When we decided we needed an entrance and exit point that was away from human population for safety reasons, Carrick said he knew an isolated place.
And he wasn’t kidding.
As we drive further, the forest seems to close in on us and the canopy of pines over the fir and cedar trees make it dim enough the automatic lights come on.
A few miles in, Carrick stops and I turn in my seat to see Lucien doing the same behind us. The headlights go off, the engines are cut and we all exit nabbing the duffel bags. We move on foot, following Carrick in a single file line through the trees until we come out into a surprise clearing that’s roughly half the size of a football field. It’s well isolated, surrounded by dense forest, and I guarantee no humans are around for miles.
Carrick turns to me as the others start pulling weapons from the bags. “This was where I first went to talk to the gods after meeting you. When I asked for Ascension.”
I blink in surprise, tipping my head to the side. “You mean… they met you here?”
“No,” he says with a smile and a dip of his head to brush his lips over mine. “There was a large puddle in the middle. I descended into it, and it brought me out to the gods.”
“Wow,” I murmur, looking to the middle of the clearing to where he had indicated. There was nothing but dirt covered by brown pine needles.
“Is this place sacred?” I ask.
“No more than any other place I access the gods,” he replies dryly, and I think about him meeting Veda at a tropical resort not long ago.
He takes my hand, and we all move to the center of the clearing. I have my whip coiled and tied to a loop on my belt. Titus has both a long sword and a battle-ax in a harness, crisscrossed over his back. Boral and Zaid both chose iron swords. Lucien is going in weaponless, as is Carrick. But they are powerful with their magic, and can conjure whatever they want.
Pyke has no weapon going in, but he’s going to be in disguise. If things go downhill, he, too, can conjure one with his magic.
“What does this chick Charmeine look like?” Pyke asks the group. By the mere fact he didn’t ask this directly of Lucien leads me to believe Carrick didn’t tell him the whole ill-fated love story. Which is fine—it’s irrelevant to get the help we need from him.
Of course, I’m sure Carrick was clear with Pyke that Micah was no ordinary monster and it could turn extremely dangerous. Just as I’m sure that’s probably the main reason Pyke wanted to join us… for the danger and excitement.
God, if he only knew what we were up against outside of just trying to retrieve the Blood Stone. He wouldn’t be so cavalier then.
Lucien waves a hand and a holographic image floats in the middle of our circle, an actual lifelike rendering of what Charmeine looked like. She was beautiful, no doubt. Or is beautiful, I should say, since we think she’s trapped in the stone. Wavy strawberry-blonde hair, incredibly blue eyes, and an exquisitely perfect face and body. She’s delicate looking with fine bones and a sweet smile, which I’m assuming must represent her personality the most in Lucien’s memory. She was the Light Fae to Micah’s Dark Fae, after all.
Pyke studies her figure, which is clothed in a Grecian-styled gown in a blue that matches her eyes with a gold braided belt and sandals on her feet. She has a gold circlet on top of her head that holds a blue gemstone in the center, also the same color as her eyes.
“Pretty girl,” Pyke says almost dismissively, and then, before our eyes, he transforms into the exact likeness of Charmeine.
I have to wonder what Micah will do when he sees her. Will he know immediately that it’s a trick, or will he think she’s escaped? Most likely, he’ll think her a mirage, but will hopefully be intrigued enough or maybe lovesick enough to check it out.
“Any last questions before we go in?” Carrick asks.
No one says a word.
Carrick turns his attention to Boral and Zaid, merely saying, “Protect her with your lives.”
Zaid replies, “It shall be done.”
Boral doesn’t say anything, but part of me thinks he does that just to irritate Carrick.
“Then let’s do this,” Carrick says, pulling the relic we had retrieved from Hungary out of his pocket. With some ancient words I don’t understand, a small chime comes from the device and I hear an audible click snapping into place.
He hands the device to Boral. “This will keep the rip in the veil open for a quick escape if you need to get Finley back through.”
Boral nods, takes the bronze relic, and tucks it in his own pocket.
No more instructions are needed. Lucien, who is the only one of us who knows how to access Micah’s realm, makes a slicing motion in the air. A seam opens, revealing the darkness of the once-beautiful island. Directly in front of us is a boulder the size of a mini-bus, sitting on packed, black sand. It’s so big I can’t see any of the scenery beyond.
I can tell where the Crimson River is, though, because there’s a hazy reddish-orange glow in the sky beyond it. It surprisingly provides adequate light so that when my eyes adjust, I can see the rise of the craggy mountains beyond and several other boulders of near the same size around us spaced twenty to thirty feet from one another. They sort of remind me of a Stonehenge in that they seem strategically placed, but all I really care about is that they provide adequate cover.
We step through the rip, Carrick leading first, then Lucien. Next is Pyke looking very Charmeine-like, then me followed by Zaid and Boral. I glance over my shoulder to see the forest clearing we left behind before the edges of the rip start to draw together.
I’m amazed when it doesn’t close all the way, though, leaving a very thin line where I can see a thicket of cedar trees beyond. Boral stands station there as his instructions are to keep the rip open and to do that, the relic must remain close. He’s the last who would join any battle, but, of course, I expect he and Zaid’s primary purpose is to grab me and throw me through if things go bad.
I move a few steps from Boral to get closer to the group, hidden from anything on the other side—namely the entrance to Micah’s cave.
Lucien points to the left of the boulder and tells Pyke, “The beach of the barren ocean is just around that way. You’ll need to walk about half a mile before you see the entrance to the cave. Don’t get close, though… stay at least fifty yards back.”
“And do what once I get there?” Pyke asks, and I’m jarred that his voice is feminine to match the beautifully ethereal guise of Charmeine, although there’s no way to know how closely he actually matches her tone.
“Once you reach it, just walk slowly back and forth,” Lucien says. “Micah sits at his table, which faces the dead ocean, and broods. A lot. He’ll see you at some point.”
My curiosity gets the better of me, and I move to the opposite end of the boulder to peek around it. There are more boulders, and the lowest edge of the mountain is a sloping quarry of black shale. It leads up to various rocky ledges, and past that, to the sharp peaks. I can see where the beach’s edge meets the stone mountain, but I can’t tell in the dim light where the cave’s entrance would be. I suppose about half a mile down as Lucien told Pyke.
My eyes are drawn to the Crimson River, that flow of lava—a burning swirl of tortured souls—that comes from the Underworld and defies gravity to climb up into one of the mountains.