“Then why haven’t you?” Maddox queried, his head tipped in curiosity.
“Because… her being alive and trapped was better than dead,” he murmured, his eyes hard and resolute as he glanced up at Carrick.
“Better for who?” Carrick asked, and the question looked like it had the same force and effect as if a wrecking ball had just slammed into Lucien.
Once again, he went pale as the question was obvious in its answer. It felt better to Lucien to believe her alive, which meant there could perhaps be hope one day. But no one else would want that. Any reasonable creature would prefer death than an eternity trapped in solitude, and Lucien was just now having to confront that dichotomy.
“Fuck,” Lucien muttered, rubbing his hand over the top of his buzzed head.
Carrick and Maddox didn’t say a word as Lucien started pacing back and forth, repetitively cursing low under his breath.
He stopped, faced his brothers, and grimly announced, “My loyalty is to you. I’ll help you get the Blood Stone.”
Maddox rose from his chair, shaking his head. He knew what Carrick knew—Lucien was using this loyalty bullshit because he didn’t want to admit Charmeine would actually be better off dead than living life inside that stone.
But that was okay.
Carrick would have his brother’s back. “We’ll make it a rescue mission, Lucien. We’ll get the stone, and if she’s still alive, we’ll get her out.”
There was no hope in his expression, only resolution as Lucien nodded.
It was settled then.
They were going to Micah’s realm, and they were going to get the Blood Stone. It was the first time that Carrick dared to hope they might be able to stop Kymaris, which hopefully meant Finley wouldn’t die.
“Let’s strategize,” Carrick said, sitting back down at the table.
His brothers joined him. For the next hour, Lucien educated them on the realm as he remembered it. He drew maps and diagrams, and they hypothesized what Micah’s powers could be like if he’d continued to take from the chalice all this time. If the myth was true and the Blood Stone had limitless powers, and it was attached to the chalice, it stood to reason that Micah could have grown incredibly powerful in all that time.
Carrick, Maddox, and Lucien knew they couldn’t be killed, but they could be obliterated until such time the gods might choose to put them back together again. It meant they couldn’t just try to overwhelm Micah with their force. There would have to be some craft involved and more help.
By the end of the meeting, it was decided that, in addition to the three demi-god brothers, the others who would make the trip would be Finley, Titus, Zaid, and Boral. They would ask Deandra if she would join them, but they wouldn’t count on her.
What Carrick had hoped for was that Finley would figure out her powers, as they could come in handy going up against the likes of Micah. At the very least, Carrick needed to make sure she could protect herself if he couldn’t for some reason.
Whatever Deandra had planned for tonight, he hoped to fuck it would allow Finley to fully tap into her powers and be able to utilize them at will.
They decided to attack Micah’s realm in two days.
CHAPTER 12
Finley
Carrick and I stand in his living room, waiting for Deandra to come up in the elevator. She had sent word to Carrick that we would be going somewhere for her next lesson, and so we’d need to bend distance from inside the privacy of his condo.
She’s five minutes late as of now, and I’m tired. I stifle a yawn as today has been long and emotionally draining. It started off this morning with my meeting with Boral and officially bringing him on board our team, followed by a horrid afternoon with Deandra, and ending with a worn and withdrawn Lucien leaving the condo after Carrick and Maddox told him that we needed the Blood Stone.
Carrick and Maddox were worn out from that meeting, too. After I got the details, I know all three demi-gods came away with some emotional bruises. Carrick doesn’t have to say it, but it’s obvious he hates putting Lucien in this position. I know he’d much rather have just been able to offer help to his brother to rescue his true love from that stone without any ulterior motive.
Just as I know his devotion to me and our joint cause meant he’d have to hurt his brother to get what he wanted. I’m hoping we can pull off such a successful mission to Micah’s realm that we can free Charmeine from the stone and maybe Lucien can have her back again.
Carrick grumbles as he checks his watch. “Light Fae aren’t known for their punctuality. I should have tied her promptness to the money.”
I laugh and lean into his side, giving him a playful pat on his stomach—which is rock hard, by the way. “As much as I can’t stand Deandra, thank you for putting so much effort—and money—into finding someone to help me.”