Gods Of The Stone Oracle

by Krista Walsh

  It took every ounce of self-restraint Zach possessed not to slug the man in the jaw. Only the knowledge that he was right held him back.

  “Fine. You tell us what needs to be done,” he said.

  He straightened up and flushed on finding everyone staring at him.

  “Are you finished?” Vera asked, her gray eyes cool.

  A coil of shame shocked the base of Zach’s neck, jerking his spine straight, but all he said was, “We work until it’s done. No breaks, and no whining.”

  The others exchanged glances, and Emmett shrugged. “I think that was the plan. Frankly, I’m looking forward to tearing this thing apart. How do we get started?”

  17

  The floor teetered beneath Molly’s body as her brain accepted the fact that she wasn’t actually on a boat.

  Frank had shown her the sea. Step by step, he’d talked her through the scene just as he’d taken her through all the others, explaining what everything was, introducing her to concepts she’d only ever heard about. Nightmare versions of ideals. He couldn’t show her a calm, serene ocean, of course. What sort of torture would it be if he showed her a day at the beach? Instead, it had been a raging tempest, with waves cresting too many feet overhead before crashing down over her, leaving her gasping for air. Although her rational mind knew it was nothing more than an illusion, the knowledge didn’t stop her lungs from straining against the pressure, choking her until her temples throbbed with the lack of oxygen. Her heart ached, and her head pulsed with the overstimulation, like little nails being driven through her skull and into her gray matter, shooting pain into her eyes and her eardrums.

  If it weren’t for the hope that Vera wasn’t too far away, and that it wouldn’t be much longer before Zach barged through the door and destroyed every demon that had touched her, she would have given up by now. The knives and the burning touch had been horrible, but this new torture was working to leave her broken in a different kind of way.

  She understood now what the color blue looked like. She’d experienced reds and oranges, the coolness of greens and the brightness of the sun. He’d shown her fire and smoke, the spray of water across the wooden boat deck. Things she’d never imagined she’d discover other than through touch, smell, and sound. He’d opened her mind to another dimension of the world — in all of its worst possible presentations.

  She hated being left with the memories of so much pain and anguish, but to suffer through those memories in the darkness left her feeling even more isolated.

  Four times Frank had come to visit her now, each time showing her two or three scenes that, while they lasted, made her believe she’d slipped into hell with nothing to hang on to but fire and death.

  The sound of the door opening at the end of the hall had become enough to send her heart into her throat and leave a film of sweat on her palms. She wished there was somewhere to hide, a cubby she could tuck herself into. If he couldn’t make direct contact, then maybe the images wouldn’t be so clear.

  Vera, where are you?

  Tears dripped down her cheeks as Frank’s hand rested on her arm again. She jerked away.

  “Why are you doing this?” she asked, though she wouldn’t have blamed him for not understanding her through her sobs.

  He didn’t answer.

  They were the only two people in the cell, but still he kept his mouth shut.

  “Tell me,” she said. “If you’re going to keep hurting me, the least you could do is explain why.”

  I’m sorry. His voice traveled into her head the same way Vera’s had. They want that information. If you won’t give it, they want you broken when the daemelus comes for you. They’ve tried to contact him, but they haven’t been able to find him. You’d better hope they manage it soon, because you’re stuck here until they do.

  They didn’t know he was on his way. Relief flooded through Molly, releasing some of the tension in her chest. He still had a chance to take them by surprise.

  Her motivation to fight back rose higher, and she ground her teeth to steel herself.

  Why you? Why are you willing to break a kid’s mind?

  I have no choice.

  Bullshit, she sent back. She wanted to shout it aloud and expel some more of the tension building up inside her, but doing so might bring in other guards, and that would end her chance to get this man talking. At this point, she was willing to do anything to put off seeing another mini film of horror and destruction. We all have a choice.

  I have to protect my family.

