Page 57 of The Stone Survival
“I don’t know,” Ulrickson admitted. “I never investigated further. I was afraid of what they might do if they discovered I was attempting to find them out. All these years, they’ve been faceless entities, shadows hanging over me. They could be anyone. Anywhere. I’ve had no choice but to keep my peace.”
“We’ll need those coordinates,” Serath said. “The time for sitting back and doing nothing is over. We have to act now. Before they achieve their goal.”
“And what is their goal?” Ulrickson asked.
“They want to open the rift.”
“What?”
“I’ll tell you everything we know,” Levi said. “It’s a lot. But you need to give us all the intel you’ve gathered over the years. Everything. Not just the coordinates.”
Ulrickson sighed and nodded. “All right. The coordinates are to what I’m certain is one of their abandoned facilities. I don’t know what the inside is like, but there may be some information that can help you.”
“So youdidscope it out?” Orix said.
“I used a cloaked drone.” He looked across at Lionel. “I’ve checked the area several times since and found no movement. No heat signatures.”
“It’s a place to start,” Orix said.
“Then we better get planning,” Lionel said.
We had a tangible clue; now all we could do was hope it would lead us to more.
CHAPTER 29
The chair in the observatory wasn’t big enough for both me and Serath, but I loved curling up in his lap and stargazing. However, tonight, the mood was solemn. The conversation with Ulrickson had left Serath in a reflective mood. He was subdued and sighing a lot.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“I’m still processing.”
“All right.” I nuzzled closer to him and settled into the comfortable silence that stretched between us.
Lionel was arranging an orb to get us close to the coordinate location Ulrickson had provided. Once again, we’d be using it from inside the tower. Tomorrow night we’d hopefully find some clue about the faction. Something to lead us to them.
“I’ve hated Ulrickson for so long now,” Serath said, pulling me out of my thoughts. “I’m not sure how to stop.”
I stroked his chest. “You have a right to be mad. To hate the person who caused your parents’ deaths, but that person is now the faction. What Ulrickson did…staying quiet…I don’t condone it, but I understand his fear. Fear is what the faction was banking on. It’s how they’ve gathered their allies. But allies obtained through fear aren’t true allies. We have Ulrickson on board now.Probably Selas’s dad too. If we can bring down one of their active bases, then we’ll show all the other goyles under duress that this faction isn’t as powerful as they want everyone to believe.”
He kissed the top of my head. “I love your brain.” I offered him my lips, and he kissed me softly, lingeringly. “I love your mouth. Your body. Every fucking inch of it.”
My stomach flipped as his voice lowered an octave. “Oh? I think I’m going to need a demonstration of just how much.” I kissed his throat, then his jaw. “Maybe a repeat of last night.”
“Oh?” He chuckled, chest vibrating against me. “I can certainly do that.” He stood with me in his arms. “In fact, I think we should spend the day in bed and make sure you’re fully recharged before tonight.”
“Sounds good to me.”
I woketo the early rays of sunshine to find Serath watching me sleep.
“Now that’s not creepy at all.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But you are…beautiful.”
I wasn’t beautiful, not in a conventional sense, but Serath made me feel beautiful. He made me feel special, and the way he said it now, with such awe and reverence, tugged at the place deep inside me where our bond resided.
“Thank you.” I reached up to stroke his jaw. “You’re beautiful too, you know. Inside and out.” I kissed his jaw then his lips. “I love every inch of you.”
He moaned softly when I kissed his throat and ran my hands down his chest. “Every delectable inch.” I pressed closer, curling my hand around his arousal to elicit a groan.
