Onyx had an incredibly good point. In a million years and through a thousand more lifetimes, Carrick would never let Finley know what Rune had him doing these past few weeks. She didn’t need that burden on her already-laden shoulders.
At some point, though, he would have to tell her what Rune said about her going up against Kymaris.
With no harm in asking, Carrick tipped his head to Onyx. “Rune said Finley would be the one to stop Kymaris, implying she was the only one. Is this true?”
Onyx seemed reluctant to answer, but she was the one who most often held true and fast to the rules, particularly when it came to not interfering once things were in place. Her expression was grim when she nodded. “It’s her burden alone to take Kymaris down. I hope she’s ready.”
Fuck.
She truly wasn’t. They had work to do.
Bending in a slight bow, Carrick said, “Thank you, Onyx.”
Onyx gave a slight bend back with a tiny smile. “Good luck to you and Finley. You’ll need it.”
CHAPTER 5
Finley
Time is ticking, and I’m feeling the pressure. As of yesterday, Carrick has been gone three weeks and I’ve lost hope he’s coming back.
Maddox tells me to keep the faith. He had it on authority from Cato—the god he was closest to—that Carrick would return. But while I trust Maddox, I sure as hell don’t trust the gods. It’s their vanity and their need to play their silly games that have me in the mess I’m in.
The October new moon is creeping closer, just about a month away, and we have no clue how to defend against Kymaris. We might know what day the ritual will occur, but we have no clue what time or where. We don’t have the Blood Stone, nor any idea how to get it.
I can’t even tap my powers, so what kind of savior of the world does that make me?
Maddox walks into the kitchen, officially convening the start of this little meeting I called with him and Zaid. We have decisions that have to be made, and we can’t wait for Carrick to come back and lead us.
“Isn’t Boral due to check-in today?” Maddox asks as he heads to the refrigerator and pulls out a beer. Zaid leans against the back counter, legs crossed casually with a cup of coffee in his hand.
I’ve also got a cup of coffee because it’s still morning time and I roll my eyes at Maddox as he turns my way, beer in hand.
“What?” he asks innocently. “I feel like a beer.”
“Whatever,” I mutter, then nod toward a stool. “And to answer your question, yes… Boral should be here in a little bit for a progress report.”
Zaid scoffs, still making it clear he is not on board with having his father working with us. He’s entitled to feel that way, but I think Boral is our best asset right now. He’s hanging around with Kaesar, one of the original fallen Dark Fae, and sometimes gets invitations to Kymaris’ house. In my opinion, he’s crucial.
Unfortunately, since the wraith incident, Maddox and Zaid distrust him even more.
“No one has shown up at Marianna’s house,” Maddox reports as he twists the cap off the bottle, placing it on the counter.
Zaid, who can’t stand anything disorderly in his kitchen, swoops in and nabs it. He throws it in the garbage can with a side glare at Maddox.
“If no one has shown up at the house,” I conclude with a pointed look, “then Boral’s not telling our secrets to Kymaris.”
Zaid and Maddox exchange a look, a clear indication they will always be dubious when it comes to the Dark Fae who has planted himself within Kymaris’ circle.
We decided to enact a plan to test Boral to see if he’s playing us. Since bringing him on board the day he told us about the ritual occurring on the October new moon, the information we’ve shared with him has been limited. He has absolutely no idea what my part is in the prophecy, that I have powers, or a twin in the Underworld. With him knowing so little, it was easy enough to fabricate a lie to see if it would make its way back to Kymaris. But we had to feed him the bait in a believable way.
Operation Test Boral went into effect four days ago.
Zaid’s father was set to come by to give us an update since he’d started hanging out with Kaesar, which included a few parties at Kymaris’ house.
At any rate, before Boral came to the condo, we staged the kitchen with a scattering of our yellow pads with scribbled notes and a few old books as if we’d been doing research. When Boral walked into the kitchen, Maddox and I were huddled over a book, murmuring in urgent but low voices.