But Micah did not.
At least not immediately.
He snarled in pain as he fell to his knees and attempted to remove the spear, but it had gone all the way through his body and out below his shoulder blade. When he pulled on it, the flared end caught against bone, and he threw his head back and brayed in frustration.
“Just die already,” Pyke muttered as they watched a weakened Micah fall forward, catching himself with one hand before he face-planted into the dirt.
He lifted his head with difficulty to glare at Carrick through a fall of dirty, matted hair that had fallen over one eye. The beast had no clue who Carrick was or why he wanted the cup. He didn’t know his brother was the one he had sent into the Crimson River.
But he did know enough to taunt, “At least Lucien and Charmeine got what was coming to them.”
Micah’s arm supporting him started shaking and his eyes drooping as his heart finally succumbed to the poison of iron. Knowing it wouldn’t do much of anything, he threw his other arm out—one last-ditch effort to hurt Carrick.
A blast of icy magic slammed into Carrick, who had not been expecting it, and tossed him back several feet, where he went down hard on his back. The impact once again knocked the chalice from his hand, but he didn’t worry about it.
Because as he lifted his head, he saw Micah finally collapse forward onto the ground. He gave one last heaving, shuddering breath and went still.
It was only once his body immediately turned black and started smoking that Carrick could let out a sigh of relief. As the ashes started to rise and float away, he let his head drop back down to the ground and heaved out all the air in his lungs.
He didn’t get respite, though, as he heard running feet. Finley flung herself on top of him, hugging him fiercely as he laid on the ground. He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her, and they just held each other.
When Finley finally let Carrick up, they rose to their feet as everyone else started to draw inward. Pyke walked over, picked the chalice up, and examined it before tossing it to Carrick. “Hope it was worth it.”
Carrick easily caught the cup just as Finley asked, “Where’s Lucien?”
Looking back to the rip in the veil that was still hanging open, Carrick closed it with his magic before telling the group, “Lucien didn’t make it.”
“What?” Finley exclaimed in horror, taking his hand in hers.
Carrick pulled his hand free from hers. Instead, he wrapped it around her shoulders to pull her in close. He bent, placing a kiss on her head. “Let’s head home. I’ll tell you all about it.”
CHAPTER 18
Finley
“It’s ugly,” Rainey says thoughtfully, but not with mean intent. Just observation. “The whole of this is called the Blood Stone? Even though it’s a cup?”
My eyes drift from the Blood Stone over to my friend. She’s sitting opposite me at the library table. Forearms crossed on the table with her chin resting on top. It’s brought her eye level to the chalice.
I mimic her posture, my own chin on my arms and my gaze going back to the cup we’d taken from Micah two days ago. “I don’t think it has an official title, but it’s definitely one object now. We’ve just been calling it the Blood Stone.”
Carrick had attempted to remove the gem from the cup when we got back to the condo, but he didn’t try too hard as he was fearful of destroying it. While it had once been a singular chalice carved from meteor stone, and a singular stone jewel turned ruby-like after dipped into the Crimson River, it was now one.
Blood Stone seemed better than just calling it the Cup.
Regardless, it’s more unique than anything I’ve ever seen in my life.
“It’s powerful,” I reply, my tone not apologizing for the way it looks but pointing out it has something better than looks. “I can feel it.”
Rainey’s head pops up, head tipped in curiosity. “Really? What does it feel like?”
I also lift my head, straightening in my chair. Rainey does the same. My gaze shifts from her to the chalice. “It feels like that moment when you’re on a roller coaster, and you’re just hovering at the top of a long drop. That combination of fear and excitement, and the possibility it could be either or both, but that whatever you get, it will be the thrill of your life.”
It’s not exactly ugly—the chalice—but rather crude. The stone it was carved from left a cup about six inches high from top to base. The cup and the base are roughly the same diameter, maybe about three inches, and the stem is thick. The chalice’s interior couldn’t hold more than four ounces or so of a liquid, so I don’t think it was created to slake thirst. My theory is it was created in the fashion of whatever chalices looked like at that period in history so it could hide in plain sight.
“Do you want it? The power?” she asks.
I blink a few times, looking away from the cup back to her. I’m truthful with her because I know I can be. “If it would stop the prophecy, then yes… I want it.”
Carrick and I have talked about the chalice a lot the last few days. When we got back from Micah’s realm, we examined it thoroughly. It seemed to me, not just by look but by touch, that the Blood Stone and the chalice had fully merged to become one. When I touch the gem—darkened in the middle since Charmeine’s death—it feels dark and somewhat sinister. When I touch just the stone of the chalice, it feels neither dark nor light, but rather just ready to be used.
Carrick said it felt the same to him. “It’s like the chalice is the powerful body and the stone is the magical soul.”
That was such a good way to put it.
Rainey settles back in her seat. It’s just us girls as it’s a workday. Myles is at his job, and Rainey came over on her lunch break. The rebuild on One Bean is progressing nicely, and today the new flooring was going to be installed. Rainey was hoping I’d take a look at it tomorrow, but honestly… my heart hasn’t been into my coffee shop. I was vague in my commitment.
