Gods Of The Stone Oracle

by Krista Walsh

  Allegra popped into Gabe’s mind, but he shrugged her away. Although she claimed not to care about Molly, he suspected there was little she wouldn’t do to free herself from New Haven.

  The three men got back to work. Before the sun rose again, they staggered out of the vehicle, satisfaction written on their faces.

  Exhaustion ran thick through Gabe’s veins, but exhilaration buzzed beneath it, keeping him on his feet. Emmett was staring at Percy as though he’d just met a God among men, and when Daphne came outside to see what was going on, his narrow face split into a grin. “This man’s brain is amazing, Daph. He just rigged the RV to be a complete mobile unit. Overnight!”

  Daphne smiled back at him. “That’s great. Are we ready to use it?”

  Percy crossed his arms and nodded. “I have the computer connected to a satellite over the prison. We won’t be able to see the building itself, but we can get the lay of the land around it. I’ve also connected all the earpieces, so we’ll be able to communicate no matter where you are once you get inside.”

  His gaze drifted to Zach, who stood in the grass looming like a gloomy statue. Unlike Emmett, Percy carried no trace of pride in his expression — even the excitement he’d worn when he’d stepped outside was gone. Now there was just acceptance that he’d done the best he could, let Zach judge him or rage at him as he wished.

  Gabe tensed, braced for some growling comment, but Zach just nodded his head in thanks. Good. They had busted their asses to create a system that would save them time once they arrived at the prison. If they survived, the daemelus owed Percy a drink.

  With the RV declared complete, Percy and Emmett went upstairs to get some sleep. Zach was livid at yet another delay, but Vera held firm.

  “We need them at their best,” she said. “While we’re inside, they’re the ones who will be keeping on top of our progress, and I’d rather they not fall asleep on the job.”

  Zach glowered at her, but said nothing further. Gabe watched the interaction with a feeling of satisfaction. It wasn’t the first time those two had butted heads, but so far everyone had taken her leadership for granted, which didn’t surprise him. Her sort of calm confidence was exactly the grounding center they’d need on this operation. Until they reached the prison, at least. After that, it would be everyone for themselves.

  Gabe used the time while the others were asleep to stare at the satellite image on Percy’s computer and drink the coffee that Allegra had made, which could have stripped the paint off a vehicle. Vera stood over his shoulder, both of them taking in the spread of the island. Although the fortress was shielded from mundane eyes, it wasn’t difficult to make out the electric fences and tall imposing walls of Tartarus. The thought of trying to get inside was enough to turn Gabe’s legs to stone, but he breathed through his tension. Their plan was as good as any until Matthew returned, which was well-past overdue if Allegra’s increasing impatience was any indicator.

  She’d already been pacing the floor by the time everyone else returned inside, and she hadn’t stopped. Her eyes were glowing with a faint golden sheen, and her lips were pulled back over sharpened canines. Gabe crossed his fingers that Matthew came back in one piece — and soon — because he didn’t want to deal with the trouble of putting her down.

  “Why don’t you do something useful?” Zach said, his eyes following her as she made her trek back and forth across the room. “We’re nowhere near ready to leave.”

  “Perhaps that would not be an issue if you had resolved the problem when you last had the opportunity,” Allegra spat. “Now people are putting themselves at risk to clean up your mess.”

  Zach bolted to his feet and closed in on her. “This is our mess, succubus, or do you relish the idea of being part of a demon-run territory? The more you push back, the more I wonder if you want them to win.”

  Allegra’s eyes brightened with their golden glow, and Gabe tensed. She opened her mouth to snap back, but Vera stepped between them, as smoothly as if she hadn’t noticed the argument.

  “Allegra, why don’t you help me pack provisions for the trip,” she said.

  Allegra scowled, but when Vera held her gaze, leaving no room for argument, she released a huff and marched towards the kitchen. “Very well.”

  Gabe grabbed Vera’s hand and gave it a squeeze as she passed him by. This was why he’d follow her anywhere.

