Heart of Stone

Heart of Stone

Original Cover

## Blurb

With Jason and Verity in southern California, Alastair Stone quickly discovers he misses his best friends and favorite confidants far more than he expected.

But it isn't long before he's got some new matters to occupy his mind: a student who may have fallen under the influence of a magical cult leader, and a budding relationship with a sexy, intelligent, and stunningly beautiful woman who's everything he never dared to dream of.

As his connection with his new lover grows ever deeper, Stone is drawn into a dangerous web of dark magic, an ancient, malevolent grimoire, and plans within plans that could lead not only to his own destruction, but those of his beloved and his student as well.

Pursued by a terrifying, magic-immune duo, Stone must unravel the grimoire’s purpose and defeat a powerful enemy before it's too late.

But what will he do if he's forced to choose between his innocent student and the woman he loves?

## Plot

Alastair Stone is on his own. Four months after leaving Ojai, he’s not dealing with his solitude well. He’s managed to get into a drunken bar fight, and the next evening, he’s being hassled by two young women in a club, who are trying to trigger their boyfriends’ jealousy. It works, but a woman Stone doesn’t know intervenes, pretending to be his date and defusing the situation. The woman, Deirdre Lanier, joins him at his table once the younger crowd wander off.

### Pause here a moment WARNING, Possible Spoilers Ahead

Stone is immediately captivated. He’s never seen a woman more beautiful and, though she seems into to him, he wonders why such a woman would bother with him. But he decides not to beg the question. He’s no fool – he checks her aura for deception or other issues, but sees nothing but clear blue and the red of sexual interest. The pair end up at her place, and enjoy a steamy, passionate night. Stone smiles wryly when he sees the scratches on his back the next morning. She’d gone to work before he woke, but left him a note to call her next week.

Alastair can hardly keep his mind off Deirdre, but forces himself to wait until the following week to call. He receives a visit from Ed Wells, the father of a student, Tabitha, at his Stanford office. Ed tells Stone he’s concerned his daughter has joined a cult, and nearly accuses Stone of leading her into it. Stone tells the man he doesn’t get involved in his students’ lives, he certainly doesn’t know about any cult, and the man should be speaking to his daughter, not Stone.

That night, Stone and Deirdre have dinner again, and he expresses his disbelief that she finds him so attractive. She reassures him that while she’s… experienced, he’s the first she gave her number to. She also says he’s the first who’s called back, and the first she worried wouldn’t. Once again, they spend the night together at her pace.

Tabitha Wells comes to Stone’s office the next day, upset that her father had come to him. She explains that the group she’s joined isn’t a cult, but a church – Church of the Rising Dawn. Stone reiterates that it’s none of his business, though he does caution her to keep her eyes open, in case the church isn’t what she believes.

With some time on his hands, Stone invites Stefan Kolinsky to lunch, and asks him about the church and its leader, Matthew Caldwell. He’s not thrilled to find out that Caldwell is a black mage, and very likely draws energy from his congregants – with their consent. And it’s not Stone’s business if he does. Unable to resist, and feeling terrible about it , Stone asks if Stefan has heard of Deirdre. He has not, and Stone feels even guiltier for asking.

Stone pays a visit to the Church of the Rising Dawn, unable to let it go. There, he’s apprehended by two beefy guys in black robes and hoods. Caldwell arrives, though, and calls them off. He’s well aware of who Stone is, as well as that Alastair could probably best him in any magical confrontation. Moreover, he claims to be a lover, not a fighter.

Caldwell seems entirely frank. Yes, he does draw power from his flock and, yes, he sleeps with some of them. But they are all adults of sound mind and consenting, and it’s none of Stone’s business. Alastair can’t help but agree that’s true. But he warns Caldwell that if he gets a whiff of that not being the case, he will be back.

Stone and Deirdre spend all the time they can find together, and Alastair wonders if he’s finally found love again. Then he realizes that he’ll have to tell Deirdre what he does for a living, because he wants her to accompany him to a university function. He’s told her Cultural Anthropology, but not the bit about the occult. But when he does come clean, she pooh-poohs the idea she’d find it off-putting, that the subject is fascinating.

They attend the function at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, and Stone is amused that every man’s eyes are on Deirdre. They steal a few moments’ privacy in a sarcophagus room and things get heated, until Mackenzie Hubbard and his wife happen on them. Hubbard is seriously taken with Deirdre, while his wife is decidedly not. That night, in bed, Deirdre muses her grandmother was a true believer in the occult. She even has an old book of hers that she’d like Stone to see sometime.

