“I take it you know someone who owes you a favor,” I reply dryly.
“Indeed I do,” he replies. “I’ll get it set up for you to handle while I’m gone to Faere.”
I nod, my mind already turning to what I’m going to say to Blain to explain all this craziness. My gaze starts to drift off past his shoulder.
Carrick’s hand is at my jaw, forcing me to turn back. “Let whatever is in your head go.”
I blink in confusion, but then it all becomes clear as he kisses me.
Not a hard fast one born of amusement, but a soul-rending one born of love, fidelity, and loyalty.
Carrick’s hand moves to the back of my head, hard in my hair, and he deepens the kiss. Every inch of my body responds, from my skin tingling to my heart racing, to my toes curling, and to an ache of longing squarely between my legs. As I sit on his lap, I feel him responding, too.
When Carrick kisses me, there is nothing that can take my attention away from him. The world could be burning down around us, and I wouldn’t take notice.
I wrap my arms around his neck, and I kiss him back. Mine is filled with equal love and passion but tinged with desperation. Every moment with him is all too fleeting.
Knowing we’ll find each other again in a later life isn’t good enough for me right now because no matter how much time I’m graced with Carrick, it will never be enough.
CHAPTER 22
Finley
I open the door to Blain’s room and enter quietly. My softness of foot isn’t necessary as he’s in a deep sleep courtesy of some magic mojo by Maddox. He had actually been drugged by the daemons, presumably to make it easier to control him, but Maddox was able to pull it out of his system. The sleep he is under now isn’t deep in a narcotic-induced sort of way, but rather more of an unconscious magical limbo.
At least that’s the way Maddox described it.
Carrick follows me in, and I’m not overly happy about it. I had wanted to be the only one in the room when Blain awoke to make it easier for him to process, but Carrick was afraid he could have a psychotic reaction and become violent.
Blain is in the middle of the bed, still in the clothes we found him in, stained with dirt and food. He smells awful, and I doubt he’s had a shower since he was kidnapped. I settle my butt on the edge and angle toward him.
Carrick takes a post at the foot, waiting for my signal. I give him a short nod and he leans forward, waving his hand over Blain. I can feel the magic ripple over the bed, and Blain opens his eyes. He’s not groggy or sleepy, but instantly alert thanks to being free of drugs and whatever magic Maddox and Carrick used to keep him unconscious until now.
His head rolls on the pillow, and his eyes flare as he recognizes me. His voice is heavy with fear. “Finley?”
I reach out to take his hand, and he jerks slightly from the contact. I immediately start reassurances. “You’ve been rescued, and you are absolutely safe. No one can hurt you here.”
“Where is here?” he asks, pushing himself up slightly to lean against the headboard.
“You’re in my condo,” Carrick says in an oddly gentle voice I’ve never heard him use with anyone but me.
Blain’s head whips his way, eyes now bugging. “Mr. Byrne?”
“Carrick,” he insists.
“Blain,” I say to get his attention. “Carrick will keep you safe. But we need to know everything that’s happened to you, and I’m sure you might have some questions that we can perhaps answer.”
“I don’t have any questions,” Blain says bitterly. “I know everything.”
Carrick and I exchange a quick glance before I give my attention back to Blain. “Tell me everything that happened to you.”
Blain surprisingly knows more than I would have thought. Apparently in Switzerland, Kymaris—who had been wearing Fallon’s likeness—revealed her true appearance. She explained who she was and why she was on Earth. She didn’t hold back the truth of what happened to Fallon. If him being human might have caused him to have some disbelief, that was dispelled when she removed her glamour so he could see her true likeness.
Kymaris then revealed to him that he was going to be a human sacrifice. From that moment forward, he’d been a prisoner.
“I was drugged a lot,” Blain says, his eyes sliding off to the side to stare at the floor, as if that embarrassed him. “I’m not even sure how I got from Switzerland back to the States but she put some fae named Pyke in charge of it.”
Of course Pyke would be involved. I remember back to that time we talked on the phone while Kymaris/Fallon was in Switzerland, and I heard someone male with her after Blain went “missing”. Clearly, that was Pyke.