Gods Of The Stone Oracle

by Krista Walsh

  “My bow!” she exclaimed as she ran her fingers over the case, sounding far more alive than she had since her rescue.

  Allegra tuned them out and gave Percy a pointed look, reminding him of the unanswered question still hanging between them.

  He puffed out a breath. “Vera and Zach are still fighting, but they’re getting tired,” he said. “Every strike they hit against Lozak just seems to make him stronger. And there’s been no word from Daphne.”

  “Gabe has returned to the prison,” Allegra said, and filled him in on the story Gabe had shared with her.

  Percy wheeled in his chair, his eyes so wide his eyelashes appeared almost doll-like. “You can’t be serious.”

  “I told him the same thing. He is determined to be heroic.”

  “Gabe, what the hell are you thinking?” Percy shouted into the microphone, but nothing came back except static. “Shit.” He stood up and paced the short length of the RV, shoving his hands through his hair. “This is all going to shit. Even if they win against Lozak, there’s no way they’ll make it out in time. If the Collegiate brings down the prison while they’re in the tunnel, they could be buried inside.”

  “They could take the ferry,” Matthew said.

  “How would they know to use the front door?” Allegra asked. “They would assume the tunnel was safest, would they not? And right now Percy is unable to reach them to tell them otherwise.”

  Percy shook his head. “Even if I get the comms back up, the ferry’s back on our side. Either they take the tunnel or they swim. They need to get out of there now.” He leaned into the microphone. “Do you hear me, guys? Get out of there. Molly’s safe, the Collegiate’s on its way. Get. Out.”

  Allegra glanced over her shoulder to see how Molly was faring with the news. The doorway was empty, so she stepped down into the grass. No one was in the yard.

  She frowned. Whose brilliant idea had it been to make her babysitter? She hated children and their tendency to wander off. “Molly?” she called, then realized the girl wasn’t the only one missing. “Emmett?”

  They didn’t answer, and Allegra’s anger flared. Stalking barefoot through the dead grass, she made a tour around the RV, and confirmed the yard was empty. Then she stepped into the house, but that was empty, too.

  Furious, she stormed back to the RV. “They’ve gone.”

  “What?” Percy asked, his mouth falling open. “What do you mean they’ve gone? Who is gone?”

  “They were in the yard, and now both Molly and Emmett have vanished.”

  Matthew floated out of the vehicle, the dog following at his side. “I’ll take a look around,” he said, and passed through the fence.

  “Shit!” Percy exclaimed. “Can this day get any worse? Where the hell would they have gone? Were they taken? Did some demons sneak into the yard and grab them?”

  Beneath her anger, a niggle of fear tickled Allegra’s conscience. The thought hadn’t even occurred to her. How had she already failed so miserably at such a simple task as keeping an eye on a teenage girl?

  Apprehension dragged her out of the RV until she stood in the archway of the backyard. The streets were empty, and she didn’t want to yell too loudly in case someone heard her. She returned to the vehicle to find Percy shaking his head. “The satellite image went out again. I can’t see her anywhere.”

  Matthew passed back through the fence and came to a stop by the RV door. “I found her.”

  “Where is she?” Allegra asked. “Does someone have her?”

  Matthew shook his head. “I think she and Emmett are on their way to the ferry.”

  36

  Gabe sprinted down the tunnel. His legs ached with the effort, but he couldn’t have slowed down if he’d tried. Too much adrenaline pumped through his veins. Too much fear that he would be too late.

  He’d barely had time to process the fact that his father was still alive — here and alive — and now he might lose him if he didn’t move fast enough. And Vera. The thought of her alone was enough to make his muscles pump harder. He leaped over the threshold from tunnel to prison and took the stairs two at a time.

  He climbed the stairs to the main floor and started down the corridor toward the dining hall where he’d left Zach and Vera fighting Lozak.

