Prison of Horrors (The DeathSpeaker Codex Book 6) Read online

  “Well, I’m …” She frowned. “I didn’t introduce myself, did I?”

  “No. You didn’t.”

  “My mistake.” She walked toward me, holding a hand out. “My name is Lady Tethys,” she said grandly. Like that was supposed to mean something to me.

  It didn’t. I shook anyway, and said, “I’m Gideon, but I guess you know that. Mind telling me how?”

  “Young man, I’m quite sure Winnie Davenport told you to contact me. And I think it’s a bit rude that you haven’t yet. That’s why I’m here.”

  Winifred. She’d given me a package about my mother, and said there was contact information for someone in Manhattan I should get in touch with. I hadn’t opened it yet.

  Actually, I was pretty sure it was still in Frost’s car.

  “She didn’t exactly tell me,” I said. “She suggested it. I just haven’t gotten around to looking at all that stuff yet.” Not that it was any of this woman’s business. “So, you know Winifred as a … fellow witch?”

  “Now, I never said I was a witch. I’m more of a researcher — you might say I’m a fantastical historian, a chronicler of the occult. But she and I discuss the craft from time to time.” Lady Tethys gave me a speculative look. “More importantly, I knew your mother.”

  “You did?”

  “Yes. And I’ve been looking for you for a very long time. Winnie’s been helping me.” She almost smiled. “To think that the two of us only managed to find you through sheer coincidence.”

  I had no idea what to say. The only person I’d met who knew my mother was Daoin — as my biological father, he had to know her at some point. But he wasn’t in any condition to talk about her when I met him, and he’d been in Arcadia for months now.

  “Do stop gawking at me, Gideon,” Lady Tethys said. “Your mother did, in fact, have a life, even though it was tragically cut short. Anyway, I knew there was a reason I brought this.” She held up the envelope.

  “Er. What is it?”

  “One of my vacation houses. Real estate portfolio, deed, keys. It’s all in there.” She pushed the envelope at me, and I took it without thinking. “I was going to sell it, but good heavens. I can’t have Jessamyn Hadley’s son living in this … squalor.” She cast a disdainful glance around the Castle. “Especially since he’s half Fae.”

  “So you know that, too,” I muttered with a lot less surprise than I should’ve felt.

  “I know quite a bit about you. For example, I know you won’t leave that dreadful so-called job you have with the NYPD. That’s why I’m giving you the place on Park Hill in Yonkers.” She gestured at the envelope. “It’s only a half-hour commute. So you can continue … moving bodies.”

  I blinked a lot. “You’re giving me a house.”

  “Well, maybe not giving. There is nothing free in this world, after all.” She smiled, and she actually managed to look friendly for a minute. “Don’t worry, though. All that I’ll ask in return is a small favor.”

  I was instantly suspicious. The last time someone asked me for a ‘small favor’, I ended up having to kill a voodoo god. Not within my definition of small. “What kind of favor, exactly?” I said.

  “It’s hardly anything, really,” Lady Tethys said. “I’d like you to retrieve an artifact for me. Not right away, of course. I’ll contact you at the proper time.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “This artifact wouldn’t happen to be a demon gate, would it?”

  “No, nothing like that.” She laughed. “No demons involved. It will require a bit of travel, and magic. But I promise it will be nothing you and your friends can’t handle.”

  Yeah, I’d heard that before too. But how could I pass up a free house? “All right,” I said eventually. “Um … thank you. I think.”

  “You’re welcome.” She turned to Grygg. “My offer still stands, by the way. Think about it. You’d be the most well-paid pool boy in the country.”

  Grygg grunted. “I don’t like water.”

  “Of course you don’t. You’re a golem.” She patted his arm, but he didn’t seem to mind so much this time. “Well, I must be going,” she said, already walking past me toward the door. “I’ll be in touch soon. Meanwhile, please give my regards to Agent Frost.”