I reach out and slide the chalice to the side, so it’s not in between us. I’m tired of looking at it.
“Is Carrick okay?” she asks.
My fingers play with a lock of my hair hanging over my shoulder as I consider her question. “I think so. He and Lucien weren’t overly close, but they were brothers and Lucien was helping us out. I think he feels guilty that he couldn’t save him.”
“Doesn’t sound like he could do anything,” Rainey points out. She and Myles are fully up to speed on what happened as I’d called them as soon as we got back to the condo after defeating Micah. I knew they’d be waiting on pins and needles.
“I’ve told him that, and he knows it. I guess it still doesn’t feel good to watch your brother get taken by the Crimson River.”
None of us know what it means. The river itself is almost mythical, but it’s supposedly filled with evil souls stuck there for eternity. We know the river was able to seal Charmeine within the stone, another representation of its powerful nature. We are assuming the stone itself now has unlimited potential since its little bath in the river of souls.
But what did it actually do to Lucien? Carrick said he didn’t catch fire or burn, but rather seemed just slowly to get pulled down into it.
Does that mean he drowned in it?
Flowed with the current somewhere else where he got out safely?
Or could it have turned him into something dark the way the gem was changed into the Blood Stone?
My thought was if the souls were stuck there for eternity, that perhaps Lucien was, too. Maybe the river was inescapable.
Carrick had no answers, and he has been reaching out to the gods every day to see if one will tell him what happened to his brother. As of now, they’re being silent, and that includes efforts to find out when Cato will release Maddox. We’ve not heard anything from him since he disappeared the day we left for Micah’s realm.
While Carrick is worried for his brothers, he’s more worried about what their absence means to me and the prophecy. The plan
after retrieving the Blood Stone was to secure it and then go after Kymaris. He wanted his brothers by his side for that battle, not to necessarily help defeat her, but to help protect me because it was my battle, too.
Carrick also needed them to help protect the Blood Stone from any attempts made by Kymaris to get it if she ever finds out we have it. He had wanted them to combine magic and reinforce the protections around the condo. I had offered my magical services to combine with Carrick’s, but he kindly explained that my powers were too unknown at this point to rely on them.
He had a point, I suppose, but no matter… I trust him.
Boral has been hanging out back in Kymaris’ camp, keeping an eye on them. He hasn’t reported in since we got back, so I’m assuming they’re still looking for both the Blood Stone and the twelfth Dark Fae she needs for the ritual.
Now there’s nothing to do but wait for Lucien’s fate to be revealed, Maddox to return to the fold, and for the October new moon to roll around while hoping we can protect the Blood Stone until then.
“Is that thing just going to stay down here in the library?” Rainey asks, tipping her head toward the cup and bringing me out of my thoughts. “I’d at least thought it would be in a fortified safe or a bank vault or something.”
I laugh, because in our regular human life, that would be the most obvious thing. “As long as it’s within the confines of the condo, there are better protections around us than any safe or vault could give. Still… Carrick would like to fortify them more if he can when Maddox gets back.”
“Why not just take the Blood Stone somewhere else? Another realm or something? Just leave secretively. There’s no way Kymaris could find you.”
“We could,” I admit, and Carrick and I had discussed it. “But we can’t stay hidden forever, and we suspect there would be another new moon she could perform the ritual on. Also, who’s to say she won’t find us? We don’t know the magnitude of her powers. Regardless, we feel like we have to make our stand to end this.”
“So, it’s safe here,” she concludes softly. “And nothing to do but wait.”
I’d been lamenting just that thing, but something strikes me like a bolt of lightning. I smile at Rainey slyly. “Not nothing to do.”
“Why do you have that look on your face?” she asks skeptically.
“Because we have a wedding to plan,” I announce, pleased with myself to have given us something to fill our time.
Rainey frowns, taking a little bit of the wind from my sails. “Is this really the right time?”
Leaning forward, I look at her solemnly. “It’s the best time, Rainey.”
“Really?”
“Really,” I assure her with confidence. It will be good for us to have something to take our minds off the darkness facing us. “I understand from listening to Fallon go on and on about her wedding to Blain how much there is to do. It could take months to book out your venue—assuming it’s not overrun with demons—get your wedding dress picked out, test cakes, and all that good stuff. We might as well start now.”
Rainey smiles, but it’s half-hearted. Her gaze briefly drops down to the table before her eyes come back to me. “I don’t want to wait months and months to marry Myles.”
“When were you thinking?” I ask.
She hesitates, ducks her head slightly, and gives me a sheepish smile. “Sooner rather than later.”
“Oh,” I reply, surprised she wants to move so quickly knowing the perfect wedding will take time to plan. “That’s not a lot of time, but I’m sure we can work it out.”
I ignore the slight welling of panic. I’ve fought Dark Fae, learned I’m destined to die, and have the responsibility of the world on my shoulders, but the thought of helping her get a wedding together in the next few weeks freaks me out a bit.
“I want to do it before the October new moon,” Rainey says quietly. “Everything is moving so fast, and dangers are coming every day. Look how much has happened in just the last five days.”
