Page 3 of Stone Sentinels (Shadow Guardians #6)

EILISH

The Veil

“We need to talk,” Dragan says, as he sits down beside me. We’re outside the cottage and Pyre is showing Baron how to summon a spirit. It’s fascinating to watch. I’m not sure why Pyre has been teaching Baron all the things he has lately and I’m sure there’s a reason, but Baron has yet to tell me. And Pyre doesn’t exactly offer up information either. Not unless he has to.

The large gargoyle knocks his hip into me to get my attention. I turn to look at him with an apologetic smile. He looks so handsome, with a bashful flush to his olive complexion. It seems like a miracle to witness the slight pinkish stain on the high points of his cheeks and the tips of his ears. “We need to talk about what happened, Eilish.”

“What happened?” I repeat.

“The other night. When you fed from me…”

“Oh,” I say as my stomach drops. The expression in his eyes is searching and I figure whatever he wants to talk about, it’s probably not good. I know how Dragan feels about a succubus feeding from him. He’s already made that plainly clear.

“You look worried,” he says.

“I am,” I answer with a shrug. “But, this is how it always goes, Dragan.”

“Always?”

I nod and drop my attention to the ground before me. Baron and Pyre continue to talk in the distance and their voices are deep and low, almost mesmerizing in their tones. “We get close, and then you push me away again.”

“I don’t mean,” he starts.

“If you don’t want it to happen again—”

“That’s not what this is about, Eilish,” he insists as I face him with confusion. “I’m not running. Not anymore,” he explains. “But, I need to get my head together and figure out what this all means and how it ties into everything else.”

“What do you mean?”

He nods as if he’s aware he doesn’t make any sense. “I need to process the fact that you aren’t mine. Not exclusively.”

“A huge part of my heart is dedicated to you.”

“And to Revenant, and to Cambion.”

“We’re all bound in some way, Dragan,” I offer with a shrug.

“How are we all bound?”

“One cataclysmic event that we all witnessed or experienced connects us in a way we haven’t figured out yet. At least, that’s my theory,” I say. “I’ve shared Cambion’s bed, yours, Revenant’s, and Variant... came close. All of you were part of establishing the balance. But I think... I think there’s another side.”

“Cambion’s bed?” he repeats, his eyebrows furrowing. “When did that happen?”

“I don’t know,” I answer as I shake my head. “But, I can feel the truth of it in my bones. All those visions I witnessed of the two of us together… I don’t think they were visions of the future. I think they were memories of the past.”

“How is that possible?”

“How is any of this possible?”

He nods as he ponders my question.

“Aima says there’s a dark force out there, someone more powerful than Morrigan and Silvanus combined,” I say. “Each day, we learn more and more about Variant and Theren being puppets to some unseen master. There’s always another side of the story that we can’t see, a side that holds all the answers while we hold the questions.”

“Morrigan,” he repeats her name as he shakes his head.

“Do you trust her?”

“I don’t know,” he answers as he cocks his head to the side. “Morrigan protected you, yet she won’t say why. She brought Revenant back from the grave with forbidden magic and the reasons she’s given him are weak. Almost like she’s hiding something. Both of your memories are fractured at best. Who took yours? Who took his?”

“The answers are in the prophecies. I was only given part of one.”

I jump to my feet at the sound of Pyre’s voice. He rests his shoulder against one of the trees as Baron practices in the clearing. Pyre smirks and casts his sightless gaze around the forest.

“ Son and the son of Autumn and Summer. Death begets Darkness in horror’s spawn. Light upon the lust of the damned ones and the eye of the Forgotten’s soul. Maiden is to Shield as prick is to rose, but none does bow like the caster and bow.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Dragan grumbles.

Pyre snorts. “Prophecies rarely ever do. You’re lucky you weren’t in the mortal world when bards would sing their visions in mournful laments.”

“What’s the point of telling prophecies if no one can understand what the fuck they mean?” Dragan asks.

“The answers are often revealed when they are needed most. For example, Son and the son of Autumn and Summer . It speaks of brothers, Seelie and Unseelie,” Pyre explains.

“Cambion and Theren,” I say as Pyre nods. “Each line of the prophecy represents all of us?”

“Perhaps,” he answers. “Keep going.”

I nod as I replay the words in my head. “The next line must be about Dragan and Revenant? Death and Darkness?”

Pyre nods. “You’re the third line, Eilish.”

“ Light upon the lust of the damned ones and the eye of the Forgotten’s soul ,” Pyre repeats. “Angel is the light, and succubus is the ‘lust of the damned ones.’ I’ve been able to identify most of the people except the Forgotten, but I don’t know what each line actually means. Maiden and Shield are Kolvar and Aima, I imagine. The rest is a mystery to me.”

I brush the dirt from my legs and touch Pyre’s arm. “What about the last line? ‘But none does bow like caster and bow’?”

