Page 119 of Veil of Death and Shadow

The bouncer shot me a suspicious look. “Leave now, before I make you.”

“Come on, Agony,” Kieran said, nodding towards the street we’d arrived from. When I resisted, he added, “Just trust me. I have an idea.”

“Fine,” I grumbled, then turned my back on the unhelpful bouncer and followed my stalker into a dark alley.

We were silent as we passed the line of eager people, all just as desperate as I was to get into the club.

When we reached the dumpsters, Kieran shot me a smirk, then turned into a narrow alley.

The same one he’d fucked me in last week.

The flare of recognition sent a brief wave of heat through my body, but it was quickly dampened by the anger and stress of our significantly different circumstances tonight.

Kieran’s triumphant expression dissolved into frustration when we found the door. “Fuck.” He turned back to me. “Do you remember this door not opening from the outside?”

I shook my head as I ran my fingers over the seams of the all but invisible doorway, hoping for a secret latch or something.

“Suppose we were a bit distracted,” he muttered.

“You can get through though, can’t you?” I made an exploding gesture with my hands. “Just do your ghostie transparency trick and walk through the wall.”

“I don’t blow up.” He shot me a disgruntled look as if I’d insulted him. “And like I said, I may be dead, but I’m not a ghost. Ghosts aren’t real. Phantoms are as close as it gets.”

“At this point, it really seems more like semantics than any—” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Whatever, that’s not the point. Can’t you just . . . slip inside and see if you find her?”

“Probably.” He flexed his hand again, and I noticed that the veins in his arms looked darker than usual—almost strained. “I won’t be able to go very far from you, but it’s worth a try at least.”

“Great,” I said, shoving away my questions about his arm. I rifled through my bag and handed him the picture of Sora I remembered to bring this time. It was several years old, and folded down the middle, but it would serve our purpose tonight. “Ask people if they’ve seen her.”

Kieran studied me for a moment. “How exactly am I supposed to do that? You are the only person who can see or hear me.”

Right. Fuck.

“What did the girl look like? The one you saw her with last week? Maybe I can see if I can spot her? Or I suppose we could wait at the entrance to see if she leaves? Though people often don’t leave this place until well into the morning, so no guarantee that will work.”

“We’re not waiting until morning.” I leaned back on the trick door and groaned, trying to picture the woman from that night, but I’d only gotten a brief glimpse of her. I’d been focusing more on the excitement lighting Sora’s face and then, later, on Kieran.

Closing my eyes, I tried to recall the details of that night, to think of another option that might help us get into the club.

And then, as if answering my silent plea, the trick door shifted and opened—just a crack, but enough for me to slip inside.

Well, fell inside was maybe the better descriptor.

When I caught myself against the wall, the same gentle hum I’d experienced last week bolted through my body. It felt like the building was pleased that I was back, like I wouldn’t have made it to this side of the wall unless it wanted me here.

The door was closed again, but there was no handle on this side either. Had it let us out last week as well?

“Curious,” Kieran said, his chest glued to my back as he reached to touch the wall, “this building granted you entry. I wonder why.”

I leaned into Kieran, and my entire body tingled at his nearness.

Fuck.

When we’d been planning for tonight, I hadn’t even considered this part. How difficult it would be to hide my attraction to him in this place.

“You’re warmer in here,” I said, turning around to look at him. Of course, that only left us chest to chest, his mouth suspiciously close to mine. I cleared my throat and backed up against the wall. “More like you were last week, I mean.”

His stare leveled at me, then lingered on my mouth. “Told you this place was like a power boost. The shadow magic that fuels it is the same that fuels me.”

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