Page 28 of Veil of Monsters

The fae female is from Junepit, along with the children. I saw Calliophe open a portal to let them into the city only an hour ago, but until now, I didn’t know why. The fae female holds the crying infant closer to her chest, glancing at the sweet infant with disdain before looking back at me. She should not be left in charge of these young. Orphans do not exist in our city, mostly as we do not have many young. One child stands so close to the female’s side because she is scared of me. They all are terrified, except one boy. He’s different, and he stands apart from the other children except for a small girl he is holding hands with.

For some insane reason, he reminds me of Posy, and it’s nice to see he isn’t scared like the others. I don’t blame them for being frightened of Wyerns. We are their monsters even when we save them. There’s something off about this boy that has made me look twice his way and is attracting attention from all the nearby fae and mortals outside the tent who are curious where all the children have appeared from. Maybe it’s the way his skin is almost golden, and I can sense a deep well of power coming from him. Forests, mines, and fresh dirt. That is all I can tell of his scent. His green hair also makes him look different, but I imagine the pink-haired obsession of my brother’s will get along with this one. Something different with him.

“Wyern, I don’t want to repeat myself,” she mutters. “The pink-haired female told me to tell you that Junepit City is being attacked by the Rift King. They got us here, but they wouldn’t come with us.”

My blood goes cold. The Rift King is attacking Junepit City, and my mate is there? My mate who can’t fight? Fuck. I’m terrified in a second, and I immediately run to the city as fast as I can, wishing my wings were still here and I could fly there straight away to get help. I need the mirrors. Posy… I can’t lose her yet. We haven’t spent a moment of our time not arguing like children, and I haven’t told her any of the million things running around in my head.

I shout for Celeria, knowing she will come from the mountains for me. It takes her far too long to get to me, but the minute she does, I jump on her back and guide her straight up through the mountains and back towards the castle. I should have told Zurine what is going on, but I don’t know where she is in the fae tents, and there isn’t time to waste looking for her. Every second Posy and Calliophe are in the city, the more chance they will have to fight for their lives. The only reason I can breathe is because I know Calliophe can fight and she loves Posy like family. She won’t let her die. I’ve never had anyone I’ve wanted to protect who is mine, and I’m failing her. If she dies in Junepit, it was because she thought she couldn’t trust me. When I save her life and she is safe, we are having a conversation about how that isn’t true. That even if she hates me, I’m fighting at her side until I’m dead. I don’t want anything from her in exchange, and I’m never going to force her to be my mate.

I need time to get her to trust me. I need more than a few weeks for her to trust me. Fuck. She can’t die. We land on the rooftop of the court castle, and I don’t even have a chance to thank Celeria for the flight before I’m running straight into the castle to look for my brother. “EMERSON!”

My roar echoes, but the castle is pretty empty, and Emerson doesn’t reply. I search the training rooms, his room, before rushing to the throne room. Junepit City is under attack, and we cannot let another city fall to the Rift King. They may have been idiots and not taken our warnings seriously, but that is an entire city full of innocents. Well over a million fae and mortals live in that city. That is a lot more monsters to add to his army and a lot of innocent blood that will be spilled if we don’t stop him now.

The familiar castle passes me in a blur, my mind racing. I speed past a room where I hear my father playing on his piano. I wish I could ask him to fight for us, for his help, but it would be like trying to catch a ghost. I get to the throne room where I expect Emerson would be leaning over the maps of the mountains, planning out our future defense, but it’s empty except for Nathiel and Julian, who are looking over the map. I haven’t seen them much recently, and Nathiel looks like shit. He is worried about his twin brother, Felix, like we all are. He has been missing for a month, and we all know there is nowhere Felix would be other than here unless he was captured by someone.

“Where’s Emerson?” I demand.

Julian crosses his arms. “The king left only a few minutes ago.” He looks at me with a frown. “What’s wrong? He left suddenly, didn’t explain to any of us where he was going, but he definitely left towards the Speculis.”

