"I'm sorry my dear, did that shock you?" Hades asked Kasey as we exited the car. She'd been very quiet since learning of his identity.
"It's just…" she started in a whisper, "you're Hades. We learnt about you at school."
"I am he, yes," he said with a large grin in place. "You must tell me what they're teaching these days. Last I heard it was all kidnap this and pomegranates that. Persephone was always entertained with that one. She doesn't even like the blasted things."
We followed Hades up the lengthy path and under a grey-stone archway to the dark wood, front door, where he caught Tommy glancing around. "You're wondering about my security, aren't you?” Hades asked.
"Glass windows, grey brick structure, wooden window frames. I assume you have runes etched into everything."
"Every single brick has a rune on it. The wooden frames also have them." Hades tapped the glass panel in the front door. "Bulletproof glass. It's in every window, pane of glass and door in the house. I assure you, we are safe here."
Hades opened the door and took us into the foyer — a grand room with a wooden staircase on one side and selection of dark brown couches on the other. The staircase matched the door and window frames in colour.
"The stairs lead to nine bedrooms," Hades said. "Your bags will be taken to the empty bedrooms at the end of the hallway. Each has its own bathroom, so please feel free to make yourself at home."
As if on cue, several women in uniform appeared, taking our bags upstairs without a sound. They were like tiny, luggage carrying ninjas.
"Why don't you go and get yourselves settled," Hades said to Tommy and Kasey. "I'll be outside with Nate when you're ready."
With anyone else, Tommy would have glanced toward me to check that I would be okay. But there was no need with Hades. We both trusted him with our lives, and although we didn't always agree, he would never attack us. Besides, if he'd wanted me dead, I wouldn't even have made it to the hanger once we landed in Canada.
"Let's go talk," Hades said to me when we were alone.
I followed him through several rooms until we reached the massive kitchen. A counter ran almost the length of the room, chairs pulled up along one side so that people could cook and serve the food at the same place.
The smell of cinnamon wafted through the room. Someone had been baking.
"Our cook makes apple strudel," Hades said. "I had her make Tommy one all for himself."
"I'm surprised he hasn't caught the scent and run down here like a bulldozer."
Hades laughed, as he opened a large glass door and stepped out into the conservatory.
I walked to the glass window and looked out across the fields behind Hades' house. A large building sat several hundred meters to my left. It hadn't been there when I'd last visited. "What's that for?"
"Ah, we built a small house there for guests we don't trust to stay in the main building. There's two more down by the lake. Persephone had wanted another built to house the swimming pool, but I convinced her that moving the entire swimming pool would be best left to Poseidon himself, and I doubted he would be keen on coming over to help my wife redecorate our house."
"How is she?"
"Persephone? Probably on the phone shouting at someone. She's been looking forward to seeing you again. The last twelve hours have been a whirlwind of activity that I'd decided it was best to avoid."
"Sorry for causing you any problems."
"Not me, my friend, but my staff might not be so enthusiastic." He pointed back into the kitchen. "You see those spotlights above the kitchen counter?"
"They look very nice," I said, hoping that was the correct answer.
"Well, one of the bulbs was flickering. Persephone equated this to the end of the world. Apparently, flickering lights are some sort of sign of the apocalypse. Who knew?" Hades walked to a drinks cabinet at one side of the conservatory, and removed a bottle of coke. "Drink?"
"Why not," I said. "Thanks for the bottle on the jet."
"You're a terrible flyer. I saw no reason to burden everyone else with your lunacy."
I laughed as I accepted a bottle and took a seat on a leather arm-chair. "Thanks for seeing me on such short notice."
Hades sat opposite me and took a drink. "You call, I answer. I owe you too much for it to be any other way. Besides you said the magic word. Lich. That gets my attention pretty goddamn quickly."
Before I could say anything the door opened, and Kasey and Tommy joined us. Kasey had a can of coke in one hand, and Tommy was eating an apple with the enthusiasm of a man who hadn't eaten in days rather than hours.
"How's your accommodation?" Hades asked.
"Awesome," Kasey said immediately. "My room is massive."
