Gods Of The Stone Oracle

by Krista Walsh

  Instead of a cold, unwelcoming cube of a house, he found himself in front of a comfortable, well-maintained bungalow. Rose bushes had been covered and protected against the coming winter along the outside of the whitewashed front porch. The rest of the yard was well tended, with garden beds along the edges of the house.

  As far as Gabe knew, Percy never stepped outside, which meant all of this work had been done by contractors just for the sake of keeping up appearances.

  He climbed the porch steps and rang the bell. A moment later, the front door opened, though no one stood on the other side.

  Gabe stepped in and looked around the mudroom that greeted him. The lights turned on as the door opened, bathing the space with warmth. He’d expected the separate entrance to the house — Percy had all of his goods and groceries delivered to him, so it made sense for there to be an airlock equivalent — however, he hadn’t expected it to be so elegant. Marble tile and long oak benches on either side, a welcome mat that sat in front of a door filled with smoked-glass panes.

  In the top left-hand corner, a camera swiveled toward him.

  “What do you think?” Percy’s voice filtered through the space.

  “Brighter than I would have thought,” Gabe said. “You decorate it yourself?”

  A snort. “What do I know about furniture? I hired the best. Welcome to the inner sanctum. Don’t bother taking off your shoes. You can help me carry my crap out of here.”

  The lock on the glass door clicked and the door swung open, revealing the sort of space that better matched everything he knew about Percy. In here, the lights stayed off, adding to the gloom. The floors were bare, though at least they were still wood, and the soft orange paint was peeling. He guessed the walls hadn’t been redone since Percy had purchased the place. The layout was open concept, with the kitchen, dining room, and living room all together, broken up by a single round table in the kitchen, accompanied by one lonely chair.

  The rooms at the end of the hallway were dark.

  “Down here!” Percy’s voice called to him from beyond a partially open doorway to Gabe’s right. Bright lights seeped up from below. Gabe pushed the door open and squinted through his sunglasses at the sudden glare. The stairs were uncarpeted, so he took them slowly, following the whirring hum of servers and computers in action.

  His mouth fell open as he reached the basement. Nothing he’d seen through their video chats compared to the reality of Percy’s setup. The entire wall was taken up with flashing lights and connected wires, leading to a desk that was easily the same length as Gabe’s old apartment. Six computer screens, layered three and three, took up a good chunk of the space, all of them showing something different. The rest of the space was full of action figures, half-finished projects with loose wires and components, and candy bar wrappers.

  It was a computer nerd’s paradise. Gabe understood why Percy hated to walk away from it.

  “You’re lankier than I thought you’d be,” Percy said from behind him. Gabe whirled around and spotted his friend leaning against the wall beside the stairs. “I guess it’s true that the camera adds ten pounds.”

  For a moment, Gabe didn’t know how to react. Five years of almost daily video-chat conversation had not prepared him for the awkwardness of meeting in real life. He already found face-to-face interaction with most people a challenge, but for it to happen with someone who hadn’t spoken directly to another person in a decade just added to the surreality of the moment.

  While he adjusted, Gabe took the time to appraise his friend. Overall, Percy looked no different than he did on screen. The same chin-length curls that he kept behind his ears, the same enviable eyelashes that made his brown eyes look like they’d been lined with kohl. His skin was a bit fairer than it appeared on camera, and his frame slightly heavier — especially in the belly, which was no wonder with all the junk food — but it was definitely Percy. Gabe would have recognized him if they’d passed each other on the street.

  “And you’re shorter than I thought,” he finally said. “Kind of a pipsqueak, aren’t you?”

  “Helps ensure people underestimate me.”

  Percy was still scanning him over, making no move to come closer, so Gabe kept his distance. However bizarre it was for him to be here, it was probably nothing to Percy’s stress of having someone in his space.

  “You going to be okay?” Gabe asked.

