At least Finley was diligent in her training, showing up at six each night to be put through brutal paces with Titus. Sometimes, even after a few hours of training, she’d demand to go out and test her sensing skills and practice piercing glamours quickly and easily. She had been a workhorse since that night they’d taken her to the rooftop to test her a week ago, and he admired it.
Putting her hands on the edge of the chaise, Veda pushed herself into a standing position. Despite her diminutive size, funky hair, and Seattleite uniform, her presence was commanding. “You know how important it is for you to figure out this prophecy and help Finley with her destiny.”
Carrick tipped his head back, gaze going briefly to the blue sky before coming back to Veda. “You don’t need to state the obvious.”
With any other god, his impertinent tone would have caused a rumble of thunder or a small jolt of electricity to zap through him, but Veda merely smiled. “It’s important to you,” she says meaningfully, which meant she wasn’t talking about Finley at all. “I know you want to ascend and escape your curse.”
Carrick blinked in surprise at Veda’s worry of him. While she was his favorite, and she had certainly shown a fondness for him in the past, she’d never once overtly recognized his pain in such an empathetic way. The gods never cared about such trivial matters.
There was nothing he could do but nod, once again affirming he understood what she was saying. But it was something he dreamed about often, being able to leave everything behind. No one but him could ever understand how important it was.
“Her birthday,” Veda murmured.
Carrick jolted, sitting up straighter in the chair. “What about her birthday?”
It was next week and her sister was throwing a big party. Carrick had been invited, but there was no way in hell he was going to put himself through that torture. He told her he had a conflict, but it was one of conscience, not business.
Veda smiled, understanding his antipathy over such an event. “Something important is going to happen on the day she turns twenty-eight, and I suspect you might need to be there to see it.”
“Fuck,” Carrick muttered again, his most favorite word to voice his displeasure over a situation. He put his palms to his face and rubbed them, as if he could scrub away the knowledge.
When he dropped his hands away and opened his eyes, Veda was gone.
He had no clue why she’d told him that bit of information. Gods didn’t meddle in set prophecies, because they were the ones who created them in the first place. Each added a few of their own thoughts as to how it should play out. It was just part of the games they played to keep themselves entertained. But once a prophecy had been set, it had to be left alone to run its course. It could take hundreds of years to occur, but to immortals, that would be the blink of an eye.
Veda’s hint about Finley’s birthday, while not necessarily against any rules—because gods didn’t have any—just wasn’t done.
Which told him that while they were not supposed to take sides, Veda was very much taking his.
Sighing, Carrick pushed up from the chair and went back into the house through the side door. He made sure to carefully lock everything up before going out the front, not caring if any neighbors saw him or thought him to be an odd sighting in their neighborhood.
He left Finley’s house knowing two things. The fae world was starting to learn about Finley, so she needed protection, and, while her training was coming along, she couldn’t fend for herself.
More importantly, on her twenty-eighth birthday next week, he’d finally know something about the prophecy. As much as he loathed the thought of attending, he knew he wouldn’t miss it for the world now.
CHAPTER 22
Finley
I’m enjoying my time behind the counter, and I try to spend at least half an hour every day ringing up customers. I do this so I can be right next to my other cashiers and baristas to see how they’re doing, and also so they can see how I do things. I also take turns on the machines, whipping up all kinds of frothy java concoctions. I’ve been doing this longer than anyone currently here, and I’m the most skilled at any drink we serve.
Rich imparted some valuable advice when we signed the sale documents two weeks ago, starting his official retirement. He told me not to ever get too far away from customer relations. He told me the intricacies of running the business would suck all my attention if I let it, but there was nothing more important than making the customers feel good about coming to One Bean. He said I needed to spend a good part of every day making connections with people.