“There wasn’t a lot of time to practice anything. Amell didn’t teach me much other than flying and some protection stuff. But I can feel I have something strong inside of me. I just don’t know if it would ever help.”
“But would you help if you could?” I ask. “Because Kymaris is your enemy, too, no matter how much you might not think you have a dog in this fight.”
“Dog in this fight?” she asks in confusion.
“A stake in the outcome,” I clarify, and she nods in understanding.
“I’ll consider your request,” she says, and I can tell that’s all she’s willing to commit to at this point. But that’s okay. We still have a little over two weeks for me to work on her, and I’m going to make it a priority that we figure out her powers.
“Zora,” I say softly, needing to know something else that could be a bit delicate. “Where does Amell really stand? Is he evil? Will he truly fight beside Kymaris? And if he had to make a choice between you and Kymaris, what would that choice be?”
“I don’t know,” Her tone says Amell is a puzzle that she’s never really tried to figure out. “It’s never been important to know where he stands with Kymaris as she’s been in stasis and then gone.”
“It’s important now,” I point out.
“It’s also moot, as I’m here and he’s in the Underworld. But make no mistake… he’s as dark as they come. He’s an original Fallen. He’s second in command under Kymaris, so I have to believe his loyalty is strictly with her. He’s known her thousands upon thousands of years. He’s known me for only twenty-eight.”
“But he clearly cares for you.” I need her to focus on the good in him.
“Care and loyalty are two very different things,” Zora says, and yes… that succinctly describes the dilemma with Amell. I make a mental note that when this all goes down, we probably need to keep Zora away from him. I’m not sure I could bear to witness her pain if he turned on her, because while she keeps emotions cool where he’s concerned, I have to believe that there’s more to how she feels about him than what I’m seeing simply because she’s a human.
And as I’ve been taught by Zaid and even Boral, evil can become good.
I glance down at my watch again and curse. “Crap… it’s about time for us to go.”
Zora nods. She pushes her chair back, but, before rising, she says, “You don’t really want to go, do you?”
I blink in surprise. “You mean to One Bean?”
“Yeah, to One Bean,” she confirms. “I mean… it’s your coffee shop. You’ve told me about all your hard work to make it to ownership, and how much you loved it. It’s on the verge of being ready to re-open, and yet I sense that you just don’t want to be bothered with it.”
Now, that is uncanny, because I have done nothing but speak in glowing terms of my business and how well Rainey has done putting it all back together for me so I could concentrate on the prophecy.
It must be an identical twin thing—her being able to read emotions I’m keeping down deep—and I need to make sure I never forget that I might not be able to hide things from Zora if it ever came down to needing to.
But she asked me a question, and I’m going to give her an honest answer as I stand from my chair, too. “I love One Bean, don’t get me wrong. But… it’s just with the prophecy now being my priority, I don’t have a lot of room for it. My life is so different now, I’m going to die soon most likely, and—”
“Die,” Zora exclaims, her face paling.
We have not discussed this in detail, but now I need to fill her in. “A seer in Faere said I’ll have to bear a sacrifice to thwart the prophecy. The prevailing theory is that it means my life.”
Zora stares at me a long while, before shaking her head. “How can you be so cavalier about it?”
“I’m not,” I say, taking a step toward her. I grab her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I’ve just accepted it.”
“You make it sound so easy to die,” she says, her gaze moving off to look out over the city. “I don’t think I could be that brave.”
I glance at my watch one more time, and we might be a little late. “It’s a little easier to be brave about it when I know I’ll come back.”
“Because you’ll be reincarnated and Carrick will find you,” she surmises. When I first told her all about Carrick, I told her everything, including about Rune’s curse.
“That’s how I’m brave, Zora,” I assure her. “Not from anything inherently strong inside. I know that death isn’t permanent for me, and maybe that’s why I was the one chosen to stop the prophecy.”
“But Rune could decide not to bring you back on a whim,” she points out.
