Page 34 of Midnight Kingdom

“Why?”

“She says it was to protect Eilish,” Revenant says and stops walking near the stones Noni described. I walk up beside him and set her down. My thoughts turn to Eilish, as they’re wont to do.

As much as I don’t like the idea of her out in the untamed lands of The Veil, I know she needs to learn how to protect herself. And Pyre seems to be the perfect teacher, much though I don’t want to admit it. Even though the bastard is blind, it’s obvious he wants her. Just like every other fucking man.

Ghostly purple light opens a portal. Revenant shivers and shakes his head.

“What is it?” I ask.

“If you think it feels unnatural to be here, in The Veil, just imagine how I feel being in the realms,” he replies.

“What are you going on about?”

“I’m not alive, Dragan. No matter what the Midnight Queen did to raise me from that grave,I don’t belong in your world any more than you belong in the spirit world.”

I study him for a moment, reading between the lines. “So, you plan to stay here when this is all over?”

“If Pyre permits it, yes.”

CHAPTER NINE

MORRIGAN

The Veil

The others believe I am ignorant to the whispers that flutter through the pitiful little cottage nestled away in the forest of The Veil. This world feels like a physical thing more than a place. Power radiates from the very foundation—power that only the Guardian of The Veil can wield, sadly. I hear Cambion and that annoying little pest named Fluff talking somewhere inside.

I use a small amount of my power to project my soul into the realms, walking through the thin barrier between life and death until I find Variant. My ignorant lackey seems to be living quite comfortably as a fae woman bounces in his lap. I lean against the marble wall of his bedchamber and watch as his cock disappears into that lithe little body over and over again, feeling a stab of jealousy each time.

Variant’s beauty is not secret. And I want it for myself.

I allow what little power I still have remainingto reach Variant in my mind’s eye, creating a vision of myself to appear before him.

I walk beside the bed as he reaches his climax. The moment he finishes spilling his seed, he snarls for the fae woman to leave him.

“What are you doing here, Morrigan?” he demands. The arrogance of Variant never fails to amuse me.

“I bring word from the others.”

“And?”

“And I’ve awakened in a place known as The Veil.”

“Never heard of it,” he says with a frown. “The Lexicon speaks of no such place.”

“No. It does not. Neither do any books of arcane magic. It’s a world beyond our own, apparently. I hear the others talking, though. They say the necromancer who helped them free me is the guardian of this strange world, that there’s power here beyond our imagination.”

I watch the muscles of Variant’s body flex as he stands up from the bed. He leans over his bedside table with unabashed nudity. “Power beyond our imagination is something I’m interested in.”

“As am I, my King.” I lick my lips as he strikes a sulfur match to light the end of his hand-rolled blackroot. Fae and elves use the magic ingredient to give themselves a sense of calm, allowing them to think clearly in times of war when strategy outweighs might.

“What do you suggest?” I ask.

“We need this power for ourselves, obviously.”

“First we must find a way for you to cross over into this world,” I offer. “When they infiltrated the palace, Baron had with him a strange orb he called theOluri. It opened a portal and the portal led here.”

“Baron,” Variant says as he shakes his head. “That is a name I didn’t imagine I would ever hear again.”

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