A Battle of Blood and Stone (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 4)

“Kymaris would never fall for that,” Zaid scoffs.

“Well, do you have a better idea?” I snap. “Because having your father on the inside is critical so we know exactly what Kymaris is and isn’t doing. I know you don’t like him—”

“I hate him with all my being,” Zaid corrects.

“Yes, I know,” I reply softly. “And you have every right to feel that way. But you don’t have to like him to use him.”

It falls silent until Maddox says, “Let’s get out of here and head back to the condo. I’m starving. We can talk about it more over food.”

I roll my eyes because Maddox is constantly eating. He’s a big dude, though, so I guess he needs it. As he and Zaid move the cement coffin covers back in place, I lean back against the cold stone wall to wait for them.

Except when I do, I feel something depress inward by my shoulder blade. I jump away from the wall, then turn to look at it. There are words written in the Hungarian language carved into the stone, and a small part of the wall is recessed inward where I’d been standing. It’s a square about six-inches-by-six-inches, and I reach toward it to see if it will push in farther.

But Maddox is there, grabbing me by my wrist and pulling me completely away from the wall. When I look at him questioningly, he says, “I don’t feel like dealing with you if that’s a trap that cuts your hand off.”

“Oh,” I reply, taking a few more steps back.

Zaid moves past me, then sidles up next to Maddox. The two men study the wall for a long moment. Then, Maddox pushes on it again. To all of our surprise, scraping noises of stone against stone fills the interior of the mausoleum. We all turn to the source, and it’s coming from one of the coffins Zaid had been looking inside.

Except it’s not the stone top moving, but rather the entire coffin is moving backward along the floor. It goes no more than a foot before it stops, revealing a rectangular cavity under it.

“Holy shit,” I murmur as I step toward it. “It’s like Indiana Jones.”

Maddox is once again pulling me back. “And remember, there were tons of booby traps in that movie.”

Alas, there are none as Maddox reaches into the dark hole and pulls out a leather pouch that is so old, it shreds to pieces under his touch. He pulls bits of the frayed material away, revealing an oval disc made of what looks like bronze. There are symbols etched around the perimeter.

Maddox holds it up. “Looks like Boral’s information was good.”

“Doesn’t make it any less likely he sent the wraith after her,” Zaid points out.

“But he’s no more a suspect than any other fae out there,” I reiterate.

“Food,” Maddox barks. “Let’s get back to the condo, and we can get the Scooby Gang to research this some more.”

My Scooby Gang. I loved it when Maddox referred to Rainey and Myles by that moniker because it wasn’t just cute, but it meant he saw them as a true part of our team.

“All together now,” Maddox says, lining up shoulder to shoulder with Zaid and me.

Normally, humans can’t bend distance, but I’m apparently the exception because of the light powers Sarvel the Custodia angel gave me. Over the past few weeks, I’ve tried tapping into my light powers to use them as a weapon with little success. As evidenced tonight, I can manage a fairly good bubble shield but past that, I haven’t even been able to get my fingertips to spark.

I have, however, gotten very proficient with bending distance. I could jump across small spaces before, but now I can move between continents. During those times when I’d miss Carrick the most, I’d envision a place and bend distance to go there. I’d never stay more than a few minutes because I know it’s not the safest for me to be on my own, and then I’d head right back to my bed.

I’ve seen the Eiffel Tower at night.

The northern lights in Fairbanks.

The Great Pyramid of Giza that once covered the magical meteor.

Brief visits, just to hone my skills and let me have a few moments of wonder to distract me.

I stand close to Maddox, prepared to pull Seattle to me, but I don’t need his help.

For that matter, neither does Zaid.

As a daemon, Zaid doesn’t ordinarily have the power to bend distance on his own, but the trip alone won’t kill him since he’s immortal. He could easily have held on to Maddox or me, and we could have pulled him along. As it happens, though, it helps to have friends in high places. Given that he and Carrick are as tight as two friends can be, Carrick bestowed certain magical benefits on him. One was to bend distance, but it had nothing to do with allowing Zaid to travel freely. Rather, Carrick gave Zaid the ability purely as an escape mechanism for when his father found him, as Boral was forever trying to get Zaid to return to the fold.