Triumph of Chaos (Red Magic) (18 page)

No police officer came to the door. Even three days after the blast, emergency workers were unable to identify most of the remains at the state capitol
. Rochelle certainly did her work well
, I thought bitterly.

We tried to get a hold of Dr. Farren to let her know what had happened, but her flight had been airborne at the time of the explosion, and the cell phone number she’d given us kept going straight to voicemail.

“You could text Justin,” Izzy offered quietly.

I shook my head, feeling numb. “He wouldn’t care.”

“That’s not true! He loved you. He would want to know.”

I burrowed deeper into my blankets. I’d been camped out in my bedroom ever since the news. “It doesn’t matter.”

Izzy left me alone, and I faded in and out of sleep. Sometimes, I thought I could hear Brad or Ben downstairs, but I didn’t care enough to get up and check.

It felt like a sledgehammer was pounding in my brain: thinking hurt. I didn’t want to eat, but every evening, Izzy forced me to drink a little broth.

“You can’t die too. You can’t just give up!” She persisted, even when I threw the broth at her head.

The thing was, I really wanted to give up. Chaos suddenly seemed unimportant. What did it matter if I could save the world if I couldn’t even save the two people who mattered most to me?

The fourth night after the explosion, I dreamed of Rochelle again.

She was wearing tacky gold beads around her neck and holding a glass of champagne. “Here’s to my victory,” she said, raising her glass and smiling.

I clenched my fists. “It isn’t over yet. You can’t claim victory until you actually win something.”

Rochelle’s features shimmered, and suddenly I was face-to-face with Hecate.

“But I
have
won,” she said in her gravelly voice. “You are defeated: admit it. If you surrender this fight, perhaps I will return your parents to you.”

I felt a pull in my gut telling me to flee, but I stayed still, standing before the Queen of Witches. “They aren’t really dead?”

She laughed. “Oh, they’re dead. But,” her voice lowered to a sinuous whisper, “I have control of the realms of death. I could guide their spirits home again.”

I shook my head, not trusting her offer. “Why would you help me?”

Hecate’s eyes glistened. “Nothing is free. My help comes with a price: your complete surrender. Let the world be whatever it will be. Give up Red magic, and I’ll give you back the last two years of your life.”

“Two years? It hasn’t even been a year since I met you.”

The crone cackled. “Are you forgetting your time spent in Anwyn? The wheel has turned ‘round twice since you became a Red, Darlena. One word from you, and all that never happened. You could go back to the way you were before.” She paused. “Everything could go back to the way it was before.”

“This is a dream.” My voice was shaky, and she laughed.

“It is whatever you want it to be. Deny chaos, and you can have your family back. Step away, and I’ll make it so you never became a Red Witch.”

I shook my head, but the dream was slipping away.

“You will remember my offer. One day soon, we will meet again.”

Her voice faded, and I slowly blinked myself awake.

Lying there in the dark, I shook my head, and the dream receded. I snatched at it with my mind, but it was wispy, and in a moment I only had a vague memory of the dream: something Hecate promised me that I desperately wanted. I shook my head again, trying to bring the dream back, but my mind stayed annoyingly blank.
Whatever it was isn’t important
, I told myself.

The house was silent. I didn’t even know what time it was. The clock was blinking 12:00 like we’d had a power surge.
Who knows, maybe we had
. I hadn’t exactly been paying attention for the past few days. I debated for a minute, and then swung my feet around the side of the bed. My legs felt shaky when I stood up, and I suddenly realized that I hadn’t moved from that spot since the news. Cautiously, I sniffed the air, and I gagged.

I smelled worse than I had after running my first and only 5K the year I turned fourteen. The hallway was deserted, and I staggered into the bathroom. The shower stayed perpetually cold, but I didn’t care. It was enough to be up and moving. Slowly, circulation returned to my legs and arms, and I let the water flow over me with my eyes open. Soap got in them, but I didn’t mind the sting.

It was good to feel something.

Cautiously, I moved down the hallway, clutching Mom’s big beach towel around me. I didn’t run into Izzy, and the house felt empty. Still, I wasn’t taking any chances. Once I was dressed, I grabbed my purse and slung it across my body. With a quick burst of magic, I removed the plywood from the gaping hole that had been my window. I was down the tree and on the ground before I had time to think, and I headed for the street.

Pieces of my nightmares came back to me, but the only thing I knew for sure was that my parents were dead.
And
, I reasoned as I walked out of the neighborhood,
I happen to know the god of the dead
.
One of them, anyway
. I walked until I reached a gas station, and then I used the decrepit pay phone to call a cab. The driver showed up twenty minutes later, and although he looked at me strangely when I asked him to take me to the airport, he didn’t say a word about my lack of luggage. I glamoured the tip so he would forget he ever saw me, and then I headed to the ticket counter. I felt a momentary pang of guilt and thought about calling Izzy, but then I decided against it. She wouldn’t agree with what I had planned, I was sure of that, and I really didn’t want to deal with any more conflict.

Besides, if Hades wouldn’t help, Izzy never needed to know.