So much has happened in five days. Carrick returned and took me to the Hall of Histories, Deandra taught me how to use my powers, and we defeated Micah to get the Blood Stone. God knows what could happen tomorrow.
“Rainey,” I butt in softly, suddenly sad she feels the need to rush this out of a sense of doom.
“No,” she says adamantly, shaking her head. “Don’t make this into something morose. I want to be Myles’ wife. I have no doubts, so why are we waiting?”
“Um… because both your parents will kill you if you elope,” I suggest playfully.
“But I don’t want to elope,” she quips with a bright smile. “I want my core group there to witness it.”
“And just who is that core group?” I ask because we seem to be growing in numbers.
She starts ticking off people while holding up fingers on her hand. “You, Carrick, Zaid, Maddox, Titus, and Boral.”
“Boral?” I ask in surprise.
“He’s been very helpful,” she replies with a nod. “And, obviously, Lucien if he… um… you know, comes back.”
I study my best friend, but I don’t detect a hint of rash impulsiveness. She’s speaking from the heart.
“Okay,” I say with a firm nod. “Let’s plan a quickie wedding. We have just under four weeks before the October new moon. Let’s pick a date.”
Without consulting a calendar, which tells me she’s given this some thought, Rainey says, “Two weekends from this one. September twenty-ninth.”
“Sounds like the perfect date,” I reply, reaching way to the right and pulling a spare yellow pad and pen toward me. I scribble Sept 29, then underline it three times. Looking back up to her, I ask, “Flowers?”
“Just a bouquet,” she answers, again so quickly I can tell she’s already put the mental work into this. I now know I’m just here for validation, but I want to add some effort.
So I say, “How about calla lilies?”
Rainey grins, eyes alight with joy. “Perfect.”
“Cake?” I query.
“The answer to cake should always be yes, but, in this instance, let’s do cupcakes for ease,” she suggests.
“I still think we should taste test,” I say as I write down taste test as many flavors as possible.
“For sure.” She giggles, but then her expression turns a bit serious. “But the dress… that has to be perfect. I know we’re going to have to buy off-the-rack, but I’d love to be able to go shopping together for it. Do you think Carrick will let you out?”
“Of course he will,” I say assuredly, but truthfully, I don’t know how he feels about it. The danger is increasing, but I’ve also tapped my powers. I’m not defenseless.
Regardless, there is absolutely no way I’m going to miss a girls’ day shopping for a wedding dress with my one bestie to marry my other bestie. Carrick will have to deal with it, but I expect he’ll come with us. That’s fine by me, but he’ll have to wait outside each store. This is a sans man event.
“Does Myles know you’re planning this?” I think to ask.
“No, but he will when he comes by later to pick me up,” she says with a sly wink. “But he’d love just to elope, to be honest.”
“Seriously, your parents are going to be pissed,” I tell her.
“If we make it through this apocalypse—”
“Prophecy,” I correct.
“Sorry, but to me, this is apocalyptic,” she counters. “So, if we make it through, I’m sure we’ll have a big wedding and invite everyone else. No one will know we already did the deed with just the savior of the world, two demi-gods, maybe three, an annihilator, a daemon, and a Dark Fae. Of course, if they knew, they’d never believe it, so I guess that’s moot. The point is, I just want to make it official. We can do the big shebang after you save the day.”
I laugh but part of it’s forced, because I just realized… even if I make it through the prophecy, there’s no telling how long it will be before Rune decides I need to die to torment Carrick. If Raine
y and Myles wait until after this is all over, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t be around to see them wed because of the curse.
It overwhelms me a bit with gratitude, so I push out of my chair and walk around the table to Rainey. Bending at the waist, I wrap her in a big hug that sort of bends her neck at an odd angle. I squeeze a little too tightly as she gasps, “What’s this all about?”
I pull away, my eyes a little wet as I look down at her. “It’s just… this makes me happy. You and Myles getting married. We need some happy around here.”
CHAPTER 19
Finley
“No holding back,” Carrick says in warning.
I nod. “No holding back.”
“You hit me as hard as if I were Kymaris standing right in front of you,” he instructs with a serious look on his face.
“Got it.” I bounce on the balls of my feet, taking his words for the pep talk they are.
His hands come to my shoulders, and he bends slightly to peer into my eyes. “You are strong and in control of your magic.”
I roll my neck and repeat, “I am strong and in control of my magic.”
“That’s my girl,” he says as he presses a hard kiss to me before taking several paces back.
“Or,” I drawl in slight hesitation. “I could incinerate your condo?”
Carrick laughs and shakes his head. “I’m sure you’ll control yourself fine. But in the off chance you’re right, I put sort of a protection spell around the gym so any fires you might start can’t spread.”
I stop bouncing, and my jaw drops. “Did you really?”
His grin is playful. “Maybe,” is all he’ll commit to.
We woke up this morning, had a bit of a leisurely morning in bed, which translates into Carrick wanting to make love slowly rather than the sort of frenzy we often find ourselves falling into, especially with the October new moon getting closer. There were no regrets on spending lazy time together in bed. After, we enjoyed an immense breakfast prepared by Zaid.
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