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

“You can put a protection spell back on my house,” I suggest.

He shakes his head. “I politely decline.”

“Aarrgghh,” I yell in frustration, my fists tightening as I stomp my foot. “You’re taking all the control, and I can’t live that way. I’m stifling already.”

Carrick—multi-billionaire and well-respected man of Seattle—rolls his eyes at me like a thirteen-year-old. “You’re being dramatic, Miss Porter.”

I almost launch myself at him, palm itching to slap his pompous face, but he stops me by conceding, “However… I have no intention of keeping you on the sidelines. You’ll come to Faere with me or any other place we need to go. You are the key to the prophecy, after all.”

Hmmm… that sounds more reasonable.

“And the key to getting my reward,” he adds with a roguish grin. Deep in my heart I know he’s probably teasing me since I love to point that out to him.

But it’s still a reminder Carrick isn’t helping with the prophecy to save the world or even, God forbid, me.

He’s still in it for himself, even if he does deserve it like Veda says.

At that moment, Zaid walks in and advises Carrick, “I’ve got word out to Pyke that you need to see him.”

“Who’s Pyke?” I ask, my gaze on Carrick for the answer.

“Light Fae who will get us into Faere.”

I nod dramatically with a knowing smirk. “Because he owes you a favor, right?”

“Something along those lines,” he quips.

“Hey,” Rainey says in excitement, clapping her hands. I spin to face her, charmed by the blatant enthusiasm, although I’m stumped by what she has to be happy about. “Myles and I are now part of your Scooby gang—it’s just like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Rainey and I love Buffy—the TV series, not the movie—and I snort over her reference.

But Zaid’s eyebrows pinch together. “Who is this Buffy the Vampire Slayer you keep talking about? Is she fae or daemon? And why does she call herself a vampire slayer when there’s no such thing as vampires?”

I bust out laughing along with Rainey and Myles, and Zaid only looks more confused. I actually have a tear—purely from laughter and not from grief—come to the corner of my eye, which I nudge away with my knuckle.

I peek over at Carrick, who has an amused expression as he just shakes his head before turning his back on us to settle at his desk again. He opens the book and when he finds me staring at him, he makes a shooing motion. “Go. Titus will take you all to your house to pack, then you can drop Rainey and Myles off at the Fantasia.”

Zaid, Rainey, and Myles head out of the office, but I don’t leave. I wait for Carrick to give me his attention from the book he’d opened again, and he does so with what I deem to be an overly dramatic sigh. “Yes?”

“What are you going to have Maddox do?” I ask curiously.

To my surprise, he doesn’t ignore me or provide a vague answer. “I’m going to have him pound the streets a bit, see if we can figure out more about the incubus you killed. Maybe backtrack from there.”

“He still owes you a favor?” I inquire with a bit of sweet sarcasm to my voice.

Carrick doesn’t take the bait, his tone matter of fact. “No. He’s going to be one up on me.”

“You two have a weird relationship,” I mumble.

“You have no idea,” he replies blandly as he bends his head back down again.

“When do you think we’ll go to Faere?”

He doesn’t look back up. “As soon as we find Pyke so he can take us through the veil.”

“Aren’t there any other ways?”

“Yes, but this is the easiest.”

Carrick stares at me, daring me to ask another question. I almost do so I can get under his skin, but I think I better leave well enough alone.

As it stands, we have a game plan, which means we are on our way to avenging Adira’s death and stopping evil from taking over the world. The enormity of my task should be paralyzing me right now, especially since this time yesterday, I was adamantly opposed to having anything to do with any of this.

It’s amazing how one event can change life’s trajectory, but the minute I knew Adira was dead, I became a different person.

Before I turn to leave, there’s one thing I should have done hours ago. “Thank you for coming to my house after Adira was killed.”

Carrick still doesn’t look up, but his shoulders stiffen a bit. “No problem,” he mutters, his attention riveted to that old book.

My gratitude given, there’s nothing else to do but move out of my house and into this condo, where I expect my life is going to get remarkably interesting.

CHAPTER 12

Finley

My first day back to work, and it’s been a bruiser of a day. First of all, I didn’t sleep well last night. It was my first night in my new temporary home. While the room Zaid had set me up in was plush with the most comfortable mattress and softest sheets, I tossed and turned all night because it wasn’t my home.