“Prophecy big,” I mutter.
“Still, why recruit Dark Fae?” Rainey asks.
“I’d like to know that, too,” Carrick replies. “Our best bet right now is to find the angel who was at Finley’s birth.”
“What about a plant?” Maddox suggests. “I know some Dark Fae who would do it for the right price.”
There’s a quick shake of Carrick’s head in denial “We can’t risk it. Money speaks, but loyalty to their Queen could be much stronger. As of now, the people in this room, Titus, Lucien, and Arwen are the only ones who know Kymaris is a changeling. We need to keep it that way.”
“And we need to find the angel,” Rainey reminds them. “Perhaps we should start right now with some research. Myles and I have to head back to work tomorrow, but we can help in the evenings as well as the rest of today.”
My gaze drops down to my hands, folded in my lap. I take a breath to fortify myself as I prepare to battle my two best friends.
Carrick, however, beats me to the punch. “You both need to leave Seattle.”
Not tactful, no lead-in, and completely harsh.
But truthful.
My head snaps up to see Myles open his mouth to retort, but I catch his attention. “Myles… seriously… things are getting extremely dangerous. We’ve just learned we’re battling the queen of all the Dark Fae who has crazy strong powers, as evidenced by how easily she torched One Bean. She’s gathering Dark Fae to her side. This isn’t safe.”
“Moreover,” Carrick adds smoothly. “We know Kymaris is coming for Finley because she knows Finley has some abilities. You are putting yourselves in jeopardy by sticking around and staying close to her.”
“We’re not leaving,” Myles grits out. “We’re part of this. We’re on the team.”
“We’re the Scooby Gang,” Rainey says with a firm nod.
“You’re both idiots,” Carrick growls. “This isn’t some game or corny TV show.”
“Please, you guys,” I implore them both. “I’m worried sick about you.”
Rainey frowns, tilting her head. “And you don’t think we’re worried sick about you?”
That sets me back a moment because I never once considered their motivations. I just assumed they wanted in on this exciting adventure.
“Do not push us away,” Rainey says softly, her eyes pleading with me to understand. “We’ll be cautious. We’ll only come around you if you’re protected. But we want to help, and we don’t want to leave our lives and our jobs here either.”
I look across the glass coffee table at Carrick. He’s sitting with one leg crossed over the other, his coat jacket unbuttoned, and I notice his tie has been loosened. His eyes meet mine, and I hope he understands I truly don’t know what to do. I can’t make them do anything, really.
With a sigh, Carrick uncrosses his legs and stands from the chair. “I’ll put some stronger protections on the Fantasia. I can also give you two amulets that will provide some measure of protection against daemons and fae, but not enough that you could ever defend yourself for long. You get into a situation, then you do your best to run like hell.”
Rainey beams as Myles gives a curt nod to Carrick. They clearly aren’t ever going to be friends.
Carrick reads the questions in my eyes—such as how he can just roll over like that—and shrugs. “They’re not going to leave. You know it and I know it, so I’ll help protect them as best I can. Besides, we can use the research help.”
“Well, let’s get to it,” Rainey says, popping up off the couch, which makes me stand too just from the enthusiasm in her tone. “Let’s go back down to the library and start researching angels. We can order a pizza for lunch and work straight through the day.”
She walks off, heading back to Carrick’s office and the secret passageway, acting like she owns the place. Myles silently follows after giving me a half-smile and a quick but smug smirk to Carrick.
Before I join my friends, I turn back to Carrick. “How are you going to make the protection spell on the houseboat stronger?”
With a jerk of his head toward his brother, he says, “Pooled magic. Lucien will help.”
“I’ll call him,” Maddox says as he grabs his cell phone out of his pocket. “We should go over there sooner rather than later.”
“Agreed,” Carrick replies, loosening his tie to take it off. “I’m going to get changed, then I’ll help with research.”
While I very much think Carrick is at his most handsome when he’s in one of those very well-tailored suits, I prefer the Carrick in Faere who wore cargo pants and hiking boots and had a sexy five o’clock shadow at the end of the day.
“I’ll bring down some refreshments,” Zaid advises. “And then join in the research as well.”
“How about you go down and I’ll grab some drinks for us,” I suggest, and Zaid looks absolutely scandalized I’d suggest such a thing. We engage in a staring contest for only about five seconds before I turn tail and head off toward Carrick’s office so we can begin learning everything we can about angels.
CHAPTER 5
Finley
Glancing down at my phone on the table, I note the time and close the book I’d been skimming. “Workout time,” I announce to Zaid, who sits in a chair opposite me.
He grunts an acknowledgment, not lifting his eyes from the book he’s nose deep in.
I expected no different.
For the past week, both Zaid and I have spent a lot of time down in the library, researching as much as we could about changelings and guardian angels. There’s a lot more information on changelings than we had thought, but it’s voluminous and contradictory. We’ve typed pages of notes, and in the evenings while we eat dinner, Zaid, Carrick, and I discuss what we learned. Sometimes, Rainey and Myles join us, and occasionally Maddox, too. Lucien not so much, because well… he’s a loner.
It’s been a week since Echo brought us the news that Kymaris, Queen of the Underworld, is the Dark Fae now wearing my sister’s glamour. Our inner circle knows she’s a changeling, so we are trying to stock up on as much knowledge of this strange ritual as possible so we can know what we’re up against.
Every day, Zaid and I head down to the library for research. Sometimes, Carrick joins us; sometimes, he leaves to do only God—or gods—know what. On those occasions he leaves, Maddox or Lucien is always at the condo for extra protection, although it’s probably not needed. All three demi-gods reinforced the protective spells on not only the condo but on the Fantasia as well. With their combined power, they were confident nothing could get through—short of one of the gods themselves.
Even though the Fantasia is protected, I still worry about Rainey and Myles as they returned to their jobs and weren’t going to spend every moment within the safety of the houseboat. Carrick gave them each an amulet that provided a mini-shield should they be attacked, but it wasn’t strong enough to protect them from a sustained attempt.
Last night, my distress over their safety was eased a bit when Myles and Rainey came over after work to help with some research and eat dinner. I was bemoaning their safety when away from the Fantasia when Myles dropped a bombshell.