I blink in surprise, tipping my head to the side. “You mean… they met you here?”
“No,” he says with a smile and a dip of his head to brush his lips over mine. “There was a large puddle in the middle. I descended into it, and it brought me out to the gods.”
“Wow,” I murmur, looking to the middle of the clearing to where he had indicated. There was nothing but dirt covered by brown pine needles.
“Is this place sacred?” I ask.
“No more than any other place I access the gods,” he replies dryly, and I think about him meeting Veda at a tropical resort not long ago.
He takes my hand, and we all move to the center of the clearing. I have my whip coiled and tied to a loop on my belt. Titus has both a long sword and a battle-ax in a harness, crisscrossed over his back. Boral and Zaid both chose iron swords. Lucien is going in weaponless, as is Carrick. But they are powerful with their magic, and can conjure whatever they want.
Pyke has no weapon going in, but he’s going to be in disguise. If things go downhill, he, too, can conjure one with his magic.
“What does this chick Charmeine look like?” Pyke asks the group. By the mere fact he didn’t ask this directly of Lucien leads me to believe Carrick didn’t tell him the whole ill-fated love story. Which is fine—it’s irrelevant to get the help we need from him.
Of course, I’m sure Carrick was clear with Pyke that Micah was no ordinary monster and it could turn extremely dangerous. Just as I’m sure that’s probably the main reason Pyke wanted to join us… for the danger and excitement.
God, if he only knew what we were up against outside of just trying to retrieve the Blood Stone. He wouldn’t be so cavalier then.
Lucien waves a hand and a holographic image floats in the middle of our circle, an actual lifelike rendering of what Charmeine looked like. She was beautiful, no doubt. Or is beautiful, I should say, since we think she’s trapped in the stone. Wavy strawberry-blonde hair, incredibly blue eyes, and an exquisitely perfect face and body. She’s delicate looking with fine bones and a sweet smile, which I’m assuming must represent her personality the most in Lucien’s memory. She was the Light Fae to Micah’s Dark Fae, after all.
Pyke studies her figure, which is clothed in a Grecian-styled gown in a blue that matches her eyes with a gold braided belt and sandals on her feet. She has a gold circlet on top of her head that holds a blue gemstone in the center, also the same color as her eyes.
“Pretty girl,” Pyke says almost dismissively, and then, before our eyes, he transforms into the exact likeness of Charmeine.
I have to wonder what Micah will do when he sees her. Will he know immediately that it’s a trick, or will he think she’s escaped? Most likely, he’ll think her a mirage, but will hopefully be intrigued enough or maybe lovesick enough to check it out.
“Any last questions before we go in?” Carrick asks.
No one says a word.
Carrick turns his attention to Boral and Zaid, merely saying, “Protect her with your lives.”
Zaid replies, “It shall be done.”
Boral doesn’t say anything, but part of me thinks he does that just to irritate Carrick.
“Then let’s do this,” Carrick says, pulling the relic we had retrieved from Hungary out of his pocket. With some ancient words I don’t understand, a small chime comes from the device and I hear an audible click snapping into place.
He hands the device to Boral. “This will keep the rip in the veil open for a quick escape if you need to get Finley back through.”
Boral nods, takes the bronze relic, and tucks it in his own pocket.
No more instructions are needed. Lucien, who is the only one of us who knows how to access Micah’s realm, makes a slicing motion in the air. A seam opens, revealing the darkness of the once-beautiful island. Directly in front of us is a boulder the size of a mini-bus, sitting on packed, black sand. It’s so big I can’t see any of the scenery beyond.
I can tell where the Crimson River is, though, because there’s a hazy reddish-orange glow in the sky beyond it. It surprisingly provides adequate light so that when my eyes adjust, I can see the rise of the craggy mountains beyond and several other boulders of near the same size around us spaced twenty to thirty feet from one another. They sort of remind me of a Stonehenge in that they seem strategically placed, but all I really care about is that they provide adequate cover.