While Deirdre is away for a few days, Stone can’t keep his mind off her. In a departmental meeting, Mortensen catches him smiling for no reason. Then, he begins to doze, more tired than he should be. On the way back to the office, Hubbard makes sly insinuations about his fatigue, and recommends he get some rest so he can keep his lady satisfied. When Stone arrives home, there are two messages on him machine. The first is Verity, calling to say hello and how is he. The second is Deirdre. She’s back and asks him over. He rushes to clean up and get to her place, forgetting about calling Verity back.

After dinner, Deirdre brings out a box containing her grandmother’s book. When Stone examines it magically, he’s astonished to discover it’s one of the most powerful artifacts he’s ever seen…and one of the most malevolent. The book fascinates him so much that Deirdre gets bored. Once she draws his attention away, though, he’s once again focused on her. He closes the book back in its box and they head to the bedroom.

Deirdre’s book safely locked in his warded safe, Stone conducts classes in a kind of daze. During his office hour, Tabitha tells him she’s unhappy with her grades. He offers her extra credit for an essay on her church. Then she remarks that Stone was off in class earlier, and doesn’t look well. He should see Matthew Caldwell, who brews amazing herbal pick-me-ups. Stone is even more nonplussed when the admin aide, Laura, tells Stone he should take care of himself.

Alastair spends some time studying the book, becoming more convinced that it’s ancient, powerful, and a grimoire full of the blackest magic. He decides there is no way he can give it back to Deirdre; it’s too dangerous. He needs to safeguard the book.

He takes the Sunnyvale portal to his Surrey house, secreting the book behind robust wards in his hidden library. Marta is making him dinner back at A Passage to India, and he acknowledges he’s hungry, so he hurries back through the portals. There, Marta feeds him, and tells him he looks terrible, does he have health problems. He insists he fine, and may have met ‘the One’, which surprises even him. Marta is still worried, but delighted he’s happy.

Perversely, despite his fatigue that night, he can’t doze off, so he decides to go for a run to clear his mind. He’s accosted by two guys who demand the book. Realizing they plan to beat him up to get him to tell them where it is, he blasts them with magic – which does nothing. They are immune. He’s beaten badly, but still tells them it’s not where he can get to it. Then they threaten to rape Deirdre – apparently knowing all about his life – and Stone pulls on Harrison’s odd power he’s been avoiding using and blasts them both away. He’s not sure if he’s killed them or just knocked them away, but he stumbles off into the night.

Stone wakes up in a dumpster, where he didn’t recall hiding. A homeless man, Pete, finds him. Pete resets his dislocated shoulder, causing Stone to pass out, then gets him under his rain tarp. He also helps him to a payphone. Stone is desperate to make sure Deirdre is unharmed. He manages to call a cab and get home, then call Deirdre – he has to leave a message that she’s in danger. His last strength goes to getting upstairs into his bed and passing out.

Deirdre’s call wakens him a few hours later, and he sounds so bad, she says she’s coming right over. Alastair does his best to shower and sort himself out, but Deirdre isn’t fooled, especially when she insists on seeing under his shirt, his pants. She cleans up more of his cuts, heats him soup and gets him comfortable under blankets, all while Stone is insisting she listen, that she needs to be careful, and does she have any idea who wants the book. She seems appalled her book caused this, and offers to destroy it immediately. Alastair says it’s safe. She assures him she doesn’t take chances, and has a gun and knows how to use it. She leaves and Stone slips into oblivion.

He wakes from a nightmare of Deirdre being assaulted by huge, potent men that he can’t stop. On a mission, he pulls himself together and hurries to the Sunnyvale portal. Marta spots him and is shocked by his looks, but he waves her off. In Surrey, Aubrey, too, is upset by his condition, but he insists he hasn’t time for coddling, he needs to see to something urgently. Aside from making him a plate, Aubrey acquiesces. Alastair spends a couple of hours researching the grimoire, then heads back to Palo Alto and, noting Deirdre’s messages that she’s fine, and ignoring Jason’s, falls back into bed.

Back at Stanford, Tabby Wells visits Stone’s office to deliver her extra credit essay, and a gift – one of Caldwell’s pick-me-up concoctions. Once she leaves, Stone calls Caldwell, who assures him the mixture is safe and contains nothing illegal or proscribed. Its main ingredient is energy – energy he’s drawn from others. Disgusted, Stone drops it in his desk drawer and begins to leave, then turns around and grabs it to drop into his pocket before exiting.

Later, still feeling ill and achy, Stone rationalizes using the elixir to be in shape to protect Deirdre if they’re attacked. She remarks on him looking better, and asks how it’s going with her grandmother’s book. He tells her only that it’s a book used by people who think magic is real – spells and whatnot – and puts her off until he’s finished translating. They go to her place, but she says something’s off, like someone’s been there. They find nothing, but Stone takes her to his place, anyway, behind his wards. In bed, he blurts out that he loves Deirdre. The elixir is wearing off and he’s groggy, but notes she doesn’t say it back.

