The Rise of Fortune and Fury (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 5)
I know they didn’t move him back to Seattle by bending distance because that would have killed him. I’m sure Pyke has access to money and a private jet that got him back.
“And you’ve been at the gallery the entire time?” I ask.
Blain nods, gaze coming back to me. “Usually only one or two daemons guarded me, but they had a poker game going on last night. They drugged me so they didn’t have to keep watch.”
“So you know what daemons are?” I ask curiously.
Blain gives a mirthless laugh. “Like I said, I know everything. They felt no need to hide anything from me, seeing as how I was going to be a sacrifice.”
That causes a stab of pity to hit me that they so callously let him know his demise was unavoidable. “Do you know about the ritual?”
Blain nods. “It will tear the wall down between Hell and Earth. Let all the evil creatures out.”
“Do you know when?”
“October 8th,” he replies, his voice catching slightly. “My guards made sure to keep me apprised of the countdown to my death.”
I squeeze his hand. “That’s not going to happen now. Do you know where they’re going to have the ritual?”
When Blain nods, I feel a zing of pure adrenaline shoot through me. This has been a major stumbling block for us. For all our plans on how we can stop her, none of that mattered if we didn’t know where the ritual would take place.
“They talked freely in front of me… the daemons that watched over me. They’re part of the plans… muscle so to speak. She has a lot of it as she expects some opposition, although I can’t imagine who would take her on.”
Another glance to Carrick, then back to Blain. “Where is the ritual supposed to take place?”
“Over at Lake Wenatchee State Park,” he replies. “There’s a secluded area between Lake Wenatchee and Fish Lake, just west of the airport. It’s deep in the woods and there’s supposedly a clearing.”
“So it’s going to be outside,” I murmur, turning toward Carrick. “For some reason, I had envisioned it would be inside.”
“Me too,” he agrees. “It will be easier to fight outdoors, especially if the area is wooded.”
“Wait a minute,” Blain says, looking back and forth between me and Carrick. “Why am I here in Carrick’s condo? And why are you with him? And how do you know about all this stuff?”
I take a deep breath and give him a reassuring smile. “It’s an incredibly long story. Are you hungry?”
Blain nods.
“How about we bring you something to eat and I’ll tell you all about what’s been happening? After that, you can shower and we’ll get you some clean clothes.”
He merely nods again, and I turn back to Carrick. “Would you mind having Zaid put something together?
“Of course not,” he says, inclining his head. He doesn’t look back at Blain, just quietly leaves the room.
When the door closes, I release Blain’s hand and rise from the bed. I grab one of the chairs in the corner and drag it over. Taking a seat, I lean forward and rest my elbows on my knees. “Let’s start at the party you threw for Fallon’s twenty-eighth birthday.”
“That’s when she changed,” he murmurs knowingly.
“Yes, that’s when she changed,” I agree. “Let me tell you how and why.”
* * *
I back out of the bedroom, pulling the door closed quietly behind me. Blain is sleeping thanks to a light sedative a doctor “friend” of Carrick’s gave to him.
It had taken nearly an hour to tell Blain everything. In that time frame, I not only had to deal with his surprise and anger, but also his grief as well. To us, Fallon was a sister and a fiancée—someone who was loved and lost.
While we talked, Blain ate like a starved man, and there’s no doubt he wasn’t fed well during captivity. He took a shower and looked incredibly frail in the t-shirt and sweatpants of Carrick’s I gave him to wear. He had to roll the elastic band a few times to get them to stay up. Then he let the doctor Carrick called examine him and accepted the offered sedative to get some rest before he left later tonight.
We decided that Blain needed to be moved somewhere secure where he could recuperate and stay safe until this was all over. This decision wasn’t arrived at easily, as Blain wanted to just go home to his parents. He knew they thought he was dead, and he wanted to rectify that assumption as quickly as possible.
But mostly, he just wanted to go somewhere that comforted him.
Thankfully, I talked him out of that. I explained that once he resurfaced, the police were going to ramp up an investigation which would throw heat my way because I’m Fallon’s sister. I didn’t have time to deal with that, being just over a week until the new moon.