  Percy came down first around noon, looking more revived than anyone had a right to after only two hours of sleep. He drank Allegra’s coffee without trouble, then poured the rest of it into a thermos he found in the cupboard. “We’re going to need this, I think.”

  While Vera, Daphne, and Allegra worked to pack up some food and drinks for the cooler, Gabe grabbed an extra comforter from the linen closet. Zach raised an eyebrow at the sight, and Gabe glared back. “Maybe it’s in case I get sleepy on the drive,” he said. “Or maybe it’s for Molly, who will no doubt be in shock when we get her back to the RV.”

  Zach’s eyes narrowed, but he turned on his heel without saying anything. Gabe looked to Vera in time to see her roll her gaze skyward, and when she looked back at Gabe with a smile, he gave her a wink. It was a good thing they were off to fight some demons soon, because he didn’t doubt that all this built-up energy was about to end in blows toward each other if left unchecked.

  Emmett came down a half-hour later, holding a small cookie tin in his hands.

  “My man,” Percy said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Already prepared with the snacks.”

  Emmett offered a consolatory smile. “Sorry to disappoint,” he said, and opened the lid to reveal the orb within, still wrapped in the cloth. “I figured a metal layer might work to keep you guys safe from however this thing works.”

  Gabe eyed the tin, wishing he’d had time during the day to test it out for himself. His curiosity nagged at him, driving him to know what it felt like to have his curse lifted. But his priorities had remained front and center in his thoughts. There would be time enough to explore the possibilities if everything went well.

  The provisions ready, everyone — Allegra included with a bit of extra encouragement from Vera — worked together to bring it all outside to pack them into the RV.

  They’d only just started on the task when a tingle in the air drew them to a halt. Allegra’s eyes widened and she turned in a circle, her expression softening with what appeared to be relief as Matthew materialized at her side.

  “Are you all right?” she asked, at the same time as Zach demanded, “What did you learn?”

  Matthew brushed his translucent fingers over Allegra’s shoulder in reassurance. “It was dark, so I couldn’t make out much, and it was too big for me to take in everything. It would have taken me days to check every room, I think. But I learned a few things. For one, there were rooms I couldn’t pass through, so Allegra was right that many of the passages have been enchanted. From what I could tell, though, the machinery they’re using is on the top floors. There’s no electricity, so it must be run by magic.”

  “Which supports your theory, Percy,” Daphne said. “Whoever hacked into your system wasn’t doing it the old-fashioned way.”

  Percy grumbled and glared down at his laptop.

  “The area I think they’re using as their dungeon is in the basement, but it’s dark, so I didn’t see Molly anywhere. I’d guess it’s on the floor above that one,” he gestured to Zach’s paper. “It’s the same layout, anyway. There’s one room on the first floor with something that looks like a water fountain. It’s got all these cables, and there’s magic drifting out of the bowl like fog. I don’t know what it does, but I sensed a lot of power radiating from it.”

  “What about the bosses?” Vera asked.

  “There are offices on the topmost floor, and I think they were moving around up there.” He shuddered. “I heard screams like I never want to hear again. As though someone’s soul was being ripped apart.”

  “Molly?” Zach asked, tense at Vera’s side.


  Matthew shook his head. “If I had to guess, I’d say demon. But I don’t want to imagine what they were doing to him.”

  A moment’s silence passed over the group. “All right,” said Vera. “So now we know where we’re going. Zach and Gabe, you’ll head downstairs. Everyone else will head for the top floor. I think we should do as Percy and Emmett suggested and clear out whoever we can on our way up. If we get split up, we’ll make sure to find each other before heading to the next floor. Percy, you’ll be on comms to help with that?”

  “Of course.” He turned to Emmett. “You want to be my second in command?”

  Emmett opened his mouth and glanced at Daphne. She arched an eyebrow, and after a moment he nodded. “Just tell me what you need.”

  “Then let’s head out,” Vera said. “Hopefully once we get inside, I’ll stop feeling like I’m going to be sick.”

