The Rise of Fortune and Fury (Chronicles of the Stone Veil #5) - Sawyer Bennett Page 0,77
will save him from Carrick’s wrath.
Zaid struggles and curses for several seconds before shooting a glare at his father. “Make her take them off me.”
It’s the first time I’ve ever seen Boral have a moral struggle. He wants nothing more than his son to forgive him and to have a relationship again. If he helps Zaid, that will definitely be something that paves the way. If he says no, he’ll lose any ground he’s gained.
I give a warning to Boral to take the decision away from him. “If you make a move, I’ll wrap you up with magic, too, and go by myself.”
Boral doesn’t move an inch, and I move several feet until I’m face to face with Zaid. He growls low in his chest with reproach. “I’m sorry,” I say softly. “I have to do this, and I also know Carrick will be pissed at you. I’m taking your choice away.”
“Let me go with you, Finley. For extra protection.”
My smile is sad as I shake my head. “I’d rather keep you safe, my friend. Carrick will only have me to blame.”
This results not in a kumbaya moment with Zaid, but with more curses leveled right at me. I take a few steps back as I nod toward the living area. “I left you the use of your legs. I suggest sitting down and getting comfortable. We shouldn’t be more than an hour.”
Zaid is yelling curses at me as I get into the elevator with Boral and Zora. When the doors close, Boral says, “He won’t forgive you.”
“Of course he will,” I reply confidently. “Especially once we have Blain firmly in hand and the daemons dispatched.”
We’re silent as we move through the lobby and get into the G550 the valet had brought around, with Boral driving, me in the front passenger seat, and Zora in the back. We brought along a first aid kit in my backpack since there’s no telling what type of shape Blain is in.
No one says a word as we drive the handful of blocks down to First Avenue where Fallon’s gallery is located. I’ve definitely got some feels going on as I have not been back here since the last time I saw Fallon right inside the gallery when she was already inhabited by Kymaris. I went to see her, hoping there was something of my sister left inside that could be reached. I’ve since learned she was dead the minute Kymaris entered her during the changeling ritual.
Because Kymaris took Fallon’s identity, subsequently went to Switzerland where her fiancé, Blain, went missing and hasn’t been seen since, things have been in a bit of legal limbo. She’s not been missing long enough to be declared dead. But the police don’t think “Fallon” is dead. They think she killed Blain and is in hiding.
Carrick’s team of high-priced lawyers moved in and were able to petition the court to put her gallery into a conservatorship under my name to manage until she was located or declared dead. All the art on consignment was returned to the creators. The rest that Fallon had purchased for resale was moved out to a secure storage location and the space is empty of everything. Carrick has insisted on keeping up with the rent payments, although I haven’t discussed with him why he would do such a thing.
Probably because I know.
He doesn’t want to get rid of the last connection I had with Fallon, because although she started out a fae changeling, she became human and was in every way my sister for twenty-eight years. It still hurts deeply that she’s gone.
For the last two months, we’ve not done anything else with the space and neither of us has been there to visit. We had assumed it was locked up tight and everything was gathering dust. It never occurred to us that daemons were getting in through the loading dock and holding a prisoner there. It would be fairly easy to break into because, although we did change the locks, we didn’t bother with the security system since the space was completely empty.
So why would daemons use this place?
Was it at Kymaris’ direction, which makes absolutely no sense? She had abandoned Fallon’s identity, and she wouldn’t want to come near the gallery since the police were looking for her.
Or was it that Kymaris gave them latitude on where to keep him and they chose this place because this is where she first gathered her minions?