I nod grimly, my chest constricting at the thought. It’s something I think about a lot. Rune thinks he’s torturing Carrick with my death each time he takes me, but, at some point, he might figure out the greatest torture is in not letting me come back.
Zora makes an observation I’ve repeated over and over again like a mantra. “That makes it more important than ever for you to stop this prophecy.”
“Yeah,” I agree as we head inside the condo. “I don’t want to come back into the world with Kymaris ruling it.”
I don’t like to think about it. What would my life be like if I was unsuccessful? Would Carrick and I be able to survive? Would we even be able to find each other in a world where Hell was now on Earth?
I push those thoughts out of my head as we gather our things and head down to Carrick’s limo. It’s a short ride to the shop, but he insisted on it so we could all ride together.
We exit the back when the driver opens the door… me, Zora, Maddox, Carrick, Titus, and Zaid. It’s a showing of friendship that we all came, because truly… this was a big deal for Rainey. While Zora knows my level of excitement isn’t where it should be, I resolve to put on a big, enthusiastic show for my friend.
Boral isn’t with us. Instead, he decided to stay clear in case Kymaris’ minions are watching. He’s going to try to gently work his way closer to them, and has reached out to Kaesar in an attempt to “casually catch up” and glean any other information. So far, Kaesar hasn’t responded.
Rainey meets us at the front door, Myles standing just behind her. I look up at the beautiful facade of One Bean with its worn, red brick walls, the upper balcony surrounded in black wrought iron, and the marquis letters spelling out the name of the coffee shop. Admittedly, there’s a tiny pull occurring right now and perhaps I actually did miss this more than I had thought.
“I’m so glad all of you came,” Rainey gushes as she steps out to hold the door open for us. We walk in single file past her, where Myles greets us with fist bumps and smiles.
I haven’t seen Rainey and Myles in the last few days, as, like the others, they’re giving me space to spend time with Zora. While I know Rainey still has reservations about Zora’s trustworthiness and there has to be a little bit of jealousy that I have made room in my life for my sister which pushes Rainey back just a bit, she warmly welcomes her as she follows in behind us.
Stepping up to Zora, she links her arm through my sister’s. “Let me give you the grand tour since this is your first time here.”
Zora glances over her shoulder at me, only a slight bit of panic on her face, but I make a shooing motion with my hand that she should go. She has to get used to these things.
While Rainey shows her around, Myles points out some of the finishing touches. By the tone of his voice, there’s no hiding how proud he is of Rainey’s work.
Carrick, Titus, Zaid, and Maddox walk around, talking about manly things like construction lines and craftsmanship.
I merely look around at how pretty everything is with gleaming new flooring, a new layout, and expanded upper floor space. Rainey’s vision was everything I had wanted and more.
When she returns with Zora, who thanks Rainey for the tour, Rainey beams a smile back at her as if they’re now fast friends before turning to me. “Got a few minutes we can tal
k in private?”
“Sure,” I reply and then turn to Zora. My first instinct is to ask if she’ll be okay on her own, but I shut my mouth. She survived the Underworld. Of course she’ll be okay here, surrounded by my closest friends.
Rainey grabs my hand, then leads me back to the office. This was the one place that is actually already finished, and I’m stunned as I take it in. When Rich occupied this place, it was bare and utilitarian. I hadn’t bothered to change it. But Rainey has gone all out with a soft cream paint on the walls, framed artwork of peaceful landscape scenery, a feminine-style desk in whitewashed wood with a matching credenza, and the most beautiful executive style chair, that was framed for a woman’s size, done in cream leather and black lacquered wood. The floor is new hardwood, but a plush rug in creams and mint green adds just enough color to the space.
“It’s stunning,” I praise Rainey as she pushes me inside and shuts the door. “Just, wow.”
Waving her hand impatiently, she says, “Yes… glad you like it and all, but that’s not why I pulled you back here.”
I frown, crossing my arms. “What’s up?”
