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

CHAPTER 5

Finley

Glancing down at my phone on the table, I note the time and close the book I’d been skimming. “Workout time,” I announce to Zaid, who sits in a chair opposite me.

He grunts an acknowledgment, not lifting his eyes from the book he’s nose deep in.

I expected no different.

For the past week, both Zaid and I have spent a lot of time down in the library, researching as much as we could about changelings and guardian angels. There’s a lot more information on changelings than we had thought, but it’s voluminous and contradictory. We’ve typed pages of notes, and in the evenings while we eat dinner, Zaid, Carrick, and I discuss what we learned. Sometimes, Rainey and Myles join us, and occasionally Maddox, too. Lucien not so much, because well… he’s a loner.

It’s been a week since Echo brought us the news that Kymaris, Queen of the Underworld, is the Dark Fae now wearing my sister’s glamour. Our inner circle knows she’s a changeling, so we are trying to stock up on as much knowledge of this strange ritual as possible so we can know what we’re up against.

Every day, Zaid and I head down to the library for research. Sometimes, Carrick joins us; sometimes, he leaves to do only God—or gods—know what. On those occasions he leaves, Maddox or Lucien is always at the condo for extra protection, although it’s probably not needed. All three demi-gods reinforced the protective spells on not only the condo but on the Fantasia as well. With their combined power, they were confident nothing could get through—short of one of the gods themselves.

Even though the Fantasia is protected, I still worry about Rainey and Myles as they returned to their jobs and weren’t going to spend every moment within the safety of the houseboat. Carrick gave them each an amulet that provided a mini-shield should they be attacked, but it wasn’t strong enough to protect them from a sustained attempt.

Last night, my distress over their safety was eased a bit when Myles and Rainey came over after work to help with some research and eat dinner. I was bemoaning their safety when away from the Fantasia when Myles dropped a bombshell.

“You don’t have to worry anymore,” Myles said with a grin as we all sat around the conference table in the library, getting ready to dive into our books.

I cocked an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

“Carrick has a Light Fae protective Secret-Service-like detail on us,” Rainey answered for her boyfriend.

“He has a what?” I exclaimed, shocked that such a thing even existed, much less that Carrick would be thoughtful enough to implement it.

Not that he’s not thoughtful, but I thought he’d gone above and beyond in helping to protect my friends, short of letting them move into the condo with us, which was still a hard no among everyone except me.

“Yeah,” Myles explained as he leaned back in the leather executive chair. There are eight around the table. “Rainey and I noticed this guy following us one morning, so we just stopped and asked him who he was. He told us he was a Light Fae, and that Carrick had set up a rotating schedule to watch over us when we weren’t aboard the Fantasia.”

“Wow,” I murmured, now exceedingly touched by Carrick’s effort. Because I knew he didn’t do it for Rainey and Myles. He did it for me, knowing how utterly devastated I’d be if something happened to them.

And I’m not even jaded anymore by thinking that my devastation would, in turn, hamper our efforts to thwart the prophecy and prevent him from attaining his Ascension.

No. I’m pretty confident Carrick did it because he cares about me. I’d seen it in the way he protected me from Kymaris, and the care in attending my wounds after, and even the way I find him watching me sometimes.

He cares and, yet, he thinks that’s all he has to give to me. It seems that every day that passes, I’m more convinced our fates are more deeply entwined than just the gods meddling, and I feel like there’s something more to us that he’s not telling me.

I shake myself out of my ruminations about Carrick, which embarrassingly often takes up brain space at odd times.

Pushing up from my rolling chair, I nab my phone and bid Zaid a farewell. “See you at dinner.”

He grunts again, and I head up the spiral staircase.

Over this last week, Carrick has demanded I keep up my training, so every day at three, I head up to the gym for a few hours. On the occasions Carrick is in the condo, he has joined me as Titus said he would to keep my offensive and defensive skills sharp. He mainly acts as an instructor, giving me advice on technique. Sometimes, he will engage in weapons training with me, using a heavy wooden staff to defend himself while I’m allowed to attack with swords, my whip, and a battle-ax.