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

Okay, that might have been hamming up the potential for using Zora, but it was a possibility, so not exactly an untruth.

“Are you going to try to stop me?” I ask tentatively.

“No,” Zaid replies without hesitation. “But I want to make sure you’re as safe as can be or else Carrick will skin me alive. I’ll try to coach you along.”

“Have you done this before?” Rainey asks.

Zaid shakes his head. “No. Daemons don’t have those abilities, but I’ve been around a long time and seen more forms of dark magic and power than you can ever imagine. And make no mistake about it, your sister is dark.”

Rather than reassure me with his presence, I’m afraid the mere fact Zaid feels like he needs to watch over me means something bad is going to happen.

Yet, I’m determined.

“So… um… what should I do?” I ask Zaid.

He nods over to the two cushioned seats before the fireplace. It’s a set up for pleasure reading, but we rarely read over there. “Take one of those chairs. Just get relaxed.”

I do as Zaid suggests, and he follows me there. Rainey stays at the conference room table, for which I’m glad. I don’t want anyone hovering.

As if reading my mind, Zaid stands several feet away once I settle into the chair, feet planted on the floor and my hands gripping the armrests so hard I’m afraid my bones might crack.

“Relax,” Zaid barks, and I shoot him a side glare. “And pick something to focus on.”

I roll my neck, then my shoulders. Taking in a few deep breaths, I release my death grip on the chair. I stare into the cold fireplace, which I’ve never seen lit because we’ve never bothered with ambiance down here.

“Try to picture the Underworld in your mind.” Oddly, Zaid’s voice is slightly soothing, which means I’m receptive to his instruction. “The way the caves smelled as you walked through them, and how you felt when you first came out on the ledge and saw the vastness of the Caverns. Remember how you had no fear walking through the streets… and keep that confidence. Recall what Zora looked like in the mirror and be confident she’s still waiting for you somewhere in there.”

I listen carefully to every word Zaid says as I stare at the fireplace, and I can feel my focus start to become keen. The rest of the room fades away until all I see is the fireplace, and then even Zaid’s voice goes softer and softer until I can’t hear him anymore.

The fireplace is made of old red brick, empty except for soot marks leading upward along the walls. There’s not even an iron basket to hold wood, so it’s easy for me to narrow in on the black soot marks.

Black like the walls of the caves I’d walked through. Black being the color that represents darkness and all the atrocities living in the Underworld.

Black meaning evil.

There’s a feeling as if something is rushing toward me, or maybe I’m being pulled to the fireplace. The sooty back wall is right in front of my face, and then… whoosh… I’m standing in the caves of the Underworld, looking exactly as they had when I dreamed of them.

“Hello?” I say tentatively, the echo carrying down a path that rounds a bend I can’t see past.

“Finley… are you in the Underworld?”

Zaid’s voice.

Very close by.

I turn around in a circle, but I’m not in the library. I’m most definitely in the caves.

“Zaid… are you in here with me?” I ask hesitantly.

“No,” he replies, his voice clear, sharp, and, thankfully, grounding. “You’re still in the library, and so are we. What do you see?”

“The caves,” I tell him, tentatively reaching out to press my fingertips to the obsidian walls. They feel cool to the touch, and it’s hard to reconcile that I’m still physically in Carrick’s condo.

Yet, this is different than my last visit. Before, I knew I was in a dream.

Now, I know I’ve projected my conscience here.

“Should I go to the Caverns and look for Zora?” I ask.

“I don’t think you need to,” Zaid replies. “I think you just need to try to make mental contact with your sister.”

I frown, turning around to study the caves while struggling to see any part of the library, but I don’t. It’s just the Underworld that I see. “How?”

“Think of her,” Zaid instructs. “Remember what she looked like. Remember what her power felt like inside of you. Then reach out to her.”

It felt so very dark… that power.

And part of me liked it.

Part of me wanted to destroy Deandra with it.

“Zora.” I don’t say this aloud, but only in my head. Not that I’m trying to keep anything from Zaid or Rainey, but, somehow, I don’t think my sister will hear me otherwise.

Using my soul as well as my ears and mind, I strain to listen, waiting for a response. I don’t hear anything, but I do sense something.