Dragan pulls me away. “It’s him,” he says as he motions to Pyre. “Pyre is the necromancer and the archer.”

“It speaks of my death, Eilish,” Pyre says, very matter-of-factly.

“Your death?” I repeat, shaking my head.

Pyre smiles. “We all must go sometime. Such is the natural progression.”

“What I want to know is who the seer is that gave you this part of the prophecy?” Dragan asks.

“She was a human and the woman for whom I sacrificed my soul,” Pyre responds.

“A human?” Dragan repeats, appearing surprised. “Is she…”

“She’s long dead,” Pyre interrupts. “She gifted me her book of prophecies and I’ve never been able to decipher them. You’re welcome to try, of course. Whether there will be more that pertains to you is unknown.”

Pyre leaves us to our thoughts and Dragan invites me to join him on a stroll through the forest. I know he’s cautious around the new members of our group, but he’ll soon learn to trust them as the rest of us have. Dragan surprises me by reaching over and tangling his fingers with mine. I glance down at our entwined hands and squeeze his. “This is nice,” I say.

“I’m sorry it took me,” he starts.

“Shh,” I say as I shake my head. “No more apologies. Let’s just focus on moving forward from this moment.”

He nods as he pulls me into his chest and kisses me. I melt into his embrace and wrap my arms around him, resting my head against his chest. I love him. I can feel the truth deep in my soul. I always have loved him.

I pull away and he reaches for my hand again as we continue our walk. We’re quiet for a while, just listening to the sounds of the forest around us.

“Aima is teaching me fae politics,” I offer.

“Great,” he drawls sarcastically. “Last thing we need is you storming the gates of Oronrel and demanding to speak to the king. Though that is something I could imagine you doing.”

“I wish I was that brave.”

Dragan slows as he turns to look at me. “You are. No coward could have taken Pyre to the other side of The Veil. Not to mention how many times you’ve fought beside us. You’ve changed, Eilish. I no longer see you as a helpless victim who needs my protection.”

I remove my hand from his and step into his arms again. I bury my face in his muscled chest and breathe him in. He’s been gone for too long, keeping himself away from me when all I’ve ever wanted was this. I yearn for his kindness as much as I hunger for pleasure. “I’ll always need your protection,” I whisper.

Dragan holds me and he feels like heaven. If only Cambion would show me affection like this. Both Dragan and Baron have begun treating me like I’m a person and not a she-demon. Why won’t Cambion? Why can’t he open his eyes and see me for who I am? Why won’t he recognize the fact that the four of us need each other, that it’s written in the prophecy. Why does he continue fighting it? Fighting me?

“Why are we so powerless, Dragan?”

“What do you mean?”

“Fate, destiny, the tides of the universe—why don’t we get to decide what we want?”

He releases me and stretches his arms above his head, causing his tunic to ride up and show off the sharp contours of his muscles. “No one has any idea what’s going on, Eilish. We have unfinished prophecies, hidden enemies shrouded by lies, and secrets we hold within ourselves that we haven’t even begun to unearth. What if there is no great plan and this is all there is?”

“You don’t believe in fate?”

“I believe in change . I’m living proof that people can change, so are Revenant and Pyre and Aima. Why make a plan if those in it are constantly changing?” he asks.

“My head hurts,” I answer as I kick a jagged stone that rolls across the ground. “I just want to make things right and I feel like we’re constantly being thrown ten steps back whenever we make an inch of progress.” I take a deep breath. “None of us is ready to face Variant. We learned that when we rescued Morrigan. And Theren is nearly twice as strong, well, according to what Aima says, anyway.”

“I’ve fought both of them before, and back then they weren’t protected by the magic they stole,” Dragan said. “Now they’re both much stronger.”

I nod. “Aima said someone is controlling them. And she believes whoever this person is, they ordered Theren and Variant to kill her sister and they used her sister’s powers to reinforce the palaces.”

“If that’s true, that means they’ve found a way to syphon magic,” Dragan says.

I nod. “I think that’s what they’re doing with the fae they capture.”

***

CAMBION

I feel her moving through the fog. She’s like the wind itself, soundless and unpredictable. Aima is hunting me. My jaw clenches as I pace, trying to track her movements as she observes mine from wherever she hides. She’s much better than she used to be.

“What are you after, Aima? You only do this when you’re angry with me.”

“Don’t pretend like you know me anymore, Cambion.”

“So, it’s Cambion now, is it?” I snicker. “Back at Raflamir’s home, you were still calling me by my title. Has something changed your mind?” She strikes then, slashing her sword toward my neck, but I outmaneuver her and block her blow with my sword. She glares at me beneath the fringe of her bangs. She’s still beautiful.

