an official member of their secret society. And yet for the past few months I’d been actively engaged in their activities to stop Drogo from inflicting chaos and destruction on our world.

“So, what say you, big boss?” Raphael teased Shiva and the latter waved his hand.

“Let me check on Durga. If the other boys are recovering, we can have a little celebration,” he said reluctantly.

Raphael and I exchanged a happy glance and the archangel whispered into my ear, “Call Jeff now. We can throw the party on Saturday.”