Regardless, tomorrow, we are going into our own little mini-war where the stakes are about as high as they can be and it’s not guaranteed that we’re all going to come back alive.
CHAPTER 15
Finley
It was a contingency we had not planned on and it hit us out of the blue—at the last minute—and there is nothing we can do about it.
Maddox was summoned away by the gods.
Our entire group—including Rainey and Myles, who wanted to see us off—had congregated in the living area of Carrick’s condo. On the floor were three duffel bags filled with iron weapons. All of us—excluding Rainey and Myles—were wearing black clothing with black face paint so we could blend into the darkened island and make it difficult for Micah to see us coming.
Even Maddox was dressed this way, as he never intended to hold the glamour of Charmeine the entire time. At some point, Micah would realize he was being played and Maddox would go into stealth mode like the rest of us.
We even had two vehicles waiting downstairs to take us off deep into the forest surrounding the base of Mount Rainier. We did not want to enter or exit Micah’s realm anywhere near civilization because one of our contingencies included making sure Micah couldn’t harm humans here should the battle spill back over into our realm. It’s why, I suppose, it was a good idea to kill Micah before leaving so as to further protect the Earth realm.
The summoning of Maddox happened shockingly with an appearance of Cato in the midst of our gathering. He was a massive man, taller than even Titus, and impeccably dressed like a male fashion model.
The summoning was brief as he took in the crowd, gave a slight nod to me, which I thought was odd, then gave his attention to Maddox. “You have been summoned.”
“Fu—” Maddox started to say, but the entire expletive didn’t come out.
They both just disappeared.
And now we are standing here wondering what in the hell to do.
Carrick takes up cursing as the rest of us watch him, stunned and immobile.
“Where did he go?” I ask numbly.
“Who the hell knows?” Carrick grouses as he paces.
“Did the gods do this purposely to make it hard on us?”
Stopping to give me his attention, he shakes his head. “No. Cato doesn’t operate like that. But if Maddox has something to do for Cato, it will take precedence over him helping us.”
Discussions begin, wondering if we can adapt our plan and go without him.
Can we put this off a few days? Most likely not, because there’s no telling when Maddox will come back.
“We need a replacement,” Lucien concludes—basically the same thing we’re all thinking. We cannot wait to make our play for the Blood Stone. It’s too important to our end game.
“I’ll take Maddox’s place,” I say without hesitation. I’m the only one left out of me, Boral, and Zaid with the powers to protect myself.
“No,” Carrick, Rainey, and Myles all say at once.
“But—”
“Your powers are too new and too unpredictable,” Carrick says softly, giving me an apologetic smile. “We need someone with strong power because the minute Micah figures out there’s an imposter, he’s going to let loose with everything he has.
“I can glamour myself to look like Charmeine,” Boral offers, and I’m surprised he’d make the offer for such a perilous position.
But he’s quickly shot down by Carrick. “I appreciate the offer, but your powers are limited to pretty much glamour and strength. You’re not going to be a match for him if he comes after you.”
“I’m touched you care,” Boral says with a smirk.
“I don’t,” Carrick replies glibly. “You’d do more harm than good out there. Besides, I need you to stay with Finley and keep the veil open for our escape.”
Carrick and Lucien could easily open the veil to Micah’s realm, but Carrick did some magic mojo to the relic we found in Hungary that could find realms, and it will now keep the veil open for us as long as the relic stays close to it. That’s Boral’s job.
“I suppose I can handle getting the Blood Stone on my own,” Lucien offers, “and you can be the distraction.”
“No,” I say, shooting down that idea. “We need both of you to go for the Blood Stone because we need the redundancy if Micah takes Lucien out. We need someone else powerful that can get it out.”
This was something we talked about a lot last night. Carrick and Lucien going into the cave together to retrieve the chalice.
Boral, Zaid, and I are going to be relegated to staying near the tear in the veil in case we have to make a quick escape, with Boral in charge of keeping the veil open. Carrick admitted they were my bodyguards, but, truthfully, I know they are there to manhandle me if I refuse to leave if things get dicey. While Carrick didn’t fight me on coming, he doesn’t want me to actively participate in a fight. While I want to argue until I’m blue in the face against it, I understand where he’s coming from.