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

No secret writings, no weird talismans, and no crazy drawings in that damn sketchbook. About the only thing he could glean was she was a restless sleeper, but he had no way to be privy to what her dreams might be.

A growl of frustration rose within him, and he strode from her room.

He knew there was one more roommate—her employee, Adira, and he wondered where she could possibly sleep. In the hallway, he glanced up to see an attic trapdoor, but the small chain hanging down was well out of reach, and he felt it unlikely her room was up there.

Basements weren’t the norm in Seattle, so he was confident the only place left would be the small, detached garage outside. He exited the house through the side kitchen door, crunched across the gravel driveway, and bent to try to lift the single garage door. It wouldn’t budge, but he didn’t use much effort. Instead, he wandered around to the back, found a regular door, and used his lock picks to gain entrance.

He did nothing more than poke his head in, confirming it was indeed someone’s living area, but he didn’t bother searching it. It was Finley he was after, and he was confident her roommates knew nothing about her abilities.

He knew that because he’d overheard her telling Titus just yesterday that knowing these things and having no one to talk to about them was a lonely existence. He had pushed away that tiny stab of empathy he had felt upon hearing that.

Stepping out of the detached garage, he relocked the door and considered doing another sweep of the house. He quickly decided against it, feeling it was a long shot. He was pretty confident Finley was clueless about the prophecy.

Before leaving, he decided to check out the backyard just to be thorough. Rounding the back corner of the house, he spied a set of steps leading onto the deck, but before he could lift a foot, he noticed the rose garden planted just off the back.

Grimacing, he took in the two large beds filled with rose bushes that, while blooming as they were wont to do in the summer months, were scraggly and weak looking.

He fucking hated roses. If he had a scythe in hand, he’d cut every one of them down to the base. Instead, he turned his attention from them to the deck. Before he could take a step up, he froze at what he saw.

Veda—god of Humanity—was there, casually lying on an outdoor wooden chaise. Her hair was pulled to the side in a loose braid that hung over one shoulder, the black, gray, and white making a beautiful pattern. Gods rarely entered the earthly realm, so Carrick was completely surprised to see her there.

Perhaps from amusement, or maybe it was a coincidence, but Veda was dressed similarly to the way Finley would on any given day. She had on gray skinny jeans, red Chucks, and a red-and-black flannel shirt.

Slowly walking up the steps, Carrick asked, “What are you doing here?”

Shrugging, Veda nodded to the chairs that surrounded a small table beside her. “Checking in to see what’s happening.”

Which was a lie. Veda could sit within her godly realm, and with just a mere thought, she could check in to see how things were going. He wondered how much of a stake she held in this prophecy.

“Find what you’re looking for?” she asked as Carrick slumped into one of the chairs.

“Nope,” he replied, and because he didn’t dare be vague with a god, especially one with such immense power, he added, “I wanted to know if she had any idea about the prophecy that she wasn’t telling me.”

“Why wouldn’t she tell you?” Veda asked, head tilted curiously.

“She doesn’t trust me,” Carrick muttered.

“So, give her a reason to trust you,” Veda replied in that sweet, tinkling voice of hers.

Carrick merely shot her a side glare at the notion.

“There are rumblings,” Veda murmured, but even though her voice was low, it was filled with warning. “Word is getting around there’s a human with extraordinary abilities.”

“Fuck,” Carrick muttered. It meant Finley would be in danger as he suspected would happen. The fae world didn’t take kindly to humans in general, but one that could easily ferret them out would be a threat.

“You must be vigilant,” Veda said, sitting up on the chaise and swinging her legs to the side.

This was an understatement, and he nodded his affirmation of that fact. Why this was such a bother was because he had no clue how long until this prophecy decided to rear its ugly head. He was getting nowhere trying to learn more about Finley’s abilities, hoping that would lead him to learn about the prophecy. And Stan’s prediction that something dark was coming was useless. Prophecies were always dark and foreboding.