A Discovery of Secrets and Fate (Chronicles of the Stone Veil #2) - Sawyer Bennett Page 0,87

in this land unless Carrick says it’s okay, so I politely decline. “I appreciate it, but I’m good.”

Rebsha nods again before turning to leave.

“Wait,” I call, and he gives me his attention. “You… um… don’t seem hostile toward me like all the others I’ve met so far.”

The fae shrugs, his tone droll. “Humans have never done anything bad to me personally, so I don’t feel the need to hate them.”

I can’t help the smile that comes to my face. Relief and delight.

He crushes it immediately. “However, if my queen ordered your death, I’d do it without hesitation.”

Swallowing hard, I nod my understanding. “Loyalty. I get it.”

“Exactly,” he replies tersely and without another word, he heads down the hallway. I watch until he disappears into a doorway.

I let my backpack slide off my shoulder and place it between my ankles on the floor. I roll my neck, loosening some of the stiffness from carrying it for so long.

I’m highly offended I got kicked out, but I also trust that Carrick can handle himself. I just hope he’ll actually tell me everything that’s said in there, and well… I wonder if he’ll tell me everything that Deandra, in particular, says.

She made it clear with words and body language that they have been intimate with each other before. While Carrick certainly didn’t seem interested in what she was so blatantly offering, it doesn’t mean he won’t be interested now that I’m out of the room.

It feels like I’m struck by a thunderbolt at this thought and for a brief moment, I want to run back into that room and put myself between Carrick and that slutty seductress of a fae. My butt even comes off the chair as I consider grabbing my whip before common sense prevails and I force my body back down.

I can’t interfere. The queen would probably kill me dead if I walked in there, be damned that Carrick said I have his protection.

Moreover, it’s absolutely none of my damn business what Carrick does in his personal life. I know I certainly shouldn’t be giving any credence to this boiling anger and despair that he might be interested in Deandra that’s rumbling in my belly. I have no right to feel this way.

“Ugh,” I growl, crossing my arms over my stomach and leaning back in the chair. My head thuds against the wall, knowing Carrick is just on the other side and that princess is probably seducing him right now. I’d never know it either because Carrick wouldn’t tell me, and I’d never have the guts to ask.

I bolt upright in my chair, my skin actually tingling with awareness of something huge.

I have the ability to listen in on their conversation. My abilities extend to fae and not to humans. I don’t know if it extends to Carrick as I’ve never tried, but he’s not human so there’s a chance. I can damn sure listen in on the queen and the princess at a minimum. I’ve been practicing and can now call this power up at will and without line of sight. I think the feather has also done something to amplify this gift, so far be it from me to ignore it.

Settling back in my chair, I close my eyes and concentrate. I envision the queen sitting on her throne and perhaps Carrick has been given permission to sit in the king’s chair to her left. I try to picture Deandra, and an awful image pervades my brain of her draping herself upon his lap, fingers in his hair as she whispers dirty things in his ear.

Fury flushes through me, and I feel my feather tattoo start to tingle.

Then my ears pop, causing my eyes to fly open in shock as I can now clearly hear the occupants of the room as they’re talking. I can hear them as if I were standing right in their midst.

First, I hear Carrick’s laugh, causing me to sigh. I rarely hear such a sound, but God, he’s got a great one.

Then I hear Deandra’s giggle, and I grimace.

“Okay,” Queen Nimeyah says snappishly, making me think she just interrupted a good dose of flirting going on between Carrick and her daughter. It feels like lava is in my veins. “Let’s talk business. Why are you here, Carrick?”

“There’s a prophecy,” he explains. “Typical end-of-days stuff, and apparently that human out there is the key to it.”

I ignore the fact he references me as if “human” is a dirty word as I’m smart enough to