Stone translates a lot more of the book over the next few days – it’s horrific, magic of the blackest kind, requiring not only sacrifices, but multiple ones, even children. On his way back, Marta spots him in the restaurant and insists he sit with her for some coffee. She tells him he looks awful and she’s worried. He explains he’s fine, but is using the time zones between California and England to add hours to his day to get research done, and it’s only temporary.

During a date at the symphony, Stone is distracted. He asks Deirdre to sell him the book. She says she was planning on gifting it to him. When he goes to get the car (it’s raining), he’s confronted again by the two thugs, Leather Jacket and Polo Shirt. He reacts differently this time, using telekinesis to take their shoes – and feet – out from under them, and clothing to fling them away. But he can’t keep it up long. During the altercation he does learn that their boss is a mage. As he’s running out of options to survive without another beating, Deirdre arrives, and the thugs flee. On their way safely back home, a suspicious Stone tells Deirdre she needs to come clean about what she knows about the book.

Deirdre confesses she brought the book to Stone, wondering if maybe magic is real and her grandmother was a witch. She also tells him she loves him. And that she has no idea who the two thugs are or why they want the book. Stone reveals he’s a mage, and is relieved when she’s accepting. He also tells her the thugs aren’t human, though he doesn’t know what they are.

Stone makes a full-out push to finish translating the book, ending up with a series of rituals designed to grant anything from and extended life, to full immortality, but at horrific expense. When he describes how vile the book is, he asks her to give it to him so he can destroy it. She agrees, they can destroy it together. But, he doesn’t have it, so it’ll have to wait a day.

After a day in which he finally reads Tabitha’s extra credit paper on Caldwell’s church (finding it nothing very informative, and her personal note that she’s in love with Caldwell disturbing), he retrieves the book. He and Deirdre open it in front of the fireplace, but she begins kissing him, and…

Next morning she reminds him he has errands to run. Stone remembers agreeably, satisfied that the book is gone, maybe whoever wanted it will call off their thugs, and he and Deirdre can get back to building their life together.

Meanwhile, Jason gets a call from Marta, really worried about Alastair’s pale, weak look and serious bruises. She also passes on that he’s ‘met someone’. Jason consults with Verity, and they arrange to go back up to the Bay Area for a visit.

Edwina pays Stone a visit in his office and offers the university’s services for whatever is going on with him – dozing off in meetings or even missing them altogether. He reassures her that he’s just been missing some sleep, working on a project. Once she leaves he decides to blow off grading papers and run Deirdre’s errands, to make her happy.

The next morning, Jason and Verity show up on Stone’s doorstep. Not only is he cold and angry that they’re checking up on him, he and Jason nearly butt heads. Verity calms them down, and negotiates lunch at Otto’s to which Stone agrees. He returns to Deirdre, in bed, wondering why he was so angry. She asks how his errands are going, and he says he should be done by Monday.

Jason and Verity are both shocked by Stone’s appearance – if anything, Marta understated the problem. Verity had read his aura and knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t figure out how. But when Stone arrives for lunch, he’s looking almost completely normal, not like the pale, angry, twitching thing he’d been in the morning. Though Jason asks about the bruises, Stone warns him off. Verity again calms them and suggests dinner, all four of them. Stone agrees on condition Deirdre does. While Verity is away in the restroom, Stone confides to Jason he plans to propose. Afterward, Verity tells Jason Stone’s aura is definitely off – she’d checked when she stepped away from the table.

At dinner, Verity is annoyed and concerned that Jason practically drools over Deirdre. The woman is pretty, definitely, but his and Stone’s reactions are over the top. She confronts Deirdre in the restroom, telling her she’s going to figure out what’s wrong. Deirdre remarks that Verity is jealous, wishing she had Stone. But she’s otherwise reasonable, saying Stone needs friends who look out for him so well.

On the way home, Jason and Verity debrief, with her feeling foolish and wondering why she confronted Deirdre. Yet, she still doesn’t understand the men’s reactions, either. She’s also still wondering how Stone went from a wreck to looking more himself in four hours. Jason decides to have Fran check into Deirdre.

Deirdre asks Alastair about Jason and Verity, how they met and such. He’s surprised he never even mentioned his best friends. He explains Verity’s his apprentice. As a sidebar he assures Deirdre she has no magic, after explaining the gender-inheritance of magic. She is momentarily surprised he checked, but unconcerned that he found nothing. She asks to see the items he’s been picking up for her.

