I know this as he had instructed me before. But that was just my first toss.
For the next three knives, I get successfully closer until my last one strikes the throat area. Titus moves to pull them out and walks them over to me. “Again.”
I hold the knives loosely as Titus moves back near the target, and why this question is even important in the grand scheme of things, I ask him, “Are you married, or do you have a girlfriend?”
Titus turns, eyebrows lifted in surprise before a lopsided grin lands on his face. “I didn’t know you thought of me that way, Finley.”
I roll my eyes in response. “I don’t. It’s just… I’m curious how you make something like that work when you can theoretically live forever? Does that mean you could only ever be in a relationship with another human from Semper Terra who doesn’t age either?”
There is no doubt that I think I’m sly with my questions since I’m only showing a mild interest in societal roadblocks immortals might have.
But the look on Titus’ face tells me I’m way too transparent.
“Never mind,” I mutter, moving back to the tape and putting a knife in my right hand.
I’m concentrating on the bullseye so hard that Titus’ soft voice jars me. “Carrick’s not built for relationships, Finley.”
My gaze slams to him and I open my mouth to deny it, but he continues. “He’s lived far too long and been through so many awful things that he doesn’t have the capacity if that makes sense.”
I think he might be wrong about that, but he has more to say. His voice is tender with empathy as he points out the real issue. “It could never work between an immortal and a mortal. You’re a Buffy fan. You knew it was impossible between Buffy and Angel.”
“That’s because her true love was Spike,” I mutter, my eyes cast down to the floor.
“Regardless, where is the future in it?” Titus points out. “You’d have a handful of years before you got old, and he didn’t. How hard would it be for both of you to part ways after making a relationship? Or, God forbid, he stays with you until you die… what will that do to him?”
And this is where my hope lies because neither of those things applies in our situation. “Carrick wants to ascend.”
Titus frowns, taking a few strides to come back to me. “What’s that?”
“It’s where he asks the gods that made him to unmake him, so he’ll just cease to exist. It will be his reward if he helps me thwart the prophecy. He’s done with his life.”
“Oh,” Titus says, but he doesn’t really understand what that means to me.
“And I’m going to die in the prophecy,” I tell him, watching his face freeze before it clouds with horror. “At least that’s what Arwen said.”
“You didn’t tell me that a bit ago when I got the Faere recap,” he accuses. “Don’t you think it is important?”
I shrug. “I hate worrying my friends.”
He leans in, eyebrows drawn together. “And she said that’s a definite? That you’ll die?”
“Not in those words,” I admit. “But she did say that great sacrifice would be required, and it would be mine to bear.”
“Fuck,” Titus mutters under his breath. His eyes turning sorrowful, he says, “That sounds ominous but not conclusive. Still… I’m sorry you have to bear that.”
“Don’t be,” I hasten to assure him because, weirdly, since hearing this news from Arwen, I’ve somehow come to accept it. For the most part. “It is what it is, and you know, the whole world in jeopardy and stuff. But I was just thinking…”
My words trail off as I’m too embarrassed even to say them aloud and feel even more foolish to be discussing them with Titus.
“You think that since you both are on borrowed time, why can’t something happen?”
I shrug, but truth be told… he nailed it.
“Finley,” Titus says softly. “How do you even know there’s something there? I mean… Carrick’s been nothing but brusque and standoffish with you from what I’ve seen.”
“He kissed me,” I say, somewhat reluctantly. That seems pretty personal to be divulging, but I’ve already gone down the rabbit hole.
Titus’s eyebrows shoot straight up. “He did?”
I nod. “In Faere.”
“And then what?” he prompts, eyes sparkling with interest.
“And then nothing,” I reply glumly. “I got the whole lecture about how it could never work between us because of the immortal-mortal thing.”
“But that’s not necessarily the case if he’s going to ascend and you’re going to die,” he points out, then reaches out and raps his knuckles gently on my head. “Knock on wood that doesn’t happen.”
I laugh and bat his hand away.
“What does Carrick have to say about this particular point?” Titus asks. “You know… the ‘both of you might not be around for long, so why not give in to it’ sort of thing?”
Shaking my head, I admit, “I haven’t talked to him about it. No time really. But maybe…”
“Well, let’s get back to work,” Titus says, taking me by the shoulders and turning me back to the target.
He walks that way and when he makes it to the wooden bullseye, he faces me. “But my last piece of advice, Finley… if you truly are on borrowed time, don’t wait too long to have that talk or to make a move if it’s something you want. For tomorrow is never guaranteed.”
CHAPTER 4
Finley
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Myles says after a low whistle of awe.
I just pushed the button to open the secret passage that leads down to Carrick’s library.
“Is it a doorway to another realm?” Rainey asks with excitement.
“You could say that,” I reply coquettishly, not wanting to ruin the surprise when they reach the bottom of the spiral staircase.
Up until this moment, Rainey and Myles have been hanging out with me in the kitchen while I’ve filled them in on everything that’s happened in the last two days.
Rainey actually got behind the island counter and helped Zaid cook breakfast for us. I’m still a bit in awe that Zaid acts a bit human with her, but, then again, Rainey has always had that effect on others.
We ate Belgian waffles with fresh whipped cream and raspberries while I started to recount what had occurred from the trip to Faere until now. Carrick was out at a business meeting he couldn’t cancel, but he left Lucien in the lobby as added protection.
Apparently, Myles and Rainey met him on the way up. “That is one scary dude protecting the elevator,” Myles said after we got our hugs done.
“He’s a demi-god just like Carrick,” I replied without thinking about how shocking that information would be to them. Thus, I had to start my recap with that bit of information rather than from the beginning of when Stan took us into Faere.
Needless to say, my friends were shocked about the demi-god thing, impressed with my eavesdropping skills, and spent way too long asking questions about gryffins. I glossed over Deandra and my kiss with Carrick, instead focusing on the information Arwen gave me.