I go plummeting down, my eyes wide and pinned on the thorny bushes that are rushing up to meet me. I don’t have time to see what Zora is doing, I merely hope for the best as just a few feet from the vines, I close my eyes and grit my teeth, hoping an eye doesn’t get punctured.
My body slams to a halt, knocking the breath out of me. When I open my eyes, I see I’m no more than five inches from an exceptionally long thorn protruding upward from a vine. I look over to see the disappointment on Carrick’s face and the fury on Zora’s. She turns and stomps off, lobbing vicious curses at herself.
Carrick vanquishes the thorns before lowering me gently to the ground. He’s the one who stopped me from falling into the vines, as I knew he would. If Zora didn’t pull on her magic, I knew there was no way he was going to let me get hurt.
His golden eyes pin on me, and I can read his silent message.
She can’t do it.
“Let me talk to her,” I murmur as I move past him across the lawn where my sister stands with fists clenched, eyes on the bay.
I stand beside her. “Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
She twists to glare. “Weren’t you hard on yourself when you couldn’t use your magic?”
“Point taken,” I admit glumly.
Zora turns to me. “You told me that the way you tapped your powers was that Deandra put you into a position of having to save Rainey, and that fear of failing her outweighed your other fears.”
I nod with a grimace. Exactly what Carrick just did to Zora, and it didn’t work.
She turns away from me. “I’m a terrible sister, Finley. Me not saving you must mean I don’t care about you. That I don’t love you. That I don’t care if you die.”
“Fuck that,” I snap at her, grabbing her roughly by the arm and jerking her around to face me. Her white curly hair goes swinging in a beautiful arc in the opposite direction. “I know you care for me. Otherwise, you would have never come. You would have never stayed. You might not know how to vocalize it, but we’ve connected and bonded since you’ve been here. So that’s not the reason, and you know it. How about you tell me what the real reason is?”
Zora’s eyes are wide with surprise, and I can tell by the guilt in her eyes that I’m right. She was trying to use a hypothetical lack of care on her part as her excuse, but I called her on her bullshit. There’s something else, and she’s embarrassed to acknowledge it.
She glances out at the sea, then back to me before admitting, “I’m afraid to use my power.”
That, I was not expecting. I tip my head to the side. “But why?”
“Because all day today, every time I start to pull on it, it feels… almost ominous.”
“Dark?” I guess.
She nods and adds, “Dangerous. I’m afraid I can’t control it, and someone will get hurt.”
I ponder that because I know exactly what she’s feeling. I felt it when I pulled on her powers that day in Faere against Deandra when I almost felt like I could have killed her in cold blood without a single worry.
“I wanted to save you when you dropped,” Zora says earnestly. “But I was too afraid I’d hurt you instead. Besides… I knew Carrick was never going to let you hit those thorns.”
I smile. “It’s fine. I know you don’t want me to get hurt.”
“But even if you were in real danger, I don’t know if I would have overcome my fear,” she says in a small voice, and I hear shame within it.
“Your fear is legitimate, Zora.” I step in a bit closer to her, making sure her eyes hold mine. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
“I feel like I do,” she laments, throwing her arms out. “I mean… I can conjure croissants and wings with no fear.”
“And what does that feel like?” I ask curiously.
“The wings I’ve called forth so many times, it doesn’t feel like anything. It feels like a natural part of me. The other stuff I did today, I can tell the power comes from a place of darkness, but it’s like the darkness doesn’t care about small things like that. Like it can’t be bothered to care about it. Or maybe there’s some light magic still within me. Who knows? But when you were falling and I started to call on my power to stop you, I think I felt evil inside of me. Like it was outraged I would use it to save you. What does that mean?”
Shaking my head, I give her a grim smile. “I don’t know, Zora. I felt that darkness when I inadvertently pulled on your magic, so I know exactly why you’re feeling the way you are. We can’t ask Deandra because her magic is light. Boral doesn’t have magic, and we don’t have any other magical Dark Fae around to ask.”
