A Discovery of Secrets and Fate (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 2)

I nod, but he probably knows it’s a lie. I pull back and make a very quick introduction, motioning with my hand. “Titus, these are my best friends, Myles and Rainey.”

He nods and smiles at them.

And then it occurs to me that I never introduced Zaid. I point at his retreating back as he and Carrick head to the kitchen. “The bald grumpy guy is Zaid.”

Myles and Rainey exchange a glance. Within it, I can read their current impressions.

What in the hell has Finely gotten herself messed up in?

I jerk my head toward the kitchen, encouraging my friends in as reassuring a voice as possible. “Come on. I’m sure Zaid is making some coffee.”

Titus heads that way, I start after him, but my arm is grabbed from behind. I don’t need to turn to know it’s Myles who has me, but I turn all the same.

“Finley… I’m seriously worried here,” he says in a low voice that won’t carry. My gaze cuts briefly to Rainey, who obviously shares the same sentiment. “This doesn’t feel right.”

I lay a hand over Myles, not to push him off but to comfort him. Squeezing his fingers, I smile. “I know this is very weird, but I’ve been hiding some things from you that I just couldn’t tell you before. But I’m going to tell you everything, including how this led to Adira’s murder tonight. I just ask that you be patient and open-minded, okay?”

“Okay,” Rainey says without hesitation. Myles only takes a second more before he nods in acceptance.

I lead the way past the massive free-standing fireplace, past the dining area, and into the large kitchen that at one point in my life was as dazzling to me as the rest of this condo that sits atop the most expensive building in Seattle. I had once looked at Carrick’s condo on Zillow and saw it was worth a little over twenty-seven million. I don’t see any of that wealth right now as Myles, Rainey, and I settle onto stools around the massive, curved island. Titus positions himself on the end, settling his big hands palm down on the countertop. Zaid busies himself making coffee, and Carrick steps up to the other side of the island facing us.

We haven’t planned what to say or who will say it. We only agreed Rainey and Myles would learn everything I knew tonight.

It would be so easy for me to let Carrick handle the burden of revealing all. It would probably be more acceptable given that he’s a respected member of society, and well, he doesn’t have a mental health history the way I do.

But Adira was my friend and I shared her with Rainey and Myles, so it is up to me to explain how she ended up dead. I push myself off the stool and move around the island to stand beside Carrick.

Not to present a united front with him as my ally, as I’m still not sure what to call him, but so I can look Rainey and Myles in the face while I tell them an unimaginable story. I need them to see me standing tall, strong, and with a belief I need them to accept.

“Before I tell you about Adira,” I begin, surprised at how confident my voice sounds. “I need to tell you about what I’ve been going through the past several weeks, and I’m asking you to listen with no pre-judgments.”

Rainey and Myles turn to look at each other, confusion mutually shared in their expressions.

I don’t start at the beginning—which is my mental history of what I thought were hallucinations—but rather start with my visit to Olympic Dreams to meet with Marcus Valentine. I explain how Carrick had shown up and that, unbeknownst to me, this philanthropic organization was created and run by the man himself.

That I had been startled when he entered the room, and it really threw me off balance.

“And that’s when Marcus’ face started to change,” I say, letting my gaze move back and forth between Rainey and Myles without even blinking.

“Change?” Rainey asks softly.

“I thought it was a hallucination,” I reply with a short smile. “One minute, he was a human. The next… he was not.”

Myles frowns. “What do you mean, you thought it was a hallucination?”

I twist far to the right to look up at Carrick. He doesn’t move a muscle, but I can see within those radiant eyes that I have his permission to tell all.

Focusing on my friends, I state, “It wasn’t a hallucination.”

“Finley,” Rainey says, head tilted and eyes filled with sympathy. Her tone of voice tells me that she thinks I’m suffering from delusions.

She’s immediately discounted my first words, and while I’m not surprised, I am a bit hurt.

Holding my hand up, I silently implore her to listen. I look her directly in the eye, annunciating my words. “It was not a hallucination. It was real. There is an entire world of creatures out there that live side by side with you, Myles, and all of our friends and loved ones, but you can’t see them.”