The Rise of Fortune and Fury (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 5)

Carrick could tell his words didn’t mean much to Zaid, who still bore the expression of a man who had failed miserably at a job he took seriously. Carrick knew part of the daemon’s angst was because he had come to love Finley, just as he ultimately had in all her past lives. Given enough time, Zaid would eventually become a father figure to Finley if they followed in history’s tracks with every past incarnation. He was taking this loss extremely hard.

“Let me have the Blood Stone,” Carrick requested as he held out his hand. Zaid removed the satchel and handed it over, where it went over Carrick’s body for safekeeping.

He placed his hand against the satchel, bowed his head, and murmured a few ancient words. A light flared from the inside, coming out from the corners of the top flap. When he lifted his head, he explained, “Just removed Pyke’s tracking spell.”

Zaid nodded as he followed Carrick out of the hut.

“Do you think he’s still here in Faere?” Zaid asked, bending over to pick up the backpack from the ground.

“I don’t know.” Carrick’s voice was gruff with frustration as he scanned around. “But I suppose we need to go there to check it out.”

“You made it back here much quicker than I anticipated,” Zaid noted as he hitched the backpack onto his shoulders.

“It was a bust on the original Fallen,” Carrick muttered bitterly. “All three of the ones I had addresses for were gone. Houses were completely empty.”

“We’re getting close to the new moon,” Zaid pondered. “Kymaris pulling them in for safety reasons?”

“That would be my guess,” Carrick agreed.

Switching subjects, Zaid turned back to Arwen’s memory crystal. “At the end, before she died—in fact, what provoked her quick death—Arwen was about to tell Pyke what she had foreseen of his future. She referenced the new moon, but he cut her off. It would have been nice to have that information.”

Carrick gave a mirthless laugh. “Fae are superstitious creatures. They believe hearing their future means it’s set in stone as they don’t much believe in free will. I’m sure he didn’t want to know, but yes… it would have been helpful.”

“At least we know something happens to him on the new moon.”

Carrick flashed Zaid a menacing smile. “If the gods will ever show me any favor, I hope it’s a future where I plunge an iron sword into his black heart.”

“That is my hope as well,” Zaid murmured.

Carrick glanced around again, spied Finley’s whip, and hurried over to it. As he picked it up from the ground, he noticed a smudge of black fae blood on the iron-covered fall.

He hoped it hurt when it had sliced into Pyke.

Coiling the whip, Carrick moved back to Zaid. “Let’s go to the castle.”

Without direction, Zaid put a hand on Carrick’s shoulder. While Zaid could bend distance, he’d never been to the castle in Faere and needed Carrick’s navigation.

“Should we leave a message for Maddox?” Zaid inquired before they left.

Carrick shook his head. “He’ll find us.”

And with that, he envisioned Nimeyah’s castle and bent distance, dropping them on the top step before the huge double doors. Rebsha greeted them after the use of the large knocker.

“Carrick,” he said with mild surprise. “And…”

Rebsha’s gaze went briefly to Zaid, his shock that Carrick had brought a daemon into Faere evident.

“This is Zaid,” Carrick replied smoothly. “A very close and trusted friend.”

Rebsha nodded. “And I assume you’re here to see Nimeyah?”

“Actually, we’d like to see Pyke.”

“He’s not here,” Rebsha said as he backed away from the door to invite Carrick and Zaid in with a sweep of his hand. “He’s not been here at the castle in quite a while, actually.”

Carrick nodded in understanding, but there was some doubt as to whether Rebsha was telling the truth. One theory Carrick had been mulling over was that Pyke perhaps wanted the Blood Stone for his mother and the good of all Faere.

Carrick wasn’t going to leave this realm until he knew if that were true or not.

“Take me to Nimeyah,” he demanded.

“Of course,” Rebsha replied and led the way into the throne room.

Same as the last time Carrick was here, it was devoid of any furniture other than a raised dais that held four thrones for the royal family. Currently, only the top-tiered one was occupied by Nimeyah, and she was in discussion with three Light Fae before her.

Her gaze flicked up briefly to take in Carrick and Zaid before she returned to her conversation. Rebsha stood quietly just inside the doorway, hands clasped before him. The message was clear. They were not to approach while she was conducting business, which Carrick was almost positive had to do with some party she’d be throwing. Politics, war, and other such concerns were nonexistent in Faere.

Carrick shifted about impatiently, the minutes ticking away until he could find and rescue Finley. It was the highest thing on his priority list, but he had to verify Nimeyah wasn’t involved.