“Fuck,” I growl, running out of the throne room and straight towards the mirror room, only to pause as a portal appears out of nowhere. Air whips around in a circle, fast, and it must be Calliophe. Emerson’s going to be with her. But it’s not Calliophe that falls through the portal. Posy all but carries a very injured red-haired siren with her. They both collapse on the floor, the portal slamming shut behind them. Her big blue eyes look up at me as she gently sets the siren onto the floor, and my knees could give out with how relieved I am to see her alive.

I storm over, looking at every inch of her body and seeing blood. It’s not hers, but a protective part of me burns to life. She fought without me. We aren’t doing that again. I’m teaching my mate a lesson after I find my brother. “You make the portals?” I ask with wide eyes, looking over this mortal. She’s not mortal. She’s been lying to me. So has Calliophe. I should have known they would be protecting each other. Thick as thieves, those two.

Posy huffs in response, and she doesn’t even glance at me to answer the question as she finishes setting the siren down carefully. “We need a healer, bat. This is Nerelyth, and she is a member of your court. She has lost a lot of blood.”

I meet Posy’s fierce eyes, and I know she isn’t going to tell me shit until I help her. I turn back to the throne room and shout for Nathiel. He rushes out the door and looks past me to the siren and Posy. “Find a healer. A good one.”

“I will.” He leaves quickly with a nod. I glance back at the siren, scenting a male rot-like scent all over her. She looks broken, and something inside my chest seems to crack at the sight of her. My eyes soften when I see her shiver, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. Posy is pacing and doesn’t seem to know what to do. Heading into a closet, I bring out a thick green blanket I find in there for the siren.

“Here, you look cold.”

The siren looks up at me, and she screams with a broken voice, the sound painful. I wince as Posy stares at Nerelyth with me. I take several steps back, and she finally stops screaming.

Posy takes her blanket from me before she gently tucks it around the siren as I feel sick to my stomach about why she’s so terrified of males. Julian is watching everything from behind me, and I turn back. “Go and make sure a female healer is found.”

He stares at Nerelyth for a moment longer before he seems to snap out of it and rushes off. Posy walks over to me, rubbing her arm. “Was Emerson there with you? In Junepit? Is it true it’s under attack?”

“Yes, he’s with Calliophe. They are fighting the Rift King, and we need to get the army ready now. We can go back to fight together!” she begins, tapping her foot, but I can tell she is very scared for her friend. I want to hold her, comfort her, but I know she isn’t ready for that. Right at this moment, she needs me to fight for her friend and our king. We are finally in agreement about something. “Go, bat, and get them ready. Emerson needs help, and so does Calliophe!”

I touch her shoulder, feeling her shaking under my touch. “I’ll go and get an army ready, but you will stay at my side.”

“Lorenzo!”

I turn around to see my sister walking towards us, her boots clicking on the floor. She’s dressed completely in leather, her hair braided into a crown on her head, and her eyes are filled with tears. Solandis never, ever cries, but she does as she falls into my arms, and I hold her close. “What’s wrong?”

“The city,” she gasps. “So many… all dead. I saw…”

I pull her back. “What happened? Was this Junepit City? Emerson’s there—”

“Emerson’s there?” she cries, and I nod. “No, he can’t be there. He has to have got out before…”

“Got out before what?” Posy snaps.

Solandis looks right into my eyes. “I was in the forest with some of my soldiers. We were making portals in the forest with the mirrors to get people out. Emerson told me to do that only fifteen minutes ago. I was helping people through.” She pauses like she is lost for words. “I don’t know what it was. It was like an explosion. Explosion of fire, ice, shadow and darkness all in one. I have never seen anything like it. It exploded and spread like a wave, leaving nothing behind. Nothing, Lorenzo. It destroyed the city and left dust behind. It was heading right towards us, but I managed to jump through the portal… but if Emerson was in that…”

“NO!” Posy screams, half crying, half angry as everything in me shatters.

The Rift King has killed my brother.

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