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

Carrick must have told Pyke the basic plan of attack because he doesn’t ask any questions about our mission. Rather, he drones on and on about court politics in Faere, about a pregnancy scare he had after a dalliance with a Dark Fae, fury for which his mother would have killed him were he to sire a daemon, and a new fashion line he was thinking of creating for members of the royal court.

I’m struck a little dumb listening to him, wondering how in the hell he and Carrick are even friends. I mean, I know they’re not close friends and Carrick said most of their times together involved Pyke joining battles and frays Carrick was ordered by the gods to participate in, but the more I get to know him—or listen to him prattle—the more I realize he’s just as vain, unambitious, and self-centered as his mother. It even pains me to admit that Deandra shows more substance than he does, and that’s saying a lot.

But whatever. He’s willing to lend his muscle and incredible power to help us collect the Blood Stone, and I’m grateful for it as I know the rest of the crew is. While we might have been able to pivot our plan and go in with less force, going in with more is the safer bet. It’s hard to replace Maddox, a demi-god, but there’s none stronger than a Light Fae prince after that.

A few miles south of Carbonado, Carrick turns off onto a dirt road that I never would have seen even if I’d been looking for it. It’s really not even a road, but rather two tire divots running deep into the woods.

When we decided we needed an entrance and exit point that was away from human population for safety reasons, Carrick said he knew an isolated place.

And he wasn’t kidding.

As we drive further, the forest seems to close in on us and the canopy of pines over the fir and cedar trees make it dim enough the automatic lights come on.

A few miles in, Carrick stops and I turn in my seat to see Lucien doing the same behind us. The headlights go off, the engines are cut and we all exit nabbing the duffel bags. We move on foot, following Carrick in a single file line through the trees until we come out into a surprise clearing that’s roughly half the size of a football field. It’s well isolated, surrounded by dense forest, and I guarantee no humans are around for miles.

Carrick turns to me as the others start pulling weapons from the bags. “This was where I first went to talk to the gods after meeting you. When I asked for Ascension.”

I blink in surprise, tipping my head to the side. “You mean… they met you here?”

“No,” he says with a smile and a dip of his head to brush his lips over mine. “There was a large puddle in the middle. I descended into it, and it brought me out to the gods.”

“Wow,” I murmur, looking to the middle of the clearing to where he had indicated. There was nothing but dirt covered by brown pine needles.

“Is this place sacred?” I ask.

“No more than any other place I access the gods,” he replies dryly, and I think about him meeting Veda at a tropical resort not long ago.

He takes my hand, and we all move to the center of the clearing. I have my whip coiled and tied to a loop on my belt. Titus has both a long sword and a battle-ax in a harness, crisscrossed over his back. Boral and Zaid both chose iron swords. Lucien is going in weaponless, as is Carrick. But they are powerful with their magic, and can conjure whatever they want.

Pyke has no weapon going in, but he’s going to be in disguise. If things go downhill, he, too, can conjure one with his magic.

“What does this chick Charmeine look like?” Pyke asks the group. By the mere fact he didn’t ask this directly of Lucien leads me to believe Carrick didn’t tell him the whole ill-fated love story. Which is fine—it’s irrelevant to get the help we need from him.

Of course, I’m sure Carrick was clear with Pyke that Micah was no ordinary monster and it could turn extremely dangerous. Just as I’m sure that’s probably the main reason Pyke wanted to join us… for the danger and excitement.

God, if he only knew what we were up against outside of just trying to retrieve the Blood Stone. He wouldn’t be so cavalier then.

Lucien waves a hand and a holographic image floats in the middle of our circle, an actual lifelike rendering of what Charmeine looked like. She was beautiful, no doubt. Or is beautiful, I should say, since we think she’s trapped in the stone. Wavy strawberry-blonde hair, incredibly blue eyes, and an exquisitely perfect face and body. She’s delicate looking with fine bones and a sweet smile, which I’m assuming must represent her personality the most in Lucien’s memory. She was the Light Fae to Micah’s Dark Fae, after all.