I don’t want it and it makes me a little sick to get it, but her expression flashes with respect before it evens back out into supreme haughtiness. “You’re not stupid, I’ll give you that. I look forward to us facing off when the time comes. And if it makes you feel any better, I intend to kill you quickly.”
“I’m deeply touched,” I murmur, inclining my head graciously.
Kymaris tips hers back in laughter. When her gaze comes back to mine, the amusement is gone and she’s all business. “Oh, I’m not doing it for you… killing you quickly, that is. It’s just that I have so many more important things to do on the night of the ritual that I can’t be bothered with someone as inconsequential as you.”
“So the ritual will be at night, huh?” I ask curiously. “You wouldn’t mind telling me the exact time, would you? Or where it will be located?”
Kymaris laughs again before turning ice cold. “Funny girl, but it’s time for us to go.”
“Go where?” I ask, trying to glean any information that I can.
She shakes her head in an admonishing way. “Like I said, funny girl.”
Before I can think of something else to say, her hand shoots out and grabs mine. She rips a veil in the air before her and my stomach dips and rolls as Kymaris pulls us through and into the Seattle night.
It’s the smell of the Sound I first recognize because she had us appear in a small alcove in the back of a building on the water. When I see a docked ferry boat, I realize we’re at the piers.
Turning around to get my bearings, I startle when Pyke appears. He steps into Kymaris, puts his hand to the back of her neck, and plants a long kiss on her mouth.
I find it interesting that she doesn’t return it with the same ardor that he’s giving it. She even gives him a friendly pat on his shoulder before she pulls her face away from his. Her hand goes to his cheek in another friendly pat. “Do me a favor, lover, and melt into the crowd.”
The crowd.
Hundreds of people hang out at the piers each night.
“Your idea to meet here or Carrick’s?” I ask as Pyke disappears.
Kymaris ignores my question, spins on her heel, and starts to move around the west side of what I now recognize as the ferry terminal. I dutifully follow as she expects me to.
Once around the corner, she heads north along Alaskan Way to the more popular piers where restaurants and gift shops abound and plenty of people will be milling about. She takes us past Elliott’s Oyster House, the Seattle Great Wheel, and into Waterfront Park, which, ironically, is where Carrick and Maddox first brought me to meet Echo months ago when my journey was just starting.
Kymaris spots Carrick before I do. She takes my elbow, and we veer off to a set of benches that are unoccupied except for the love of my life. He rises, eyes roving over me for any sign of distress. I smile at him with confidence.
I’m okay.
“Just so you know,” Kymaris hisses out of the side of her mouth as we make our way toward him. “I have this place surrounded by Dark Fae. If you try anything funny, not only will they take you out but also any friends Carrick chose to bring along, even though I told him to come alone. I expect there will be countless unintended human casualties, too.”
“Peaceful transfer,” I mutter. “Got it.”
Like I would try anything.
This is Carrick’s show, and I’m going to take a very complacent role. Should he give me any sign I should do something, I’ll act, but, otherwise, I expect he wants this to end peacefully, too.
“I’m curious,” I say as we continue to make our way across the park to where Carrick waits. He has the satchel in his hand, and I assume the Blood Stone is in it. “Why didn’t you just kill me back in your dungeon if I’m the key to thwarting the prophecy?”
“Oh, don’t think I didn’t think long and hard about it,” Kymaris replies conversationally—in an almost friendly tone actually. “But I need the Blood Stone more than your death, and you’re currently the easiest way to procure it.”
Kymaris suddenly grabs my elbow and abruptly stops, forcing me to face her. I twist, glancing briefly back at Carrick, who looks alarmed and is now advancing on us. Kymaris ignores him, but I hold my other hand out to keep him at bay and shake my head. Surprisingly, he comes to a stop a good twenty yards away and holds his position.
Kymaris leans into me, and I give her my attention. The friendly tone I thought I heard is gone. Her voice is icy, and shivers prickle my skin. “I really, really want to kill you, Finley. I can’t stand the sight of you. Even knowing you’re breathing the same air as me cuts me to the bone.”
