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

Not for his decency or hers, Carrick donned a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt before leaving his bedroom. The way things were heating up with the prophecy, people were coming and going at all hours from his condo, which had become command central of sorts.

He could have as easily stayed in his bed to contemplate things, but the lure of Finley beside him was too distracting, which was why he had relocated to his office. Through the pocket doors and to the windows overlooking the Sound, he couldn’t see much of Bainbridge Island. It was mostly blacked out, everyone asleep, and the sky was overcast so the water was darkened. There was some glow from adjacent buildings and some of the smaller ones below him, but there wasn’t much of interest to look at for the most part.

Which was fine. He didn’t need that to think.

He tipped his head back, letting his gaze lift to the ceiling. Plain. White. Blank.

His mind began to wander.

If he didn’t hear back from Lucien soon, he would have to go on a search for him, which would waste time. He’d put in a few texts and one phone call, telling him that he was needed urgently in Seattle.

Carrick did not tell him what it was about, though. That conversation was best done face to face.

Lucien had never been unresponsive before. If he were in the Earth realm, no matter if it were halfway around the globe, he would have replied by now. Carrick could only ascertain he was in some other AltVeritas where cell reception depended on the level of magic within that realm or whether its creator allowed Earth realm technology within its borders. There being thousands upon thousands of realms, Carrick would not know where to start. He would have to appeal to Veda for help, and she’d already done a lot for him. The favors she would bestow were probably running dry.

Carrick let those frustrations go because there was nothing he could do about them. Instead, he thought about his time in the Hall of Histories today with Finley. She had such delight in seeing her past lives, even though each one was abruptly ended when she died.

Sadly, some of those deaths weren’t abrupt but rather a prolonged illness. She hung tough, though, and watched it all.

In the end, she had seen enough to prove that her gut instinct about their love was right. Seeing it over and over again, feeling the same level of devotion in each life, meant that what she and Carrick had was special enough to withstand eternity.

When Carrick watched Finley walk out of there, he knew she could never doubt his love for her and because she allowed herself to trust in her past incarnations, she could have faith that her present-day feelings for him could be trusted.

It was a good evening when they returned to the condo, riding high on Finley being able to learn some of her history.

Learning who was the author of the Libri Mysteria was a huge bonus, shocking as it was. Finley was brilliant to think of asking Temen for the recorded event and frankly, Carrick was embarrassed he had not thought of it himself but, admittedly, he’d been distracted by watching Finley take in the memories of some of her past lives. He was reliving them in his head right along with her.

Carrick wasn’t surprised he didn’t know about Lucien’s past with Micah and Charmeine. They were created together as brothers with Maddox, but Lucien was more often than not off on his own, handling individualized dirty work for the gods. Sometimes, all three brothers fought wars together, but they spent more time apart than in a group.

Still, it was hard for Carrick to imagine Lucien in love. It was even harder to imagine him taking the time to write the Libri Mysteria, which was as much travel diary as a listing of powerful objects. Lucien didn’t seem the cerebral type, but that was not to say he was dumb. On the contrary, he was extremely intelligent as all demi-gods were. He was just a doer rather than a ponderer, and Carrick couldn’t imagine him being able to sit still long enough to write all those words.

Lucien was the isolationist, the one with the fewest words and the easiest to provoke to violence. This was in complete juxtaposition to Maddox’s easygoing nature and penchant for mischief. Carrick fell right in between. He wasn’t the oldest or the wisest, but he acted it and was often in the role of others looking to him for leadership when needed.

Despite their differences, Carrick had told both Maddox and Lucien about Eireann when he decided to marry her and make a life with a mortal. After he’d told Eireann the truth of who he was, he’d introduced Maddox and Lucien to her, as well as revealed that Zaid—who had been his companion for many years—was a daemon.