The Rise of Fortune and Fury (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 5)

Veda no longer looked like she belonged in Seattle. She now wore the classic Grecian dress in white with a red cloak clasped at one shoulder.

She also wasn’t alone. Circe, Onyx, and Cato were there, all similarly dressed.

He figured they had deigned to offer their condolences, which he didn’t need, but he was admittedly curious why Rune wasn’t there, too.

So he asked, “Where is the god of Life?”

None of the gods answered, but they directed their gazes toward a door on the opposite side of the room.

“Right here,” a female said. Carrick gaped in astonishment as Zora, dressed in the same white dress with a red cloak as the other gods, came through the door.

Carrick had seen many things over his years, but he couldn’t recall anything shocking him as much as this moment. “Zora?” he rasped in confusion.

She smiled as she moved across the tiled floor, not toward him but to stand near her new brethren.

Carrick studied her carefully. She looked the same as ever, identical to his Finley except for the mass of unruly white curls. But she was also different because Carrick could feel the vibe of power that was particular to a god.

She was no longer a mortal human. Instead, she was equal in power to Veda, Circe, Cato, and Onyx.

“Where’s Rune?” Carrick asked.

“Imprisoned for now,” Cato replied. “Stripped of his powers. A mere mortal.”

Carrick addressed Zora. “And you were made into the god of Life?”

Circe provided the answer. “She was aptly rewarded for such a selfless act of heroism. And, well… the spot was vacant given the treacheries Rune committed.”

Confused, Carrick couldn’t grasp the reality. “But in the thousands of years I’ve been in existence, the gods have all crossed lines. None have ever been stripped of their power because of it. I didn’t even know it was possible.”

Onyx took a slight step forward, starting to explain. “It’s true—there is much leeway. It’s also true that we do almost everything by majority rule. But some things require a consensus. Rune’s perfidy wasn’t in just trying to kill Finley at the ritual. He had been meddling since the start.”

Carrick frowned. “What do you mean?”

“He was the one who took the protections down on Finley’s house when she was attacked by the incubus and almost killed.”

“Son of a bitch,” Carrick muttered.

“He didn’t do it merely to hurt Finley,” Circe said, her expression sympathetic. “Rune was so obsessed with his curse against you that he meddled in the prophecy just to hurt you.”

“But have no doubt, his attempt to kill Finley before she had a chance to play her part in the prophecy is what became unforgivable,” Cato added. “As such, it was our consensus that his crimes could not go unpunished after we took him from the battlefield.”

“So he’s mortal and imprisoned,” Carrick mused with a slight smile. The first one that had come unbidden since Finley had died last night.

“He’s yours to do with what you want,” Veda said gently, and Carrick jerked. He wheeled on his favorite god, incredulous at the offer. “You may let him live out the rest of his mortal life in our prison, or you can kill him.”

“You could torture him first if you wanted,” Onyx said with a little too much glee. But she was the god of War and the most hardened of them all.

They all offered interesting options, but Carrick didn’t really care about them at the moment. He was more interested in Zora.

He moved to Finley’s sister until they were almost toe to toe, then studied her. Had she been any of the other four gods, it would have been considered far too intrusive, but Carrick figured she still had plenty of her humanity left considering she’d been a god for all of two weeks now.

“And now you rule over life and death,” he murmured.

“It’s a big job,” she replied with a smile. Hesitantly, she glanced at Veda, who nodded her consent to speak freely. When her gaze came back to Carrick’s, she held out her arm. “Walk with me?”

He didn’t reply, merely took her hand and tucked it into the crook of his elbow. Silently, she led him back through the house to the patio he’d arrived on, then down a staircase leading to a sandy beach where blue-green water lapped at the edge.

When they hit the sand and turned left, Carrick asked, “When did you become a god?”

“The gods said the minute my soul started to leave my body, they snatched it up and formed me into the god of Life. I’m sure it was more complicated than that, but it’s the general gist.”

Carrick made a choking sound deep in his throat, giving a slow shake of his head. “So it happened fast. Rune’s powers were stripped after the gods took him away, and you were born a god not minutes after you died?”