A Battle of Blood and Stone (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 4)

“But those were Zora’s powers,” I point out.

Carrick lifts an eyebrow. “Maybe so… but it’s quite possible you pulled on them yourself from a great distance, separated by a veil.”

“What about when the wraith was attacking me?” I argue, grasping at anything for him to send Deandra away. “I couldn’t do anything but a bubble shield.”

“But it was a use of your magic,” he counters. “It may not have been what you wanted, but you pulled on it. You need someone that can provoke you into reaching deep and then using it properly.”

“You can do that,” I all but whine to him.

He shakes his head, looking more determined than ever to go through with this. “No, I can’t. I don’t think anyone can like Deandra, and we are on limited time, Finley. I need you to trust me on this.”

I blow out a frustrated breath, lifting one curly lock that had fallen over my forehead. I look around his room—a place that has become a sanctuary to me as it is when it’s just Carrick and me and our love connecting us. It doesn’t soothe me at all.

“Carrick… I honestly don’t think I can handle her being here, flirting with you. Taunting me with innuendos.”

His frown face is deep and he moves into me, hands to my shoulders. “Why would you even worry about those things? How can you when you know how deep our connection goes? It lasts throughout infinity, Finley. What you and I have, someone as shallow as Deandra would never understand. You’re strong enough to know all she can give you is meaningless words.”

God, everything he says is so rational and true.

And yet, I’m still insanely jealous of that witch.

“But,” Carrick says softly, bringing his hand to cup the side of my jaw. “I don’t think Deandra will be too hard to take. We’ve made a deal.”

“What sort of deal?” I ask skeptically.

“Well, first… she’s agreed to a binding like her mother, so she knows everything. While it may seem Deandra is as flighty and vain as her mother, she actually has a shrewd, calculating side. Her tongue wasn’t enough, so I asked for her heart to be bound to our secrets as well.”

My eyes bug out. “And she agreed to that?”

Carrick nods. “I have something she wants very much, and the offer I made was too tempting.”

“Which is?” I prod.

“She wants freedom from Faere. She hates it there, and she wants to experience the adventures the Earth realm has to offer. But she’s stuck there. Faere is operated strictly by magic. She has no possessions that would help her to pass here, and she has no money to set herself up in the lifestyle she would want.”

I’m incredulous. “You offered her money?”

“A lot of it.” His smile is sly. “And part of the deal for her to get the money is to treat you with respect while she’s here. I also had a long talk with her about what you mean to me, so I don’t think you’re going to get the full-blown vapid Deandra.”

I snort in disbelief. No one can change their stripes that much. “You told her about our past lives together?”

“I told her every bit of it. Once I had her heart in the binding, I didn’t hesitate. I figured the more she understood that nothing will ever come between us, the less she’d antagonize you.”

I chew on my lower lip as I ponder this, grudgingly admitting, “That doesn’t sound so awful.”

“Well,” Carrick drawls in a hedging sort of way. His hands come to cup both sides of my face. “She still hates you because you’re a human. And she’s jealous of you because you’re important to me. She’s still going to piss you off, but again… that’s what I think you need to tap into those powers. You need to be provoked, you need repetitive practice, and no one can piss you off consistently like Deandra can.”

Before I can respond, he kisses me, and it’s one of those toe-curling ones that make my head go foggy and my wits jumbled. By the time his mouth lifts from mine, he knows there’s nothing left to argue.

Still, he placates me. “Please… give it a try. You have nothing to lose but some frustration and everything to gain if this works.”

I give him a mock glare, but then break into an accepting smile. Rising to my tiptoes, I give him a quick brush of my lips. “Fine. I’ll give it a shot. But out of curiosity, why didn’t you ask Pyke to do this? He’d have the same skill level with magic, and he’s at least a friend of yours. Don’t you trust him?”

“I trust him as much as I trust anyone in the royal family, and, yes, his skill level would be sufficient. But he wouldn’t take it seriously, and he wouldn’t provoke you the way Deandra will. Also, he’d flirt with you the entire time, so then I’d have to kill him.”