  Percy’s throat bobbed with a hard swallow. “I’ll figure it out. I shut myself away because I didn’t want to run into any otherworldly types when I wasn’t expecting them. Seems strange to be leaving the house in order to spend time with them. But I guess it’s good to know that it’s with the ones who will make sure the nasty kind don’t come at me.”

  Gabe arched an eyebrow. “That depends. Do you snore?”

  Percy grinned. “I do not. Trust me, I’ve checked.”

  Gabe didn’t bother to ask him what he meant by that.

  As though the familiar banter had broken the ice, Percy relaxed and shoved away from the wall. “All right, everything I need is here in this corner,” he said, gesturing to a stack of equipment piled up and resting in large backpacks and computer bags. “We might need to make more than one trip.”

  “We’re not all as weak as you, Perce,” Gabe said. “Have you managed to find anything out yet?”

  “I feel like I’m getting closer, but every time I move forward, I’m pushed out. There’s definitely something stronger than a firewall around their system.”

  “We think they might be working out of Tartarus Prison. Would the lockdown explain what you’re experiencing?”

  Percy blanched. “You’re shitting me.”

  “I wish I were.”

  “Damn. I don’t know if that’ll help me get in, but at least I’ll know where to focus my attentions once I get everything set up again.”

  Gabe approached, making sure to keep some space between him and his friend, and pulled three of the five bags over his shoulders. They were heavy, but manageable for the length of time it would take to get back home.

  “This doesn’t seem like a lot,” he said.

  Percy shrugged as he bent over his keyboard, finishing up whatever maintenance it would take to have his systems continue running while he wasn’t home. “I don’t plan on being gone long if I can avoid it. As soon as we figure this out and I can come back here without worrying someone’s coming after me, you bet I will. And, hey, if I forget anything, it’s not like it’ll take us long to pick it up, right?”

  Gabe grimaced, picturing himself jumping back and forth across the rift for the rest of the night while Percy moved his entire setup into the living room.

  “If we’re doing this, can we go before I change my mind?” Percy asked. “This whole having someone else in my personal space thing is sort of tripping me out.”

  He grabbed the last two bags and struggled to haul them over his shoulders. Gabe considered offering to take another one, but didn’t want to embarrass his friend by suggesting he couldn’t do it himself.

  Raising his hand in the air, he drew a vertical line in front of him, watching Percy’s expression in the corner of his eye as the golden light spilled through the harsh incandescence of the ceiling lights.

  “Whoa…” Percy said. Although his legs were already shaking under the weight of his bags, he obviously couldn’t resist the temptation to run his fingers through the light. He jerked his hand away. “It tickles. What causes the light?”

  “Fae magic. It’s spillover from the Fae dimension, which we skirt when we go through the rifts. I tap into it to open the doorways, and that’s what comes out.”

  “Awesome. Like, that’s just totally cool.” Percy shook his head and stepped forward. With one foot raised, he paused. “Who’s on the other side?”

  “Just Vera and the dogs for now. The others will come later this morning.”

  As if on cue, Vera stepped into frame on the other side, her red hair braided over her shoulder. Gabe’s hear
t pattered against his ribs at the sight of her, just as beautiful as the first time he’d met her.

  “I’ve put the dogs outside,” she said, sounding as though she were in the same room instead of across the state. “It’s just me here, Percy.”

  Percy cast Gabe a sideways glance. “Is there any way for me to close the rift before you make it over?”

  Gabe growled. “Only if you want to be taken over the ocean and dropped there when I make it home.”

  “Ah, well, it was worth a try.” Percy gave him a grin, then shifted his bags on his shoulders and stepped forward. Although he didn’t hesitate, Gabe caught the way he squeezed his eyes shut as he passed from one room to the other.

  Once Percy was through, he set his bags down, then stepped back into the basement before Gabe had a chance to move.

  “I forgot something,” he said, and grabbed a flickering gray cube off one of his shelves.

  “Now do you have everything?” Gabe asked.

  “I do,” Percy said. He crossed back over and Gabe went after him, close on his heels.