Before I left, I’d grabbed the crystal sphere that Hades had given me on my first trip into his realm. I also packed my mom’s athame, a gift from when I’d first declared to Red magic. It was hard not to fiddle with it, but I left it in the bottom of my purse next to the sphere and stared out the window, awake, for the entire flight. When I’d gone to the Underworld before, I’d almost thought that Hades and I could be friends. Well, not really friends, but at least friendly. He’d treated me well for Persephone’s sake, but he’d sort of seemed to like me too. I hoped I would have as nice a reception this time.

The plane landed in Greece without difficulty, and I made my way to the familiar hillside. Instead of the bountiful harvest I remembered, the fields were sparsely planted with weak green shoots scattered every few yards. I stared at the land in surprise, wondering if perhaps I’d forgotten the way.

“This is the best my mother and I can do.” Persephone’s voice was sad, and when I turned to face her, tears glistened in her eyes.

“What happened to the harvest? I mean, I know it’s only spring and all, but still … ” I trailed off lamely and she shook her head.

“The world is dying. The harvest has grown smaller each year, but this is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” She lowered her voice and looked over her shoulder. “The farmers are saying this is the worst year since Mother blighted the earth in her search for me.”

“But that was centuries ago! How could they possibly remember?”

“The people who work the land have longer memories than you might imagine, Darlena. Still, whether they are right or not, this is a terribly small crop to start the season with.”

I wanted to comfort her, but I still felt hollow over the loss of my parents. “It’ll get better.” My words sounded empty, and the goddess looked at me for a long minute.

“I know what you seek,” she said finally. “He will not yield them.”

I shrugged and started walking. “I have to try.”

“You cannot let your heart interfere with the struggles of the world. We are counting on you to restore balance, Darlena.”

Anger bubbled up in me, the first real emotion I’d felt in days, and I whirled to face her. “I don’t care about the world! Don’t you get it? None of that matters anymore.”

Persephone’s eyes were hard. “We have all made sacrifices. The greater good must be considered.”

“I told you, I don’t care. This isn’t a sacrifice. Rochelle murdered them!” My voice squeaked dangerously, and I was afraid I might start crying. Taking a deep breath, I managed to say, “I didn’t give them up.”

She reached out her hand but stopped before touching my face. “But now you must, child. You must let them go.”

I shook my head, feeling my face flush with anger. “Not if there’s still a chance.”

“There is no chance, Darlena. Death is final.”

Ignoring her, I kept walking. I half expected her to follow me and try to talk me out of it, but she didn’t. When I got to the bottom of the hill near the cottage she shared with Demeter, I looked back, but the goddess was nowhere to be seen.

“Fine,” I grumbled. “I didn’t need her help anyway. I can handle Hades.”

My confidence melted as soon as I saw the gaping cavern that led to the Underworld. Cold air rushed out, and faint voices whispered things I couldn’t understand.
I forgot how creepy this place is
. Taking the crystal sphere out of my bag, I walked into the darkness before I lost my nerve.

The ball gave off a faint glow, and with it, I made my way through the cavern. The space seemed larger and more sinister than before, as if unseen watchers lurked above me in the tall cave, waiting for their chance to pounce. I shivered, trying to ignore my mounting sense of dread.
You’d think this wouldn’t faze you,
I chided myself.
It’s not exactly your first Underworld trip, and Hel was way creepier.
Still, my thoughts raced, and the crystal almost slipped out of my sweaty hands more than once.

Like before, I reached the swirling black water, but this time I didn’t have to conjure a boat. There was a flat raft bobbing near the shore, and a figure swathed in black stood on board, leaning rigidly on a long pole.

I swallowed nervously. “Is this the ferry?”

The figure nodded but didn’t speak. I dug a few coins out of my pocket, remembering a faint piece of the myth. “Here’s my payment.”

A skeletal hand reached out, and I flinched as our fingers met. Electricity tingled up my arm, and I stared at the shadowy figure. A deep sense of fear had rooted in my stomach, but I climbed aboard the raft and we set off in silence.

The crystal sphere glowed fainter and fainter until I was traveling in inky darkness. I remembered sinuous stalactites and stalagmites lining the water, but this time, I couldn’t see a thing. It was like I’d been sucked into a timeless void, and I had to force myself to breathe evenly.
Now’s not the time to panic.
I could sense the creepy figure standing behind me, poling the raft silently, but I didn’t turn around. I had a feeling that I didn’t really want to know who my companion was.

Finally, the boat bumped against the shore, and I leaped out. As much as I didn’t want to speak to the strange figure, I realized that it was probably in my best interests to stay on the good side of as many gods and mythological figures as possible, so I turned to say, “Thank you.”

The raft had already pushed off and was drifting back the way we had come, but a familiar voice rang out across the water. “Remember, little Witch, all roads lead to me. I will always be at the crossing of the ways, and one day soon, you will seek me.” Hecate’s voice was like rusted nails, and I grew alternately cold and hot thinking that I’d been on a boat with her. It was like a nightmare come to life.
Nightmares
…
and dreams.
Something tugged at my memory, but it vanished before I could catch the thought.