Page 22 of Wicked Warlock
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, death and taxes, I know. Ha-ha. Very funny, buddy.” I stopped just in front of the key. The warmth from the beam of light heated my skin and I looked straight up to see if I could find any traps. “I’m a bit different than your average dead girl, buddy.”
He pressed his hand to his chest. “My name is Liesin by the way. And what makes you so different?”
Dude, why all the questions? “I am the queen of death. I’ve bounced back before. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
I reached out for the key, but his hand was there, catching my forearm and stopping me. “We will see.”
I shoved my arm forward and wrapped my fingers around the end of the key and yanked it out of the beam of light. “Yeah, I guess we will. See ya later, dead boy.”
“Pleased to meet you, death girl.” He waved his hand and the world shifted around me, swirling into a mad void. For long moments, I twisted and turned. The world rushed by me in a blur. Everything came to an abrupt stop, and I was back in the throne room. My entire crew was there, standing in a disheveled-looking line at Hades’ feet.
“What the hell is going on? I got the key.” I held up the heavy bronze piece of metal. “As promised.”
Ghost boy, Liesin, marched up the stairs that led to the thrones. He moved next to Hades and his body turned from translucent to very, very real. I saw the resemblance—both of them with wild dark hair, chiseled jawlines, and perfectly sculpted bodies, though Liesin’s eyes were a dark, nearly black, purple. He smiled down at Hades. “Father, I’ve brought you a present.”
I looked from Hades to Liesin and back again. “Father?”
Hades sniggered. “And what have you brought me?”
The smile never dropped from Liesin’s face. “A cheater…”
Well, shit… I’m screwed…
Chapter 8
Astrid
Of all the things we could’ve been accused of… cheating? Really? We got past the lava, solved the damn puzzle, and got the stupid key. It was time to go. I glanced back at Nova, watching her pale cheeks turn bright red.
I cleared my throat. “Look, dude.”
“My name is Lie-sin. Put it together, Big Red. Liesin. Not ghost boy or anything else you little warlocks think works.”
Touchy…
“Liesin, we didn’t cheat.” I shook my head.
“Oh, you cheated. I watched.”
Nova tossed that mane of white-blond hair over her shoulder. “I fail to see how I cheated.”
“You would, death girl.” Liesin rolled his eyes and, I swear, steam was going to come right out of Nova’s ears. He opened his hand and the key vanished from Nova’s grip and appeared in his palm. “The winds of the damned were meant as a challenge to see if you could help those who’ve passed but weren’t able to find peace. Not freeze them and walk on by.”
“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t realize the challenge to get the key to the underworld came with an instruction manual. Perhaps next time you could do a PowerPoint? Insert slot A into slot B and solve the problems of thousands of souls that’d take thousands of years…”
The smile dropped from Liesin’s face. “I didn’t realize intelligence needed an instruction manual. Or the rules needed to be specified… NO CHEATING.”
“Maybe next time be more specific, and I won’t have to hand your ass to you… ghost boy.” Nova arched an eyebrow at him. “It wasn’t cheating.”
“It was.”
“Was not.”
Liesin ground his teeth together. “Was.”
Hades sat forward and a deep bark of laughter rumbled in his chest. “I mean… was it?”
Liesin sucked in a sharp breath and blew it out. “Stepmother, talk some sense into him.”