  When the rift closed behind them, Percy’s breath hitched, and he hugged the cube closer to his chest. He turned in a slow circle around the room, taking in all the details, and nodded. “I like what you’ve done with the place. Might have to hire you to redecorate mine when the time comes. Hi, Vera.”

  He grinned at her with a dopiness that made Vera smile brightly in response, and Gabe rolled his gaze toward the ceiling.

  “Come on,” he said. “We’ll set you up over here out of everyone’s way, so you can stay out of trouble.”

  As they shifted Percy’s equipment into the corner near the television, opposite the area with the couch and the fireplace, Gabe couldn’t shake off the sense that he was inviting trouble by having all of his connections in the same room. Maybe it took fire to fight fire, but he hoped that having Jermaine’s invisible entente all together wouldn’t unleash an inferno they couldn’t control.

  15

  While Gabe and Percy set up the equipment in the living room, Vera poured two glasses of whiskey and took them upstairs to the bedroom she and Gabe shared. He’d officially moved into his parents’ room when he took over the house, which left two bedrooms, the couch in the living room, and a futon in the basement for the others to claim when they arrived.

  To Vera’s great relief, the futon was a new one Gabe had purchased after moving in. The mess of a one he’d kept in his bachelor apartment had finally hit the curb.

  She closed the bedroom door behind her, got undressed, and slipped beneath the covers, taking a moment to appreciate the joy of being in a prone position. It hadn’t been so many hours since she and Gabe had been in the bath together, but it seemed like days since she’d had a chance to rest.

  Her head still ached from the trial of forming her connection with Molly. At the time, she hadn’t realized how much energy it was taking to hold on to it — only after she’d slipped back into her body did she feel the strain. Despite the effort it was still taking, she kept the connection open enough that, lying here in the semi-darkness, she could sense Molly’s energy pulsing at the other end. She debated traveling back along the line to see how the poor girl was faring, but decided to conserve her strength. She would need as much as she possessed in the days to come.

  Tears stung her eyes at the thought of Molly alone in the dark, afraid and losing hope. While the book had to remain her first priority, Vera couldn’t forget that an innocent human life was hanging in the balance. Lozak was an animal who deserved to be put down, and she couldn’t wait to do the honors.

  Even as her fury raged, her desire for vengeance throbbing in her temples, she thought back to what Daphne had said about Lozak changing form. Had there always been such a demon under his mountainous size and cruel blue eyes?

  She shivered. Not that his form mattered. She was not only the descendant of a vengeance god, imbuing her with supernatural strength, but someone who carried guardian blood in her veins. No matter what he threw at her, she could stand against it.

  She hoped.

  The revelation Zach had shared with her earlier surged through her thoughts. The Collegiate had created the guardians? She knew she shouldn’t be surprised, and yet it answered so many questions — like why they were the only species Vera didn’t have an immunity toward. And why they were so sure the process described in the Book of Universes would work.

  Footsteps sounded outside the door. Vera rolled her head toward them, and a moment later, Gabe stepped inside.

  “Now, this is a sight to put me at ease after a long day,” he said, scanning her over. “The dogs are inside and keeping Percy company. Everyone’s safe and sound.”

  Vera extended one of the whiskey glasses toward him. “I figured you could use this.”

  He stripped off his shirt, revealing all the valleys and ridges of muscles over his chest and down his stomach, then dropped his jeans and kicked them onto a chair.

  Such a classy man, she thought, her heart warming.

  In his boxers, he toppled onto the bed and peeled his sunglasses off to set them on the bedside table.

  It was the one time of day he could remove them without concern. Even when they were downstairs, he had to worry about the dogs. In the privacy of their room, with the door closed, no mirrors, and no one else around, he was free to be himself. To share the intimacy of looking Vera in the eye without fear that he would turn her into a statue.

  And he did have such incredible eyes. Green along the outside, with gold around the pupil, which narrowed into vertical slits when he was stressed or upset. Tonight, to her surprise, they were wide and gentle. Regardless of what else was going on, for this moment, he was calm.