Emitting a tiny growl, she mutters, “I wish I could reach Amell. Maybe he could teach me.”
“Would he?” I ask skeptically. “Would he really teach you something that could be used against his queen?”
Zora shrugs. “I honestly don’t know. But as it stands, I’m really afraid to use it. I’m afraid it might change me. Turn me dark. If it does, I won’t be able to come back from it.”
I look over my shoulder at Carrick, who leans against the porch railing as he, Titus, and Priya watch us.
Giving my attention back to my sister, I put a hand on her shoulder. I feel the tiny jerk of unease from the physical contact, but she doesn’t shrug me off. “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to. If you have even the slightest worry your own powers could hurt you, cause you to hurt someone else, or turn you dark, then I want you to leave them alone.”
“Really?” she asks, the hope and relief in her voice almost too much to bear, because that means what we’ve put her through has been beyond stressful.
“Well, you conjure a nice croissant,” I tease with a wink. “Maybe you could make breakfast for us each day.”
Zora stares at me blank-faced, not understanding I’m joking. That makes me laugh. I put my arm around her shoulder, turning her toward the porch. “I need to give you some lessons in humor.”
CHAPTER 17
Finley
“This almost feels normal,” I muse as Carrick and I walk hand in hand down the block. The Prestige is up ahead and our pace is leisurely, neither of us in a rush to get back to the condo.
We just had a date, of sorts.
Lunch to be exact, and it was wonderful because it was just the two of us. Outside of the time we spend in our bedroom—where conversation isn’t necessarily at a premium—we get to spend little alone time together. This has been especially true since Zora has come, because I’ve been devoting a lot of time to hanging out with her.
In the past two days since returning from Semper Terra, I’ve taken her out of the condo and shown her what Seattle has to offer. Of course, that had to include visits to the Space Needle and Pike’s Place Market. That precipitated a stop to the very first Starbucks across the Market so I could explain Seattle coffee to Zora. While she’s not a coffee connoisseur, nor has she actually had a cup of coffee from One Bean yet, she did proclaim my place much better. I loved that so much because while Zora doesn’t think she’s likable, doesn’t know how to be a sister, or even how to show kindness, that statement said everything about the kind of person she’s becoming since leaving the Underworld.
Carrick and I also took Zora to the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum, as well as on a ferry boat ride. She is still getting used to mechanized and electrical wonders—cars, boats, planes, elevators, televisions, smartphones, and such. And hilariously, the thing that seems to impress her the most are the robotic vacuums Zaid has set up around the condo to sweep the floors on the off days from when the cleaning service comes in. She’s also enamored with hairdryers and microwave ovens.
Many of these things, she had heard of before. Amell taught her about the magic of a jet plane in the Earth realm as he’d take her flying across the Underworld caverns. She wanted to take a plane trip, but she still couldn’t quite understand how enormous an actual passenger plane was. To give her some perspective, we took her to the intersection of 188th Street and 16th
Avenue so she could watch some planes land at Sea-Tac. I was afraid she was going to have a heart attack as the first one came roaring over us.
In all, the last two days have been idyllic for me because I’ve been able to spend time with Zora without the weight of the prophecy in my face. Carrick, Maddox, Zaid, and Boral were still working hard to find information about where Kymaris might be and where the ritual will be held. Titus stayed back in Semper Terra where he and Caiden will continue to recruit annihilators to join us for the probable battle, and Rainey and Myles are still in Fiji, but they’ll be home in two days.
Carrick has never begrudged me time with Zora since she returned with us. He knows she’s been lost to me for twenty-eight years, and I have but days to get to know her. He also knows he has me for eternity, so he’s contentedly taken a backseat for my attentions.
This morning when he suggested a lunch date, I jumped on it with excitement. He offered for us to take Zora, but I found myself craving some normal alone time with him as he had been having for me.