“I need to get married now,” she gushes, her expression pained.
“Are you pregnant?” I ask in shock.
Rainey slaps me on the arm.
Hard.
“Ow,” I exclaim, jerking sideways lest she decides to smack me again.
“No, I’m not pregnant,” she snaps. “But the world could be ending soon, so time is of the essence.”
“But your wedding is next weekend,” I point out calmly. “Eight days. Surely you can wait that—”
“No,” she hisses, leaning into me. “No, I can’t wait. Just this month alone, you’ve battled a wraith, stole the Blood Stone from Micah’s realm where you almost got crushed by a tree, got kidnapped by Pyke and Kymaris, and traveled to the Underworld to save your sister. God knows what you’re going to do next week.”
I smile at Rainey, pulling her into a hug and rubbing her back, understanding exactly what she’s saying. And it’s all born from worry about me and that I might meet my demise at any time.
“I need you to be there for the wedding,” she murmurs as she gets that I understand her but it needs to be said. “I just don’t want to wait.”
Pulling back and tucking my chin in so I can look her in the eye, “When do you want to do this?”
“Tomorrow,” she says. “Myles agrees.”
“You know we can’t get the flowers and cake in that timeframe,” I point out.
“I have the dress, which is enough. Plus, Zaid can do a cake.”
“You won’t be able to find a minister—”
“Zaid’s a minister, and he said he’d officiate,” she replies, her eyes now sparkling with excitement that there are no barriers.
But I’m shocked about Zaid being a minister.
Wait… no, I’m not.
Zaid is a master of so many things that this should not be shocking at all.
“You’ve clearly talked this through with him,” I say, giving her a chastising look. “I’m the maid-of-honor, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” she sighs, stepping out of my embrace. “But you were busy getting kidnapped and then traveling to the Underworld.”
I cross an arm over my stomach, rest my elbow there, and tap my chin with my finger as I study my friend very critically. After a moment of reflection, I say, “Let’s do this. We can totally pull off a wedding in one day.”
“Really?” Rainey squeals with excitement.
“Really,” I tell her assuredly.
Besides, it will be nice to have just one day where we can let all our worries go and have some true happiness.
And also, Rainey isn’t wrong to worry. There’s no telling what the rest of this month is going to look like or if I’ll survive long enough to make it to the prophecy.
CHAPTER 11
Carrick
Carrick would never admit it to anyone, but he rather thought it was a good idea to have Rainey and Myles’ wedding tonight. Despite loving his Eireann—now Finley, and one day to be named something else—he wasn’t what anyone would call an overly romantic man.
Sure, he had built her a rose garden long ago, but he was more the type to sit and listen in rapt attention as she yammered about something of no importance than someone who whispered poetry. He’d hold her while she cried over something that broke her heart and he’d break the bones of anyone who hurt her. Those weren’t necessarily romantic things, but they were the ways he showed his love.
And the one thing that Carrick respected was the notion of true love.
Of having a soul mate.
Of being devoted to one and only.
While Rainey and Myles admittedly didn’t have the history that Carrick and Finley had, what they had was real and special and a wedding should not wait.
Also, Carrick acknowledged they were all living minute to minute, so the sooner-rather-than-later scenario applied here.
The affair was informal, held in his condo. Zaid baked a beautiful cake, and Maddox created a magical floral arch under which the two could exchange their vows. He also conjured blooming, fragrant sprays of flowers in vases all over the living area and cleared most of the furniture for the nuptials.
The group of wedding guests was small but tight-knit.
Carrick, Finley, Maddox, Zaid, Titus, Boral, and Zora.
Myles was in a dapper suit, and Rainey in a simple strapless white gown made of silk and chiffon she had bought off the rack because it had fit so perfectly. The rest of the group dressed casually, per Rainey’s insistence. She wanted this to be fun, casual, and with no formal rules.
