Page 78 of Veil of Shadows

Where the hell was my mate?

Commander?Lieutenant Riley asked.You need a moment?

Her question snapped me out of my trance.I need my trained stealth operatives in the meeting house, now. Finish your patrols, get back here safely, and those of you who I’ve trained to stick to the shadows, get your ass to the meeting house.

I turned toward the house on stilts that we had in the dark corner of the compound.

It was time for us to finally be on the offensive end of whooping ass.

25

BEXLEY

With a wave of his hand, the gooey, slimy bindings around my body slithered away. They seemed to meld back into the wall as I plummeted to the floor with what I could only be certain was the stupidest look on my fucking face. The jarring impact of the floor snapped me out of it, though. I shot to my feet, rubbing my wrists as my wide eyes beheld the sight in front of me.

Jacob. My partner. My brother. The only shred of family I once had left.

Standing there.

Breathing.

“Jacob?” I asked breathlessly as I studied the red glowing whites of his eyes.

But all he did was nod before he disappeared into the darkness all around us and panic gripped my throat when he did.

“Wait, Jacob!”

I scrambled to catch up with him. Was this a nightmare? A dream? Holy shit, was I dead? I peered over my shoulder at the eerie purple glow of the undulating wall that seemed to be teeming with life. The darkness ushered us through a doorway I could barely see, and it dumped us out into a hallway lined withwarm white candle-lit sconces. My brow furrowed tightly as I took in the sights. Everything around me was draped in darkness and what looked like shimmering powder. The scones on the walls illuminated the closer we got. My feet scuffed softly against the floor, echoing off the walls and vaulted ceiling of the hallway over our heads.

Then his voice finally pierced the silence.

A voice I heard in my dreams so many other times before…

“So,” Jacob said, clasping his hands behind his back, “how have you been?”

I scoffed as I continued to rubberneck. How the hell did I answer that? How had I been? Try miserable. Try on the run. Try homeless. Try?—

“How are you alive?” I asked as I swiveled toward him.

I stepped in front of him, stopping our walk in the middle of the hallway.

“I’m serious, Jacob,” I said breathlessly. “I saw you die. I saw you peppered with bullets in your legs on that mission.” My gaze slowly slid down to his legs. His pristine, unscarred, perfectly working legs. “You shouldn’t be here. Delilah, she?—”

That’s when Jacob finally reached out for me. He took my hand, and his touch was ice cold. I hissed as I pulled it away, but all he did was pluck my elbow from my side and thread my arm with his. The chill sent a shiver down my spine as he stepped closer, smiling down at me with a smile I’d seen so many times in daydreams where he was still alive.

“Jacob,” I whispered softly as I shook my head. “What happened to you? Why would you choose to become…this?”

He chuckled and patted my arm with his free hand, then continued with our walk. It jolted me to his side, and while I was rooted to his side in shock, I sure as hell wasn’t letting him out of my sight. Wasn’t he supposed to want to kill me? Wasn’t that kind of their whole…thing? I mean, it’s what I’d seen of them. Ofvampires, I mean. Nothing but bloodshed and murder. And yet, Jacob was escorting me down a hallway? In something that felt like the castle from some Disney movie?

“Jacob, please,” I said again, wrapping around in front of him and stopping us in our tracks. I hated how tears lined my eyes. It always made me feel so fucking weak. But, then again, Jacob was the one that helped me become comfortable with my emotions. He was more than just a partner. He was once the only person I trusted.

I looked up at him with a desperate stare. “You were the only shred of family I had before that mission. Please, you have to tell me what happened to you.”

But instead of answering me, he merely smiled as he reached out to his right. I heard the swinging open of a door and it tugged my attention away from him for the smallest of moments. And that’s when the dining room came into view.

An opulent dining room with a gorgeous dark green crystal chandelier hanging over a bronze-coated table that held every single piece of food imaginable. The decadent smells filled my nostrils, pulling me beneath the arched double doorway that led into the gorgeous room. Floor-to-ceiling windows allowed the moonlight to bleed in, and I wondered how much time I lost. Was it still the same night? Had I been out for a few days? It had to be the same night. I didn’t pass out. We didn’t travel by plane, or train, or even car. It had to be the same night.

“Come,” Jacob said as he placed his hand between my shoulder blades. “I can only imagine how hungry you are.”

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