“You have to tell Eilish.” Aima bashes the hilt of her blade into my ribcage and rolls into a fighting stance. “If you don’t, Theren will—or she’ll remember soon enough. And she’ll never forgive you for taking her memories.”

“I didn’t mean to take all of them.” I lean out of the way of her next attack and kick her instep, causing her to fall off balance. She recovers quickly.

“So tell her that.”

I laugh without humor. “You think it will be so easy?” I pause for a moment or so. “I’m the reason her family is dead. She made a deal with a king she thought she could trust, not the man hiding behind the crown, and she paid the ultimate price.”

“Who was after them?”

“I never found out, but I’ve heard whispers that it was her father.”

“Her father?” Aima knocks the sword out of my hand and hisses in my face like a feral lioness. “Why do I get the feeling you’re offering information only when it suits you? These people are risking their lives for you, Cambion. You owe them the truth.”

“Haven’t I paid enough?” I ask as I drop to the ground and roll, grabbing my sword in the process. I’m back on my feet in a split second and I attack with a blind fury, moving my blade through the air so quickly that Aima struggles to defend herself. “I’ve paid in blood. I’ve lived a miserable existence filled with guilt and anguish. I lost everything, and they walk around here like the future is already set in stone.”

Aima drops to the ground and kicks my feet out from under me. “You know Morrigan’s fucking with your heads! She was your mentor and she watched your people fall to Variant and your brother. Don’t tell me you trust her over them.”

“I only trust myself.”

“Good luck with that when Variant’s army is knocking on your front door.”

With a flourish, Aima flips her sword and jumps out of my reach. I advance. “I need to talk to Theren. I need to know what my brother is thinking.”

“He isn’t thinking. He’s being controlled by someone who’s doing the thinking for him. Same thing with Variant,” Aima demands.

“You sound as though you have this whole thing figured out.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t, but I’ve figured out that much.

“Then who is controlling Theren?”

“I don’t know.” She takes a deep breath. “I want to see Theren as much as you do, but I was just in Oronrel and he wasn’t there.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I love him and I would sense him the moment I stepped inside the palace!” She knocks my blade to the ground again and drops her sword, as well. Then she shoves my chest with unexpected strength, causing me to fall before she climbs on top of me and uses her weight to pin me down.

“I know it hurts to hear me say that, but I do. I love him,” she says.

“It doesn’t hurt me to hear you say that.”

“Once upon a time it did.”

I cock my head to the side as I consider her words. “Once upon a time it did, but that time is long ago.” I take a deep breath. “Your love for Theren will get you killed.”

She shakes her head. “No, it won’t.”

I flip her over, locking my arms around her neck. “What do you know about my brother?”

“He’s breaking, Cambion,” Aima responds. “Variant will win if he attacks Oronrel, and Theren doesn’t care. Theren’s going after the throne of the gods and he’ll kill anyone who stands in his way. He seeks to destroy Abedon or he’ll die trying.”

“Abedon is dead.”

She chuckles darkly. “Might want to ask Morrigan that question again.”

I release Aima and help her to her feet. She grabs her sword and tosses mine to me. My lungs burn and my chest heaves, as I try to draw enough breath to soothe the disbelief coursing through me. “You’re saying that Morrigan lied?”

“We grew up together, Cambion. You, me, and Theren were like three beings who shared the same soul. The Midnight Queen practically raised us, but Theren and I always saw her for what she was,” Aima claims. “You never did.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean she’s manipulating the game, Cambion. Open your eyes and you’ll see she’s pitting you against everyone so you’re isolated. And isolated means you’re easier to pick off.”

“Leave me,” I say, suddenly angry.

“No,” she insists. “You need to come clean to Eilish and face the truth about Morrigan.”

“I said, leave me.” My shoulders slump and Aima tilts my chin up to gaze into my eyes.

“Morrigan has a plan. Variant has a plan. Theren has a plan. What’s yours?”

“I’m figuring it out.”

She shakes her head. “If you open your eyes, you’ll see that all of us are ready to fight beside you. Even me.”

“You don’t love me.”

“And you don’t love me. Not anymore.” She smiles and shakes her head. “Help them figure out the book of prophecies they’re losing their minds over.”

“The book of prophecies?” I repeat.

“Ask Pyre,” she says and takes a deep breath. “But, let me handle Theren.”

“You’re going back?”

“I always go back to Theren, even if I shouldn’t.”

“He isn’t right for you, Aima.”

“Neither were you, Cambion.” She takes a deep breath and faces me with a serious expression. “I’ll find the one I’m supposed to be with. You will, too, if you pull your head out of your ass long enough to see what’s been standing in front of you.”

We walk back to the cottage together, arriving just in time to see Eilish and Dragan return as well. She makes no effort to acknowledge me. It’s what I want and it’s what I’ve encouraged her to do, to ignore me. But it’s upsetting, nonetheless.