  Gabe knew exactly what she was talking about, and when he looked around the group, he recognized a similar feeling in Daphne’s expression. Allegra still hadn’t pulled her gaze from Matthew.

  As the others finished loading everything into the vehicle and got settled, Vera took an extra minute to say goodbye to Vidar and Baxter. As though they could tell something was wrong, they whimpered and nudged her with their cold noses, their tails still.

  “We’ll be back before you know it,” she said as she gave each of them a treat. They gobbled them up while she dug her fingers into their fur. “And Ara will spoil you rotten, I have no doubt about that.”

  Gabe’s heart broke for her, knowing as well as she did that there was no small chance these goodbyes were forever. But they couldn’t afford to stretch them out. “Are you ready?”

  “No,” she said, “but putting it off won’t help.”

  She gave each dog a kiss on the snout, then stood back as Gabe opened a rift into the Harris’s backyard. Ara was waiting on the other side, ready to wave Vidar and Baxter through.

  “Good luck,” she said. “We’ll be waiting for you when you get back.” She said the words as a promise as she raised her hand in farewell.

  Before Vera could break, Gabe let the rift close and put his arm around her shoulders, leading her toward the RV.

  “We’ll see them again,” he said.

  “If you manage to hang on to your optimism once we get to the coast, I might believe you,” Vera said, but she leaned into him, and he wished he could do something to save her from the uncertainty.

  What was the point in doubting? Worrying that they would die before they reached the prison wouldn’t help them get inside. He had to believe they would succeed.

  Drawing in a deep breath, he climbed into the passenger seat beside Emmett, who sat at the wheel in the cab. The cookie tin rested on the dashboard, and Gabe couldn’t help but see it as a symbolic compass leading them straight into danger.

  The back was crowded, even with Matthew’s ghostly form pressed against the wall. Zach alone took up most of the bench seat, where he’d had to sit to avoid hitting his head against the ceiling.

  “All aboard?” Emmett asked. “Then let’s do this.”

  He shifted the vehicle into drive and pressed on the gas, steering them down the driveway. As they went, Gabe drew in a deep breath. He’d never cut a rift this big before, or one that he’d need to maintain for so long to transport something so large. He realized now that he should have tested it before they loaded up the RV, but it was too late to ask them all to get out. Clenching his teeth, he squeezed his eyes shut and pictured the satellite image of the town on the coast. Rows of houses set in arcs out from the main road, the strip mall to the north, the bar a few miles down.

  Once the image was secure in his mind, he raised his hand and cut a vertical line through the air in front of the RV. Already, the energy it took to create a big enough doorway was pulling at him, setting his muscles shaking. He gritted his teeth and stayed focused on the image, ignoring the sweat beading on his brow, as the vehicle continued to move.

  The warmth of Fae energy buzzed over his skin when the front of the RV passed though, and his entire body jerked as they immediately struck a pothole on the other side. Shouts and irritated mumbles came from the back, but Gabe tuned them out. He couldn’t afford to lose focus now.

  “Sorry,” Emmett said.

  The cab had made it through. The speed of the vehicle seemed to slow as the pressure of the rift wrapped around it, the Fae energy no doubt reacting to the iron in the RV and working hard to push it out. Gabe curled his fingers around the armrests and strained to hold the portal open. Behind him, the irritation over the pothole changed to groans of discomfort, and he wondered if they felt the pressure as strongly as he did. His grip on the doorway was slipping.

  Deciding that they wouldn’t get lost at this point, he released the vision of where they were headed, so he could focus only on forcing the rift to stay put. A sharp pain shot through his head, and he pressed his fingers against his temples.

  A gentle hand rested on his shoulder as the groans in the back grew worse.

  “I can’t hold it,” Gabe hissed.

  “You can,” Vera whispered, her lips close to his ear. “You’re so close now, my darling. Just a bit longer.”

  Someone cried out, the noise coming out as a sharp squeal, while someone else slammed their fists against the surface of the desk. Gabe didn’t know what was happening, and he couldn’t afford to worry about it. His own chest felt tight, his head was swimming, and bursts of light were flashing behind his closed eyes.

