As Carrick came off the last step of the staircase, Circe gave him an admonishing look. “You knew this wouldn’t play out the way you wanted.”
Carrick hadn’t known that. He came in with full hope that he could end this today, but he didn’t feel like arguing with the god. He merely shrugged and said, “Had to try.”
“Well, you can rest assured that Kymaris and her crew will go into very deep hiding until the ritual starts,” Circe observed, clasping her hands before her. “And Finley will meet her fate on that evening.”
“That’s helpful to know,” Maddox said dryly. “As we have no idea where the ritual will be held or what time, so I’m going to assume fate will let us know at some point.”
Circe shot him a fierce glare. “Don’t wait on fate to do your work. Free will still needs to be exercised.”
“Why can’t you just pick one or the other?” he grumbled, but he said no more.
The gods couldn’t interfere, but it didn’t mean they couldn’t give advice or guidance if requested. It didn’t mean they would grant it, but Carrick asked anyway. “Clearly, Finley must meet her destiny and stop the prophecy herself. We’ve been assuming that means she has to take on Kymaris and have also been assuming that she can have others help as Kymaris will bring her own legions to the battle.”
Carrick let the words hang in the air, silently requesting that Circe confirm their assumptions. She merely smiled, tipped her head, and said, “That sounds fairly reasonable.”
Not direct advice that would help them make sound decisions, but enough to know they were on the right path. They needed to assemble as much of an army to their side to battle whatever might be coming out of the veil if Kymaris was successful. It would be the Earth realm’s only shot at being saved, which meant they had a lot of work over the next nine days.
Carrick bowed slightly in Circe’s direction. “Thank you for your guidance.”
“But I really haven’t given any,” she proclaimed with a wink.
Carrick grinned in return. “The god of Fate’s gloating presence here in the face of our failure makes things clear. Thus, it is guidance.”
“Smart demi-god,” Circe cooed.
She blew Maddox a kiss, then Carrick, before blinking out of sight.
“Let’s go home,” Carrick said wearily. “We need to start heavily recruiting to help battle against the ritual.”
The demi-god brothers bent distance. In the blink of an eye, they were stepping into the living area of the condo.
Where they found Zaid tied up and sitting on the couch, looking highly annoyed.
CHAPTER 20
Finley
I pull my whip free from the holster but leave it coiled as I hold it. Boral has a gun in hand as we stand at the back door of the gallery. We left Zora in the G550 to wait for us, and I glance back. She’s leaning forward between the front seats, arms perched on the center console watching us through the windshield.
My gaze moves to Boral. “Ready?
He gives me a curt nod, and I take a moment to enjoy just how far Boral has come with our group. I’m going into a dangerous situation, and he’s the only one to have my back. I trust him implicitly.
Reaching out, I put my hand on the lever handle and let my magic flow through it, imagining the interior tumblers spinning to align for my magical key. The lock releases with a soft snick, and I push down on it slowly.
When I pull, the heavy metal door opens with a slight woosh and Boral precedes me in, gun locked and loaded, held out before him as he sweeps the area.
The loading room is empty with well-worn floors where boxes and crates were received and opened before moving into the main gallery down the hall. The hallway leading into the showroom is closed off from the loading room with dual swinging metal doors, each one with glass panes at the top so employees could see if someone was on the other side before they went barreling through with a dolly holding a large sculpture.
Swiftly, Boral moves left and I go right, so if anyone is in the hall or the part of the gallery that can see down to the loading room doors, we’re not spotted. We position ourselves across from each other, and Boral takes a quick peek through the glass before pulling back out of sight.
He looks across at me and shakes his head, meaning he didn’t see anyone.
As I explained to Boral, the hall leads into the main gallery. Along the way, there will be a bathroom on the left, an office on the right, and a small break room past that, also on the right.
We figured Blain would be in one of those rooms, but I had imagined the daemon or two guarding him would possibly be roaming the hall or gallery. However, they could be way too settled in their guard duties, having successfully held him prisoner for weeks without any issues. It’s just as likely they’re in the small break room watching TV and eating Hot Pockets.