Page 2 of Veiled Yearning

“It’s not your fault.” Cait rushes to reassure him. “You couldn’t have seen the other four, since they were still within the Veil. What I don’t understand is why I only saw two of them in the Veil when we got here instead of all of them.”

Cait has a unique ability; she can see vampires who are within the Veil, the place where our nemesis, Nicolas, has been hiding.

The Veil is an alternate layer of existence, a shroud of shadows that he cast centuries ago as a way to escape punishment. While in the Veil, Nicolas can move about, interact with people and things in the natural world, but he can’t be seen. Or, he couldn’t be seen, until Cait literally ran into him and discovered her ability.

For centuries, Nicolas has been trapped in the very limited boundaries of the Veil, but in recent years, it’s been expanding. Which is very bad news for us, because if Nicolas can move around undetected in a wider area, it means he can hurt more of us, too.

Why does Nicolas want to kill and abduct other vampires? More power, of course. It’s all he wanted all those years ago, and it’s undoubtedly what he wants now.

“I wonder,” starts David, pausing to wipe blood from his face. “Could the other two have teleported within the Veil? They may not have been here initially. If they were to teleport from a short distance away… we might not have noticed them as we were heading here.”

“But… I looked…” Cait’s face crumples. “Maybe not a mile away, though. I didn’t think…”

“No, love.” Frederick holds her gaze, his voice going gentle. “I never suggested it. None of us did. And if anyone should have been thinking about checking a larger radius, it should have been me.”

“Or me,” I add, feeling pretty damn pissed off at myself. I should have been more cautious. “I take full responsibility.”

Sam glances across the room, his eyes landing on a slowly dissipating vampire before jumping back to us. “We didn’t think that many Custodians could travel within the Veil. Now we do.”

Knight speaks up, his voice hoarse from disuse. “I heard conversations. Nicolas is rewarding some of his more loyal supporters by allowing them into the Veil. From what I understand, it involves some sort of ritual. One that I think”—he grimaces—“involves killing other vampires.”

David hisses, “Shit. As if we didn’t have enough to worry about.”

“I think we’re clear to go.” Alex jerks his chin in the direction of the open warehouse space. “All the bodies are gone. And I’d prefer to continue this somewhere more protected.” He hugs his wife, Jules, to his side. “Even if we can see them coming, I’d rather not have another battle right now.”

“Agreed.” Frederick gives a brief nod. “Let’s get back to Sam’s place, and we can discuss this further there.”

While a part of me wants to wait here to see if any more Custodians do show up, I know Frederick wants Cait in a place that’s more protected. Like Sam’s estate, with its reinforced walls and high-tech security and magical talismans of shielding. And since I vowed to help my friend keep Cait safe, I nod at him in agreement. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“We need to be more proactive.” Larkin thumps his fist on the gleaming mahogany dining table, making the blood-laced wine in all of our glasses ripple. “It’s all well and good to tell people they have a choice whether to be involved, but the fact is, they’re going to be involved, regardless.”

“He has a point.” Knight leans in, resting his elbows on the burnished wood. He looks much better now that he’s gotten a healthy dose of fresh blood, a shower, and a change of clothes. “Any of us could be taken captive. We all have abilities that Nicolas would want. The only reason he didn’t take mine was because he hadn’t gotten to my location yet.”

David’s partner, Raine, sucks in a sharp breath. “So you know for certain? Nicolas was going to kill you and take your ability?”

Another thing that makes Nicolas tremendously dangerous—he’s able to steal another vampire’s ability if he kills them. So if Nicolas had killed Knight, he would have gained Knight’s telepathic ability.

It’s frightening, really, to think of how many vampires Nicolas has killed, how many abilities stolen, and how powerful he’s become as a result.

Frederick glances over at me. “Have you seen anything in your visions?”

“No.” My jaw clenches. “I’ve had visions of other vampires being abducted, but I can’t see Nicolas in any of them. I’ve been warning those in danger, and they’re taking precautions, but without finding the source of these orders…”

“Which is why we need to be more aggressive.” Larkin casts his gaze around the table. “We need to use all the weapons we have at our disposal. Everyone who can help, whether they want to or not.”

Jules flashes an angry look at Larkin. “So you want to force people into this? Against their wishes? How exactly do you plan on doing that?” Her voice rises as she continues. “Are you going to abduct them? Threaten them?”

“Jules, that’s not going to happen,” Alex soothes. He glares at Larkin. “We aren’t forcing people to do anything.”

Larkin frowns. “Not force. Of course not. But they need to understand—”

Knight jumps in. “They need to know the repercussions if they don’t help. Like Nicolas expanding the Veil even further. Potentially taking over the country with it. The continent. The…” he trails off, leaving the rest of it unsaid.

“Did you hear that as well?” A dark foreboding settles over me, heavy and cold. As much as my visions show me—the death and torture and brutality—I’ve only seen hints of a larger Veil but no proof of it.

“It’s what I heard,” Knight says soberly. “Whether it was all talk or something Nicolas is coming close to… I don’t know. But it sounded real. Like it wasn’t an if, but when.”

Everyone at the table goes silent for a moment as Knight’s words sink in.

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