Page 45 of Veil of Shadows

Then he set it back down on his coffee maker and turned the thing off. “Ready?”

Somehow, I found my words. “How the fuck did?—?”

He turned to me with a wicked grin on his face. “You still have a lot to learn about us.”

I blinked. “Yeah, that much is for certain.”

He barked with laughter before heading to his front door. “Come. I’ve got something I want to show you.”

I scurried to catch up with him. “Are you super strong, or something?”

He smirked. “Or something.”

“Voss, come on,” I pouted softly as we started across the compound. “Can you tell me? Please?”

He chuckled. “You beg so sweetly, I’m almost considering it.”

I nudged him playfully. “Please, Voss? Please? Pretty, pretty please?”

He barked again as a smile crossed his face. “Just shut that mouth and come on.”

He took my hand before we disappeared into the woods, and we crossed over the stream where I had to pause and stare at that rock. Even after weeks, some of the blood stains from Angela still persisted against the side of that rock where we had essentially bled her dry into the fucking river.

“Come on,” Voss hummed lowly in my ear, “it’s okay not to look.”

I diverted my gaze as Voss scooped me up into his arms. As if I weighed nothing, he crossed the river with me cradled against him, and I tucked my face into the crook of his neck. Maybe it was the wine, or maybe it was the fact that I felt more relaxed than I did in fucking months. But, I just couldn’t look at that rock. Call me weak. Call me a bitch. Call me whatever. I just couldn’t look at it.

“It’s okay, I got you,” Voss whispered as he crossed the stream and set me back down onto my feet. “You okay?”

I drew in a deep breath and forced myself to keep my gaze forward. “Let’s just keep walking.”

“Of course.”

We meandered our way through the woods in silence for a little while. So long, in fact, that the sun already set by the time we wound our way up a mountain. Or a very big hill. I honestly wasn’t sure which one it was. But, the barely-there trail that wound us all the way to the top came with the most spectacular view I’d ever seen.

“Oh. My. God,” I whispered.

It felt like we were on top of the world. As I stood there, perched at the top of the mountain precipice, the navy-blue skyfilled with millions of stars hung over the forest outstretched before us. The Milky Way galaxy was visible, and I gawked at its glory.

“I’ve never seen it before,” I whispered to myself.

“I see it every night I come up here,” Voss muttered.

I leaned my head against his chest. I didn’t say a word, either. I simply couldn’t. The wind kicked up, rustling the trees as they all seemed to blow in the same general direction. The stars twinkled above our heads and our heavy galaxy sat crystal clear in the sky over our heads. Crickets began their rhythmic chirping while cicadas off in the distance screamed from the trees beneath us.

And it wasn’t until I looked over at Voss that I found him staring intently at me.

“Aren’t you gonna look at the view?” I asked.

“I am.”

My cheeks blushed with his words before his face grew serious, commanding my attention as his piercing green eyes held my stare. “Vampires and shifters have been enemies for centuries, Bexley.”

My shoulders slumped a bit. “Do you really want to ruin this moment with that kind of talk?”

He stepped a bit closer to me and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “The point I’m trying to make is that whatever you may believe about what’s going on, you are expendable to them.”

“To… vampires?”

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