My chin jerks inward at the venom that is all but vibrating off her.
The Dark Fae queen’s eyes flash red as she leans in a little closer, lips peeling back in a menacing smile. “You know… I still have Fallon’s memories inside of me, and she thought you were completely lacking as a sister. She hated spending time with you. Thought you were a complete disgrace to the family. In fact, she blamed you for your father’s death. That hate was the last thing she felt before she died.”
The old Finley would have been crushed by those words. She would have fretted over their veracity and overanalyzed every memory she had of Fallon.
But this new Finley recognizes Kymaris for what she is, and she’s not going to fall prey to her manipulations and lies.
I jerk my arm out of her grasp, but I don’t back away. Instead, I lean into her and murmur, “Your petty attempts to knock me won’t work. I’m not weak-minded like Pyke, who follows you around like a simpleton. I’m well aware of how my sister felt about me, and while we didn’t always see eye to eye, we loved each other for who we were. Everything you just said was a lie. If that’s the best you have to try to weaken me, you best come up with something better.”
Her gaze is shrewd, and I can see Kymaris calculating whether to hit me with something else. Instead, she says, “You’ve got spunk. Have to admire that.”
“I don’t want your admiration,” I snap. “I want to know why you’re doing all of this.”
Kymaris blinks in true surprise. “Why I’m doing all of this?”
I watch as she tips her face up to the sky—devoid of rain and clouds so she can see the stars—and holds her hands outward while turning in a slow circle. I cut a glance at Carrick, who watches with the eyes of a hawk.
Bringing her gaze back to me, Kymaris says, “This world is amazing. You’d never understand that since you haven’t been to the Underworld. The better question is why wouldn’t I try to take it over?”
“Yes,” I say with exasperation. “I can understand that. But you could live here peacefully like many other Dark Fae do. You could have had an incredible life like your brethren.”
“All unambitious fools if you ask me,” Kymaris snorts.
“You mean they don’t have your ambition to subjugate,” I growl.
“Precisely,” she says with a blinding smile.
For some reason, that infuriates me more than anything else she’s done so far. Shaking my head as if I pity her, I say, “You’re weak, Kymaris. Your ego is over-inflated, and the only way you can ever feel good about yourself is to tread on the backs of others. It’s pathetic, and it makes you unworthy of ruling anything.”
Clearly, I had gotten a little too comfortable in our conversation and forgotten what a cold-blooded monster she is. I’m not prepared for her snarl of fury or her hand shooting out to latch onto my throat. With her preternatural strength, she squeezes as she lifts me into the air. My hands come up to try to pry her fingers loose as a few people near us scream in alarm.
“Oh my God,” a woman yells. “Someone help her.”
Kymaris waves her free hand. Although my vision starts to go hazy from lack of oxygen, I see she’s frozen every human around.
Her magic clearly can’t touch Carrick as he materializes at our side with a quick bending of distance. As I struggle to breathe, I take in Maddox and Titus appearing behind him with relief.
Behind Kymaris, Pyke appears, along with several Dark Fae. They far outnumber our side, but I’d stack two demi-gods and an annihilator against them any day.
Kymaris seems utterly unperturbed by Carrick standing there with fury in his eyes, and that’s to her detriment. She has no time to react when he conjures a mighty battle ax out of thin air and swipes it down hard and fast, cleaving off the arm that is holding me up.
Gravity takes me down as Kymaris shrieks in pain, clutching the stump pouring black blood just above her elbow. As I hit the ground, I realize her hand is still clutching my throat but without any strength. I’m completely wigged out as I pull it loose, tossing it to the side and crab-walking backward away from her. Unfortunately, Pyke appears and hauls me to my feet, placing a dagger at my neck in warning to Carrick to hold his ground.
Carrick glances at me and Pyke. While I know him well enough to realize he’s vibrating with fury because Pyke holds a dagger on me, it’s with complete nonchalance that he bends and picks up Kymaris’ arm. When he tosses it underhand to her with a smirk, she hisses as she catches it.
