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

“Prophecy big,” I mutter.

“Still, why recruit Dark Fae?” Rainey asks.

“I’d like to know that, too,” Carrick replies. “Our best bet right now is to find the angel who was at Finley’s birth.”

“What about a plant?” Maddox suggests. “I know some Dark Fae who would do it for the right price.”

There’s a quick shake of Carrick’s head in denial “We can’t risk it. Money speaks, but loyalty to their Queen could be much stronger. As of now, the people in this room, Titus, Lucien, and Arwen are the only ones who know Kymaris is a changeling. We need to keep it that way.”

“And we need to find the angel,” Rainey reminds them. “Perhaps we should start right now with some research. Myles and I have to head back to work tomorrow, but we can help in the evenings as well as the rest of today.”

My gaze drops down to my hands, folded in my lap. I take a breath to fortify myself as I prepare to battle my two best friends.

Carrick, however, beats me to the punch. “You both need to leave Seattle.”

Not tactful, no lead-in, and completely harsh.

But truthful.

My head snaps up to see Myles open his mouth to retort, but I catch his attention. “Myles… seriously… things are getting extremely dangerous. We’ve just learned we’re battling the queen of all the Dark Fae who has crazy strong powers, as evidenced by how easily she torched One Bean. She’s gathering Dark Fae to her side. This isn’t safe.”

“Moreover,” Carrick adds smoothly. “We know Kymaris is coming for Finley because she knows Finley has some abilities. You are putting yourselves in jeopardy by sticking around and staying close to her.”

“We’re not leaving,” Myles grits out. “We’re part of this. We’re on the team.”

“We’re the Scooby Gang,” Rainey says with a firm nod.

“You’re both idiots,” Carrick growls. “This isn’t some game or corny TV show.”

“Please, you guys,” I implore them both. “I’m worried sick about you.”

Rainey frowns, tilting her head. “And you don’t think we’re worried sick about you?”

That sets me back a moment because I never once considered their motivations. I just assumed they wanted in on this exciting adventure.

“Do not push us away,” Rainey says softly, her eyes pleading with me to understand. “We’ll be cautious. We’ll only come around you if you’re protected. But we want to help, and we don’t want to leave our lives and our jobs here either.”

I look across the glass coffee table at Carrick. He’s sitting with one leg crossed over the other, his coat jacket unbuttoned, and I notice his tie has been loosened. His eyes meet mine, and I hope he understands I truly don’t know what to do. I can’t make them do anything, really.

With a sigh, Carrick uncrosses his legs and stands from the chair. “I’ll put some stronger protections on the Fantasia. I can also give you two amulets that will provide some measure of protection against daemons and fae, but not enough that you could ever defend yourself for long. You get into a situation, then you do your best to run like hell.”

Rainey beams as Myles gives a curt nod to Carrick. They clearly aren’t ever going to be friends.

Carrick reads the questions in my eyes—such as how he can just roll over like that—and shrugs. “They’re not going to leave. You know it and I know it, so I’ll help protect them as best I can. Besides, we can use the research help.”

“Well, let’s get to it,” Rainey says, popping up off the couch, which makes me stand too just from the enthusiasm in her tone. “Let’s go back down to the library and start researching angels. We can order a pizza for lunch and work straight through the day.”

She walks off, heading back to Carrick’s office and the secret passageway, acting like she owns the place. Myles silently follows after giving me a half-smile and a quick but smug smirk to Carrick.

Before I join my friends, I turn back to Carrick. “How are you going to make the protection spell on the houseboat stronger?”

With a jerk of his head toward his brother, he says, “Pooled magic. Lucien will help.”

“I’ll call him,” Maddox says as he grabs his cell phone out of his pocket. “We should go over there sooner rather than later.”

“Agreed,” Carrick replies, loosening his tie to take it off. “I’m going to get changed, then I’ll help with research.”

While I very much think Carrick is at his most handsome when he’s in one of those very well-tailored suits, I prefer the Carrick in Faere who wore cargo pants and hiking boots and had a sexy five o’clock shadow at the end of the day.

“I’ll bring down some refreshments,” Zaid advises. “And then join in the research as well.”

“How about you go down and I’ll grab some drinks for us,” I suggest, and Zaid looks absolutely scandalized I’d suggest such a thing. We engage in a staring contest for only about five seconds before I turn tail and head off toward Carrick’s office so we can begin learning everything we can about angels.