The Rise of Fortune and Fury (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 5)

The affair was informal, held in his condo. Zaid baked a beautiful cake, and Maddox created a magical floral arch under which the two could exchange their vows. He also conjured blooming, fragrant sprays of flowers in vases all over the living area and cleared most of the furniture for the nuptials.

The group of wedding guests was small but tight-knit.

Carrick, Finley, Maddox, Zaid, Titus, Boral, and Zora.

Myles was in a dapper suit, and Rainey in a simple strapless white gown made of silk and chiffon she had bought off the rack because it had fit so perfectly. The rest of the group dressed casually, per Rainey’s insistence. She wanted this to be fun, casual, and with no formal rules.

The one rule they did abide by was getting their marriage license. All Zaid had to do after officiating the ceremony—which was really just Rainey and Myles exchanging personal vows they had written—was add his signature to the bottom and they were officially Mr. and Mrs. Lareva.

And now… it was time to celebrate and party. For the moment, Carrick was very much enjoying Finley and Rainey attempting to teach Zora how to do the Macarena. Maddox and Myles were engaged in a lively debate over whether it was better to get married or stay resolutely single.

Carrick could tell them the answer, but they needed to figure it out themselves.

Zaid was busy refreshing platters of food he’d prepared and Boral sat by himself in a corner, a glass of Scotch in one hand and his phone in the other as he scrolled. Carrick didn’t even bother being put out by Boral’s attendance. Rainey wanted him there and the Dark Fae had proven on more than one occasion he was loyal to the team. He’d just probably never be considered a friend.

“You know… your girlfriend has no rhythm whatsoever,” Titus drawled from the side of his mouth as he came to stand beside Carrick. He had a beer in hand and he watched the ladies dancing with amusement.

“Better not say that to Finley’s face,” Carrick warned Titus with a chuckle. “She’s liable to kick your balls up to your throat.”

“Duly noted,” Titus replied with a laugh. “I’m all for us continuing the wedding celebration, but while your woman and her sister are currently occupied on the dance floor, I wanted to talk to you about an idea I had.”

Carrick’s gaze left Finley—who admittedly didn’t have much dance rhythm but was still the hottest thing he’d ever laid eyes on—and shifted to look at his friend. “What’s that?”

“Zora needs to learn to tap her powers and might even have some basic fighting skills, right?”

Carrick nodded. After Finley verified with Zora that she didn’t mind if the group knew about her powers, he had filled the men in on the fact she could fly but that the rest of her powers were still green and unused.

“I could take them both to Semper Terra,” Titus suggested before taking a sip of his beer. “I could put Zora through a quick self-defense course, and we’d have plenty of safe space to unleash her magical skills. I’d have Finley do some advanced training. Have her run the gauntlet for sure.”

Carrick blinked in surprise, for the gauntlet was a series of dangerous and life-threatening obstacles one had to complete using both their fighting and magical skills before becoming an annihilator. “The gauntlet? Are you sure?”

“She can do it,” Titus says without hesitation. “And it will give her a boost of confidence before the ritual.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Carrick mused. Zora definitely needed work if she was going to join the cause and fight against Kymaris, which wasn’t set in stone yet. But she needed to get ready, and frankly, her dark magic could be incredibly useful to them. “I’ll talk to Finley about it tonight. When would you want to go?”

“Why wait?” Titus replied, his gaze moving back out to the dance floor as the song wound down. “Let’s go tomorrow.”

Carrick nodded but his attention was drawn to Myles, who stepped over to his iPhone—hooked up to the Bluetooth speakers throughout the condo—to put on a new tune. “Time to dance with my bride,” he announced.

The first notes of At Last by Etta James floated over the condo and Myles moved to Rainey, who smiled at him as if he were the sunrise.

Finley moved to Carrick, Zora following her. Now was as good a time as any to tell them about Titus’ suggestion but from the corner of his eye, he saw Maddox zeroing in on Zora.

And while he loved his brother and couldn’t blame him for his interest, he also knew Zora could only take so much of his flirting, so he decided to be noble.

“Tell Finley your idea,” Carrick muttered to Titus, then stepped forward to intercept Zora. “I’m going to take this lady for a spin around the floor.”