It’s with ease that she magically reattaches it, but her anger is palpable. She snarls at Carrick. “That was a mistake.”
“I said Finley wasn’t to be harmed,” he reminds her with a shrug.
“Give me the Blood Stone,” she demands, holding her reattached arm out and shaking it as if to get the blood flowing again.
“Finley first,” Carrick demands.
Kymaris cuts a glance to Pyke, nodding curtly.
Pyke removes the dagger, puts his hand between my shoulder blades, and gives me a rough shove in Carrick’s direction. I don’t need any further prodding as I hurry to his side.
“You good?” he asks without taking his eyes off Kymaris. I can hear the unspoken statement, though, which is if I’m hurt, he’s going to kill her here and now.
“Peachy,” I reply because I’m fine.
Without any delay, Carrick tosses the satchel to Kymaris. She deftly catches it. Pulling the flap open, she peeks inside and her eyes start glowing with victory.
Before she can even look up, perhaps to prepare for her and her crew to leave, Carrick points a finger at Pyke and yells, “You.”
Pyke, who had been gazing at Kymaris with a victorious smile, turns to Carrick.
His smile slides from his face.
“A reckoning is coming, Pyke,” Carrick says in a voice that promises severe retribution for the kidnapping. “I suggest you put your affairs in order.”
I want to laugh when Pyke goes a little green in the face, but I don’t have time.
Carrick nabs my hand and bends distance, then we’re stepping into the kitchen in his condo.
CHAPTER 5
Finley
I no sooner plant both feet on the kitchen tile before Carrick has me engulfed in his arms, face mashed to his chest and his chin on top of my head so I can’t even turn it to take a breath. He squeezes—not in the demi-god way that will crush bones, but the way a man does when he misses his woman—and I cherish it, just as I cherish everything about him.
When he releases his hold, it’s merely to take my face in his hands and kiss the breath out of me—far more effective than the hard squeeze of his hug, and he does this while everyone watches.
“Are you okay?” he asks, pulling back slightly to look me over. He even turns me around to check my backside, before turning me again and pulling me into another hug.
“I’m fine,” I assure him.
“Good,” I hear Rainey say before I’m pulled from Carrick right into her embrace. She’s a brave woman, holding back her tears but fervently whispering in my ear that she’ll kill me if I ever scare her like that again.
“Noted,” I laugh, and then Myles is hugging me.
Then Titus.
Then Maddox.
Zaid is sweet, with his usual awkwardness and tiny pats on my shoulders, but as we release from our embrace, the relief in his eyes is great.
And finally… I turn to Boral.
The only time I’ve ever touched the mass murderer Dark Fae was when he protected me from the pine tree top about to crush my body.
But fuck it… he’s a proven member of our team, and I’m the one who moves in for a hug. I get just a glimpse of his eyes widening in shock before I throw my arms around his neck for a hard squeeze, which he returns far more exuberantly than his son had.
“Are you hungry?” Zaid asks, and I nod effusively.
“The dungeon fare was awful,” I quip, and everyone around me looks horrified.
Carrick steps forward, taking my hand. “How about we get you into a hot shower while Zaid prepares you something to eat, then we get you to bed?”
I smile at Carrick—a smile that says, ‘you’re sweet but a little patronizing’. I shake my head. “How about we sit down and talk right now about what we’re facing because things have drastically changed and I know we’re all reeling.”
The dubious look I get from Carrick is expected, but because he knows I don’t want to be coddled and he respects my grit, he glances at Zaid and says, “Fix her up some food and let’s talk.”
Everyone gathers around the kitchen island at their usual seats, but this is the first time Boral has taken a meal with the entire team. It’s the first time he was not specifically excluded.
Zaid pulls out the fixings for a club sandwich, and I grab a bottle of water from the fridge before I take the stool in between Rainey and Carrick.
While I’m sure they all heard from Zaid what had happened at Arwen’s home in Faere, Rainey asks me to tell it again.
