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Looking around, I decided it had been generous of Imogen to allow me to use Ryleigh's study for this. Bookcases lined the walls between floor-to-ceiling lead paned windows, arched just like the ones in the student dormitory. There was a worktable on wheels in the center of the room, easily moved for times like this, when space was needed for a working.
Using a small bag of salt Imogen had provided, I drew my circle carefully, and set the candles, more to sanctify the space than for defense. Amaryllis was a guide. I didn't need protection from her, but she was picky about protocol. If I didn't do everything by the book she might not show up.
Spooning salt into a cup of spring water, I made my first round, then a second with lit incense. My third time around, I paused at each compass point, asking the elements and their attendant spirits for help.
Finally, I lit the candles on my travel altar in the middle of the circle and sat before them, banishing doubt and inviting tranquility into my working.
The altar’s flat, black top was scribed with the triple moon in silver. I opened one of the four small drawers on the front and pulled out a palm size labradorite sphere, its depths striated with lines of color ranging from midnight blue to moss green, and bronze. This would be my focusing object as I called on my guide.
Settling myself before my altar, I closed my eyes and centered my chi, cradling the sphere in my palms and drawing peace into my mind. After a moment, my heart slowed and my thoughts calmed. Unlike the last time I'd called on Amaryllis, I was able to release the stress of the last half hour and achieve mental balance.
That it might not last past this meeting was something I refused to think about.
"Amaryllis. I call upon you as protector and guide for assistance." I sat back, pleased that I'd managed something a little more formal than my previous, desperate plea.
A breath, two and the atmosphere thinned, flickering around me like flames, without heat. I opened my eyes.
Amaryllis floated on the other side of my altar, a vaguely humanoid figure with long, golden hair and flame-like eyes. An unfelt wind teased her flowing white robes, causing them to ripple around her body.
"You have been fighting again," she said, skipping the pleasantries as usual. For an eternal being, Amaryllis had remarkably little patience.
"Sometimes it can't be avoided. What do you know about a demon named Drakat?" I'd learned in my first interactions with the guide to be as direct as she was, or risk losing my connection to her.
"Conniving, ambitious, ruthless, and greedy. As Countess of Belfast, she controls the demon population within the city, and owns the souls of several hundred human citizens."
"Imogen Chase told me as much. What are her weaknesses?"
"Her ambition drives her, giving her extraordinary focus, but it is so strong that it also creates a blind spot. She has been seeking ways to climb the ranks by increasing her territory. But this is difficult to do alone, and other demons are too wary of her to form the necessary alliances." Amaryllis tilted her head to the side, eyeing me curiously. "You would do well to avoid challenging her directly. Blinded, she may be, but Drakat is powerful, and she is no fool. You will not emerge victorious without paying a high price."
A shiver licked its way down my spine. Amaryllis didn't issue warnings lightly.
"I understand," I said. "What can you tell me about a time stone?"
Her fiery eyes flared brighter and I had to make a conscious effort not to flinch. "The time stone is lost," she said. "And so it should remain."
I drew a sharp breath. In a decade of interaction with Amaryllis, I had never known her to be wrong about anything — not the smallest detail. She usually knew what I needed before I did, and prepared her answers accordingly.
"An imp named Grag found something he's calling a time stone. He also referred to it as a soul stone."
Amaryllis' form went transparent and I thought for an instant she was going to leave without answering me. When she regained her composure, she settled to the ground, further shocking me. "The Caraigama has been lost for centuries. If it has been found..." She trailed off, her tone uncertain. After a moment, she looked at me. "Wait here," she said, and vanished.
I blinked. This was bad. Amaryllis appeared flustered and worried, two emotions she had never exhibited before. The entire summoning felt off-kilter. What is happening?
A faint popping noise drew my attention and I looked up to see Amaryllis floating before me, her normally placid expression anxious.
"The stone is called Caraigama. They are black as obsidian –”
“Wait. They? There’s more than one?”
Impatience marred her features. “No. Caraigama is non-binary. Please listen. When last seen, they were set into a cloak pin in the form of the Ouroboros."
"The snake that eats its tail?"
Amaryllis nodded regally, regaining some of her usual imperturbable mien. "Even so. They are a soul stone."
"Like Doirsain and Solcruth?"
The look she gave me was at once pitying and impatient, and I wondered how hard she had to work not to roll her eyes. "Yes. Caraigama has the power to transport their bearer to any time past or future. They cannot move one through space, however."
"So, when you travel, it takes you to the exact place you are standing, but in another time?"
"Yes. And it will only carry the person it is in physical contact with, plus anyone and anything in skin-to-skin contact with that person."
"OK," I said, mulling that over. "Can you tell me who possesses it now?"
My eyes widened as Amaryllis's porcelain smooth brow creased in a worried frown. "The line of possession is broken."
"What does that mean? The imp had it — which suggests he owned it."
"As you know, by the law of stones, one cannot obtain control of a soul stone through theft or coercion."
"Sure. You can receive a soul stone as a gift, or through inheritance."
"Or by bloodright. Kill the owner and you gain possession." Amaryllis had calmed, her face impassive once more, her tone detached and clinical, waiting for me to understand the implications.
"I can't see anyone giving Grag a soul stone, so I'm guessing he killed the previous owner." Something tugged at my thoughts. What did Grag say when I asked him where he got it? "But he didn't say — he said he found it. Those were his words."
"Just so. And one cannot acquire a lost stone by mere discovery."
I shook my head, confused. "Then Grag isn't the owner. He can't give it to Drakat, even if he wants to. Only the rightful owner could do that." I looked up at her. "Do you know who the rightful owner is?"
Sighing, Amaryllis's flame-like eyes dimmed. "I know who he was."
When she said nothing more, impatience boiled in my chest. "Who?" I asked.
"Simon Blackwell."
I felt the blood drain from my face in a cold wave. "Then... I'm the rightful owner?"
"As you did not kill Mr. Blackwell, you do not own Caraigama."
A strange mixture of relief and disappointment coursed through me, setting my heart thudding heavily in my chest. I had enough responsibility controlling Doirsain. I didn't want another powerful amulet in my possession. Did I?
But if it belonged to Simon, and he was dead... "Blackwell's dead. He can't own a soul stone. Who are his heirs?"
"He had none."
Shit. This is way more complicated than I thought it was going to be when I took the job.
Isn't it always? Sasha's ironic voice drifted through my mind and I snorted.
No lie.
I glanced up and saw that Amaryllis was fading, her body already transparent. "Wait." I jumped to my feet. "Who owns it now? Grag said he found it, so not him, but someone has to, right?"
She stopped fading, her appearance milkier and more condensed than a moment before, but not solid. "Caraigama has no owner now, something that has not happened to a soul stone in a thousand years. If they wish, they may bond with a new bloodline."
"And if they don’t wish?"
"Then the choice remains with them. They may have their own reasons for helping the one who holds them, but they are not bound to do so as Doirsain and Solcruth are."
"You said Caraigama is non-binary. Are the stones sentient?"
Amaryllis did not answer. Instead, she faded again. "I can only tell you this; If Drakat bends Caraigama to her will, the world will suffer in ways that you cannot imagine."
"Come back!" I shouted, but the room was empty.