  He couldn’t hold on. The RV felt as though it were moving through molasses, and they’d remained in both places too long. All of his muscles were straining, and his mind had reached its limit. If he didn’t let go of the rift, he was afraid his sanity would shatter, and he couldn’t let the others down. They needed him to take them the rest of the way.

  With a cry, he let go of the rift, feeling it as a physical spring in his mind. He was so dazed, he had no idea what had happened. Had he left half of their group in a severed RV back at home? All he knew was that he had got at least some of them through, cut off from everything familiar and stuck in whatever fresh hell they’d arrived in.

  19

  Vera wound her fingers through Gabe’s hair and turned toward the back of the RV.

  “Is everyone all right?” she asked.

  Daphne gave her a trembling thumbs-up, her eyes still bloodshot from nearly being squeezed out of her skull, while Zach raised his head, his lip curled with displeasure. Percy offered a feeble wave by the desk, a blue line still lingering around his lips.

  “This was not part of the agreement,” Allegra rasped from where she sat on the floor, her legs sprawled in front of her.

  Vera turned her back on her to stare out the windshield. “If you think that’s the worst we’re going to see on this trip, I suspect you’re in for a very unpleasant surprise.”

  Emmett recovered first. On shaking legs, he climbed out of the cab and went around the back of the RV. He came back pale.

  “Well, we lost the bike rack and the back bumper, but as long as no cops come around asking what happened to our license plate, I think we’re okay. And since it doesn’t look like this road gets much traffic, we have some time to get out of sight.”

  Vera released the breath she’d been holding and rested her forehead on the crown of Gabe’s head. He was still shaking, but some of the tightness drawing his shoulders together had eased. For his sake, she was relieved more damage hadn’t been done. The poor man carried enough guilt on his conscience.

  “Right,” Percy said, his voice rough. “I guess we’d better get started on phase two.”

  While he booted up the systems, Vera opened the cooler and grabbed a few bottles of water, passing them around to those who had been most affected by the jump. Zach held up a hand to refuse, but her stubbornness wasn’t having it. She held it out to him until he gave in and took a reluctant swig.

  “Where is my water?” Allegra asked.

&nb
sp; Vera raised an eyebrow. “You appear to have legs of your own.”

  Allegra huffed, but at the far end of the RV, Matthew chuckled. Vera didn’t know what to make of their relationship. They’d clearly known each other before his death, and Allegra’s connection to him seemed strong. In fact, the succubus acted like a different woman with him than she did with anyone else. It tweaked Vera’s heart that there should be such a divide between them.

  Her curiosity poked at her to find out what had happened, what Matthew’s world looked like now, if it tired him to remain on this plane, but she didn’t want to be so classless as to ask. Hopefully the opportunity would come up to talk about all of it, but until then, she allowed her questions to ferment.

  It wasn’t like she didn’t have her own secrets or relationship quirks. Gabe might not be an insubstantial being, but he remained hidden behind a pair of thick mirrored sunglasses, which posed its own challenges.

  When Percy finished with the interior setup, he and Gabe stepped outside, climbed onto the roof of the RV, and began fiddling with the exterior. Vera and the others followed them outside to stretch their legs.

  The road they’d stopped on looked nothing like the satellite image from five months ago. A sense of relief flowed through her that Gabe’s projection of the place had still worked.

  The tidy houses that had lined the streets in the picture were now abandoned, their windows broken or boarded up. The lawns were brown and overgrown with dead weeds, and the road itself was pocked with holes and cracks. The state of the neighborhood showed more than the neglect of a few months. She wondered how long the prison had been under different management, and how no one in her wide circles had heard about the turnover.

  A sour taste rose over the back of her throat. If the demons they were dealing with had come out swaggering, puffing out their chests and declaring they were ready to take over, she would have taken them less seriously. But this stealth act suggested they weren’t rushing. They weren’t boasting. They were hiding while they put everything into place, and she had no doubt that when they were ready, there would be very little time to stop them.