So I do.
“Why didn’t you just open the veil and leave the minute you heard Pyke’s voice?” Myles asks.
The question is legit. In hindsight, I wish I’d done that. All I can do is shrug. “I thought he was a friend.”
“You were smart enough to have Zaid leave with the Blood Stone, though,” Maddox praises me. “Friend or not, he didn’t need to know you had it.”
“But he already did know,” I mutter, feeling foolish to have been taken so easily. “He had that damn tracking spell on it and—”
A thought strikes me, and I whip toward Carrick. “Did you put a tracking spell on the Blood Stone before you gave it to Kymaris?”
“I did,” Carrick replies, but his expression is grim. “It’s gone, though. I can’t feel it.”
“It was worth a try,” I say with a pat to his knee. “I expected someone of her power and cunning would check.”
Zaid slides a plate before me, my sandwich cut into triangular quarters with a side of chips. “Thank you,” I say, picking up a section of sandwich and taking a grateful bite.
“Where did Pyke take you?” Rainey asks.
I chew, chew, and chew some more before swallowing. “I don’t know. The house felt incredibly old European, and there was a dungeon complete with cold, wet floors and heavy chains.
“Fuck,” Carrick snarls, and I know that when he gets ahold of Pyke, he’s going to suffer.
“It wasn’t that bad,” I reassure him, not for Pyke’s benefit but for Carrick’s. “As far as chains can go, I was comfortable. Able to sit with my hands before me.”
“And did you see Kymaris?” Rainey presses for the story.
I nod, picking up my sandwich again. “I was surprised how much she’d healed from the explosion. But she doesn’t think much of me. Said I was nothing special.”
“Proving she’s as much an idiot as I thought her to be,” Carrick mutters.
Setting my sandwich down, I wipe my mouth with a paper towel Zaid had provided before pushing my plate back. “I need to tell you how they came to be together. It’s a decades-long relationship.”
“What?” more than one around the island exclaims.
“I just assumed he sought her out after we got the Blood Stone,” Maddox says incredulously.
I shake my head. “No, they met a long time ago when Pyke was able to see her thro
ugh the veil that separated Faere from the Underworld.”
The entire story takes a few minutes, and my food goes ignored. I tell them how he saw her, talked to her, and traveled into the Underworld to see her. How they concocted the plan to take over the Earth realm, and how he’s the one who put the entire changeling ritual into place, as well as the one who visited my sister monthly to pump her full of magic once Kymaris went into stasis.
That gets a growl from Carrick. “I expect you might want to put Pyke down rather than let me.”
I swivel toward him with a smile. “I have to say… I hate him for what he did to Zora. The magic he put in her from Nimeyah’s staff was light in nature, but other magical fae twisted it to make it dark. They abused her for years… from the time she was a child. Whatever happens to Pyke, his death has to be slow and painful.”
“Agreed,” Carrick proclaims with fire in his eyes.
“I’m wondering,” Myles says pensively. “What exactly does Kymaris know about Finley’s role in the prophecy now that we know Pyke is in collusion with her?”
“Not much,” I answer, but look to Carrick for clarification.
He nods. “We kept Pyke pretty much in the dark. The only thing he was told when we first visited Faere was that Finley was part of thwarting the prophecy, and that was it. We never told him why we needed the Blood Stone, but, in hindsight, he probably already knew about it from Kymaris.”
“Does that mean Kymaris has no clue about Finley’s powers?” Rainey asks.
“No, she doesn’t,” I reply, giving her an encouraging smile. “Nor that Zora is my identical twin or that we have a connection. Those are our aces in the hole, so to speak. And while I used my shield to stop that tree from falling on us, Pyke was too busy fighting Micah to see it.”
I pick up my sandwich to take another bite. Everyone refrains from questions so I can get some food in my belly. I finish the first wedge before picking up the next. “I did learn one thing while in captivity… the ritual will be done at night on the new moon.”
The Rise of Fortune and Fury Page 4