We step through the rip, Carrick leading first, then Lucien. Next is Pyke looking very Charmeine-like, then me followed by Zaid and Boral. I glance over my shoulder to see the forest clearing we left behind before the edges of the rip start to draw together.
I’m amazed when it doesn’t close all the way, though, leaving a very thin line where I can see a thicket of cedar trees beyond. Boral stands station there as his instructions are to keep the rip open and to do that, the relic must remain close. He’s the last who would join any battle, but, of course, I expect he and Zaid’s primary purpose is to grab me and throw me through if things go bad.
I move a few steps from Boral to get closer to the group, hidden from anything on the other side—namely the entrance to Micah’s cave.
Lucien points to the left of the boulder and tells Pyke, “The beach of the barren ocean is just around that way. You’ll need to walk about half a mile before you see the entrance to the cave. Don’t get close, though… stay at least fifty yards back.”
“And do what once I get there?” Pyke asks, and I’m jarred that his voice is feminine to match the beautifully ethereal guise of Charmeine, although there’s no way to know how closely he actually matches her tone.
“Once you reach it, just walk slowly back and forth,” Lucien says. “Micah sits at his table, which faces the dead ocean, and broods. A lot. He’ll see you at some point.”
My curiosity gets the better of me, and I move to the opposite end of the boulder to peek around it. There are more boulders, and the lowest edge of the mountain is a sloping quarry of black shale. It leads up to various rocky ledges, and past that, to the sharp peaks. I can see where the beach’s edge meets the stone mountain, but I can’t tell in the dim light where the cave’s entrance would be. I suppose about half a mile down as Lucien told Pyke.
My eyes are drawn to the Crimson River, that flow of lava—a burning swirl of tortured souls—that comes from the Underworld and defies gravity to climb up into one of the mountains.
It’s amazing that Micah had the power—obviously fueled by hate—to call forth the Crimson River from the depths of hell and into his realm.
My gaze shifts slowly to the horizon from where the river is flowing, and it’s chilling to know the Underworld is just over that way.
Of course, I don’t need that knowledge to be chilled. Despite the amount of heat that the lava must be putting off, the wind is blowing steadily and it’s pretty damn cold. All of us wore cold-weather hiking gear, so I’m fairly warm except for my face.
Still, the desolate and barren place created from hate and betrayal makes me shiver hard enough my teeth chatter.
A hand comes down on my shoulder, and Carrick is there. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I reply with a smile. “Just… this place is creepy.”
He doesn’t reply because I stated the obvious. Instead, he dips his head so he can lock his eyes on mine. “No heroics, okay?”
“Correct,” I readily agree. We’ve been through this many times. I’m here to watch and potentially as a last resort to use my magic, but, mostly, I’m pretty much decoration.
“And if something happens to me—”
“—you’ll come back to me,” I finish.
“We’ll always find each other, okay?” he presses seriously.
“Yes, Carrick.” I bring a gloved hand to his face. “I love you.”
“Love you too,” he replies, then looks over his shoulder at his brother. “You ready?”
Lucien nods and moves our way. They’re going to be using the boulders for cover. Eventually, t
hey’ll climb the rocky ledges to a place near the cave entrance to wait for Micah to exit. I expect the journey won’t take them long given their speed and strength, although they won’t use magic unless necessary. It’s the best way to stay under the radar.
Once more, Carrick dips his head down as his hand goes to the back of my head. He gives me a hard kiss, then presses his forehead to mine. I inhale, taking in his scent, and then he’s gone with the wind, Lucien right along with him.
“Guess that’s my cue,” Pyke says, once again startling me with that sweet voice coming out of the likeness of Charmeine.
I give him a thumbs-up and an encouraging smile. “Good luck.”
He winks at me, then starts walking around the left side of the boulder and disappears.
Titus is the only one who has a purpose somewhere other than here. He’s not going to follow Carrick and Lucien onto the mountain to reach the cave, but rather get as close as he can using the boulders to hide his approach. He’ll set up somewhere halfway between where Boral, Zaid, and I will wait at the veil’s rip and the cave entrance. His job is to attack Micah from behind if necessary once Pyke draws him out to the beach.