"I'm glad you approve." Hades turned back to me. "Now, let's discuss this lich you're concerned about."
Tommy glanced at his daughter. "Maybe you shouldn't be here for this."
"No," Kasey snapped. "I'm not a little girl, Dad. This monster is responsible for Mum being attacked. I need to know what it is."
"I'm not sure," Tommy said.
"Please, Daddy," Kasey pleaded.
"Tommy," I interrupted. "I'd never tell you what to do, but do you remember what we were doing at twelve?"
"Hunting deer," Tommy said. "You?"
"I was learning how to kill people," I said honestly. "If I remember correctly, on my twelfth birthday, Merlin had me doing sword practice in the morning, and herbs in the afternoon. I believe we had cake after."
"Well, I certainly don't want her hunting this thing," Tommy said. "But you're probably right, Kasey; you are old enough to know what's happening."
Kasey beamed as if a huge victory had been won, and then stopped the moment her dad glanced her way. "Nate told me that lich are monsters," Kasey said.
"They're more than that," Hades explained. "A lich is created when a sorcerer uses some very dark blood magic to twist himself. They murder people in a very specific way and absorb their victims' souls as they ebb away. Then, when they've finally taken enough, they kill themselves in as violent a way as possible.
"And there's one more thing they must do. As they die, they must focus on the one person they hate above all others. A lich is created through a combination of the magic, the sacrifices and the hate. They're known as those born of hatred. And once they've been created, they're capable of such evil as you can't imagine."
"What makes them so powerful?" Kasey asked.
"Each lich can make up to six ghouls. Each ghoul is created by the lich absorbing the spirit of the human, and then replacing it with some of his own life energy."
"That's why we smelt so many different scents," Tommy said.
Hades nodded. "Yes, the lich will contain the scents of all the souls it's absorbed, all merged together. But even worse, it means that you can't kill the lich until you've killed all of his ghouls. Otherwise a part of him still exists out there, and he can come back again and again."
"So, they're un-killable until then?" Kasey asked.
"A lich with six ghouls alive is stronger than your dad is, just as fast, and nearly impossible to hurt in any meaningful way. Magic and weapons will hurt him, but not for long. And once you've killed all of the ghouls, you need a necromancer to kill the lich for good, by removing whatever twisted visage is left of his soul and destroying it. Only then can he be killed."
"So to stop him, we have to destroy all of his ghouls, and then remove his soul before killing him?" Tommy asked, before turning to me. "I see why you don't talk about your past lich problem very often."
"It wasn't much fun," I agreed. "I'm here to ask for your help, Hades. Do you have a necromancer who could be spared?"
"I'll make a few calls and get someone to the UK as soon as possible. Are you certain it's a lich?"
"Yes," I said. "I saw him with my own eyes. His name is Peter Jarvis."
"The trick will be to find this lich before anyone else dies. If you really did kill one ghoul, you have a few days before he will fully recover from his weakened state. He won't risk losing another so soon after."
"Can't he just make more?" Kasey asked.
"Once a lich-created ghoul is dead, that's it. They've lost that portion of their life they placed inside the beast." Hades was about to say more but the doors opened once again and a woman joined us in the conservatory.
Stunning was the wrong word to describe Persephone. She was one of the most beautiful women I've ever laid eyes on, someone who could give Aphrodite a run for her money in the desirable stakes. Her long dark hair flowed freely over slender shoulders, and a diamond clip in the shape of a butterfly sat just above one ear, which was pierced several times. She wore a simple white t-shirt and a pair of jeans that appeared to have been created especially for her.
She kissed her husband on the cheek before beckoning me to stand and giving me a hug. "It's been far too long, Nathan," she said before releasing me and doing the same to Tommy. "And you must be Kasey," she said, and embraced her as if they'd known each other for years.
"Hi," Kasey managed weakly.
"Are you done here?" Persephone asked Hades.
"I need to talk to Nate, but you're welcome to continue with whatever plan you have, my love."
Persephone's smile increased her beauty tenfold. "Good, Nathan you can join us when you're finished. I'm going to take this lovely young lady and her father for a tour of our home.” And without another word, Tommy and Kasey were ushered out of the conservatory.
