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

The Dark Fae sits back casually on one of the sofas, his son leaning against the corner of the free-standing fireplace, arms crossed defensively over his chest. It’s clear he doesn’t like his father being here.

“Boral,” Carrick says, pulling me in closer to him. “This is Finley. She’s under my protection. Any harm to her will be cast back a million times over to the creature responsible. Am I clear?”

Eyes alight with clear interest, Boral’s gaze comes to me. I can see a thousand questions within them.

And then Carrick does something that causes my heart to squeeze in adoration more than him pulling me in close as a cherished possession. He releases his hold on me, stalks a few steps away, and nods my way. “But she’s dangerous in her own right. She’s skilled with all forms of iron and took down a starving incubus on her own. I wouldn’t get on her bad side.”

Boral chuckles and inclines his head my way, but there’s nothing warm or gregarious in his smile. It’s sly and shifty as he says, “Pleasure to meet a friend of Carrick’s.”

“And mine,” Zaid utters in a low voice.

The meaning is clear… I’m under his protection, too, and I’ve never wanted to hug the daemon more than I do right now.

Carrick doesn’t take a seat in the furniture grouping, but merely tucks his hands into his pants. “You said you have some information about Kymaris. I’m curious as to why you even think we’re interested in her?”

Boral shrugs. “You were asking about the Underworld the other day. Since it was of interest to you, and Kymaris is its Queen, I figured it might interest you to know that she’s here in the Earth realm.”

Carrick lets Boral see by his bland expression, he’s not surprised by this revelation. “And what do you want in return?”

“Nothing,” Boral says, crossing one leg over the other and casually placing his arm along the back of the couch. His eyes shift over to Zaid. “Just taking an opportunity to help my son and perhaps restore our relationship.”

Zaid snorts, which causes Boral’s black eyes to flash red. But he banks the fire quickly, turning back to Carrick with a pleasant smile. “Is that a good enough reason?”

“Maybe,” Carrick intones dryly. “But I’m curious as to why you’d give us information against your queen.”

This time, Boral is the one who snorts and waves a hand. “She’s not my queen. When I was summoned from the Underworld, I was glad to be out from under her rule. Here in the Earth realm, I’m free such as I could never be under her. I’ve got no loyalties there, and while many Dark Fae and some of their progeny here in the Earth realm will gladly return to her, there are many who won’t, including me.”

That seemed to ring true to me. Here in our realm, he was free to ravage the humans for pure pleasure for thousands of years and with no consequences. I doubt he had that much fun in the Underworld.

Carrick ponders this before nodding. “Let’s hear what you have to say.”

“It’s a good story,” Boral assures us, then waves to the seats adjacent to him. “Might as well sit.”

“We’re good,” Carrick replies smoothly.

Boral shrugs as if to say suit yourself, keeping his casual recline on the couch. “So, you obviously know Kymaris has broken free of the Underworld. Well, I met with a Dark Fae last night by the name of Kaesar. He’s one of the twelve.”

Carrick and I exchange glances, and Zaid straightens from his post at the fireplace.

“One of the twelve?” Carrick asks, his tone curious.

“She’s collecting Dark Fae, and she needs twelve,” Boral explains, which is something we already well knew—that she was collecting. We just didn’t know twelve was the number until now, and we knew at the least, she had eight based on the bizarrely disgusting ritual I had witnessed.

“Why is she collecting them?” his son demands, taking a step closer. His expression is awash with skepticism, but Zaid knows we can’t discount this.

Boral takes a moment to shift on the couch, recrossing his legs. “Apparently, she’s going to perform a ritual that requires twelve Dark Fae. But not just any of my brethren…”

He pauses for dramatic effect, trying to lure us in. We remain mute, waiting to hear what he will say.

Boral sighs that we’re not lapping up every word, and reveals, “They have to be original fallen.”

“Why?” Zaid pushes, although this is something we already knew from witnessing her ritual to summon the first eight. She had called them her original brethren.

“It’s all a bit sketchy, but as I said, I was meeting with Kaesar. We were acquaintances in the Underworld. Apparently, Kymaris performed a ritual to summon original fallen by sacrificing their progeny. Kaesar was one, his daemon son having been killed by Kymaris to pull him to her.”