Page 62 of Within the Veil

Grayson sighs and shakes his head sadly, "and she can't fight out her aggression like she normally would."

A light dawns, "Kalen?"

Ryder nods, "His spirit is in the Realm. He has yet to pass on. Something inside of her must have reached for him for comfort. And she transported there."

"At least we know she can transport herself safely, even pregnant. But fuck we are going to have to figure out the extent of her powers," I mutter.

"We need to make her ass talk to us. No more of this shutting us out bullshit," Hunter growls, his voice slowly returning back to normal.

"Agreed, if she is going to break, then it should be with us. Not the spirit realm," Remi sighs.

"I'll go get her, at least she is going to be able to get some sort of closure," Ryder says sadly, faeding from the room.

We look at eachother. Closure is good, but goodbyes? No one, Goddess, Faerie or mortal, is ever prepared for a goodbye. But we will be here to catch her as she falls...always.

* * *

Hudson

* * *

"I can't even have a well-deservedbreakdown without randomly ending up in some alternate universe," I mutter to myself as I waddle through the forest and into a clearing full of clovers and...cowslips. The word pops into my brain as I examine the vibrant yellow flowers that had small, bell-shaped blossoms.

"Damn. I need to bottle up this smell..." I say, taking a deep breath. First things first, where the hell am I? I reach for my bond, and I feel them, but it's muted. So at least I know I'm not in a hissy-fit-induced coma. But chances are I'm also not in the same realm.

Tir na Síochaí.

I blink at the whisper that echoes within my head, sounding a lot like...

"Daughter of my heart," Kalen's gruff voice startles me and I turn quickly and almost lose my balance, but he reaches out and steadies me, before wrapping his arms around me in a hug. Kalen doesn't hug. I used to have to force him to hug me. But as the familiar scent of worn leather and 'give me another 45 push-ups,' envelops me, I don't even care that this might be a murdering psychopath who collects the toenail of his victims. I can stab him later but hug him now. And yes, that does indeed have a scent, somewhere in the realm of sweat, earth, and tears.

After a few seconds, which are nowhere near long enough, I pull apart and stare into a familiar watery gaze.

"Kalen?" I whisper.

"You look absolutely beautiful, Hudson. Now tell me, have you been training? Just because you are having four little ones, doesn't mean you should be slacking off. I taught you better than that," he says sternly.

I choke on a laugh, "Oh yeah. If the hug confused me, that just took it all away. It is definitely you. How is this possible?"

He rolls his eyes, "You know the answer to that."

I do? Oh. Library brain. Let's see, he said Tir na Síochaí--The realm of Fae spirits, where Fae go to be reborn after passing.

"Ryder mentioned this place as well. As Aiwell he has access to this Realm. Nothing to worry about here, just popping into spirit worlds. I'm the Fae version of COCO. This has to be Gaia's fault, because of course I'm a mini Goddess who doesn't get told shit. Now I can traverse the spirit world. Just here though right? Ah fuck, I'm not suddenly going to start seeing dead people right? I mean, seeing you everyday would be awesome but I'm not in the mood to meet a bunch of dead Fae. Because I've seen the movie and let me tell you...Bruce Willis being the dead one...total mind fuck."

He snorts a laugh, "I have missed you. And no. Much like when you were in stasis and you saw an echo of my spirit with your little ones, it is the same here..."

I cut him off, "wait, you can remember that?"

He nods, "Within the spirit world, it's like being everywhere and no where at once. While I am sure Gaia granted me access to her personal realm, I still see and know more than most. It is...like you said...a mind fuck..."

He rolls his eyes and I laugh.

"For now, I am simply waiting to be reborn. But my time has not come yet. Which," he sighs. "Is a good thing, when you consider that you've managed to bring yourself here. However, for that to have happened without your knowledge is problemetic. Not only have you not tapped into the potential of your powers but for you to bring yourself to Tir na Síochaí ... you have not given yourself a chance to grieve. Nor have you given yourself a chance tofeelHudson."

I scoff, "I feel too damn much. That's the problem. Did you know I have a sister? Shea was giving out free samples of his Iced-Coffee like some sort of Fae delivery service." I move to sit down on the ground, which is not easy, and Kalen puts his arms around me until I'm settled and he sits down next to me.

He sighs and runs his hands through his hair, "Shea and his damn meddling, that is it's own story that I'm not even going to try to explain." He rolls his eyes, "Anyways, lets' not change the topic. Hudson, you have five mates. You do not have to shoulder your burdens alone. Leaning on someone does not make you weak. On the contrary, it makes you stronger. Weakness is not being able to admit that you need help. You've overcome so much adversity and I expect nothing less than greatness from you. But to be great, you cannot allow yourself to be broken...by choice."

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