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

Her grin was more of a leer when she said, “I’m not about to let you take my ritual ingredients, so the minute you stepped over my threshold, I sent them away to a safe house.”

“So it’s just you and me?” Carrick taunted. “Big words to a demi-god from a mere fae.”

Her smile turned acid. “I’m the queen of the Underworld. You should be quaking before me.”

Her ego was astounding and also amusing. Even the queen of the Underworld, who had garnered powerful magic through a changeling ceremony, couldn’t think she’d prevail against an inherently immortal creature such as himself, forget about the fact Maddox was here as well.

But that was when Carrick saw the Blood Stone hanging from a necklace around her neck with the gem sitting about mid-chest level.

“You removed it from the chalice,” Carrick observed in a casual tone, which belied the amazement he was feeling that she accomplished that feat when he had not been able to.

“Piece of cake,” she replied with a snap of her fingers.

“And where’s the chalice?” Carrick inquired, not expecting an honest answer.

She shrugged. “Laying around here somewhere. It’s useless, though.”

Which implied to Carrick, if she were being honest, that she managed to move the power from the chalice into the stone. It was probably no different than holding the chalice with the gem attached but having the infinite abilities all within the stone made it more convenient to wear it around her neck.

The question was… did she know how to wield all that power?

Carrick wasn’t afraid to find out.

In the blink of an eye, he bent distance up to the balcony, stepping out behind her. Before she could turn around, he launched a front snap kick to her lower back. The force was that of a high-speed train, and he heard her spine snap. Kymaris’ body actually shredded the iron railing before she went free-falling to the tile foyer below.

Carrick didn’t even wait for her to hit before jumping after her.

But if he thought that kick had put her out of commission, he’d be wrong. She had already healed and rolled to her back. Holding both hands out, she threw a shield around her body that Carrick bounced off when he came crashing down toward her, causing him to roll toward the base of the staircase.

Kymaris scrambled to her feet, and Carrick did the same. There was a pool of blood on the tile. Carrick realized that some of the iron railing must have punctured her abdomen, but that was most likely healed the same as her broken spine. It didn’t slow her down in the slightest as she conjured an iron sword and came at him swiftly.

Raising it above her shoulder, she lunged at Carrick and brought the weapon down in a hacking motion. He easily sidestepped and it clanged off the iron banister of the staircase, causing sparks to fly.

Rotating his wrist, an iron broadsword appeared in Carrick’s hand. It was six inches longer than the one Kymaris held and twice as wide. With a two-handed grip, he swung it in an arc over his shoulder and made the same slicing motion she had tried on him a moment ago. It would have cleaved her in half had she not jumped backward, and the blade missed her by mere inches.

It was just the beginning.

Carrick and Kymaris, in almost mirror images of the other, once again swung their respective swords high over their shoulders, both intending to end the battle with one well-aimed strike. The iron weapons clashed above their heads, throwing more sparks.

Over and over again, they swung, parried, clashed, jumped, spun, and lunged at each other. They traded vicious blows and, admittedly, Carrick was surprised that her physical strength seemed to be on par with his own.

She didn’t, however, have his stamina, which was what set apart fae and demi-gods in battle.

Eventually, Kymaris started retreating more than she advanced, and a fine sweat broke out on her forehead. Carrick puzzled why she wasn’t pulling on the Blood Stone, but he didn’t dwell on it too long. He was tiring of this duel, not in strength or stamina but in interest.

He wanted to end this evil creature and get back to Finley so they could move on with their lives.

After causing Kymaris to jump back to avoid a lunge that would have gone through her breastbone like it was butter, Carrick conjured rope and magically lassoed it around her ankles. He pulled hard, causing her legs to snap together and her body to topple to the tile floor.

She didn’t stay down long. With her own magic, she made the ropes disappear and she went to her elbow to push herself up.

It was too late for her, though.

Carrick was over her, once again gripping the hilt of his sword with both hands. He wound up a swing over her shoulder, he brought it down toward Kymaris’ head. He could actually envision the blade crushing her skull and scrambling her brains, but a mere foot from making contact, another sword appeared out of thin air and blocked Carrick’s strike.