  Light, sounds — so loud. Music playing, tinny like chimes. A large vehicle moving in front of her, objects with faces moving up and down in rhythmic patterns to the music. Against her will, Molly was moved forward so she stood on the platform of the vehicle, and her legs wobbled as her mind followed the circuit.

  She recognized the motion. It was a carousel. The bobbing objects must be horses, though some looked like cars, which Frank had introduced her to in another vision full of screams and twisted metal. The fiberglass was cool under her palm, and the sensation of the muscles in her arm flexing and contracting as the horse soared upward then down was throwing her off balance.

  Then the earth began to tremble under her feet. People ran screaming away from the carousel, but she couldn’t move, trapped on the spinning wheel. The ground opened up in the distance, and other tall structures collapsed in on themselves, smoke and dust rising in clouds to black out the sky, filling the air with the reek of blood.

  Then came darkness and stillness, though it took her brain a while to catch up. Nausea rippled through her stomach, and she sucked in air to settle herself. No one had come in to clean up the mess she’d made the last time she’d thrown up, and she didn’t want to add to the stink in the room.

  Family? You have kids? she asked. Every word was a struggle as her mind tried to drift toward unconsciousness, wanting sleep and time to recharge, but she was determined to make this man see her as something more than a lump of flesh he could manipulate. Is that who you need to protect?

  She didn’t expect him to reply. He was doing his job — even if it was reluctantly, assuming she was reading him right — and he had to stay focused. But he surprised her.

  I have one son. I had two, but one died.

  What kind of a father would torture someone else’s kid? Molly thought, allowing her anger to seep through. But when Frank didn’t answer, she forced her tone to soften. Is he here?

  No, he’s at home with my wife. I want to see them again, if I ever get the chance.

  How long has it been?

  Long enough to know better than to go against what the boss tells us to do.

  Another flash of light. Molly tried to close her eyes against it, but it was always there, right on the surface of her mind. The same music sounded behind her, but this time she stared out over a stretch of water. Boards echoed under her feet as she walked along a crowded path, stores lining one side, a beach on the other. In the distance, dark clouds gathered — gray, blue, and black — and bolts of light shot down into the water, sending sparks and shocks along the surface. The wind picked up, the waves growing higher, and once more it seemed as though the entire sea was rising up and soaring toward her, aiming to drown the street. Molly squeezed her eyes shut as the wave loomed closer and crashed, leaving her to tumble into blackness.

  Her eyes stung with frustrated tears as she worked to get her heartbeat under control.

  Clenching her teeth to work through her anger, she asked again, How long?

  A hesitation. Over two decades.

  Twenty years of following orders, doing harm, helping these assholes? Lots for your kid to be proud of, I’m sure.

  You don’t understand the situation, Frank thought, his annoyance slipping through. These demons are stronger than you can believe. They’ve made great strides since they forced me to join them.

  What do they want?

  The rise of the otherworld.

  More flashes, but this time Molly sat up an
d paid attention. What he showed her wasn’t bright with pain, but dark. Loud machines with flashing lights pumped away in the corner of a room lit only by electric sconces on the walls. The room seemed…familiar. Like something someone had described to her once. Or maybe she’d heard about it in an audiobook?

  No, it was more personal than that.

  I’ve been here. Or somewhere like it.

  Instead of stripping the image away, Frank allowed her to stay there long enough for her to imagine all the equipment out of the way.

  The musty smell, the way the sounds in the room echoed… She allowed her mind to drift toward her memory. Cold stone and damp earth. Instead of the hum of machinery, there had been silence. She remembered a large round table in the middle of the room, the wood rough under her fingers.

  This is the room we were kept in! The one Jermaine transported us to. Where is this?

  Jermaine? The shock in Frank’s voice was enough to tug Molly out of her own surprise. How do you know him?

  I was suspected of murdering him.

  Silence.

  How do you know him? Molly asked.