The one rule they did abide by was getting their marriage license. All Zaid had to do after officiating the ceremony—which was really just Rainey and Myles exchanging personal vows they had written—was add his signature to the bottom and they were officially Mr. and Mrs. Lareva.
And now… it was time to celebrate and party. For the moment, Carrick was very much enjoying Finley and Rainey attempting to teach Zora how to do the Macarena. Maddox and Myles were engaged in a lively debate over whether it was better to get married or stay resolutely single.
Carrick could tell them the answer, but they needed to figure it out themselves.
Zaid was busy refreshing platters of food he’d prepared and Boral sat by himself in a corner, a glass of Scotch in one hand and his phone in the other as he scrolled. Carrick didn’t even bother being put out by Boral’s attendance. Rainey wanted him there and the Dark Fae had proven on more than one occasion he was loyal to the team. He’d just probably never be considered a friend.
“You know… your girlfriend has no rhythm whatsoever,” Titus drawled from the side of his mouth as he came to stand beside Carrick. He had a beer in hand and he watched the ladies dancing with amusement.
“Better not say that to Finley’s face,” Carrick warned Titus with a chuckle. “She’s liable to kick your balls up to your throat.”
“Duly noted,” Titus replied with a laugh. “I’m all for us continuing the wedding celebration, but while your woman and her sister are currently occupied on the dance floor, I wanted to talk to you about an idea I had.”
Carrick’s gaze left Finley—who admittedly didn’t have much dance rhythm but was still the hottest thing he’d ever laid eyes on—and shifted to look at his friend. “What’s that?”
“Zora needs to learn to tap her powers and might even have some basic fighting skills, right?”
Carrick nodded. After Finley verified with Zora that she didn’t mind if the group knew about her powers, he had filled the men in on the fact she could fly but that the rest of her powers were still green and unused.
“I could take them both to Semper Terra,” Titus suggested before taking a sip of his beer. “I could put Zora through a quick self-defense course, and we’d have plenty of safe space to unleash her magical skills. I’d have Finley do some advanced training. Have her run
the gauntlet for sure.”
Carrick blinked in surprise, for the gauntlet was a series of dangerous and life-threatening obstacles one had to complete using both their fighting and magical skills before becoming an annihilator. “The gauntlet? Are you sure?”
“She can do it,” Titus says without hesitation. “And it will give her a boost of confidence before the ritual.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” Carrick mused. Zora definitely needed work if she was going to join the cause and fight against Kymaris, which wasn’t set in stone yet. But she needed to get ready, and frankly, her dark magic could be incredibly useful to them. “I’ll talk to Finley about it tonight. When would you want to go?”
“Why wait?” Titus replied, his gaze moving back out to the dance floor as the song wound down. “Let’s go tomorrow.”
Carrick nodded but his attention was drawn to Myles, who stepped over to his iPhone—hooked up to the Bluetooth speakers throughout the condo—to put on a new tune. “Time to dance with my bride,” he announced.
The first notes of At Last by Etta James floated over the condo and Myles moved to Rainey, who smiled at him as if he were the sunrise.
Finley moved to Carrick, Zora following her. Now was as good a time as any to tell them about Titus’ suggestion but from the corner of his eye, he saw Maddox zeroing in on Zora.
And while he loved his brother and couldn’t blame him for his interest, he also knew Zora could only take so much of his flirting, so he decided to be noble.
“Tell Finley your idea,” Carrick muttered to Titus, then stepped forward to intercept Zora. “I’m going to take this lady for a spin around the floor.”
Carrick caught the warm smile Finley had on her face, the blink of surprise from Zora, and then he had her in his arms.
She was stiff as a board and wouldn’t follow his lead, so they mainly stood on the fringe swaying slightly while Myles and Rainey danced.
“You and I haven’t had a chance to talk much since you came here,” Carrick said lightly. “Are you settling in okay?”
Zora nodded. “Finley’s done a great job of making me feel comfortable. And I thank you for letting me stay here.”
The Rise of Fortune and Fury Page 10