Page 8 of Stone Sentinels

“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 doesbowlike 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 inchange. 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.”

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