We left Zora settled on her bed, reading a book, and she assured me she didn’t need me hovering. The subject of Zora’s magical powers has been put on the back burner. We all assured her there was no pressure for her to figure them out, and that we were not going to expect anything from her in the way of helping us battle. We even teased her that she would earn a permanent seat on the Scooby Gang, which means she would stay far from the danger when it came down to it.
We had to explain what the Scooby Gang was, of course. That necessitated us watching some Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes so she could get the reference, and we ended up binging one afternoon until deep into the night. Zora found the show to be nothing but mindless entertainment. She was understanding humor more because she laughed a lot. I actually found it to be inspiring watching Buffy kick some demon ass. It would be a man’s equivalent of watching Rocky before stepping into the boxing ring.
At any rate, Zora was here in the sole capacity of being my twin sister and for us to hopefully build a long life together. She’d stay well away from the battle when it went down, as would Rainey and Myles.
And everyone was okay with that.
“We should do this more often,” Carrick says, pulling my hand up and actually tucking it into the crook of his elbow, which had us moving closer together as we walked. It was an old-fashioned move, and I wonder how many times we had walked together like this over the centuries.
It’s overcast today and the sidewalk is wet from a previous rain, but our umbrellas remain folded. It’s crisp outside and I feel energized, despite the slow pace at which we traverse.
“We should do this more often even with impending doom over our head?” I tease, giving him a bump with my shoulder.
“Even with impending doom,” he agrees in a deep rumble before stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and turning to face me, causing our arms to break apart. “You know… we never had to do this in our past times together.”
“Face the end of the world?” I tease.
He laughs and nods. “We led normal, fairly boring lives. No worlds to save. No monsters to fight. I really, really miss that.”
“I don’t remember anything other than the memories you showed me, but I can tell you that I miss it, too. I can’t wait for this to be behind us.”
Carrick’s expression turns somber, and I know what he’s thinking. There might not be an “us” when this is over.
I put my hands to his cheeks. “I’ll come back to you. And in the next life, we’ll make sure it’s the most boring life ever.”
His responding laugh is deep and rich, and it causes my soul to actually sigh that I can cause that in the face of certain death that will come my way. Eyes still twinkling, he says, “If you can spare an hour away from your sister, how about we do this every day until the ritual takes place? Just get away for an hour, all to ourselves.”
“Deal,” I reply with a firm nod.
Carrick leans in and kisses me softly. It lingers enough to tell me he’s feeling the clock ticking on our time left together. It feels good enough that it dulls the pain I’m already feeling that we’ll be lost to each other again.
When Carrick’s mouth leaves mine, we once again start for the Prestige, hand in hand. As we enter the lobby, I’m the first to see Boral sitting there waiting for us. By the look on his face, I’m not sure I want to know why he’s visiting.
“What are you doing down here?” I ask as he rises from one of the lobby chairs. He normally just calls up and is given access to the elevator.
Boral rubs his hand over his bald head, his expression troubled. “I had called ahead of time as I need to talk to everyone. They told me you were out so I just decided to wait here until you got back.”
He doesn’t need to say it, but the message is clear. Boral is not welcomed by his son, Carrick and Maddox barely tolerate him, and I’m the only one who shows him any level of kindness.
No wonder he waited down here for us.
Carrick nods and leads us to the private elevator. We ride up in silence and as the elevator doors open, Boral suggests, “Probably best we meet down in the library. We’ll have planning to do.”
This means this is serious business. Otherwise, we’d just congregate in the kitchen. The fact we have planning to do means he has information that will require action.
I glance at Carrick. “I’ll go get Zora from her room and meet you down there.”
“I’ll find Zaid and Maddox,” Carrick replies, and we head off in opposite directions. Boral sets off for Carrick’s office, which will take him down into the library.
