Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Micah attached the stone to his chalice and cried into the cup every night. He would drink his own tears, which made the darkness inside him insidious. Over time, such malignancy turned him into a cloven-hoofed monster who wandered his barren land, refusing to release Charmeine from the ruby stone.
All of that came to a head when Carrick and Finley traveled to Micah’s realm to steal the chalice and stone. It was their best plan of attack to stop Kymaris from tearing the veil and releasing the wrath of the Underworld.
They battled Micah with the help of family and friends, eventually wresting control of the chalice and stone from him.
During the war for control of the magical items, three notable things happened:
Charmeine was released from the stone and reunited with the one she’d fallen in love with—Carrick’s demigod brother, Lucien. They had but moments with each other before Micah killed her.
Lucien, driven insane by rage and grief, engaged Micah in battle. The demigod and Dark Fae shook the earth as they fought, but in the end, Micah threw Lucien into the Crimson River where he went under and was never seen again.
Micah was ultimately defeated, and the chalice and stone went into Carrick’s possession, albeit for a short time, until Kymaris gained control of it. Lucien, however, was the greatest loss, and my heart hurts to remember how driven Maddox has been to get him back.
No matter what happens to me, it’s my greatest hope that he can be pulled from the river and restored to his family.
“If you listen closely enough,” Rune says, jarring me out of my recollection, “you can hear the crying souls in the river.”
This I know as I’ve been near it many times while visiting the Underworld, which is its source.
“Can you hear Lucien?” Rune taunts. “I’m thinking I’ll toss Carrick and Maddox in as well so they can join him.”
I choke down my hatred because to engage him is to encourage more of the same. The best I can do is keep my wits about me and look for an opening that could save me and the gods… and the world.
CHAPTER 17
Maddox
The gods’ realm is as it ever is with its harmonious scenery, but the minute I step into it I can tell it’s empty of anything godlike.
Up ahead, I see Carrick and Finley at the gazebo. Finley paces the marbled floor with obvious worry and Carrick watches her with even more concern.
My sister-in-law spots me first and runs down the steps. “Did you learn anything?”
“Yeah… quite a bit,” I say as I meet her at the base of the steps where Carrick joins us. “I assume the gods haven’t shown themselves?”
Carrick shakes his head, his arm going around Finley’s waist to pull her in. She looks like she’s about to cry and not because the gods are missing.
Her only concern is Zora.
“The Scryer says the Blood Stone is in play, and Ariman has it.”
“Ridiculous,” Finley says dismissively. “It’s locked up tight, right where it was when we took possession of it.”
“We’ll need to check. More importantly, he said Zora is near the Crimson River.”
“So we’ll search the Underworld,” Carrick says.
“She’s not there,” I say with confidence. “Assuming Ariman has her, he’d never keep her there.”
“But how does he have her?” Finley asks with frustration. “She’s a god. He’s not.”
“The Blood Stone,” Carrick says.
“He doesn’t have the Blood Stone,” Finley snaps and then immediately softens. “I’m sorry… it’s just, I can’t believe it because that would be too horrific. And… you know what he did to her all those years while in the Underworld. He tortured her, abused her…”
Finley lets out a tiny sob, and my gut twists thinking about what he could be doing to Zora right now. Assuming he has her, but if Ariman has the Blood Stone, he probably does have her—and possibly the other gods too.
Carrick pulls Finley into his arms.
I scrub my hand over my jaw. “The Scryer said a power was rising that’s very dangerous. Someone other than Ariman.”
Carrick locks eyes with me, and an unspoken message passes between us.
“I’ll be back in a second,” I say, and then bend distance to the prison holding Rune. It takes only a brief glance to see it’s empty, and I return to the gazebo. “He’s gone.”
“Fuck,” Carrick mutters, and Finley pulls back to look up at him in question. “Rune,” he explains.
Okay… think. Put it all together, Maddox.
I muse out loud. “If Ariman has the Blood Stone, which we can confirm with a quick trip to your vault, then he’s done something to it to make it more powerful. It could be strong enough to free Rune from prison but not to take down five gods.”
“Or maybe it is strong enough,” Carrick says. “We never did understand the full nature of its power. Kymaris tried to use it to pull down the veil, but really… what do we even know about it? It was a myth until we found one obscure reference to it.”