"It's been a long time since we had any kids around," Hades said absentmindedly. "I think Persephone misses it. The house is always full of people, but security, business and staff do not make for a substitute to the sounds of a child's laughter."
"Are you getting broody, old friend?" I asked with a laugh.
"Maybe. We have five children of our own and adopted six more. Our youngest is twenty-two now. Maybe it's time to extend our family once again." He shook himself, as if clearing the thoughts out of his head. "A discussion for another time. I assume you didn't come all this way to hear me lament."
"Can we go somewhere private?"
Hades stood and opened the door behind him, bathing us both in the freezing cold air of a Canadian winter. Fire glyphs spread across the back of my hands, warming my body, but I was still grateful for the thick hooded top I wore. Hades didn't even seem to notice the cold at all. He wore only a black shirt and trousers, but he might as well have been wearing a thick fur coat for all the cold outwardly affected him.
"You need to teach me that trick," I said as we walked down a path in his garden, moving past stone statues of mythological beasts — griffins, harpies and even a stone ogre sat amongst ornate and beautifully tended bushes, their colour a deep green, even for the time of year.
"You have an impressive gardener," I said.
"If you hire an earth elemental, your garden tends to stay how you want it." We stopped walking at a statue of Pegasus and Hades glanced up at the magnificent sculpture. "Have you ever seen Pegasus?"
I shook my head. "Before my time."
"Ah, he was a beautiful steed. Poseidon created him by feeding the blood of Medusa to a normal horse. Not sure when that was twisted to become he was born from Medusa's blood, but there you go. I remember the day that Bellerophon captured him. Zeus was furious that anyone would dare steal such a sacred creature."
"Bellerophon I've met a few times. He was always full of anger."
"He started to believe his own press, and eventually he challenged Zeus. Twice. The first time, Zeus beat him with a warning never to cross him again. The second time, Zeus was not so kind. He almost killed Bellerophon, probably would have, too, if not for Poseidon. It left Bellerophon a bitter and twisted man."
"I killed a ghoul today," I said, wanting to get the conversation away from the past and back to events closer to our current time.
Hades fell silent, but didn't turn to look at me. "I know, you've already told me. You've done that before, though."
"With magic, Hades. I killed a ghoul with magic."
That got his attention. "Are you sure?"
"I burnt his head clean off. I'm very sure he was dead."
"They can heal-"
" He didn't," I interrupted. "Hades, I killed a ghoul with fire magic. How is that possible?"
"It certainly requires some investigation."
"And I healed from being stabbed by a silver dagger in a matter of hours."
Hades raised one eyebrow. "Before it happened did you feel anything, a surge of strength or light-headedness?"
"I'd been stabbed. I was pretty much focused on the not bleeding to death portion of the day."
"Think, Nate. It's important."
I dredged my mind for anything that might prove useful. "I felt something before I punched out a werewolf with one hit. A sort of cold rage."
"Did you use magic?"
"Nope, so it sort of stuck in my mind."
Hades made a sound that was a cross between being interested and concerned. "I'll look into it. There are a few possibilities that could account for why these things happened."
"Such as?"
"When you first contacted me after recovering your memories, you mentioned that your blood magic glyphs are vanishing. It's possible that these events could be due to surges of power. Maybe one of the glyphs locked away the abilities of a parent. It sounds like some form of necromancy."
Much like Kasey, it was fairly common for someone to have the abilities of both parents. Although it's largely dependent on the species involved, it's certainly possible that the cursed blood glyphs that had marked me for so long had blocked my access to abilities I'd never even known I'd had.
"Can you look into it for me?" I asked. "I'd rather not have any more surprises."
"I can have you do some tests, but now might not be the best time to do that. We should wait until this lich has been dealt with."
"I have another favour to ask. I need access to the Silver Room."
To his credit Hades didn't ask if I was sure, or if he could help. He just removed his mobile phone, calling someone to inform them that the room would need to be ready. "Is tonight okay with you?" he asked me once he'd finished talking.
"Thanks," I said.
"Have you told your friend what you plan on doing?"
I shook my head, but I knew that when I did tell him, that Tommy was going to start yelling.
