Page 5 of Beneath the Cursed Veil

I licked across the bottom of my tiny-fanged teeth.

“You sure this gig is real?” I asked, suspicion filling me.

Lou straightened up at the accusation, placing a hand over his heart. “I swear on my mum’s grave. It’s as real as I am.”

For a mythical creature in a mundane world, that answer wasn’t as reassuring as I hoped it would be. To be honest, maybe it was just how light-headed I felt by theamount. That number was . . . unthinkable. There was no doubt the price tag came with a healthy dose of danger. Why else would someone pay that much?

He pulled a sealed wax envelope from his coat pocket. Once I broke the wax, the hunt would begin. An agreement bound by magic.

I could turn down the job, up until then. But once I knew the objective, there was no turning back. The job had to be completed in the specified time frame. If I tried to delay, I’d be compelled to start. If I tried to tell someone what I was after, I’d be rendered mute.

And if I tried to break the contract?

It wasn’t even an option.

When Lou approached me the first time, I’d almost turned him down. But the leprechaun had a knack for sniffing out desperation. When the job turned out to be easy, I took another. Then another. And another.

Each time, I was wary. And yet, I never turned them down.

The money was the primary reason, but a small part of me also enjoyed the thrill. The challenge. I could find anything, and I do meananything. I'd tested the bounds of my gift thoroughly, but even if the object weren’t in this realm—I could still track it.

That part was easy and gave me a sense of peace because I wouldn’t be left unable to complete the contract out of inability.

It was the pursuit that gave me satisfaction. Following that thread and facing whatever risks lie in my way.

In a mundane world, I craved the experience for something . . . new. Uncommon. A glitch in the matrix that was my life.

Some called it wanderlust, but it wasn’t simply thedesire to see new places. I wanted to experienceeverythinglife had to offer.

Even danger.

“Well?” Lou prompted. “What’ll it be, lass?”

After a long moment of silence, I finally said, “I’m in. What do I need to find?”

Reaching across the counter, I took the envelope from him. My stomach twisted. The feeling of dread coiled tight. I hadn’t experienced the feeling so viscerally since my first job all those years ago.

I ignored it and cracked the seal. The magical agreement snapped into place as I stared at my assignment.

He couldn’t be serious.

This had to be a joke.

Except magic didn’t lie, and I knew it was too late to turn back now.

There was a glint in Lou’s eyes as he smiled wickedly. “For that price, it’s notwhatyou need to find, butwho.”

Chapter 2

Meera

“I swear, by the demons in every hell . . .” I muttered to myself, touching up my foundation with a powder brush while checking my appearance in the mirror. “Why? Why did you take that envelope, Meera?”

“Money,” Sadie said flatly, picking her nails with a small dagger while I fumbled with my earrings. She lay sprawled on my bed while I sat at my vanity getting ready. “When was the last time you were even in Faerie?”

Faerie. That was where my current bounty hunt would send me. The kingdom beyond the veil. A world where fae didn’t have to pretend. Magic wasn't hidden. It would be freeing if it wasn’t a hellish frozen wasteland. My parents had told me when I was young that the land there was cursed. It hadn’t always been that way, but as things got worse, fae migrated to the human world. It was harder for us in the sense we had to disguise our true nature and try to make it in a world that was never meant for us, but food was easier to come by. Eternal winter didn’t exactly lend toward a plethora of crops, which plunged the realm into a famine many years ago. Starvation was what brought myfamily earth-side, and it was enough for me to stay. The times that I had crossed through had been so few and far between, it took a minute to think of the last time I was there.

“About three years ago,” I finally said, recalling my previous visit. “I was hunting for . . .” The magical gag prevented me from saying anything. I swallowed down the pause and moved on. “It was another contract, now that I think about it.”

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