  He worked on this project. He and the incubus were on the research team. They were supposed to hunt down as wide a range of species as possible to take their DNA samples.

  The images moving through Molly’s mind were slower now. Two men walked into the room. One wore a ragged hoodie over a plain T-shirt and worn jeans. He was a bit on the heavy side, with a scruffy jaw and messy brown hair. The other was his opposite: tall, lean, dressed in a crisp suit, clean-shaven. Molly couldn’t take her eyes off of him.

  Antony, she thought. It had to be. How many other incubi could Jermaine have had dealings with? The appearance of this man fit too well with the smooth voice that haunted her dreams.

  You know him, too? The surprise in Frank’s tone increased.

  He’s the one who killed Jermaine.

  Another stretch of silence as Frank processed what she’d told him. Finally, he spoke. The two of them got greedy. They nearly exposed the project and brought down the entire operation by attempting to use the DNA they gathered for their own gain. We knew eyes were drawing our way. If they’d kept on, someone would have stepped in and stopped us before we got this far. It was so close to coming to an end. Then they both disappeared.

  The regret in his voice was so thick and heavy that it clung to the back of Molly’s throat, while guilt worked to grab hold of her heart, causing it to beat faster.

  Maybe none of this would have happened if she hadn’t killed Antony. If he’d killed her instead, and continued down the path he and Jermaine had struck out on, the world would have been safe.

  She couldn’t have known at the time, and even if she had, her sense of self-preservation wouldn’t have let her go down without a fight, but the full extent of the repercussions of his death bore down on her.

  Her head ached as her thoughts ran in circles — the same circles her life had obviously taken. Everything was connected. But if they wanted to put an end to the cycle for good, the rest of Jermaine’s so-called invisible entente would need to get here soon.

  She was so wrapped up in wishing for it that she didn’t notice Frank resting his hand on her arm again until the dark room vanished, replaced with yet another bright scene. But Molly’s brain had had enough. Without giving her a chance to take in the clear blue sky or the street in front of her, it wrapped her in blackness and carried her away.

  18

  The dealership delivered the RV at the farmhouse half an hour later, and for the rest of the afternoon, all their efforts were focused on fitting it out. The vehicle was a simple beige motorhome that would easily go overlooked in traffic. The seats were beige vinyl, with a kitchenette across from the doors and U-shaped seating at the back that converted into a queen size bed. Nothing special, nothing fancy — which was for the best, as it turned out Percy’s intentions were to gut the thing.

  Zach and Vera were doing the heavy lifting, following Percy’s instructions on what to tear out. It had taken a bit for Percy to work up his courage to step outside, but as soon as his concentration homed in on his project, he seemed not to notice that he wasn’t in front of a computer.

  “The entire kitchen can go,” he said, then paused. “Maybe leave a cupboard and the mini-fridge. We’ll probably want snacks. All of this seating can go as well. It’s not like we’re really looking at a long trip here.”

  Gabe snorted to himself at Percy’s prioritizing of his chocolate habit, then watched in admiration as Vera hopped inside, grabbed both sides of the cabinet holding the kitchen sink, and wrenched it out of place, throwing it through the door so it crashed onto the ground. He crossed his arms, a wide grin stretching across his face. “That’s my girl.”

  Next, she and Zach tackled the seating, tearing out four of the chairs behind the driver’s seat, leaving the bench in the back. If they did decide to sit down inside at any point, it would be cramped, but as far as Gabe was concerned, Percy was right — the sooner they got in and out, the safer everyone would be.

  As Percy supervised the gutting, Gabe and Emmett worked to clear the yard of the refuse, dragging the furniture to the end of the road to be picked up by the dump runners.

  It took a few hours to take out everything Percy didn’t need, and then the real work started. As the sun moved across the sky, Vera helped Percy delegate tasks, while Zach seemed to be on the point of losing it whenever anyone had the audacity to take a pee break or grab a glass of water.