The rest of the day flew by as Tommy, Kasey and I spent time with Hades, Persephone and various members of their staff and entourage. For a while, I even forgot about what was happening back home, the death and horror that would be waiting for us when we returned. I had no illusions about what needed to be done, the ghouls and lich needed to be hunted and exterminated.
I left the four of them to talk and exited the large room, using a door by some bay windows to step out into the darkness beyond. I needed some air, some time to think.
A few minutes later the door opened behind me. "A penny for your thoughts," Persephone said.
"It gets so dark here. There's no street lights for miles. It's quite soothing."
"You sound like Hades."
A smile parted my lips.
"You want to use the Silver Room."
"Hades told you, I assume."
"He's my husband. You don't get to stay married for thousands of years by keeping secrets."
"I wouldn't have thought you could do it by pissing off the mother-in-law either."
Persephone laughed. "My mother is her own worst enemy. She's the one who decided Hades wasn't good enough. She can deal with that loss. Or rather, she doesn't deal with it and still holds a grudge. I heard she had some things to say to you the last time you met."
It was my turn to laugh. "Demeter didn't find it amusing when I didn't do as I was told. Oh, and she hates Hades. That sort of soured any potential friendship."
"She's good at that." Persephone was quiet for a short time, as the cold wind silently swept around us. "So, what were you really thinking about?"
"A lich is running around the south of England. I can't think how it's going to end well."
"And going into that accursed room will help?"
"I know you don't approve of it."
"People have died in there, or been driven mad. I understand why my husband keeps it, it's saved lives, too, but that doesn't mean I like it."
"I've had these glyphs on my chest for as long as I can remember. And no one could ever tell me what they did. But now they're disappearing one at a time. And the power I can access has increased. I can feel it whenever I use magic, but I need to know what I'm capable off. The Silver Room is the only place I can do that safely."
"For everyone else."
"I can't risk hurting anyone."
"Hades says you'll be fine, that you've used it before. His assurances do little to curb my unhappiness at what you're going to do."
"If it's any consolation, I'm not thrilled about it."
Persephone kissed me softly on the cheek. "No, Nate, it's no consolation at all."
"What's the Silver Room?" Kasey asked as she stepped out of the house.
"You really should make noise when you walk around, has anyone ever told you that?" I told her.
"Dad says he's going to make me wear a bell," she said with a smile. "What's the Silver Room?"
"That's sort of complicated," I said.
"My parents say that when they don't want to tell me something. Guess how well it works for them?"
Persephone laughed.
"You're a big help," I said to her, which caused her to laugh more, drawing Hades and Tommy outside to join us.
"Dad, what's the Silver Room?"
Tommy's expression hardened. "Let me guess, Nate will be using it."
"Is someone going to answer my question?" Kasey demanded.
"It's a large room on the lowest floor of this building," Hades said. "It allows people to use their magic to the fullest extent of their abilities to ascertain what they're capable of."
"It forces people to use magic," Tommy said. "They keep using their magic until they can't use it anymore, and they collapse from exhaustion." Tommy left the words or worse hanging between us all. "Is this why you called Hades? To use that damn room?"
"No," I said. "But I need to use it. And you know I do."
Tommy's eyes softened slightly. "Doesn't mean I like it."
"I agree with Tommy, Nate," Persephone said. "This is a danger that you don't need to put yourself in."
"It's dangerous?" Kasey asked.
"It can be," I said. "If you try to push yourself past your limits, or you allow your magic to consume you. But neither of those things will happen to me."
"You can't say that-" Tommy started.
I cut Tommy off before he could finish. "I am not some child who has no control over his magic, Tommy. I know the risks, and they're worth it. I need to know what I can do, how far I can push myself."
No one spoke for a time, leaving only tension to fill the void. "When are you going to do it?" Tommy asked with a sigh.
"Whenever Nate is ready," Hades said.
"Let's get on with it then," I said. "The sooner we start, the sooner it'll be over."
Tommy, Kasey and Persephone all went upstairs, although none of them were happy about it. Either because they were annoyed that I was risking my health and sanity, or, in Kasey's case, because they were really interested in what all the fuss was about.
