Gods Of The Stone Oracle

by Krista Walsh

  More voices floated toward them from down the corridor, and they seemed to be getting closer. Vera’s heart stopped, and Gabe grabbed her hand. He pulled her back toward a door, but they didn’t make it more than a few feet before another door opened and a group of demons walked into the hallway.

  Vera gawked at the number and variety of them. Colcex, Kozkor, Korvack, Lingor — Mayes had somehow found a way to get them to work together without slaughtering each other. Was it more mind magic, or had he offered them something that was worth setting aside their animosity? If so, she didn’t want to think about what it might be.

  Then again, she thought, we’re not so different. Five different species trying to work together to save a sixth. Maybe all he gave them was a common cause.

  She braced her feet against the floor and raised her hands in front of her, ready to fight, although she had no idea how three were supposed to win against ten.

  But they never even glanced her way.

  She looked around the corridor to see if there was some kind of barrier placed between the walls, and her gaze fell on Frank. His fingers were pressed to the sides of his head, and a trickle of sweat glided down his left temple. Vera realized he was planting an illusion in their minds, preventing them from seeing anything except what they expected to see. The exertion was clearly wreaking havoc on him.

  She wanted to help, to add her own mental manipulations to his, but worried the channels would get crossed. Instead, she held her breath and watched the demons walk toward them.

  “…dragging us away from our break. I hope we’re getting paid for this bit of overtime,” the Kozkor demon rasped. Saliva drizzled out the side of its muzzle and steamed when it hit the floor.

  “Quit whining,” the Lingor demon hissed, her rows of teeth catching the light from magically charged bulbs in the ceiling. “Be glad we’re involved. The other option is to be stuck outside, picking up the pieces after the world has fallen.”

  “Silence,” ordered the Korvack demon leading the way. His thick red scales reminded her of Zach, though its pure form was more hideous than she’d ever witnessed in the daemelus. “You’re not being paid to talk.”

  The others fell silent. A Ghurgzic demon came within a foot of Vera, but didn’t seem to see her. For a moment, it hesitated, its squished face twitching as it scented the air. Vera masked her energy, tickling its olfactory nerves so it picked up only the mustiness of the corridor, and it shrugged and moved on.

  In another moment, the demons had reached the door leading to the stairwell, leaving the three of them alone and unscathed.

  Frank released his spell and wobbled on his feet, holding up a hand when Gabe went to help him.

  Without saying anything, he guided them forward down the corridor and ushered them into a room at the end.

  Vera hoped to find the warlock lurking within, casting his spell, but as soon as she stepped inside, all thought of him vanished. She released a sharp gasp of surprise and grabbed Gabe’s arm as she stared. On first glance, it might have been just a research lab, with an L-shaped desk in the corner and a computer sitting on it that had no wires or cables visible.

  But to Vera, it was like stepping into the past. There were no windows, the only light being a flicker from six electric sconces on the wall. The stone was drab brown, the floor uncovered.

  They were back in Jermaine’s locked room. Not the exact one — this one seemed large enough to accommodate a dozen or more people, and the sconces were actual lights instead of torches — but the similarity was unmistakable.

  “He didn’t just go against Mayes’s orders,” she said in a hush. “He brought us here right under the man’s nose.”

  Gabe scowled. “He was always a brash asshole. It’s not surprising he got what was coming to him.”

  Frank had crossed the room while they were speaking and was riffling through the contents on the desk. “This is Tyler’s work station. I hoped he’d be here, but he’s taken all of his notes with him. It looks like we’ll have to keep moving.”

  As he’d shifted over a huge stack of papers, Vera’s eye caught a familiar pile hiding underneath.

  In three steps, she crossed the room and found herself staring down at the collection of pages she’d removed from the ancient leather cover of the Book of Universes. Relief flowed through her, stealing her breath. It appeared to be in the same condition as when she’d handed it over, with no pages missing. Tears sprang to her eyes. Despite the goal of this mission, she hadn’t actually believed she’d see it again.

  The cover itself had been destroyed in the fire set by the Collegiate, but she would work around that when she brought the pages to safety. For now, the file folder she’d placed the collection in was nowhere to be seen, but a leather satchel was sitting on the floor.

  Good enough.

  She grabbed it and emptied its contents onto the desk, for once in her life not caring about making a mess. Once it was empty, she placed the pages inside.

  Gabe moved behind her and tapped a few keys on the keyboard, waking up the computer screen.

  “Looks like they scanned the pages into the system to help with the translation,” he said.

  He leaned forward so both hands rested on the desk and began navigating his way through files and folders. Vera watched as the files disappeared.

  “They won’t be needing those anymore,” he said. “Dad, do you think I would be able to reach Percy’s software from here?”

  Frank shook his head. “Everything is run by magic, so there’s no networking. Mayes didn’t want any of his work to overlap in case another Jermaine decided to take advantage of the ease of access. The program will be installed closer to the heart of Oracle. He’s using an amplifier to achieve greater reach for both the control spell and the energy he needs to open a rift between dimensions. My guess is that the computer with the software will be close to where Tyler is casting.”

