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

“Well, shit,” I mutter realizing she has one of the last of the two ingredients she needs for the ritual. Now, she’ll turn her sights solely on the Blood Stone.

“But why not just bring twelve original Dark Fae with her from the Underworld?” Rainey asks Boral. “Or summon those twelve when she got here. Why bother with the time and energy to search for them?”

“The pickings are a bit slim,” Boral replies, explaining something to Rainey that Carrick had explained to me long ago. “There were not a lot of original fallen on either the dark or the light side. It was a handful of rebellious angels. A good chunk escaped the Underworld in summonings with stone magic and were glad of it. The ones left behind, though, are loyalists and most likely were left behind to rule in her stead until she could bring the veil down.”

“That makes sense,” Rainey breathes regretfully.

“But I have a better theory,” Boral says. Although I can’t see him, I can envision the sly expression on his face.

“And what’s that?” I ask.

“That the ones who are in hiding are hiding for a very good reason that has nothing to do with not wanting to be under her rule.”

“Which is?” I prompt.

“That the twelve she’s mustering aren’t going to be given the kingdom of riches they’ve been promised.”

“What makes you think that?” Carrick asks.

“Call it gut instinct,” Boral replies confidently. “Kaesar is going on and on about all the things Kymaris has promised him for his part in the ritual. It sounds too good to be true.”

“You think she’s going to kill the twelve as part of the ritual?” Maddox asks for clarification.

Boral laughs in response. “Why would you even question it? She killed those daemons to force those original eight to her side. Besides that, she has no love lost for those who escaped and didn’t return. The ones who helped her escape through the changeling ritual and were left behind are the ones who are going to get the spoils when they come through.”

“That’s a lot of conjecture,” Carrick muses.

“It would definitely explain why she just didn’t bring twelve with her, though,” Boral counters. “Or why she didn’t summon twelve from the Underworld when she got here. She clearly has the power.”

This is making sense to me. “They’re sacrifices, not conduits. Sacrifices fuel magic. And now she’s having to resort to using one of her loyalists left behind. It’s why she’s waited so close to the ritual date before making that decision.”

Boral doesn’t respond at first, but then adds another ominous consideration. “While Kaesar hasn’t reported anything new on the search for the Blood Stone, the fact she’s going to pull one of her own from the Underworld might indicate she’s confident she’ll get it.”

Carrick stiffens, leaning closer to the phone to growl. “Is there any indication she knows we have it?”

“None,” Boral replies quickly. “At least Kaesar hasn’t mentioned it, but I’m careful to not ask direct questions so he’s not suspicious. It’s a good thing he loves talking about this, and he loves to hear himself talk. I think if he knew something, he would have told me. Still, she doesn’t have the missing twelfth to look for anymore, so she has nothing but time to find the Blood Stone.”

“Anything else to report?” Zaid asks tersely, which is a bit of a surprise. He rarely says anything to his father if he can help it.

“Yeah,” Boral says gruffly. “Kymaris is into some really sick shit. Those sex sacrifices she did to summon the original fallen look like Disney World compared to some of the things I’ve seen.”

“Like what?” I ask without thought. Then I think. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

“I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say they’re twisted enough that even I’m shocked by them,” Boral says. Knowing the awful things he’s done and his lack of conscience, that says something.

I glance up at Zaid, who is as worried as I am by that proclamation.

“And what’s the purpose of her doing these acts?” Carrick inquires.

“Honestly?” Boral asks, but it’s rhetorical so he doesn’t wait for a response. “I think most of it is she just loves doing sick shit. But some of it has to do with feeding her powers. Human sacrifice is a hot commodity in the accumulation of dark power.”

“She’s sacrificing humans?” I ask, my voice shrill with panic. I turn to look at Carrick. “We can’t let her do that. We have to go shut this down.”

I believe in my heart the Carrick I had first met at the start of this journey wouldn’t have blinked twice at what was going on, not because he’s callous but because he understands and accepts the way the world works.

The Carrick who loves me to the depth of his eternal soul is bothered that I’m bothered. He looks down the kitchen island to Maddox, and they share some sort of look—an unspoken communication.