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I want to tell him such a thing is impossible. Only the gods have the power to strip another of their power or grant it to a mortal. But here Rune stands, freed from his prison and confidently telling me he wants to be the god of Life again. It’s nothing more than a potent reminder that I truly know nothing of this world. It means there are endless possibilities and I cannot doubt that Rune has the ability to do as he desires.
My gaze cuts to Ariman, who wields the Blood Stone. Why does he have it and not Rune?
“How did you get it?” I ask, the question not pointed to either in particular.
Rune nods to Ariman. “My most trusted and devoted follower. His loyalty is only surpassed by his knowledge and the power he acquired through stone magic when he was made immortal. It really was a spectacular feat.”
I look to Ariman. His chest puffs out under Rune’s praise.
“How did you do it?” I demand.
Ariman moves to stand before me. “I used time to my benefit.”
“Stop talking in riddles,” I snap savagely. “Spell it out.”
Ariman slowly walks around me, and I follow him by twisting my neck. “I used magic to rewind time. I went backward and stole the Blood Stone.”
“Time travel?”
“Time manipulation,” he clarifies as he comes back around to face me. “I revisited the moment when Carrick opened his vault to place the gem in it for safekeeping. I waited, suspended between the past and present where I could not be seen. The second he placed the stone in the vault but before he could close the door, I stopped time.”
“Stopped time? You mean, you froze him?”
“No,” he says with condescension, as if I can’t fathom his greatness. “Time stopped where nothing advanced or retreated except for me. It’s far more complex than simply freezing those in my immediate vicinity. I stopped the universe from advancing for a few seconds.”
My mind races as I consider the repercussions of that claim. If he did, in fact, stop everything from moving, the gods would have felt it. They would have known something had happened and investigated.
Wouldn’t they?
“I don’t buy it. The gods would have felt it. They would have stopped you.”
Ariman tips his head back and laughs, a hand going to his stomach. “Foolish girl.” I should be offended he calls me a girl and not a god, but I’m reduced to nothing more than a young woman with no confidence or ability to help herself. “This only proves you know nothing of the gods. In their vanity and some would argue, laziness, they don’t bother themselves with much at all.”
That’s not true. They’re constantly appraising the worlds over which they govern. Otherwise, Cato wouldn’t have destroyed Calandria.
Unless… that was no more than alleviating boredom.
I feel sick to my stomach and more alone than ever. I have no one I can depend on to get me out of this situation, for the gods are the only ones powerful enough to have an inkling of how to help me.
Maddox flashes through my mind. He loved me once and would’ve moved mountains to save me, but that bond has been broken through my own fault, my misguided notion that I had to cut myself off from such things. I’m sure Finley was beside herself with worry when Uorsin and Mattia appeared, but she and Carrick will struggle to figure out what’s going on.
And if the gods are indisposed as Ariman claims… then I truly am alone.
My gaze moves from Rune to Ariman. “What happened after you stopped time?”
Not that I really care, but I don’t want to see what happens to me after they’re done gloating about their achievements.
Ariman lifts his chin and smiles with pride. “I stepped from the present into the past and grabbed the Blood Stone from under Carrick’s nose. I left a replica and retreated to my own present. I restarted time and Carrick closed the door on the fake gem, none the wiser he’d been duped.”
“Unbelievable,” I whisper.
Ariman seals the rest of his story. “I used the stone to bust Rune out of prison, juice up Valshour to take you and the other gods prisoner, and here we are.”
I shake my head, something not making sense. “The Blood Stone shouldn’t be strong enough to take down a god. It wasn’t strong enough for Kymaris to bring down the veil without sacrifices being made.”
Ariman and Rune exchange a knowing look, but it’s Ariman who explains. “The Blood Stone is far more powerful now than what it was. Every god should fear it.”
“What? How?” I exclaim because he’s not exaggerating. He believes it.
