Triumph of Chaos (Red Magic) (25 page)

I checked the passport Set had given me and frowned. It used my real name, and after telling that Witch in Athens who I was, I thought that I might have ended up on a no-fly list or something, but I shouldn’t have worried. The man at the ticket counter barely glanced at my passport when he sold me a ticket home, and a few hours later, I boarded the plane. As we took off, I pressed my face to the glass. Something about Egypt felt unfinished for me, and I had the overwhelming sensation that I would be back one day.
Maybe we can travel here once I get my parents back, all three of us.
I sat back in my seat and dozed fitfully.

***

I didn’t know what to expect when I landed in RDU. I hadn’t spoken to Izzy since my parents’ death, and I’d left in the middle of the night without a word. Even though my journey felt like it had only been a few days, the digital clock in the airport showed that I’d been gone for two weeks.
Stupid Underworld time zones.
It was already May. I’d missed Beltane, I realized, and I felt a twinge of sadness imagining Izzy and the twins dancing around a fire to celebrate the start of summer.

My jealousy fled the minute I stepped into the heat on the curb outside the terminal. Izzy rushed up to me and wrapped me in a rib-cracking hug.

“I thought you were dead, too. Don’t do that again!”

I hugged her back, grateful to be home. “You aren’t mad?”

She glared up at me. “Of course I’m mad.”

“But you’re still here.” I looked around and spotted Ben waving beside a brand-new Prius. “How did you guys know I’d be back today?”

“Brad’s getting really good at divination. But don’t change the subject! Where the hell have you been?”

“Careful, you sound like my mother.” As soon as I spoke, I remembered what had happened to my mother, and a shadow descended over me.

Izzy frowned. “Let’s get you home. And then I expect you to tell me everything.”

She led me to the shiny blue car, and I slid gratefully into the backseat. Brad looked at me steadily.

“You really screwed up.”

I nodded.

Izzy slammed the front door, and Ben pulled away from the curb.

“I’m glad you’re back, Darlena! Izzy’s a good teacher, but she keeps saying how you know even more about magic.” He smiled at me in the rearview mirror, and I forced myself to smile back.

“Not really. I just know how to make a mess of things.”

I caught Brad nodding beside me, and I glared at him.

“How much do you know?” I hissed.

He shrugged. “We bought a new fire pit, and let’s just say I’m getting really good at scrying with fire.”

I glanced toward the front of the car, where Izzy and Ben were happily arguing about which radio station to play. “You didn’t tell them, did you?”

Brad shook his head. “I figured you deserved that chance. If you ever came back.”

“Well, I’m back.”

“Yeah, but for how long?”

I fixed him with a sharp stare. “You and I need to talk. Privately.”

He shrugged again. “Whatever.”

Brad settled back into his seat, and I watched the familiar scenery fly by. Ben wasn’t the kind of driver my mom would have been pleased with, but I reminded myself that that didn’t matter now.

I squeezed my eyes shut, thinking of my mother as I’d last seen her. She’d seemed happy enough in Hades’s realm, but I couldn’t accept that she and my dad were glad to be dead. Especially not my dad, trapped in Purgatory with no one to keep him company. I shuddered. Both of them would still be alive if I’d never sworn to Red magic.

Izzy was watching me intently in the rearview mirror when I opened my eyes, and I struggled to clear my thoughts. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and I looked away.
How much does she know?
I stewed silently as we drove, but my stomach rumbled loudly when we got off the highway.

Brad laughed. “I think Darlena’s hungry.”

Ben obligingly turned the car into a fast food restaurant. “Burgers okay?”

I’d been raised vegetarian because of my mom, but I found myself nodding. “Sounds perfect.”

We pulled into the drive-thru and ordered a pile of food from the value menu. I paid for it with the cash left over from Set, and Izzy stared at my bag.

“That’s new.”

I glanced down at the red sack. “Yeah. Something I got while I was gone.”

“Did you lose your luggage?”

“I didn’t really take much with me.” Suddenly, I realized what had been in the bag that I left behind in the chaos. “Shit!”

“What’s wrong? Burn your tongue?” Ben turned around in concern.

Izzy smacked his shoulder. “Watch the road, volcano boy!”

I wanted to ask about the nickname, but Brad said quietly, “What did you lose?”

“My mother’s athame!” Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized that the bag was probably already destroyed. “Shit. I didn’t even remember it until now.”

Brad patted my hand awkwardly. “Maybe if you lost it you don’t need it anymore?”

I shook my head. “You don’t get it. That was my most powerful magical tool.”
And it was the last thing my mother ever gave me.

Izzy turned around in her seat. “Brad’s right. Maybe it’s time to get new tools. I found a cool store over in Raleigh while you were gone.”

My parents had mentioned that there was a magical shop nearby, but I’d never gone out there before. I struggled to get a grip on myself. “I’ve heard of it.”

“Maybe what you need is a field trip! I know they have crystals and athames and all kinds of other stuff.” Her anger seemed to be gone, and she smiled at me encouragingly.

I smiled a little bit and took a bite of my burger. “Okay.” Ketchup dripped down my chin, and I tried to focus on eating. I realized I was starving. I hadn’t eaten with Set, and I counted back on my fingers. It had been at least two days since I’d had any food. I inhaled the rest of the burger and started on the deliciously greasy fries. “A field trip might be good.”
Even if it won’t be the same as Mom’s knife.

“But first,” Brad reminded me, “you need to fill us in.”

He was right. If I wasn’t going to tell them anything, then I shouldn’t have come back. I licked salt off my fingers. “Right.” I took a deep breath as the car pulled up in front of my house. “Have you guys been staying here?”