Zora’s in my old room, which is on the opposite end of the condo from Carrick’s office. I head down the hallway, my head pre-occupied with Boral’s news. There’s no doubt about it, Boral has something on Kymaris—possibly the stone. He had been our best lead by planting himself back in the circle of his friend Kaesar, who is one of the twelve original Fallen. But Kymaris, Kaesar, and the others have disappeared, gone into safe hiding until the day of the ritual, and despite Boral reaching out to Kaesar, he’s getting no response.
In my opinion, Kaesar probably suspects Boral is a spy and he’s shut that down, which means it will be interesting to see where Boral got his information today.
I turn into the small alcove that leads into the bedroom suite, my brain swirling with pre-occupation.
It’s why I jump backward in shock as Zora’s bedroom door opens and Maddox walks out. His head is bowed, watching his hands as they tuck his t-shirt back into his jeans. His blond hair, which is normally pulled back in a ponytail at the top of his head, has several locks that have become loose.
His head lifts and, to my further shock, the demi-god’s cheeks turn a bit red with embarrassment before he levels me with a sly smirk. Pulling the door shut behind him, he says, “No recriminations. Your sister is a grown woman.”
My mouth hangs open, and I couldn’t retort to say anything if I wanted to. My brain has completely shut down.
Maddox’s hand catches me under the chin, and he gently pushes my mouth closed before walking away.
As an afterthought, I call out, “Everyone’s going down to the library. Boral has some information.”
He throws a hand over his head in acknowledgment and when he disappears, I turn toward Zora’s bedroom door. Taking a deep breath, I prepare to knock but the door is swung open.
I take Zora in. Her clothes are all perfectly in place, platinum hair no more of a wild mane than it normally is and her expression bland.
Did I mistake what was going on when Maddox walked out, tucking his shirt in? Perhaps he was changing a light bulb up high and his shirt came out?
I shake my head.
Ridiculous.
Wagging my finger in her face, I accuse with a half-smile, “You just had sex with Maddox.”
Zora doesn’t even blink. “Yeah. So what?”
Putting a hand to her chest, I push her back into her bedroom and
close the door behind us. “You. Had. Sex. With. Maddox,” I repeat, enunciating each word to underscore how monumental this is in all ways.
Zora purses her lips, shaking her head as if admonishing me. “It’s just sex, Finley. He finally made his move, and I accepted.”
“But—”
“No buts,” she cuts me off. “It’s not love. Hell, I don’t even like the guy to be honest. But the sex was great, and that’s all it is.”
I snap my mouth shut, giving it a moment. I need to make sure she’s okay, but damn if she doesn’t seem to be. Zora isn’t prone to soft feelings that can surface, even with no-strings sex.
Deciding to play this low key with her, since that’s what she seems to want to do, I give her a smile. “As long as it was good, I’m cool. I’d have to have words with him if it wasn’t.”
I don’t see it often, but Zora actually grins. “Oh yeah… it was good.”
The emphasis on good says it was great.
Actually, her tone says it was really great. Which means this probably wasn’t a one-time-only thing.
Ugh.
Not my business.
“Boral’s here and he has some information. We’re meeting down in the library.”
I start to turn for her door, but she stops me with a hand at my elbow. I lift my eyebrows in question.
“You’re okay with this, right?”
“You and Maddox?” I ask for clarity.
She nods, her expression earnestly hopeful I won’t make this weird.
Zora’s not a hugger, but I am, so I go ahead and take the opportunity to give her one. She’s stiff and unyielding as I whisper in her ear. “I’m okay with anything that brings you joy or happiness or… good orgasms. I want you to experience everything there is in this world, even if that includes a demi-god.”
To my surprise, Zora’s arms come up and lightly squeeze me before releasing.
* * *
We’re the last to arrive in the library, and everyone is situated around the conference table with Carrick taking his usual spot at the head. As I take the last step off the stairs, my eyes go to Maddox.
The Rise of Fortune and Fury Page 17