Hades and I used an elevator near the rear of the property to go down the six floors to the very lowest level. We stayed silent the whole time, but I knew that Hades would rather I wasn't doing it. Hell, I'd rather not be doing it myself, but I needed some answers. And sometimes you only get the answers you seek if you risk everything.
The lowest floor consisted of three rooms, all down one long corridor. We walked past the first two. The first was a monitoring station for whoever was using the room and the second, adjacent to it, was the massive medical suite that took care of any resulting emergencies. I couldn't spot anyone through the glass window.
"Nervous?" Hades asked.
"A little bit, yeah."
"Relax; don't try to stop the magic from coming. When you wake up, you'll be in one of the rooms upstairs."
"Thanks for this, Hades."
We reached the entrance to the room, and I took a deep breath as Hades inputted a PIN code and then palm print onto an electronic lock next to the door.
A yellow light flashed above the door as it slowly swung open into the darkness beyond. I took a step forward, and Hades stopped me. "If this goes too far, if I think you can't come back on your own, I'm shutting it down."
I nodded.
"I'm serious, Nate."
I knew what he meant. If I couldn't control it, if it gained control over me, Hades would shut me down. Permanently.
I removed my t-shirt and passed it to Hades, then kicked off my shoes and removed my socks before I stepped inside the dark room, waiting as Hades made his way back to the control room. After a short time, a single light came on above my head, bathing everything in a low level glow. Not that there was anything to bathe.
The room lived up to its name. It was a four hundred square foot box with polished silver walls, floor and ceiling. Orange and red runes were etched around the top and bottom of each wall, which ensured no damage could be done to the room itself. The door closed and locked. There was no magic on earth that could be used to force one's way out the Silver Room once the door was locked. And everyone who had ever used it had almost certainly tried. I knew I had.
I glanced up at the huge painted rune on the ceiling, a mirror image of the one on the floor. Runes are a difficult thing to learn-each rune does something different. The amount and type of magic, the size and placement of the rune, and a hundred other factors in place during its creation will cause it to have different effects. I don't know what type of magic was used to create the two runes, but the amount of power must have been immense.
I sat cross-legged in the centre of the room, and carried out some breathing exercises that let me calm myself. I didn't want to be worked up when the room went active.
"All okay in there, Nate?" asked Hades, his voice coming through the speakers hidden around the room.
"I'm good, thanks," I said. I knew Hades was watching me, alongside the microphones and speakers. The room was fitted with a CCTV system. The cameras were tiny dots in the ceiling. I smiled and waved at where I knew they were concealed.
"Let me know when you're ready."
I took one last deep breath. "Go."
The effect was immediate. Bright white and orange glyphs burned across my skin, as my magic was ignited. The effect was similar to trying to push every last drop of water from a dam through a pin hole. It was agony to my muscles as magic flowed freely without pause, without restraint. It was more magic than I'd ever used at once, more than I was capable of before the glyphs had started to vanish. It roared out of my body, smashing into the walls and ceiling of the room, trying to find an exit.
If I'd done it outside, without the runes, the silver or the support, people would have died. There was no question in my mind. The magic was raw and unfocused. It just wanted to be used, and anyone caught in that maelstrom would be torn to pieces.
As the pain became too much, and my screams turned into something animal, something guttural and raw, I began to feel it stirring. The pain subsided the more it tried to take control until I could hear its voice inside my head. "Nathan, it's been a while."
The voice was from pure magic, the magic that tried to take control of a sorcerer's mind and body if they use too much of it. The voice belonged to the Nightmare inside me.
I glanced up at the polished, silver walls. A darkness was spreading out from my eyes, covering my forehead and making its way down to my jawline. "Are you ignoring me, Nathan?"
I forced a smile.
"It's good that you finally sorted me out. You're getting stronger; those glyphs that stopped me from joining with you are finally vanishing."
"You won't take me," I said, as the magic continued to erupt all around me.
The monster sighed. "You still don’t understand what I am, do you? You still think I'm some sort of monster; even after all we've done together. Well, Nathan, we've got some time. Let's talk."