Izzy shrugged. “Someone had to take care of the cat. Besides, I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“And we didn’t sleep here, of course, but we’ve been over most days.” Ben parked the car, leaving the windows rolled down. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine.” I felt a lump in my throat when I looked up at the house. It didn’t look deserted or run-down or anything, but even sitting in the driveway, it felt empty. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go back inside, so I headed around the side of the house. “Want a fire now?”

“It’s too hot. But we can sit outside.” Izzy grabbed my arm. “You should say hi to Xerxes. He’s missed you.”

I wanted to tell her that I wasn’t the one the cat had been missing, but I just clenched my teeth. “Maybe later. I need to talk to you guys first.”

Brad and Ben settled into lawn chairs that were already out, and Izzy grabbed a fourth chair for me. I sat down awkwardly and took a deep breath. How much could I tell them, and how much should I leave out?

“I left,” I began, “to find my parents.”

Izzy stared at me expectantly. “You mean you went to the Underworld?”

“Wait, you can do that?” Ben leaned forward.

I nodded. “I’ve been there before. I thought I’d start with Hades, and I was right.”

“You’ve been to more than one Underworld?” Ben looked excited.

“It’s not a good idea to just pick up and go, and they’re not exactly tourist spots. But yeah, I’ve been to Hades, Anwyn, and Hel.”

“Wow.” He whistled under his breath. “That’s so cool!”

I didn’t want to argue with him, so I looked at Izzy. “My mother is there in the Greek Underworld.”

Izzy sucked in her breath. “So you got to say good-bye to her.”

Not exactly.
“Something like that.”

Her gaze sharpened. “You said your mother was there. What about your dad?”

I looked down at my hands. I’d laced my fingers together when we sat down, and they were turning purple. Carefully, I unwound them. “He never had a patron.”

Izzy’s voice was soft. “Oh my.”

“What does that mean?”

I glanced at Brad. “You know that a patron helps you with your magic.”

He nodded. “Sure. That’s why we’re both working with Pele.”

“She’s wicked strong,” Ben added.

I ignored him. “Well, I guess having a patron sort of determines where you end up when you die. Like, your beliefs shape your afterlife or something.”

“I’d always thought that was a myth.” Izzy looked at me with her eyes wide, and I had to laugh.

“It’s all a myth, isn’t it? But some myths are truer than others. Dad didn’t have a patron.”

“So, what, he’s gone? Poof, just like that, no afterlife?”

I shook my head. “Worse than that. I had a dream about him. He’s just a voice floating in the darkness. He said it was called Purgatory.”

“Where dead babies go?”

I looked at the twins. “What are you talking about?”

Ben cracked his knuckles. “Dad’s mom is Catholic. She’s spent years trying to cram it down our throats. Purgatory is the place that babies go when they die.”

“Only if they’re not baptized,” Brad interjected.

Ben shrugged. “Anyway, it’s this big, empty void. Supposedly, it’s better than Hell but nowhere near as cool as Heaven. People who were good but never got the chance to convert to Catholicism go there when they die.”

“Like everyone who lived in the centuries before Christianity got its start?”

Ben nodded. “And anyone now who hasn’t heard the word.” He snorted. “It always sounded like a horror story to me, but if that’s where your dad is … ” He trailed off, and I struggled to fight back tears.

“It was just a dream,” Izzy spoke up. “That doesn’t mean he’s really there.”

“Hades and my mom said he is, so I’m going to trust this dream.”

She looked surprised. “They told you he was in Purgatory?”

I thought back to the strange conversation I’d had in the Underworld and shook my head. “No, but they said he didn’t believe in anything enough to have an afterlife. That’s the same thing, isn’t it?” Something warm slid down my face, and I realized I had started to cry.

“I’m really sorry about your dad, Darlena. But at least your mom is at peace.”

I didn’t make eye contact with Izzy. “Sure. Right. Thanks.”

“But where have you been otherwise? You were gone a long time.”

I glanced at Brad nervously, but he just stared back at me. It looked like he wasn’t going to tell them what he’d seen. I realized that at some point I needed to get him alone and find out exactly how much he knew, but that could wait. “I was in Athens,” I began slowly, “and I saw Samuel.”

Izzy’s breath caught sharply, and I watched her while I spoke. “He was messing with the aftershocks of an earthquake.”

“But that’s Rochelle’s territory. Why would he have any power over chaos in Greece?”

I tried to phrase my theory with conviction. “If Rochelle could somehow share her power—”

“Isn’t that what you two did with us? That time we banished Loki, I mean?” Brad looked from me to Izzy, and we both nodded.

“But we were joined. There’s no way to share power without touching the other Witch.” Izzy’s voice was shaky.

“No way that we know of. But remember, Rochelle has learned how to fly, and that’s supposed to be a lost art. Maybe Hecate has shown her other tricks as well.”

“Who’s this Samuel guy again?” Ben looked confused, and I turned to Izzy to let her explain, but her face was still as stone.

“He’s one of the Witches who betrayed Izzy’s Coven.”
And her uncle
, I wanted to add, but the pain that flickered across Izzy’s face when I spoke kept me quiet.

Ben did something I wasn’t expecting. He got out of his chair and crossed to Izzy, enveloping her in an awkward hug. I glanced at Brad, and he shrugged.
What had been going on while I was gone?

Izzy pulled away from Ben after a moment, but her cheeks were scarlet when she caught my eye. I stared at her, and she smiled slightly. I didn’t want to embarrass her in front of the twins, but clearly she and I had some catching up to do as well. “Anyway,” I cleared my throat, “Um, I sort of blew up a museum trying to get to him.”