I must have dozed off, because the next time I opened my eyes was in response to a soft knock on the bedroom's door. The blond flight attendant opened the door and told me that we were landing and that I needed to get back into my seat and fasten my seatbelt.
I thanked her and pushed myself up to a sitting position, stretching my arms before making my way back to Tommy and Kasey who were still deep in conversation.
Ten minutes later, we touched down with a slight bump and came to a stop shortly after.
The two flight attendants opened the jet's door, allowing freezing cold air to flow into the fuselage uninterrupted. "Your bags will be taken up to the house," the blonde one said with a smile.
"Cheers," I said, returning her smile and using a small measure of fire magic to warm my bare hands. I was grateful that I'd brought a large, thick coat with me, as the wind picked up the loose snow littering the airfield, and flung it around like children having a snowball fight.
Kasey, Tommy and I made our way across the tarmac toward a large building, the only one on the airfield. Just as we'd reached our destination, and the promise of a windless few moments, the door burst open and a man stepped out. He wore a long, black coat, but didn't bother to cover his bald head with a hat. He was over six and a half feet tall and while he was lean in build, he was still broad across the shoulders. Back when he was born, he'd have been considered a giant of a man. He walked toward us with no evidence that the cold was anything more than a slight inconvenience.
"Nathan," he shouted, wrapping his arms around me in a hug, before doing the same to Tommy. "And, this must be Kasey," he said with enthusiasm. "Come with me; let's get back to the house."
He led us into the building, which was basically one large room containing armed security who checked our bags and made us walk through a metal detector before letting us leave through the door on the opposite side. "Sorry about that," the man said. "If I don't let them do it, they get very whiney about the whole thing."
He let us toward a small motorcade of cars- three black, four-wheel drive Mercedes. We climbed into the middle one, the seats inside had been arranged so that the front passenger could swivel around to talk to those in the rear.
He swivelled round once the car started. "It's good to see you all. I'm glad you called Nathan. It sounds like we have much to discuss."
Kasey raised a hand.
"You don't need to do that," the man said warmly. "Just ask away."
She lowered her hand, but stared intently at the man in front of us. "Who are you?"
"Nate and Tommy didn't tell you who you were visiting? My manners must seem horrific." He straightened himself in his chair and readjusted his collar, before extending his hand to Kasey. "Hello, Kasey, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've gone by a few names over the years, but you can call me Hades."
Chapter 24
"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."