  But on his way, he passed into a thick cloud of smoke that was drifting from one of the side rooms, and his legs involuntarily drew to a halt. The room was dark, not a single torch lit on the walls, but he didn’t need one in order to see around the unfurnished space. In the middle of the room sat a large hunk of rock, the embers glowing along its surface filling the room with a dry heat and the reek of brimstone.

  A few feet away, a woman lay sprawled on her side across the floor, one arm covering her face, the other reaching toward the door.

  “Daphne?” Gabe called.

  He stumbled into the room, stepped around the rock, and crouched beside her. His heart drummed in his chest when she didn’t respond. He gently shook her arm, and she tumbled onto her back, her head flopping to the side.

  “Come on, Daph,” he said. “This is no time for a nap.”

  He pressed his fingers against her throat, but his own heartbeat was racing so quickly, he couldn’t pin down hers. His hands prickled with the strength of her magic as it coursed between them. He tucked his fingers under her chin and tilted her head back, checking her airways to make sure she hadn’t choked on whatever was smeared over her face.

  “Daphne!” he yelled, and there was still nothing. The room was so still that the sound of his breath might as well have been the tolling of an alarm. As another moment passed, he bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut. “Dammit, Daph. I’m so sorry. We’ll make this up to you. We’ll end this. I promise.”

  Releasing a sharp breath, he brushed the hair off her brow, smudging the ash and smoke that lined her forehead.

  At that moment, her eyes flew open, and she jolted up in an obvious panic, holding her hands out in front of her as though prepared to send a burst of magic his way.

  Gabe cursed and raised his hands to ward her off, his heart now working to escape from his chest. “Whoa, there. It’s just me, Daphne. It’s all right. You’re okay.”

  Her breaths were coming quick and shallow, and he worried she was going to pass out again. But then her gaze settled on the lump of rock in front of her, and she dropped her hands to her sides.

  “Shit, Daphne, I thought you were dead,” he said, pressing his fist against his chest to try to gain control over his pulse.

  “I did it,” she said, her voice weak and shaking.

  Gabe glanced over his shoulder to make sure their pathway was still clear. “Did what?”

  “Mayes. I killed him.”

  “That was Mayes?” Gabe’s eyes widened, and he shifted farther away from the glowing rock. It weirded him out to think he wasn’t the only one who could turn someone to stone.

  Daphne nodded dumbly. “I had to go so far. I didn’t think I’d come back. I felt myself being burned up, but I managed to absorb his fire. I drained it out of him. Cooled him too quickly for him to recover.”

  She wavered where she sat as her eyelids drooped, and Gabe tucked his arm around her waist to keep her from falling. “Come on,” he said. “No point us sticking around breathing in this crap. Let’s get you somewhere safe.”

  His thoughts strayed to Vera and Lozak. Daphne didn’t look like she’d be up for a day at the beach, let alone another fight, but he couldn’t waste time bringing her back to the tunnel. If he could get her partway there, beyond the reach of any demons who might still be lingering in the prison, hopefully she’d be able to find her own way out.

  She teetered as he helped her to her feet, but Gabe held on tightly so she didn’t fall.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared,” she said, tears streaming down her face.

  They shuffled forward, edging around Mayes’s corpse. Gabe had no desire to come into contact with him, rock or no. “It’s over now. You
can walk tall knowing you saved the day.”

  She collapsed into his side, her face buried against his shoulder, and Gabe hugged her closer. Her small frame felt so fragile in his arms, as though she might snap if he held her too tightly.

  They navigated their way down the corridor, in the direction Gabe believed led back to the tunnel, but after the third turn, he had to accept they were lost.

  Drawing to a stop, he looked around him, trying to find some landmark to direct his path. All he could make out in the dimness were identical rooms stretched out along identical hallways.

  Shit.

  He said nothing to Daphne, not wanting her to worry about the fact that, even though she’d beat the villain, they’d still be trapped here when the Collegiate destroyed the fortress. Instead, he pressed forward, hoping that sooner rather than later he’d come across Vera and Zach, if not the way out.

  Anticipation grew when a voice drifted to him from up ahead, and he guided their steps that way.