  I stared at her. “You know Calla, too?”

  “I know everyone who’s worth knowing, dear.”

  Lady Tethys opened the door and stepped outside. She gave a little jingling wave, and then she was gone.

  “Okay. That was … weird,” I sighed, staring at the envelope in my hands.

  “Yes,” Grygg rumbled.

  “Well, at least we got a house out of it.” I grinned at him. “How do you feel about moving, pool boy?”

  He grunted. I thought there might’ve been a sprinkle of amusement in there.

  “Glad that’s settled. I think I’ll go wake up the rest of them.”

  I headed for Taeral and Sadie’s room, still a little too shocked to be excited. But I was getting there.

  For once, things were looking up.

  Only a handful of people in the entire world had this phone number. Judging by the hour, it would be Tethys — she never bothered to calculate time zone differences.

  Not that he slept. But if he did, calling at this hour would be considered rude.

  He brushed aside his annoyance. It wasn’t difficult. He’d long since accepted the flaws of humanity. The virtue of patience was required, as the plan he’d set in motion to repair those flaws would span decades. In fact, it was still in the first stage.

  Once the blights on humanity were removed, he could progress to resetting things.

  He said nothing when he answered the ringing phone, as was his custom. Soon enough, Tethys filled in the silence.

  “The groundwork has been laid,” she said. “When would you like to begin the test?”

  He wouldn’t answer that yet. “Give me your impressions.”

  “He is … very unusual.” There was a hesitation as she gathered her thoughts. “Passionate. He defended a golem, of all things.”

  That could be troubling. “So it is true. He’s chosen a side.”

  “I wouldn’t necessarily say that. He also fought to save the humans in Lightning Cove. All of them, including your operatives.” Tethys paused again. “He only managed to save one operative. She actually died as well, but he still saved her.”

  “That is very unusual. All against a demon. Malphas, wasn’t it?” He considered that for a moment. “Begin the test soon,” he said. “Wait no longer than a week or two.”

  He sensed her surprise. “Are you worried?”

  “Not yet. Report to me once the test is done.”

  He hung up and stared idly at the phone for a moment. The field reports he’d received so far had been full of concern and dire warnings, but that was to be expected. Few humans were able to view anything that was outside the mundane objectively, let alone within the larger scheme of the universe. Still, he’d been certain that at least some of the events his operatives described were exaggerated hyperbole.

  Perhaps they were not, after all. And perhaps this DeathSpeaker did pose some threat, however minor, to his plan.

  He would find out, and take the appropriate action at the appropriate time. Recruitment was always the first alternative, the most beneficial option. He had on occasion taken great lengths to recruit operatives who’d been worth the additional effort, and this one might be. But if the DeathSpeaker refused to cooperate, he would resort to the last and final alternative.

  The plan would not be stopped.

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  More books by Sonya Bateman

  The DeathSpeaker Codex series

  Available now from Amazon and Kindle Unlimited

  WRONG SIDE OF HELL | Book 1

  FIELDS OF BLOOD | Book 2

  REALM OF MIRRORS | Book 3

  RETURN OF THE HUNTERS | Book 4

  CITY OF SECRETS | Book 5

  PRISON OF HORRORS | Book 6

  ------

  COMING SOON:

  DARK OF THE MOON*

  The DeathSpeaker Codex, Book 7

  *title subject to change prior to publication

  MASTER OF NONE | MASTER AND APPRENTICE

  The Gavyn Donatti series – Available for Kindle and wherever books are sold

  About the Author

  Sonya Bateman lives in “scenic” Central New York, with its two glorious seasons: winter and road construction. She is the author of the Gavyn Donatti urban fantasy series (Master of None / Master and Apprentice) from Simon & Schuster, and the House Phoenix thriller series. Under the pseudonym S.W. Vaughn, she’s the author of the Skin Deep paranormal M/M erotic romance series.

  You can contact her at [email protected], or like and post to her page on Facebook.