In other words, if Micah goes after Pyke, Titus is going to be the one to help fight him while Carrick and Lucien get the chalice and Blood Stone.
“You good?” Titus asks as he steps near me, his eyes going to Boral suspiciously. He doesn’t know their past because I didn’t think it was my place to tell him. But he can sense there’s something dark and sinister with Boral, and I suspect that’s all of his annihilator training.
“I’m good,” I say, then give him a quick hug. “Please be safe.”
“Always,” he replies with a grin, then takes off in a crouching run away from us. I look around the edge of the boulder to see him make it to the next one. He doesn’t wait long before he disappears around that one, and I can see him no longer.
Zaid goes to the side of the boulder Pyke went around, moving close enough he can look around to watch Pyke’s progress. I promised Carrick I would heed his wishes to remain safe, and because there’s nothing for me to do in the now, I move over to Boral and the rip he’s holding open with the relic.
“You seem unusually close to Carrick,” he comments casually. “You two haven’t known each other long, yet I’m sensing a very deep connection.”
I ignore his comments as I’m not about to share with him the beautiful and complicated love story I share with Carrick.
But I’m not standing near Boral strictly because I’d promised Carrick I’d be good.
I want information.
Throwing my thumb over my shoulder, I say, “The Crimson River. It’s flowing from the horizon to the mountain.”
“Weird, right?” Boral says in a sly voice. He knows about my sister and my interest in the Underworld.
“The myth says the river starts from a pit in the Underworld where evil souls are burned. I’m assuming… the Underworld is somewhere past that horizon?”
Boral grins, but, to my dismay, he shakes his head. “There’s still a veil that separates it. The river might come through it at Micah’s magical command, but you still have to get through a veil to go into the Underworld.”
“I can do that.” Boral’s eyebrows shoot upward in surprise, and I feel the need to qualify. “Well, I think I can do that. If I choose to believe in my powers.”
“Sounds a little wishy-washy to me,” he points out.
“No matter,” I say with a wave of my hand, not wanting to engage in evasive sparring with him.
I turn slightly to look at Zaid, who is peering around the boulder to watch Pyke. I ignore Boral, and I can sense he doesn’t like I ended the conversation as he shuffles in place as if agitated.
Finally, he confirms the information I’ve wanted to hear since I learned from which direction the lava flowed. “You can follow the river to the Underworld. But the veil is on the other side of the river, and you’d need a bridge to cross it.”
I turn back to look at him, unable to hide my excitement. “That I’m sure I can do.”
Because if we defeat Micah and kill him, and I can get back into this realm using the relic, which is now set to the rip that Boral is holding, and I can cross the river with a magical bridge, then I could rip the veil there to sneak into the Underworld and rescue Zora.
Boral studies me as if he’s trying to penetrate my inner thoughts. “You and Carrick are very close,” he muses.
“So you pointed out,” I reply, not deigning to elaborate and moving a little to the right of the boulder to see if I can make out Carrick and Lucien moving across the rocky ledges or Titus sneaking among the boulders. It’s too dark for me to see details.
“Carrick would take you to the Underworld to rescue Zora,” Boral says confidently. “So why all the questions about trying to sneak in a back way?”
I pivot and turn back to Boral, taking a few steps toward him. “It’s my backup plan. In case something happens to him today.”
Understanding dawns on Boral’s face, and his voice is somber when he says, “Then I’d like to offer my services to help you sneak in if something happens to Carrick.”
“Why?” I ask, not suspiciously, but genuinely interested to know why he’d ever want to go back to the hell he’d escaped from.
“Because helping you might help bridge the relationship with my son,” he replies simply.
This doesn’t surprise me. It’s been Boral’s motivation to help us from the start. Maddox and Carrick are skeptical, and Zaid is downright disbelieving of it.
But not me.