  Gabe was on the edge of snapping and telling him that glaring wouldn’t make the work go any faster, but Daphne got there ahead of him.

  “We’ll be on our way soon,” she said, coming up to him with a glass of lemonade. She and Allegra had avoided most of the grunt work so far. They’d done their part by making refreshments, which came in the form of boxes of crackers with uneven cheese cubes laid out beside them, store-bought lemonade, and a few bags of chips. Not ones for large homemade dinners, then.

  Gabe thought it was smart of Allegra not to have come outside to deliver their snack herself. He didn’t want to have to break up another argument between her and Zach over her lack of cooperation. Soon enough, the succubus would be put to the real test, and it was only a matter of time before they saw how she held up. Considering her actions when she’d helped Gabe go up against the jinni, he suspected she would surprise everyone with what she had to offer. There was more to her than beauty and snark, though she hid it well.

  “It’s not soon enough,” Zach said. “How is Molly doing through all of this? Has Vera even spoken with her? Does Molly think we’re already on our way, when we’re stuck here building crap and waiting for some useless ghost’s information to help us finish our plan? If this is how you make a living, Gorgon, I’m amazed you get any new clients.”

  Gabe gritted his teeth, feeling less than appreciative of the daemelus dumping his anger on him, not to mention laying any more responsibility on Vera’s shoulders. She was doing a fine job keeping everyone in line, had taken the fewest breaks, and deserved Zach’s thanks, not his complaints.

  Daphne crossed her arms. “I thought you said no whining,” she said to Zach.

  In Gabe’s opinion, the man deserved a good clock to the face, but he left her to talk Zach down and headed to the RV, joining Percy and Emmett, who were tucked away inside.

  A few minutes later, Overseer Zachariel came over to hound them again.

  “What are they doing now?” Gabe heard him ask Vera, who was watching the proceedings from outside.

  “Rewiring everything,” she told him. “We are witnessing a definite case of necessity being the mother of invention, and fortunately we have one genius, one man who understands what the genius is saying, and one man who is eager to take orders and help. It’s coming along. Despite how we all might feel about Percy’s research, I can’t deny it’s given us the advantage. By studying our energy, he’s learned how to create a device that cloaks us just as well as Tar
tarus prison is hidden from the satellites. Even if they search for anyone approaching them, they won’t find the vehicle. Apparently, he’s implanted the same sort of device into the earbuds. As long as we’re wearing them, they shouldn’t pick us up on a simple scan.”

  Gabe crossed his fingers that everything would work out the way she said it would. Although hearing her confidence in their skills went a long way towards boosting his own.

  As evening fell, he and Emmett grabbed working lights from the workshop out back and turned them on the RV so they didn’t have to stop with the setting sun. Aside from a short break for dinner-on-the-go, Percy kept them working as the hours passed, setting up every single system and security measure he could wrangle out of the vehicle.

  “If the area is clear and we can set up wireless cameras a few blocks around the RV, I can bring them up on one of the screens,” he said. “If anyone closes in, I can drive us out of range and wait until it’s safe to go back.”

  “What do we know about the ferry?” Gabe asked.

  Percy shrugged and slid on his back under the installed desk. Emmett crouched beside him with a flashlight. “From what I could tell, there’s one helmsman at a time, and they bring the guards back and forth every four hours. The ferry ride takes about half an hour each way. There are checks on both shores, so there’s no way you’re sneaking on there.”

  “Then let’s hope my plan works, or we’re going to have to get creative.”

  Emmett sat back on his heels. “You really think you’re going to be able to pull this off? Get Molly out of there, I mean.”

  His gray eyes, larger than Vera’s, were bright with hope — the dark kind of hope that was used to being stolen away. Gabe knew it well, and he didn’t want to be one more person who promised the world only to snatch it back.

  “We’re going to do everything we can,” he said. “I don’t see any one of us quitting if there’s the smallest chance of success.”