A Discovery of Secrets and Fate (Chronicles of the Stone Veil #2) - Sawyer Bennett Page 0,59

yours, Echo, if you answer some questions,” Maddox says, prompting her attention back to him. “There’s a new Dark Fae in town. She’s holed up at an art gallery on First Street. Might be recruiting Dark Fae and daemons to her side. I want to know everything you’ve heard about her.”

Echo’s eyes go flat, and her expression blank. “I’ve never heard of her.”

“Now that’s a lie,” Carrick says as he takes a step toward her.

She retreats, holds her hands up. “Okay… I may have heard something.”

“Like what?” Maddox prompts.

Echo looks around, making sure no one is close, but I don’t understand why. I haven’t seen another fae or daemon in this camp. She moves in closer to us and lowers her voice. “I’ve had a few friends on the street talk about her. Supposedly has immense power, but no one knows where she came from. There hasn’t been a new Dark Fae in this area in ages.”

“Why is she recruiting people?” Maddox asks.

Echo shrugs. “I don’t know that she is. I just heard that a few have been hanging out over at that gallery, although she’s been gone for a few days. That’s not normally my area so these are just rumors I’ve heard.”

“And what’s the word on the person who owned that gallery?” Carrick asks in a tight voice.

“Word is she killed the gallery owner and assumed her identity,” Echo replies, and my heart lurches. I try not to take her words literally because I’m never going to give up the hope that my sister might still be savable. I hate not knowing her actual fate, and the prospect she could be trapped in her own body is horrifying to me.

With all of my history of mental health issues and the time I spent inside a psych unit, I have this mental image of my sister, figuratively locked away in a dark room with a tiny window of light far above her head that she can’t reach. She’s sitting on a cold floor, held captive in a straitjacket, with no way to break free.

My stomach rolls over at the imagery, and I manage to shake it off as Carrick presses Echo. “What else?”

“That’s it. I swear it.” She turns to look at Maddox and the money he’s holding up high. “Now, give me my money.”

“You hear anything else,” Maddox says, “You find me. I’ve got more of this for you, understand?”

“And,” Carrick intones darkly. “You speak a word of this to anyone that we were here, and I’ll destroy you.”

Fear flashes in Echo’s eyes, and she nods. Maddox starts to hand her the money, but something occurs to me and I exclaim, “Wait.”

Without hesitation, Maddox pulls the bill back before she can nab it. Echo’s attention comes to me, loathing flashing in her eyes.

“You walked by my coffee shop a couple of weeks ago. You were talking to someone and pointing at the door. Have you been telling people about me?”

“Who would I tell about you?” she retorts snottily. “You’re not even that interesting.”

I glance at Carrick because his bullshit-meter seems to be working best on Echo. He frowns at her, unsure of what to believe.

“Then why were you pointing at my shop?” I demand.

The look Echo gives me makes me feel like a dumbass as she drawls condescendingly. “Because I really like the coffee there, and I was telling my friend about it. I had no clue you owned it.”

There’s no telling if this is the truth, but really… what does it matter? We know someone is after me by the mere fact the protection spell on my house was broken. Coincidence or not, a Dark Fae got into my house and killed Adira and could have easily killed me.

“Stop in next time and I’ll buy you a cup,” I mutter, taking a step back from her.

Maddox reaches out to hand Echo the hundred-dollar bill, but faster than I can see with any real clarity, Carrick’s hand shoots out and plucks the money from Maddox.

He holds it before him, staring hard at Echo. “There’s more where this comes from if your information is good. But let me also make something else clear… if I find out that you’ve been talking to anyone about Finley—fae, daemon, light or dark—your life is forfeited and I’ll make it painful. Do you understand?”

The enmity I was feeling from her earlier dissipates, and I can actually sense her fear. I wonder if I’m more of an empath than we had originally thought or