The Evolution of Fae and Gods (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 3)

“No, it wasn’t,” Carrick agrees as he stares down at the garlic bread. I suspect he might not have eaten today. “Do you need to get that in the oven?”

Rainey startles and blushes. “Gosh, yes… sorry. I’ll do that. You keep talking.”

“So, I got to thinking… many families have centuries-long traditions of entering the priesthood,” Carrick explains, giving a side glance at Rainey to make sure she is moving with the food. “While I was at the Vatican, I went into their archives that track the lineages of such families and found that the priest who wrote that manuscript citing Custodia angels was just such a family who took their priestly duties seriously.”

It clicks immediately. “He has a descendant who is a priest in New York,” I say with excitement.

“Wrong,” Carrick says emphatically, shooting me down. “But… he does have a descendant who was a priest in New York but left about five years ago. Fell in love with one of his parishioners and got married.”

“Saucy,” Maddox says in a voice filled with admiration.

I give him an elbow, seeing as how he’s standing so close and it’s hard to resist. Looking back to Carrick, I ask, “And did you find anything helpful?”

“Very,” he replies as Rainey comes back to the counter to stand beside him, eyes wide with interest.

When Carrick looks back at the oven, Rainey assures him, “Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes, I promise.”

“Great, I’m starving,” he says, then sets his wineglass down. “I’m going to make a long story short as I spent a few hours with this former priest. But bottom line, he had diaries and manuscripts handed down through his family, and it was a firmly held belief that there were indeed a group of angels called The Custodia. They were earth walkers, appearing human, and thus able to hide in plain sight. Supposedly, their job was to watch over certain humans and help guide their destinies. These priests, though, did not think these angels were divine, mainly because they walked the earth and aren’t mentioned in the Bible. He also said they were vastly different from guardian angels, who they believed were spirits of the deceased.”

“If not divine, then what are they?” Myles asks.

Carrick doesn’t look at Myles but rather his brother as he answers. “If not divine, then they’re most likely creatures of the gods.”

“You mean the same gods who created you?” I ask in shock.

“That’s what I’m thinking,” Carrick admits flatly.

“Created to play a part in their prophecies,” Maddox mutters.

My thoughts race as I try to comprehend this. “If I understand, I was destined by the gods to be part of a prophecy, and my job is to stop it. A Custodia angel would be watching over me and guiding me if necessary?”

That last part, I ask Carrick.

His gaze meets mine. “I’m not sure, but the last interesting thing I learned was that a Custodia angel is always near to their charge both spiritually and physically. They will often play important roles in their humans’ lives so they can stay on the right path.”

My eyebrows draw inward as something starts to niggle in my brain. “Close physically?”

Carrick nods, his eyes lighting up. He’s already figured something out, and he knows I’m headed in the right direction.

“Holy shit,” I murmur as the answer strikes me. “My aunt Tina.”

Rainey cocks her head in confusion. “Your distant aunt you’d never heard of who showed up after your dad died with guardianship papers in hand to take care of you and Fallon until you reached eighteen? That Aunt Tina?”

“That’s her,” I say with excitement. “She has to be my Custodia.”

“I think it’s very likely,” Carrick agrees. “So, we need to find her.”

“That’s easy,” I reply brightly, this being the best news I’ve heard all day. “She lives about an hour north. We keep in touch via email and text. She’s forever sending me photos of the gardens she works on.”

“We’ll go tomorrow then,” Carrick replies just as the oven timer dings. His gaze swings that way hopefully.

Rainey pulls the lasagna out as well as the bread. We eat family-style right at the counter as we each help ourselves to gooey, cheesy portions. Carrick asks about my meeting with Hostein, and I give him the basics. Rainey and Myles talk about their real jobs, and Zaid gets a second glass of wine, but it doesn’t loosen him up in any way.

“There’s one other thing,” Carrick says as he starts to serve himself a second piece of lasagna. “It looks like Kymaris has closed Fallon’s gallery down. It’s all boarded up, but there’s still some activity with daemons going in and out at night.”

I’m not surprised Carrick has eyes on the gallery. I’m sure he wants to know all he can about the Queen of the Underworld.