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

“Either you help me, or I’m going to try to figure it out myself, then I’ll probably end up splicing myself into a million pieces.”

“Finley,” Carrick warns.

“I’m serious, Carrick. I need to know how to use these powers. Bending distance will not only help me travel with you, but it can get me out of a jam very quickly if I need it.”

Bending his head, Carrick sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. I can tell he knows I’m right about this and hating every moment of it.

When his gaze comes back up to mine, he says, “Fine. We’ll work on it.”

“Today,” I press.

“Today,” he capitulates, then his eyes start to lighten up, and his voice turns silky. “But… I think first we need to test out the strength of this table.”

My entire being becomes electrified, and yes… I want the man again.

Right now.

On the table.

And any other opportunity we have.

Because while I cannot understand our connection or what the fates have planned, I know that the greatest probability is still that we are living on borrowed time.

CHAPTER 12

Finley

“I didn’t know how much I needed this,” I say as I prop my feet up on the edge of the big fire table on the top deck of the Fantasia. It’s a little chilly, hovering in the low sixties, especially with the breeze off the water, but I’m bundled in warm leggings, a long sweater, and a wraparound shawl over it.

I have a cup of hot chocolate in my hand, having denied Rainey and Myles’ offer of a beer or some other alcoholic cocktail when I arrived.

I declined because I realized as Carrick is now trusting me out on my own—although I have no doubt he probably has people watching the boat—I don’t want myself impaired at all in case something were to happen. So I explained that to them, assuring them they were free to drink.

Sweetly, after we had dinner, Rainey made a pot of homemade hot chocolate with whipped cream on top, and we came out onto the top deck and lit the fire table for ambiance. It does little to give off warmth, but it’s pretty to look at, along with all the other lit boats on the lake.

Over dinner, I had a lot to fill them in on, from our visit with Sarvel and everything we learned about my birth to Otto Von Schmidt and his knowledge of changelings we have to discover, and the Stratherton meeting to discuss their suspicion of Fallon.

While Carrick was off finding out how to locate Otto Von Schmidt, I regaled my friends with some of the amazing things I’d learned about Carrick historically, such as some of his names and areas he’d lived in.

He moved around a lot as people around him aged and he didn’t, often going country to country and reinventing himself. Of course, he was always on call to serve in whatever capacity a god might call him forth on. I did not like some of the things he had to do, such as fight bloody wars, perform assassinations, or seduce women, but I knew his past was his past, and for the moment, I was his present and that’s all that mattered.

What I haven’t told them is that Carrick and I have been intimate. It’s not because I want to keep it secret, but I also don’t want to just blurt it out. Mostly, I don’t want to downplay this as just sex because Carrick has said it’s more. Zaid has said it’s more. And I know that it’s more because I can palpably feel it when we’re together.

It’s nice just sitting here with warm mugs of chocolate in our hands and hanging out together.

“What else exciting has been going on with you, Finley?” Myles asks. “I feel like we’re living vicariously through you.”

Well… I had amazing sex with a demi-god who I think I might be really in love with.

“Carrick is teaching me to bend distance,” I say instead, not ready to delve into my personal love life. The segue wasn’t right.

“Really?” Rainey exclaims, sitting up a bit.

“He wasn’t happy about me wanting to learn it, but I have this power inside of me, and Sarvel said I needed to learn how to use it. And if I can master it, it could be a great defensive tool to help get me out of a pickle should I find myself in one again.”

“Can you do it?” Myles asks.

“Sort of,” I drawl, remembering the two hours this afternoon that Carrick and I practiced on the upper floor of the condo.

He had started by teaching me the theory—which was to imagine someplace that I wanted to go first. It didn’t have to be a place I’d been, but one I recognized. For example, I’ve never been to Paris, but I’ve seen the Eiffel tower in pictures.