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

She steps forward gracefully with a welcoming smile. She shakes each of our hands, repeats our names, and then jerks her head toward the house. “Come on in. I’ve got refreshments for everyone.”

“We can’t stay long,” Titus says, taking her hand as they lead us up to the house. “We’re expected over at the Academy.”

“Of course,” she replies, giving him a bump with her hip. “But you can be polite and let me entertain guests for a little bit since we don’t get them often.”

I glance to my left at Carrick, smirking. He gives me the same look back.

Once inside the house, I can see the left and right sides are actually recessed wings with hallways down each. On the other side of the kitchen, the glass walls are also opened, leading out onto a concrete patio covered by lattice laced with what I think is jasmine. From the patio, there is a courtyard where I can see a bubbling koi pond and blooming gardens with stone paths winding among them.

“Your house is incredibly beautiful,” I say to Titus as we’re led past the kitchen to the patio where a teak table is loaded with platters of fresh fruit, pastries, pitchers of colorful juices, and a tea service.

“I just built the damn thing,” Titus says as he plucks a handful of grapes from one of the platters. He pulls a chair out, slumps down into it, and nods at Priya. “She’s the one who made it a home.”

“Whoa,” I exclaim incredulously. “You built this house? Yourself?”

Titus smirks. “I’ve lived a long damn life, Finley, and I’m not working all the time. I’ve learned a few things in my spare time.”

We all follow Titus’ lead by taking chairs around the table.

All except for Priya, who gracefully plants herself crosswise on Titus’ lap, one hand on his chest, the other absently toying with one of his dreadlocks. Titus’ hand comes to grip her hip to hold her in place.

It’s not sexual, but it’s such an intimate pose, and I try to envision doing that with Carrick. I’ve never been overtly affectionate like that with him when we were around others, and I wonder if that’s something he would like or not.

I know if I had my choice of seats, it would always be in Carrick’s lap.

I catch his eyes on me, and my cheeks heat because, somehow, I get the feeling he knows exactly what I’m thinking.

“Help yourself,” Priya says as she sweeps her hand out to the spread on the table. “We’re informal here.”

We take a moment, load up some plates with food, and fill goblets with fresh juice. Zora is noticeably silent, but I expect she’s a bit shy. Priya’s the first person she has met outside of our little group in the last five days.

Because Priya said we were informal and we’ve not yet gotten down to the serious business, I grin slyly at Titus. “I asked you during our very last training session if you were married or had a girlfriend, and you said you didn’t.”

Titus grins back, teeth flashing brilliantly white. “I never said I didn’t. You indeed asked me if I was married or had a girlfriend, but before I could even answer, you were whining about Carrick and the kiss you two shared.”

The heat in my face is so extreme, I actually feel dizzy from the embarrassment of Titus turning that back on me. My mind races, and I think he’s right. He never answered my question because I had indeed started bemoaning the things that Carrick and I couldn’t have because he was immortal and I was mortal.

My eyes shoot over to Carrick, who is wisely focused on some pineapple on his plate, but his lips are tipped upward. Zora watches raptly as she slathers butter on her go-to croissant.

Turning my gaze back to Titus, I shoot him death daggers with my eyes and he only continues to smirk. I decide to ignore him and turn my attention to Priya. “How long have you two been together?”

Priya chuckles, twisting her neck to look at Titus with a frown. “Forty years?”

Titus shrugs. “Give or take, but that sounds about right.”

It’s surreal. I know this place is magical and people don’t age. But it’s odd for someone as young as they look to casually say, “Oh, we’ve been together for four decades.”

“And were you an annihilator?” I ask Priya.

“I still am,” she replies with a nod, leaning forward on Titus’ lap to snag some more grapes. She doesn’t feed them to him but merely holds them out in her palm where they both pull from the bunch. “I just don’t go out as much as I used to.”

Fascinating. Priya is all lush and sensuous and so feminine, it’s hard to imagine her killing Dark Fae. But hey… I was just a plain barista almost four months ago and look at me now.