I believe him.
“You know,” Boral says, dropping his voice as he gives a quick glance at Zaid. “I don’t hate Carrick.”
Now, this does shock me, and my chin jerks inward. Boral has shown nothing but disdain for Carrick and vice versa. I know it’s rooted in jealousy that Zaid is more loyal to Carrick now than he ever was to Boral in the centuries they were causing havoc together in this world.
Boral sees the shock on my face, then nods in understanding. “It’s true I don’t like Carrick, but I don’t hate him. He saved my son from torture.”
“Oh,” I whisper, understanding that would be something to be grateful about if Boral genuinely loves his son like he claims and as I tend to believe.
“The thought of Zaid pinned to that tree, not able to die and in pain, to punish himself for the sins I led him to…” His voice gets a little choked up, but he coughs to clear it. “Well, let’s just say I could never repay Carrick for helping him.”
I smile, but it’s sad. “I don’t think Zaid will ever forgive you.”
To my surprise, Boral chuckles. “That’s a very mortal thing to say. I have an eternity to work on him.”
I can’t help but laugh because he has a point.
“Pyke has reached the area of the cave entrance,” Zaid says over his shoulder.
That shocks me out of my conversation with Boral, and I hurry to Zaid’s side to look around the boulder.
Way in the distance, I can see the figure of Charmeine walking slowly for a few paces before turning around and pacing back the same distance. My gaze moves to the mountain, but it’s too dark to see the entrance from here. I move further around the boulder, looking up the mountain and scanning the other boulders. I can’t see Carrick, Lucien, or Titus, but I didn’t really expect to.
My gaze shifts back to Pyke, who plays the role of a forlorn, lost woman walking a beach to perfection.
How long before Micah notices her?
A rumble forms in the distance, and the ground shakes slightly under my feet. My head snaps Zaid’s way. “An earthquake.”
He shakes his head, brow furrowed into deep lines of worry. “Micah.”
CHAPTER 17
Carrick
Carrick watched Pyke slowly walk back and forth along the beach. He and Lucien clung to a narrow ledge that sat just above the cave entrance, waiting for Micah to come out.
&nb
sp; Ready to get this over with, Carrick’s energy hummed within him. The collection and safekeeping of the Blood Stone would end all of this, and Finley would be safe.
For the now, anyway. They both knew they’d have to deal with Rune’s curse after.
The first indication that something was happening was the fall of loose pebbles and shale from above Carrick. He didn’t dare look up, wanting to protect his eyes, but then he felt the rumbling.
And it seemed the entire mountain was starting to shake.
Turning his head, he looked over his shoulder in question at Lucien, who stood beside him, hands gripping hard to a small outcropping of rock to maintain his balance on the ledge. His brother merely shook his head to indicate he didn’t know what was happening.
The rumbling grew stronger and a piece of the ledge Carrick stood on broke away, causing one leg to swing outward. He tightened his grip on the stony mountain to prevent falling, but Lucien had also reached out and grabbed him by the bicep until he could gain his balance. Shuffling to the left, Carrick was able to find a wider piece of the ledge to stand on.
Glancing out to the shores of the dead ocean, Pyke, in his Charmeine glamour, had stopped walking and faced the entrance of the cave. Carrick wondered if he could see them standing on the ledge from the glow of the Crimson River, but Pyke never looked their way. Merely kept his gaze on the cave.
And then something Carrick wasn’t prepared for came out of the cave.
Clearly needing to duck down to clear the top of the entrance, a huge beast came ambling out. He stood at least fifteen feet tall and his shoulder clipped some rock as he exited, causing large pieces to fall to the ground.
Carrick again looked over his shoulder at Lucien, muttering in a low voice. “He’s a lot bigger than you described.”
“He’s definitely grown a bit since I last saw him,” Lucien gritted back.
The ground shook with each lumbering step Micah took as he came out of the cave. Pyke’s eyes flared slightly as his head tipped back, clearly as surprised as Carrick and Lucien had been.
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