Page 1 of Beneath the Cursed Veil

Chapter 1

Meera

“Tase him again. He’s pissing me off.” Sadie kicked the legs of the wooden chair where our thief sat tied up, bound in a magical rope. We were in the back room of my antique shop. It wasn’t the most conventional torture chamber, but it would do in a pinch. Most of my inventory was small and lined the shelves along the wall, leaving the center space empty with plenty of room to cajole ourguest.

Something told me the half-fae wouldn’t enjoy his stay. Not that he had anyone to blame but himself. It’s not like someone forced him to bet in the underground fighting rings my family ran. He’d definitely pay up, one way or another.

I walked by, chewing my thumb nail absentmindedly. “It’s not a taser,” I mumbled around my nibbling.

“Tomato, to-mah-to,” my sister said, shrugging her slender shoulder. “It’s still funny to watch.”

I sighed, pressing the metal prongs of the stun gun against his bare rib cage, not bothering to look toward the man. He jerked violently, trying toangle his body away as if that would help him at all. When I released it, Jenkins began breathing in and out in rough gasps.

I had to give it to him. He lasted longer than I expected. With his slight build and unmarred skin, I didn’t expect much of a pain tolerance. Sure, he was half-fae, but those traits didn’t seem particularly dominant in this guy. His ears were rounded. He didn’t have persuasion—otherwise he would have used it. Not to mention the most obvious of traits: his ability to lie. High fae couldn’t do that, but halflings—like me—sometimescould. Which is what landed him in this predicament. The stupid fuck bet money I was beginning to think he didn’t have. Otherwise, why else would he hold out for two hours under Sadie’s ministrations?

He could be a masochist, not that there would be any sexual gratification at the end of this.

Or he was just greedy and hoping we would give up, something he should have known better than to assume.

Alas, his reasons didn’t particularly matter to me.

Normally, I welcomed the surprise. It kept life interesting when people didn’t always act the way I expected.

However, in this case, I was growing a bit impatient. I’d just gotten to the good part in my latest romance novel. The hero had kidnapped the heroine and was slowly winning her over. I gave it no more than two chapters before they boned. Three tops.

Instead of living vicariously through fictional characters, I was playing the good cop to Sadie’s bad. Mostly. I still held the stun gun.

“We’ve been at this for a while. Wouldn’t it just be easier for me to persuade him?” Even as I said it, I knew my sister wouldn’t go for that option. Sadie didn’t care whether something was easy or not. While the moststraightforward method appealed to me, she preferred more sensational techniques when dealing with hustlers and thieves.

“That’s too nice. I have a reputation to maintain, and Jenkins here” —she motioned to the shirtless asshole between us — “doesn’t deserve to be let off with a slap on the wrist. After all, this isn’t the first time you’ve tried to stiff me, isn’t it?”

Jenkins groaned, blood and drool trailing from the corner of his mouth. Sadie had already done a number on him before having me bring out the stun gun. It was a game we played often. Sisterly bonding and all that shit.

Smoothing over her long red hair, she gathered it high on her head, wrapping a tie around it, displaying her pointed fae ears. Tilting her head to the side, Sadie cracked her neck. Blood decorated her brass knuckles, droplets sprinkled on her right arm as she crouched in front of him, bringing them face to face. “Where’s my money?”

“How many times do I have to say I already paid you? Crazy bitch.”

I sighed. “C’mon, man. The longer you hold out, the more she’s going to drag this out, which means I have to be here too. She’s going to get it out of you in the end. So just tell her what she needs to know, and we can both be on our way.” I made a little shooing motion, which was a piss poor attempt at motivation.

“Why are you even here?” Jenkins glared at me incredulously. Big mistake. I might be the good cop here, but I wasn’t going to save his ass.

“Moral support,” I answered him flatly.

Sadie punched him in the face. The sound of cartilage crunching echoed as his head snapped back and he let out a loud groan. My sister’s speed caught me off guard as well.There was a reason she was a top-tier fighter. You just never knew when her right hook was coming.

Turning to me, Sadie started talking like she hadn’t just broken his nose. “Hey, didn’t you say something about a date later?” She blew a strand of hair off her face, letting Jenkins sit and bleed for a while. “Please tell me I didn’t imagine that. It’s been like six months since you dated that poon. What was his name again? Donald? Deacon?”

“Darren.”

Sadie snapped her fingers. “That’s right. He worked in accounting and liked to fuck in missionary. Yawn. I told you when you started dating him, it was a waste of time. I went on a date with his brother, and they were entirely too much alike.” She stuck out her tongue, making a “yuck” sound.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Can we not do this right now?” I pointedly looked over her shoulder at Jenkins, whose glare wasn’t nearly as effective as he thought it was with his face having been pulverized.

“What?” She looked back at him. “Have you decided to talk?”

Silence greeted us, but despite his non-compliance, I sensed we were nearing the end of this little session.

For one, Jenkins was breathing like he’d ran a marathon.

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