The Revelation of Light and Dark (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 1)

I swallow hard, trying not to think how terrifying that creature is and how incredibly lucky that man was that I came down the alley.

How lucky I am Carrick followed because I probably would have been that succubus’ next meal.

I suppress a shudder. Suddenly, I feel exhausted. “I think I’d like to go home now.”

A curt nod is all I get from Carrick, and we start walking toward The Prestige and it’s not lost on me that he keeps his strides a bit slower so I can keep up with him.

But even as tired as I am, I’m still curious. “What happens to Light Fae when they die?”

“Lots of glowing light and floating sparkles,” he mutters. The exact opposite of what I witnessed, but that makes sense.

“Do they go back to Heaven?”

Carrick shrugs. “No clue. Don’t care.”

Of course he doesn’t care. He doesn’t seem to care about anything more than himself. “And daemons… what happens if they die?” I press for more info since he seems to be in a revealing mood.

“Their death matches their aura usually, but what something looks like on the outside doesn’t necessarily match the inside.”

Another thought strikes, this one far more important than what happens to supernatural creatures when they die. “You said the succubus’ powers didn’t work on you? Why is that?”

“None of your business,” he replies, and I’m not shocked. I’m pretty convinced Carrick’s not human, or, if he is, he has gifts and unique abilities like I do. But I don’t expect him to tell me the truth about his nature.

“How did you break her neck so easily? Do you have military training or something? Were you like a Navy SEAL?”

“You watch too much TV,” Carrick mutters, glancing at me as we walk side by side. “But tell me… I saw you kick that guy. Fairly sure you could have held your own with him. How do you know how to do that?”

Questions from the man who won’t give me the full truth about himself? That’s adorable. I merely smile sweetly up at him. “None of your business.”

Carrick grunts, or maybe it’s a laugh—I’m not sure—and we continue in silence.

When we reach The Prestige, Carrick orders one of the valets to retrieve my car and unceremoniously leaves me standing there as he walks to the revolving doors without so much as a goodbye.

But just before he reaches them, he turns and orders, “Six PM tomorrow. Be here.”

“I can’t,” I reply, prepared to stand my ground.

His eyebrows rise, and his expression says he’s clearly not used to being defied. “And why not?”

“Because in case you’ve forgotten, we sign all the paperwork tomorrow to make One Bean mine.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” he replies with indifference. “And it will be part mine, too, until your loan is paid back.”

Whatever. Ignoring that, I advise him, “Well, it may not be a big deal to you, but it is to me. And my sister and friends are throwing a celebratory dinner for me tomorrow night, so I won’t be able to come to your place. I’m taking the night off.”

Carrick’s gaze bores hard into mine, and there’s a twitching muscle at the corner of his mouth. Finally, he just nods. “Then be here the next evening.”

“Got it,” I reply, hearing my trusty Subaru pulling up into the arched drive. Carrick starts to stride away. “Oh, and I also can’t work on Saturday, so don’t even think about asking me to come.”

Carrick doesn’t even acknowledge me.

“I have a date,” I call after him. “I won’t be canceling it.”

His stride falters, so minutely I barely recognize it, but it does all the same. Still, he keeps going toward the revolving doors as if what I said wasn’t even important enough for a response.

But I know.

I saw it.

My refusal to come Saturday is bothering him, too.

CHAPTER 14

Finley

This is normally not my thing—a trendy restaurant with tiny plates of food meant to be passed and shared while we all socialize politely with the person to our left, right, and across the table.

But Fallon planned this celebration, so I had expected no different.

Now, if it were up to me to plan my celebration over becoming a new business owner, it would have most likely been at my house with a keg and burgers on the grill.

That pretty much describes the difference between my sister and me to a tee.

But I love her, and I’m incredibly touched she’s so proud of me. So much so I even tolerate the fact Blain is along for the ride, but, thankfully, he’s taking phone call after phone call, continually needing to step away from the group.

Fallon invited those who mattered the most to me—except for Blain. Obviously, my closest friends—Rainey, Myles, and Adira. Rich is here, and I suppose this is partly his celebration, too, as he’s over the moon he could help his son with his new venture and is ready to tackle full retirement. My day and night shift managers are here, as well as the three assistant managers who rotate in. While I would have loved to have invited the entire staff, there was just no way to do so without closing One Bean down and we couldn’t do that.