  His brow furrowed and his lips pursed.

  “What is it?” Vera asked.

  “The demons we passed were all moving upstairs. That’s where Mayes keeps anything he considers important.”

  Vera’s shoulders slumped. “So if we want to be sure we get everything, we’ll need to face all of them. Likely all at once.”

  “That’s where things stand by the look of it,” Frank said.

  She glanced at her watch. They had three and a half hours left before the Collegiate made things very simple for them.

  “We might not need the software,” she said, softly.

  “Why not?” Gabe asked. “What are you thinking?”

  She licked her lips and adjusted the satchel across her chest. “We just need to make sure that Mayes and Lozak are upstairs with the rest of them. If we can confirm that, then all we need to do is keep them busy for a while…and wait.”

  Gabe blanched, and his hands fell slack at his sides.

  “Wait for what?” Frank asked, staring between them. “What else is there to your plan that you haven’t told me?”

  Gabe turned toward his father. “It’s not our plan. Members of the Gnosis Collegiate are waiting outside. They gave us twelve hours to save as much as we can, and then they’re destroying the prison. If we head upstairs and keep everyone distracted — if we can guarantee that Mayes and his goons don’t find a way out — this will all be over in another few hours.”

  Frank paled. “Well, that certainly changes things.”

  Gabe squared his jaw. “I told you not to feel obliged to come back.”

  “You think that’s what I was getting at? You’re my son, Gabriel. You don’t think I would do anything I can to keep you safe?” He frowned. “Do you trust the Collegiate to destroy everything?”

  Vera looked at Gabe and spotted the doubt in his eyes. “I want to believe that after this place goes up, the threat is over, but as long as the software still exists…”

  He fell silent, letting the rest of his thought hang in the air. Vera wanted to argue with him and convince him it
would be fine, but he was right.

  Frank released a breath. “If you’ve only got a couple of hours to get out, then you need to leave. Find Tyler, end the spell, then get out. Now. I’ll have a much easier time finding what you need and getting rid of it without anyone knowing. You’re right — if Mayes or Lozak or any of the other higher ups manages to escape, this cycle will just continue, even if Tartarus is at the bottom of the Atlantic. Let me do my part to keep them here.”

  “Not on your own,” Gabe said.

  “I’m not giving you a choice on this.”

  The two men moved closer together, and Vera looked from one to the other, ready to step in if their tempers took them too far. Anxiety created an oily sensation under her skin and her heart clenched to see them. To have met again under these circumstances, only to have necessity try to tear them apart… She understood both sides of the argument, but while her practical mind acknowledged that Frank was right, she sided with Gabe. She’d grown a lot in the last month and a half, but it was still beyond her to pass responsibility on to someone else once she’d claimed it as her own. She’d found the book, which was her greatest priority, but she still had to help track down the warlock and stop the spell. She had to help Gabe rectify the error he’d made in not stopping Percy from moving forward with his stupid program. She had to help prevent Mayes from using it.

  The door opened, and father and son split apart.

  “Look what we’ve got here.” A voice that sounded like the speaker had gargled with gravel for breakfast cemented Vera’s feet to the ground. “Tsk tsk, Frank, I’m disappointed in you.”

  She’d known there was a chance she would run into Rega, the demon who had almost beat her to death twice in his search for the Book of Universes, who had peeled away her flesh and threatened worse, but in the rush of their mission, he’d slipped her mind.

  Now he’d stumbled across them, surprising her. Making her the one who needed to prepare for what she would see when she turned around.

  You’re not alone. He has a weak mind and his arrogance will be his downfall. You can face him.

  By sheer force of will, Vera turned, keeping the satchel tight at her side. Rega stood in the doorway, his long, oil-black hair falling over his shoulders, his arms — pure muscle — folded across his chest. He wore the same grin that had haunted her nightmares, and his cold black eyes bored into her.

  On his right stood Humphrey, the warlock who had first broken into her shop and refused to be chased away. His nose was still bent from their last meeting. On Rega’s left was the other warlock, the one who Vera had slammed into a chair. She regretted now that she hadn’t snapped his neck.

  Recognition slipped into Rega’s eyes at the sight of her, and he stepped into the room, blocking off their exit.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt your little family reunion,” he said, “but I believe you’re trying to walk out with something that belongs to us.”

  29

  Daphne’s heart refused to fall still. It galloped and waltzed in her chest, one second a regular rhythm and then another erratic, like a bouncy ball. She squeezed her hands at her sides, working to regain some kind of control over herself, but her mind was still spinning with the ripples that had surged through her magic and stolen it away for seconds at a time.

  Twice it had happened now, the second time so much worse than the first. It reminded her of the effects of the Stygian Orb when she’d held it in her hand. That warm bronze light that had taken over and stripped her of her power until she’d let the sphere drop.

  Her stomach bubbled with anxiety at the thought that she might end up trapped in this hell without a way to defend herself. Both times her power had returned, but what about the next time?

  What is going on here?

  She stuck close to Zach, who hadn’t appeared bothered by the surges in the air. His attention was focused on the wide corridor as he checked around corners and led them from room to room. Every time they heard anything, they ducked into an empty space and waited until the demons passed. Although Zach’s hands broke out in scales whenever the demons came too close, he remained silent.