  As always, Vera’s mind jerked when their gazes met, her memories tumbling around like bingo balls in a cage. After so many weeks, she’d learned to control the sorts of images that rose to the surface. Tonight, she was brought back to building tree forts with Ara in the woods. A simpler time, before the pressures of her life had crashed down on her shoulders.

  After a moment, the rush of images eased, and she relaxed into her pillows, handing him the glass. He inhaled his first sip as though it were a breath of air.

  “Perfect,” he said, tilting his head to kiss her cheek.

  “How are you holding up?” she asked.

  He groaned and closed his eyes. “Like I’m standing at a threshold where you can look back and see how all the mistakes you’ve made have led you to where you stand now and, for better or worse, the only move you can make is forward.”

  Vera chuckled. “That sounds about right. But I guess that’s what you have to expect when you have a history with a succubus.” She raised an eyebrow.

  Gabe’s eyes flew wide, and then a smile spread across his face as he realized she was teasing. “Bah,” he said, waving his hand. “She helped me out on that snowstorm case, and was a necessary boost to my ego.” He leaned in to kiss her. “If anything, you should be grateful. She’s the one who pushed me to tell you how I felt. She told me life was too short and the winters too cold not to spend them with someone we care about.”

  “Allegra said that?” Vera asked. “I’m almost numb with shock.”

  Gabe chuckled. “She’s got more heart than people think she does.”

  She hmphed. “That might be the case, but I’ll delay judgment on whether I should trust her until she proves she’s earned it.”

  “How are you feeling about things?” he asked. “Especially since you’re the one who seems to have wound up as our fearless leader again.”

  She started. “I’m not. Why would you think that?”

  Gabe grinned. “You can’t say you didn’t notice. One word out of your mouth, and everyone in the room was paying attention.”

  Vera pulled her blanket tighter around her middle. “I don’t want that kind of responsibility.”

  His fingers stroked over the back of her hand. “You might not want it, but I think we need it.
You’ve seen us together. Too many strong opinions and personalities, and all of us with different priorities. We need someone who’s able to be objective. Someone to direct us.”

  “What about you? You’re just as capable of being objective.”

  “I’m too much of a hothead. Zach is too emotional, Allegra too detached. And you saw Daphne’s reaction. She’s terrified of what this might cost her. You’re the only one calm enough to get everyone to listen.”

  Vera released a breath, wishing it would do more to relieve the tightness in her chest. “Not everyone will agree with you on that.”

  “That doesn’t matter. They’ll still listen.”

  She closed her eyes, not wanting to think that Gabe was right. She didn’t want to play babysitter, but twice now fights had nearly broken out, and they hadn’t even started putting their plan together yet. If they wanted to stand a chance, the five of them — as independent as they were — would need to work together as an actual team.

  This was going to be a trial.

  Knowing it wouldn’t do any good to dwell on it more tonight, she did her best to change the subject. “How’s Percy?”

  Gabe let his head fall back against the headboard. “All these years, there have been so many times I was grateful to have a screen between us so I didn’t throttle him. He no longer has that protection.”

  Vera chuckled softly. He and Percy were brothers just as much as she and Ara were sisters. Blood only mattered so much when the connection ran as deep as theirs did.

  “But it’s also good to know he’s safe,” Gabe added. “I didn’t like him alone in that house where I couldn’t reach him.”

  “Do you really think they would have come for him?”

  “I wasn’t willing to take the chance that they might need him to work the software. Especially if he has to go digging around near Tartarus’s systems. There’s no way they won’t be able to track back to him if they’re looking. We’ve already lost so much. I won’t risk anything else.”

  Vera’s thoughts veered toward her bookshop. In the last month and a half, Ara had done wonders overseeing the rebuild. It looked almost exactly the same as it had before the Collegiate burned it to the ground, but it still wasn’t the home she’d grown to love.