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

“He definitely has good reason for the surly attitude,” I say definitively.

Carrick laughs. “Yes. He has good reasons, I’m sure.”

“He’s more than just someone who works for you,” I say, confident in the truth of that.

“I suppose,” Carrick murmurs. “He’s the closest thing to a real friend I have.”

“You have me,” I point out.

Carrick chuckles. “Well then… two friends.”

I lay there quietly, thinking of Zaid’s story. How he’s sitting in the kitchen with a father who led him down a path of evil, probably knowing all along that his son was part empath and that it hurt him. Knowing and not caring.

I wonder if his dad even knows he crucified himself with iron as punishment.

It’s beyond my comprehension how family members can be so callous to their loved ones.

Family members.

“Holy shit,” I exclaim as I bound up once again out of Carrick’s arms and wave my arms with excitement. “I totally forgot to tell you about my sister. I was looking for you when you found me.”

Carrick lifts to one elbow. “Your sister? You mean your twin?”

“Yes,” I say with excitement. “I dreamed about her, but it was more than a dream. I think I connected with her.”

“Explain,” Carrick orders, his expression immediately on guard.

I tell him about my entire dream, leaving out no detail. He asks me to repeat a few things as he listens attentively. When I finish, I tell him how I was pulled out of the dream by my feather burning. “Do you think that feather connected us somehow? I mean… I was inside her, seeing the Underworld through her eyes. She looked exactly like me except her hair was white.”

Carrick contemplates this before asking, “But were you there? Or was it just a vivid dream?”

“It was more than a dream,” I insist.

“Only one way to find out,” he says, then rolls off the bed. “Come on. Let’s go talk to Zaid’s father.”

My heart nearly leaps out of my throat that he wanted me far away from this darkest of Dark Fae earlier, but now he wants to introduce me. There’s no fear, however. I know Carrick would never let anything happen to me.

Zaid, for that matter, I believe would protect me against his father with his life.

Just as we’re approaching the kitchen, I hear Boral sneer, “When are you going to leave that do-gooder’s side and come join me again?”

“Never,” Zaid hisses back, and I really sort of want to hug him right now.

Zaid’s eyes come to us as we walk in, and Boral turns in his seat to look at Carrick. With a polite incline of his head, he says, “Carrick.”

Carrick nods back. It’s a little surprising that he lets this rotten fae into his home, but I suspect it’s in deference to Zaid.

As he leads me around the counter so we stand next to Zaid, I take Boral in. I’ve long ago stopped seeing glamours and immediately only see the real face of any daemon or fae. Boral and Zaid look almost exactly alike, except while his face doesn’t look that much more aged than Zaid’s, he just looks and holds himself out as the more ancient of the two. Boral has the same gaunt face, prominent brow, and pitch eyes as his son, but he radiates menace and darkness.

Not from the vibe I can feel…more like I’m standing in the presence of a serial killer kind of vibe, and as he stares back with a sly smile, I can tell he knows I feel it.

Carrick leans on the counter, staring directly at Boral without bothering to introduce me. I don’t take offense because the less anyone knows about me, the better. “Describe the Underworld to me.”

Boral blinks in surprise, glancing at his son, who stares stonily back at him, and then to Carrick. “Describe the Underworld? What do you mean?”

“I mean describe what it looks like. Is it all raging pits of lava and fire, or does it look like Earth? Perhaps something in between?”

Boral, clearly confused by the question, proceeds to describe it. “The lower-class Dark Fae live in what’s called The Caverns.”

My body jerks at hearing that, but I don’t dare make a big deal that this is huge news.

“It’s massive… like an underground city. It does indeed sit on the edge of The Pit, which is where souls are destroyed by fire, but the fire provides the Caverns with light. The buildings are crude… mud and stone, but a civilization operates with businesses and a moderately able form of local government that obviously falls under Queen Kymaris’ rule.”

Jesus.

He just described what I saw in my dream.

Which we now know wasn’t a dream.

Boral continues to describe how the upper-class fae, which is essentially Kymaris and her court and isn’t nearly as large and well defined as Nimeyah’s, live on the other side of The Pit in a black castle made of obsidian. “The lower class can’t cross over to it, but the upper class can travel to the Caverns if they so desire. Now, why do you want to know about the Underworld?”