“How did it go?” Zaid asked, turning Carrick’s way. He had a pair of binoculars in his hand, and he would have easily been able to see Carrick and Kymaris talking.
Carrick grimaced, rubbing his hand at the back of his neck. “She knows we have the Blood Stone.”
“Boral.” Zaid’s voice was flat in his accusation.
There was no need to reply, because Carrick was sure Zaid’s mind went to the same place his had. That Boral was most likely dead, and it probably wasn’t a pleasant journey getting there. He’d let the realization settle in, but figured Zaid might have some conflicting feelings despite his adamant refusal to let his father back into his life.
Getting information from Kymaris wasn’t actually the reason they’d come tonight. Carrick had merely wanted in the house so he could check things out, because he had something far more important to do than pick her brain. The information he’d learned would turn out to be just as important as their primary objective.
“No humans in the house,” Carrick said in a low voice. “Just Kymaris and one daemon.”
“One of her rare non-party nights,” Zaid muttered.
Carrick nodded as he stared down at the house. Such a shame because it was a beautiful piece of property.
“Everything set?” he asked.
“Easy as pie,” Zaid replied, handing the small black box with its stubby antennae to him. It had a small green bubble light and one button.
Carrick’s expression was hard as he stared down at the house. In her robe and high heels, Kymaris walked without a care in the world from the living area to the kitchen. She moved to the refrigerator and opened it, staring inside as she pondered what she’d like to eat.
Such a mundane task and she was utterly clueless.
Carrick’s thumb moved to the button. Without an ounce of remorse, he depressed it. There was a second delay where nothing happened, then the charges that had been placed went off simultaneously with a ground-shaking boom.
Well-positioned bricks of trinitrotoluene—better known as TNT—placed around the base of the huge mansion by a very surreptitious friend of Zaid’s who had the knowledge and skill to bring down a moderately sized structure with little effort, exploded.
Carrick’s eyes were pinned on Kymaris when the explosion occurred. The queen of the Underworld stood in front of the fridge contemplating a sandwich one moment. The next, she was engulfed in a huge wave of fire that caused windows to blow outward from the intensity.
Fire and black smoke billowed upward, lighting the night sky. Carrick could feel the heat of the blast on his face. Knowing Kymaris was out of commission for a while made him smile.
The explosion would not have killed her, nor had he meant it to. Finley was the key, and they’d have to face off. He had to let it play out.
But Kymaris would be slowed down, and this would put an immediate stop to her parties where humans were being sacrificed.
He’d promised Finley he would handle it, and he had.
For now.
But the queen of the Underworld would be back in action at some point, and he suspected she’d come for the Blood Stone and probably some retribution.
Carrick had already anticipated this before he and Zaid had come out here tonight. He’d told Finley his intentions, and he’d insisted it was time for Rainey and Myles to move into the condo until this was all over. While the Fantasia could be protected to some degree, Rainey and Myles would be too vulnerable as they went about their everyday lives. They were going to have to give that up for now and work remotely from his place until it was done.
Luckily, they didn’t give Finley any flack when she insisted they had to do it. Earlier today, Maddox escorted them to the Fantasia to pack up their belongings, becoming temporary residents of Carrick’s condo. They were there now with Finley, being guarded by Maddox in his absence.
But even his condo wasn’t going to be completely safe, so these living arrangements were only going to be for one night. If Kymaris had enough Dark Fae to help funnel their powers along with hers at the protections Maddox and Carrick put on the building, they could bust through. He figured she had enough daemons to storm the condo to take the Blood Stone and lay waste to everything else. Humans would be caught in the crossfire, and Kymaris would not mind sacrificing them and throwing the world into a panic all so she could get her hands on the Blood Stone.
It was time for them all to go on the run, but Carrick still had one more thing to accomplish to slow Kymaris down.
CHAPTER 23
Finley
When Carrick walks back into the condo with Zaid, he doesn’t seem surprised to find Rainey, Myles, and me sitting sullenly in one of the groupings of furniture. I study him quickly and note that, if anything, he seems resigned.
I’m not exactly sure where he’s been—he was short on details when he left—but his bearing upon returning is grim and worried, which makes me worried.
Earlier this afternoon—just after we had finished our dress shopping—Carrick informed us that Rainey and Myles were going to have to move into the condo. While he wouldn’t say why, he said the danger was going to be quickly increasing to a level that they couldn’t be kept safe on the streets, so they had to go into hiding.
Rainey wasn’t happy. When she called Myles to tell him, he wasn’t happy either. But I trusted Carrick and if he said it was the time to buckle down, even if it meant hiding within a fortress, they had to do it. Had it been my preference, they would have moved in here long ago, but, back then, Carrick was against it just like Myles and Rainey.
Now Carrick and I are in a vastly different place, and I know there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to ease my fears or ensure my happiness. Forcing Myles and Rainey here accomplished both, even though I had to watch them glower all evening and bitch about circumstances. I understand this completely because they have no comprehension of the upcoming danger forcing Carrick to do this.
Neither do I for that matter, but I assume I’ll learn soon enough.
Once Carrick had laid down his edict that he was not going to give Rainey and Myles a chance to decline his invitation, and after I had begged and pleaded with them to just do it, they capitulated. As such, Maddox helped them pack up their belongings and they moved into a guest bedroom.
When they returned, Carrick gave me a lingering kiss against my temple, saying he’d be back soon. I was surprised he took Zaid with him, but not that he left Maddox behind to guard us.
I could have forced him to tell me where he was going, but I inherently knew it was something dangerous and bold. Perhaps too perilous and I might waste time trying to talk him out of it. Ultimately, I decided it was best not knowing and I’d trust Carrick was making the right move, whatever that might be.
“Where’s Maddox?” Carrick asks as he and Zaid make their way over to the furniture grouping.
Tipping my head to the left, I say, “Kitchen.”
“Maddox,” Carrick calls. “We’re back.”
Within moments, Maddox is in the living room with a beer in one hand and a half-eaten sandwich, so thickly stacked with meats, lettuce, and tomatoes I’m not sure how he ever got his mouth around it without dislocating his jaw, in his other. He has apparently been successful, though, as he is enthusiastically chewing.