  Daphne stiffened and pulled away, magic coating the backs of her hands in pale patches.

  “What are you doing?” she asked. “We’re supposed to be getting out of here.”

  “Vera and Zach are still in here. I’m not leaving without them.”

  Daphne released a groan of frustration. “Are you sure that’s them? It doesn’t sound like a fight.” She tilted her head toward the sound. “It sounds more like someone is chanting.”

  Gabe paid closer attention to the voice and had to admit Daphne was right. Was it possible? For all his running around, had he finally come across the man Frank had told them about? The one who was supposed to be casting the spell?

  Daphne grabbed his arm. “I know that spell. It’s meant to break through a magical barrier. I think someone’s trying to crack the shield my mother’s circle is casting.”

  “Dad mentioned a warlock had started casting Mayes’s compulsion spell. Allegra says your circle is working to push him back.”

  The voice seemed to grow louder and move around them, as though they stood at the center of it. The words didn’t affect Gabe beyond the irritating cadence, but Daphne released his arm to cover her ears.

  “Are you all right?” Gabe asked.

  “The spell is messing with my head. Like it’s trying to draw from my magic to boost the signal.” She groaned and her throat bobbed, as though she were trying to keep herself from being sick.

  Gabe frowned. “Let’s hurry up and get you away from it. We have less than an hour before this place goes up. He can’t cast under rubble.”

  He circled his fingers around her arm and led her forward, while she kept her hands pressed against the sides of her head and staggered with uneven steps.

  They rounded a corner into a wide hall, and Gabe drew to a stop. Somehow his feet had led him right to the source of the spell’s power, though as they stepped into the doorway, the chanting fell silent and there was no one in sight. In the middle of the room stood a machine that reminded Gabe of a large, round fountain, with cables pouring from the top instead of water, and a soft golden magic rising out from the base instead of mist. Just as Matthew had described it. The power of it filled the air with an energy that raised the hair on the back of Gabe’s neck, and his desire to run dragged his feet back toward the door.

  Only the fact that Daphne hadn’t moved kept him from bolting down the corridor. She stood as though frozen, as though whatever spell had turned Mayes to rock had finally caught up and done the same to her. Gabe stared across the room to try to see what she saw, but other than the machine, the space appeared to be empty.

  “That’s my magic,” Daphne said, her words barely louder than a whisper.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Look at it. Can’t you see it?” She raised her hands palms-up in front of her and allowed her power to hover over her skin, taking on the same texture as the clouds up ahead. It shared the same golden hue.

  “Is that unusual?”

  “The color of magic depends on bloodline and species. For this one to be so similar to my own would suggest a blood relation.” Beneath the ash on her cheeks, her skin had turned deathly pale, and she wavered on her feet. “And the only living relative I have who shares this kind of magic is…”

  “Your old dad,” a voice said behind them.

  They whirled around, and Gabe moved in front of Daphne as a man stepped into the room. He appeared to be around the same age as Frank, with graying blond hair over a pair of brown eyes. The whiskers of his goatee gleamed silver in the light of the machine. He wore a white lab coat over a blue checkered shirt and a pair of khakis that didn’t fit the setting.

  You’ve got to be kidding me, Gabe thought. His head spun at the coincidence of first his own father and now Daphne’s turning up in the employ of the enemy. It was only when his shock settled that he realized just how deeply and how long his fate had been tied to everyone else’s. Jermaine would have known who was working here. He would have known which bloodlines to follow for his own advantage.

  It wasn’t because Jermaine had brought them together that they’d found themselves wrapped up in this mess. This mess was the very reason Jermaine had brought them together.

  Gabe thought he might be sick with the way the truth kept tossing and turning beneath him. He could only imagine how Daphne was feeling.

  “How are you doing, Daphne le Fay?” her father asked. “It’s been a long time.”

