Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

550 YEARS AGO

A ndie hoped this idea of using spirits to fuel magic would disappear. She at least convinced Cee not to tell their father immediately. They should test it again themselves before getting anyone’s hopes up. The feline might fight harder next time—it might not go the same way. Cee agreed to replicate it once more before sharing their solution.

Nona’s spirit, desperately fighting against Cee’s gold lasso, haunted Andie’s dreams.

They didn’t have to wait long for a second opportunity to learn what the magic of spirits could do for them. Illness was spreading, and rations were sparse. Ilena was overburdened, so the sisters continued to give care where they could. Cee’s list of townspeople who needed them continued to grow. It was a stark reminder that Nona’s spirit may not have wanted to be a sacrifice, but she also might not have wanted to die when she did either. The cycle of life and death continued with or without Andie’s interference.

Watching more townspeople sicken was another reminder that their problems were only beginning.

A woman Andie barely knew was on their list today. She had an illness they hadn’t heard of, but Ilena said it wasn’t treatable. Andie was taking notes but was unsurprised to smell copper the moment the woman’s breath left her body.

Cee was moving before Andie could snap the journal shut. Andie didn’t want to blindly follow this time. Knowing what Cee was up to, she pricked her finger, offering her blood in exchange for the ability to see spirits.

They followed the spirit again to the edge of the woods. It was later in the evening, and darkness was falling. “We might not make it back in time,” Andie cautioned.

“I’m going,” Cee replied. Her tone brooked no argument.

She couldn’t stop Cee or let her venture out alone. With little choice in the matter, she followed. Andie had a reasonable suspicion of where this spirit would lead them. She didn’t think the feline waiting by the river was an accidental placement. The river’s running water felt like a natural meeting place to journey to an afterlife—whatever that looked like.

Most humans seemed to believe there was existence beyond the veil after death. No one talked about what that meant though. Andie had asked her father again after Nona’s death. He said the questions were natural, but he had no different answers from those he’d given in her childhood. When their mother died, he’d said she went to a better place.

No one seemed sure of what lay beyond the veil. Was it really a better place? What had they inadvertently robbed Nona of by pulling her back? What were they about to steal from this new spirit?

The answer felt within Andie’s grasp. She would never be comfortable with Cee’s plan unless she knew the spirits were willing. Nona hadn’t been willing, but they also hadn’t known what would happen. Andie wasn’t sure what to do this time, but she knew it was her last chance. The magic of the spirits was clearly a powerful fuel for growth. It would work again. When it did, Cee would tell their father, and he would build their plans for survival around it. Andie didn’t want to take that from Cee, but she also couldn’t stand by while the villager’s spirits were robbed of choice.

The spirit stopped at the river. The large feline was barely visible in the fading light—but it was there. Andie and Cee took their spot behind the tree and waited.

Cee was prepared for a real test this time. She brought seedlings from the field they still toiled in when they weren’t helping Ilena. Cee buried them quickly—the rougher, the better—to test the theory. The best test would be to see how well the seeds would grow with magic if they were defenseless like the current crop.

The feline’s purr drew Andie’s attention from Cee’s plants to the scene by the river. The spirit placed its hand firmly in the cat’s fur. It leaned into the stroke as it had with Nona, granting the spirit comfort as its travel companion. Andie knew the moment was near as the spirit wove its fingers deeper into the feline’s scruff, and the animal leaned back on its haunches—preparing to leap.

Andie waited to see what Cee would do. She couldn’t bring herself to foil her attempt, but she’d take any opportunity that presented itself. Cee pulled a vial from her cloak.

“What is that?” Andie asked.

Cee didn’t have to answer. It was a lot of blood.

“Where did you get that?” Andie asked.

“Some villagers gave it as an offering,” Cee replied.

Andie narrowed her gaze. “I thought we didn’t tell anyone about this test,” she said.

“Relax, Andie. I didn’t. I just told them we were testing some magic and asked if they’d like to contribute.”

Andie didn’t like this. It was too much blood, and the villager’s generic offering wouldn’t have had clear intentions. The magic would be unpredictable. Cee ignored all of these arguments as she poured the blood out onto the ground.

Even without the spirit, the magic responded immediately.

The offering was hefty, and the power returned more than Cee was ready for. She breathed deeply to steady herself as magic rolled through her body. She aimed the granted magic at the spirit. With a final glance at the hastily planted seedlings, Cee unleashed the magic toward the spirit as it jumped with the animal.

The gold lasso wrapped around the spirit, and Cee tugged. Hard. She pulled with everything she had. Cee gasped as the spirit and the feline tumbled back.

Panic crossed her face as she turned to stare at Andie. She didn’t know how to let go.