Stone visits Kolinsky to ask about a black magic grimoire, and Stefan quickly puts the pieces together. He tells Stone an uber-black mage from Europe, Elias Richter, is hunting for it. It had been stolen from him six months prior. Stone says he burned it, and hopes that’s will end Richter’s quest. Kolinsky, of course, wants to discuss the contents of the grimoire at a later date.

Alastair is troubled that Deirdre apparently lied about the book, and wonders how she even knew someone like Richter, if she even did. He decides to ask her tomorrow, and then see about ring shopping.

Deirdre being away, Verity and Jason have dinner at Stone’s and he fills them in on all that’s happened, including the parts about her lying. But he assures them she’ll have a good explanation. Kolinsky summons Stone to his shop the next day, and for access to Alastair’s notes from the grimoire, warns him that Richter is in the area looking for the book, offering a big reward. He gives Stone a number Richter has circulated to reach him with information.

On Stone’s return to his office, he finds Matthew Caldwell there, asking if he’s seen Tabitha – she’s gone missing. Stone noted she’d been absent from class, but has no idea where she might me. At home, Deirdre is waiting. She has a surprise for him that she won’t give him info on. She tells him to heat up Verity’s leftovers, then they can go to where she’s hidden it.

Before they can leave. Jason and Verity arrive with the information from Fran that Deirdre Lanier doesn’t exist. A confrontation breaks out, with Verity flinging magic to get Deirdre away from Stone, Stone dropping Verity with magic, and Jason decking Alastair with his fist. Stone comes to, alone. He tries to call Deirdre – who he remembers was unharmed by Verity’s blast. He then begins remembering his errands for Deirdre. He retrieves his bag from the car and examines the contents – things needed for one of the grimoire’s rituals. As he’s fighting to put it all together in his mind, the doorbell rings. Deirdre is back, and she doesn’t look like he remembers.

Meanwhile, Jason is driving Verity away, aimlessly. She wakes to find her arm is broken, and heals it. Jason is confused, angry that Verity hit Deirdre, that Stone hit Verity. She sees the red in Jason’s aura and carefully pulls it away so Deirdre’s influence is no longer messing with him, adding a block to prevent it happening again, and convinces him to go back to Stone’s.

Deirdre is confessing all to Stone, how she’d manipulated him to translate the grimoire she’d stolen, and kidnapped Tabitha – all of it. But now Richter has taken the grimoire and Tabitha and plans to sacrifice her. Deirdre only wanted to drain her, to stay young and beautiful… Stone is horrified, angry, but somehow still sees Deirdre as he always has, beautiful. He truly loves her. Still…

She’s from a unique race that renews their youth from others – Lane and Hugo, the thugs, are the male version, drawing energy from violent sex, rape. She’d tried to seduce Richter, but he was playing her. He imprisoned her and went off to find a component he needed for the immortality ritual. She seduced her way out and, Stone’s name being on Richter’s list of people capable of translating the grimoire, stole the book and set out to seduce him to do the ritual so she could stay young. She kept on with it after falling for him, thinking that after, they could have forever together.

Jason and Verity arrive and, after a lot of arguing back and forth, they all settle and try to plan to find Richter and stop him murdering Tabitha. Stone calls Caldwell to meet them. Jason has Fran reverse lookup the phone number Kolinsky gave him to get Richter’s location.

They all drive to Richter’s rented mansion in Woodside, hoping to stop him. They first have to pierce an illusion hiding the place – while convincing Caldwell not to murder Deirdre for endangering Tabitha – he truly loves her. Then mundane guards – all women, so Deirdre can’t influence them. Then, some kind of summoned demon. Jason is clawed by the demon, but Verity heals him, and Stone is even more grateful he sent her to Edna. Jason’s still weak from blood loss, but Caldwell gives him some elixir to energize him, and Verity, as well.

Next, mundane security cameras, a robust ward, and yet another illusion stand in their way. Finally inside, they find Richter inside a shield, Tabitha inside a circle, with tubes seeming to drain her life energy as Richter conducts the ritual. Lane and Hugo attack, along with another squad of female guards under their thrall. Stone kills Hugo, along with Richter’s shield. Verity accounts for Lane, though he escapes, and the others down the guards.

Caldwell flings magic at Richter and Stone uses the moment to incinerate the grimoire. Richter flees. The ritual is still going under its own power, though, and Stone sees no way to stop it. But Deirdre does. She races into the circle and Caldwell telekinetically grabs Tabitha while Deirdre takes her place. The ritual reaches its end, draining Deirdre while Stone channels the drawn energy into the ether, not wanting such ill-gotten gains for himself. When it’s over, Tabitha is mostly safe, Verity doing her best to heal her. Deirdre, though, is now an old woman, appearing at least 85 years old.

A month later, Stone receives a call from the nursing home where he’s placed Deirdre. He goes to her, and is with her when she dies.