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

“Boral?” I ask in surprise.

“He’s been very helpful,” she replies with a nod. “And, obviously, Lucien if he… um… you know, comes back.”

I study my best friend, but I don’t detect a hint of rash impulsiveness. She’s speaking from the heart.

“Okay,” I say with a firm nod. “Let’s plan a quickie wedding. We have just under four weeks before the October new moon. Let’s pick a date.”

Without consulting a calendar, which tells me she’s given this some thought, Rainey says, “Two weekends from this one. September twenty-ninth.”

“Sounds like the perfect date,” I reply, reaching way to the right and pulling a spare yellow pad and pen toward me. I scribble Sept 29, then underline it three times. Looking back up to her, I ask, “Flowers?”

“Just a bouquet,” she answers, again so quickly I can tell she’s already put the mental work into this. I now know I’m just here for validation, but I want to add some effort.

So I say, “How about calla lilies?”

Rainey grins, eyes alight with joy. “Perfect.”

“Cake?” I query.

“The answer to cake should always be yes, but, in this instance, let’s do cupcakes for ease,” she suggests.

“I still think we should taste test,” I say as I write down taste test as many flavors as possible.

“For sure.” She giggles, but then her expression turns a bit serious. “But the dress… that has to be perfect. I know we’re going to have to buy off-the-rack, but I’d love to be able to go shopping together for it. Do you think Carrick will let you out?”

“Of course he will,” I say assuredly, but truthfully, I don’t know how he feels about it. The danger is increasing, but I’ve also tapped my powers. I’m not defenseless.

Regardless, there is absolutely no way I’m going to miss a girls’ day shopping for a wedding dress with my one bestie to marry my other bestie. Carrick will have to deal with it, but I expect he’ll come with us. That’s fine by me, but he’ll have to wait outside each store. This is a sans man event.

“Does Myles know you’re planning this?” I think to ask.

“No, but he will when he comes by later to pick me up,” she says with a sly wink. “But he’d love just to elope, to be honest.”

“Seriously, your parents are going to be pissed,” I tell her.

“If we make it through this apocalypse—”

“Prophecy,” I correct.

“Sorry, but to me, this is apocalyptic,” she counters. “So, if we make it through, I’m sure we’ll have a big wedding and invite everyone else. No one will know we already did the deed with just the savior of the world, two demi-gods, maybe three, an annihilator, a daemon, and a Dark Fae. Of course, if they knew, they’d never believe it, so I guess that’s moot. The point is, I just want to make it official. We can do the big shebang after you save the day.”

I laugh but part of it’s forced, because I just realized… even if I make it through the prophecy, there’s no telling how long it will be before Rune decides I need to die to torment Carrick. If Rainey and Myles wait until after this is all over, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t be around to see them wed because of the curse.

It overwhelms me a bit with gratitude, so I push out of my chair and walk around the table to Rainey. Bending at the waist, I wrap her in a big hug that sort of bends her neck at an odd angle. I squeeze a little too tightly as she gasps, “What’s this all about?”

I pull away, my eyes a little wet as I look down at her. “It’s just… this makes me happy. You and Myles getting married. We need some happy around here.”

CHAPTER 19

Finley

“No holding back,” Carrick says in warning.

I nod. “No holding back.”

“You hit me as hard as if I were Kymaris standing right in front of you,” he instructs with a serious look on his face.

“Got it.” I bounce on the balls of my feet, taking his words for the pep talk they are.

His hands come to my shoulders, and he bends slightly to peer into my eyes. “You are strong and in control of your magic.”

I roll my neck and repeat, “I am strong and in control of my magic.”

“That’s my girl,” he says as he presses a hard kiss to me before taking several paces back.

“Or,” I drawl in slight hesitation. “I could incinerate your condo?”

Carrick laughs and shakes his head. “I’m sure you’ll control yourself fine. But in the off chance you’re right, I put sort of a protection spell around the gym so any fires you might start can’t spread.”

I stop bouncing, and my jaw drops. “Did you really?”

His grin is playful. “Maybe,” is all he’ll commit to.