The magic was too much, too powerful, too all-consuming. No attempt to release what she’d grasped would help her lack of control. Andie tried to think quickly. How could she intervene without Cee accusing her of ruining the test?

“Do you want me to?—”

“No, don’t do anything, Andie. I’ve got this.” Cee’s face once again masked her panic—though her hands still shook with nerves.

Andie bit her lip. Cee was so driven to know what the spirit could do for the village. Andie respected her determination to try and prevent others from an early death. But Cee was willfully ignoring the fact that the feline hadn’t gone beyond the veil this time. She’d pulled it back along with the spirit.

The pair, lassoed by Cee’s magic, careened toward them. Cee seemed entirely focused on sending the spirit toward the seedling. Andie couldn’t tell if the spirit went where Cee directed it. The veil cat found them first. It was set on a collision course with Cee, but her gaze was still firmly focused on the seedlings.

“Cee!” Andie yelled, jumping between her sister and the feline.

The animal slammed into Andie. She didn’t blame it. Andie suspected it was defending the spirit. The feline’s magic collided with the blood magic Cee and Andie were wielding.

The animal’s magic was strong. Feelings flooded Andie as their magics collided. Andie had been right—the feline was responsible for the spirit. It wouldn’t let Cee take it. Andie recognized its protectiveness, a more violent version of what Andie felt when Nona’s spirit had been fed to the plant.

Similarly, Andie realized it was the same protectiveness Cee felt for their villagers. They were in a no-win situation. Andie was ready to give up. She was prepared to let the veil cat win.

“Andie, I’ve got you,” Cee shouted, unleashing the untethered magic onto the situation. “It won’t take you from me!”

The wielder’s will directed blood magic, and Andie’s magic still flowed from seeking the ability to see spirits. But her intention was changing. Andie knew after only moments, she was inexplicably on the veil cat’s side. There were no winners here. The villagers were experiencing a plight they didn’t deserve, but that didn’t mean the spirits should be taken from their afterlife.

Andie wanted to help the veil cat.

Cee’s cry focused solely on not letting the veil cat take Andie. The magic from the excess of blood spilled was still unwieldy, holding the veil cat to the continent. That left an unlikely option for Andie to guide her own magic. She wasn’t sure she could explain what happened next. Something within her started to shift.

She fell to all fours, and a growl unlike any she’d ever heard ripped through her throat. Hair covered her body, and her fur stood on end as she prowled out from behind the tree. Feline Andie turned quickly, searching for Cee, or the original animal. The veil cat was no longer visible, but another new animal stalked out from behind the tree in its place.

Andie knew it was Cee.

An insistent press somewhere in the back of her mind told Andie someone wanted in. Unsure how she knew what to do, Andie opened the link with less than a thought. Cee’s voice came flooding in.

“What are we?” she spoke directly into Andie’s mind.

“I think we’re veil cats now,” Andie replied. The name sprang to her mind—Andie couldn’t say where it came from—but it felt right.

“Veil cats?” Cee asked.

Ignoring her sister’s question, she asked her own. “What did you do, Cee?”

“What do you mean? I didn’t want it to take you…then I didn’t want you to be stuck somewhere without me.”

Andie sighed. Cee’s protective instinct reared its head at the oddest times.

“So, we jump through the veiled hole above the river, now?” Cee asked. Andie could feel Cee’s excitement. Her head whipped back toward the experiment. The spirit still floated above the ground. Cee must have gotten distracted by the veil cat’s attack. “We can go beyond the veil and see if more spirits exist to test with.”

That sounded like a terrible idea to Andie, but another part of her wanted desperately to go beyond the veil. This feline she’d bonded with, she felt its urge to return to its home—to fulfill its purpose. The spirit needed to be led. The veil cat could no longer complete its task because of Andie’s interference.

The spirit floated over to Andie, its hand reaching for the scruff of her neck. She shivered in anticipation, realizing what would happen next as the spirit’s hand settled in her fur.

She felt it.

The spirit wrapped its fingers deep in her scruff and allowed Andie to lead them back to the original position on the river bank. She was no longer sure what she was doing. Her feline body was moving of its own accord. Like a moth to a flame, she let it take her on this new adventure.

“Yes, Andie, good,” Cee said. “Do you know how to travel there?”

Andie didn’t know how to respond. She wasn’t sure if she could bring Cee with her, but she knew she had to take the spirit. Her body sank onto its haunches, her gaze drawn to a brief fluttering above the river—their target. Somehow, she knew it. The spirit’s grip on her fur tightened as her body readied to leap.

She sprang forward, soaring over the river and falling through the veil between realms. Darkness consumed her, but she wasn’t afraid.