  Daphne tensed against Gabe’s arm, and he felt her trembles as she worked to steel herself. He didn’t know where she was finding her new burst of energy, but hoped it held long enough to see them navigate this new obstacle. “You use your old pet name for me and think that’s going to erase everything you’ve put me through? Not on your life, Tyler.”

  Tyler pressed his hand to his heart. “What I put you through? What did I ever do but push you to reach your full potential?” He closed his eyes, and Daphne stepped forward out of Gabe’s hold, glowering at him. Gabe stared between the two, wondering what the hell was happening and what he could do to stop it. Vera was somewhere in this prison, and he couldn’t wait through this.

  After a moment, Tyler opened his eyes and grinned. “And it seems my life lessons worked, didn’t they? Just being in the same room with you, I can feel your power. I sensed the change in the air from the moment you stepped inside. Was that you a few minutes ago, shifting the energy of the entire prison? It nearly stole my breath.”

  Daphne scowled and squeezed her hands at her sides, though the effect was lost thanks to the wobble in her legs. “You know, the day you disappeared, I was devastated. I was a clueless twelve-year-old who thought you’d left because I hadn’t reached the heights you’d set for me. It was only this past year that I realized you leaving was the best thing that could have happened. To find you here — among these monsters — not only is it not surprising, it’s right where I might have expected you to be. You’re just as bad as they are with their desire for supremacy.”

  Tyler chuckled. “Careful now, my darling girl, you sound a bit like a hypocrite. You have the strength to tear down this entire building if you wanted to, and I know it’s not all from your impressive genes. So don’t lecture me about power seeking.”

  Daphne stepped forward, but Gabe grabbed her arm and pulled her back. The last thing they needed was a magical duel between father and daughter as the prison crumbled around them.

  “We need to go,” he said.

  “I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Tyler said. “You’ve caused so much trouble for our project — it’s only fair you do something to repair the damage.”

  He flicked his fingers toward Daphne and she dropped to the ground, her back arching and her mouth opening in a silent scream. Gabe tried to grab her, but Tyler waved his hand and sent him flying across the room. His head slammed into the wall, and he sank down.

  “Even years after I thought I got her out of my life, your mother is still proving to be a pain in my ass,” Tyler said
, leaning over Daphne. “Not to mention my mother-in-law. I’ve always hated her. I think a big part of my reason for taking Mayes’s offer was the opportunity to get out of that house and prove who the real power in the family is. It certainly isn’t Evelyn, let me tell you. As soon as I break through their barrier, the spell we’ve created will spread across the country. By the end of the day, every otherworldly being will be bowing down to us.”

  Gabe had been too dazed to interrupt the pedantic speech, but as Tyler made his pronouncement, he couldn’t help but wheeze out a laugh. “Bowing to who, exactly? Your boss is dead.”

  Tyler jerked his head toward him. “Excuse me?”

  “Your daughter turned Mayes into a lump of rock. Now he’s no more powerful than the rest of this fortress.”

  Tyler scowled. “That was ill-advised, but it changes nothing. I’ve started the spell. The east coast will soon be under our rule. And now that you’re here,” he said, turning his attention back to Daphne, “you can lend me your strength, just as I always trained you to do.”

  He grabbed his daughter’s hair and yanked her head back. Gabe could hardly make out what he was doing, but as the bursts of light in his vision faded, he noticed the soft trail of golden magic passing from Daphne into her father.

  The bastard was siphoning her power.

  Gabe pushed himself to his feet and heaved toward them, reaching for the cookie tin in his pocket. If he couldn’t get through Tyler’s magic, at least he could strip it from him. But before he could get the orb in his hand, a shape barreled through the doorway and hauled him out of the way.

  “Gabe, stop.”

  Gabe pushed the man back. “Dad?”

  In the time they’d been apart, it looked like Frank had been through a war. His shirt was torn, his lip was bleeding, and he was standing with his arm wrapped tightly around his middle, but his eyes were bright with victory.

  “I’ve seen him do this before. If you break the connection, it could kill her. Or at least break her sanity. We need to distract him. Come on.”