  She hoped they weren’t screwing themselves over by not waiting for Gabe and Vera to find them, per their original plan, but according to Percy their comms had gone dark, and Daphne and Zach had agreed it wouldn’t be wise to wait.

  Now, instead of taking down all the demons they passed on their way, they worked to avoid them, not wanting to wind up in a fight they couldn’t handle with just the two of them. Daphne knew it grated on Zach to duck and cover, but she was grateful for his restraint. They couldn’t afford to set off any alarms if they wanted to get Molly out safely. Matthew had said the cells were below, so that’s where they were headed. If they could get to Molly and use the underground tunnel to get her to Allegra without winding up in another fight, their chances of getting back in to find the others were pretty good.

  It did worry her that they hadn’t heard anything from Percy lately. Not long after he’d told them about Gabe and Vera, he’d gone silent, and all she could pick up was a faint, grainy static. She wanted to ask him if he was still there, but in the open corridor the thought of making any noise was enough to make her cringe.

  Zach rounded another corner, and she followed close on his heels. A stairwell was up ahead, leading down into the darker corners of the prison. Daphne raised her hand in front of her and allowed a small ball of flame to rise over her palm and float ahead of them to reveal what might be below. The dim torch light on the walls was hurting her eyes, but she couldn’t risk increasing the flame.

  She hated this place.

  The light showed nothing but more stone and dirt, so she extinguished the fire ball and they headed down. Daphne wrinkled her nose as the quality of the air changed, growing mustier and more sour, as though something in the darkness had died long ago and was still giving off fumes. She hoped that meant they were getting closer to the dungeon.

  “How far down are we?” she whispered, keeping her voice as low as possible so it wouldn’t bounce against the walls, confident that Zach would hear her.

  He shook his head, but didn’t reply. She hadn’t really expected him to. The prison was a labyrinth, and even with the layout of one floor in Zach’s pocket, it hadn’t helped them navigate the others. He’d found twelve pages in the Project Oracle folder, showing twelve stories, but with so many sloped floors and winding corridors, she had no clue where they might be.

  She was certain the only people who had an idea where all the passages and staircases went were the ones who’d built the place — and even then she wouldn’t be surprised if the people who’d come up with the idea had divided the design between architects. From what she could tell, the corridors they’d walked down had been far longer than the blueprint layout, which suggested it was a known-factors-only design. Considering Tartarus’s original intention, it wouldn’t have been wise to allow anyone to see the whole picture.

  As they walked down another empty corridor, Daphne found herself wondering how the demons had managed to overpower the wardens and the guards to take over the place. The silence with which it had happened suggested they’d had outside help. Someone who had been trusted by the wardens; someone who had swept in and shut down security before the guards knew what was happening. A riot would have been quickly controlled. From everything she’d heard about Tartarus, the wardens looked forward to the days where the prisoners put up a fuss — a refreshing change of pace — so whatever had happened must have come down like a hammer.

  A cellphone rang up ahead. Daphne and Zach darted into an alcove in the wall and ducked behind crates that reeked of dust and dried-out food.

  It amazed Daphne that the demons’ phones still had reception this low beneath the ground when Percy’s earpieces had conked out, but it occurred to her that if Mayes could get the lights working on a magical charge, then maybe the phones ran that way, too.

  Something I should have thought of, she reprimande
d herself. But likely it wouldn’t have mattered. She wouldn’t have been able to hold on to such a complex spell as she’d passed through the barrier anyway.

  “Yeah? Right, on our way. Hey—” A grunt, and the sound of something falling over. “Wake your ass up and come on. Sounds like we’ve got trouble.”

  More grumbling, and then footsteps moved past the alcove toward the stairs. Only after the footsteps faded did Daphne relax.

  “Think we’re the trouble?” she asked.

  “It was only a matter of time before they found the bodies stashed away,” Zach grumbled. “Come on.”

  “Hopefully Gabe and Vera haven’t drawn their attention.” She hated that she didn’t know their status. She tapped her earpiece, but received only a high-pitched whine in response.

  They continued down the corridor, but no doors appeared and no other stairwell presented itself. If anything, the slope seemed to be going up. The air was getting cleaner again. Were they headed back to the main floor?

  “I don’t think we’re going the right way,” she said, scanning the space ahead of them. She summoned a bit more magic into her hands.

  Apprehension nipped at her heels, although nothing had changed that she could put her finger on.

  Zach inched closer to her, his shoulders drawn back, and Daphne swallowed a groan. If he’d remained confident and calm, she might have believed everything was fine. His defensiveness only caused her heart to pound that much harder. Her vision sharpened, and her legs itched to run. Anything to get out of this waiting place.

  The floor beneath her feet shifted. Daphne grabbed on to the wall, uncertain if the tremble had come from the prison or her own shaking legs. Another tremor confirmed her legs had nothing to do with it. A pressure built inside Daphne’s head and she clasped her hands over her ears to try to block it out. It felt as though something was trying to push her out, swallowing her mind.