Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

A rie was already in human form in the library with Aurora when Rose entered the house. They were hunched over the table, the book laid out before them.

“This is Celeste’s journal?”

“It is…but it looks like it’s more than that,” Aurora said.

“What do you mean?”

“These are two different writers,” Aurora said, pointing to various entries in the journal. Her eyes skimmed the pages as she kept speaking. “All the other journals spoke of the governor’s daughter, Celeste, but…I think there were two daughters.”

“How could we have missed that?” Rose asked.

“I’m not sure it’s us so much as the villagers. Even in this entry—Andie notes the villagers follow Cee—that must be Celeste.”

“So, who is Andie?” Rose asked, though the pounding of her heart told her she already suspected the answer. But it couldn’t be—could it?

Arie pulled out the chair on his opposite side. “Your questions aren’t going to speed this up. Sit down and read with us.”

550 YEARS AGO

“We can take the excess,” Cee said.

Cee and Andie, each in veil cat form, faced off. The rest of the pack growled around them.

“Look at it, Celeste. Really look at it,” Andie said, gesturing with her nose toward the lake. She rarely used her sister’s full name, but Andie needed her to understand. This wasn’t the solution to their problems. This only created another problem. “There may have been excess at one point, but there isn’t now.”

Cee glared, her teeth showing. “Don’t condescend, Cassandra. I can use your full name, too. The cats said more spirits than normal were crossing. We can take some of what’s here, and it will refill shortly.” Her tail swished frenetically. “A small shift in balance here could be recovered. Our village—our continent—needs this.”

Andie wasn’t sure she agreed. An answer was rooted somewhere in the ground beneath her feet. Andie inherently knew her sister was wrong. A small shift in balance was all it would take to tip the scales, to leave this land beyond the veil in the same ruin as the continent.

It was telling that Cee stared only at Andie. She no longer looked to the veil cats for approval. Somehow, Cee understood the veil cats would listen to Andie’s decision.

“Andie.” Cee returned to the pet name she used for her sister.

The weight of her name on her sister’s lips. The desperation in her gaze when Andie met it. This was more than she could bear. The knot in her throat grew heavy like the weight of this decision.

She’d let someone down either way.

Even if Andie believed it wouldn’t ruin the land beyond the veil, using magic from the lake—even the excess—would require sacrificing spirits. This still didn’t sit well with Andie. She couldn’t imagine spirits going without a choice. But did the humans on the continent have any choice in what was happening to them? They were victims of whatever the gods had or hadn’t done. They didn’t deserve the level of devastation they received.

They deserved to live.

Before Andie could see where the thought took her, Cee was moving.

“They need it,” Cee said as she flung herself into the lake.

A chorus of growls echoed. Celeste, still in veil cat form, joined the spirits. Andie’s stomach plummeted. She heard herself growling along with the pack. Celeste must have cut her paw while walking because Andie felt the blood magic spring to life within the Lake of Spirits.

“What are you doing, Cee?” Andie screamed through the connection in their minds.

“I’m going to feed our people! What do you think?”

“You’re doing to these people the same thing the gods did to us!”

Andie knew it was too late, but she tried reasoning with her sister anyway. The water in the lake of the spirits swirled and rose. It seemed to know it was readying to move. Andie had no idea how this worked, but her moments of indecision slipped through her fingers like beads of sand.

She didn’t stop her sister.

Whether a conscious decision or not, Andie allowed Cee to do this—to take this magic. She’d analyze the hesitation endlessly for the rest of her time beyond the veil.

The lake water rose higher, spilling over the shore, the spirits with it. Cee’s intention must’ve been clear because the hole between worlds opened above the lake’s surface. The water tunneled through it in the blink of an eye.

Andie was running before she realized what she was doing. She leaped through the hole and followed the spiraling tunnel of water and spirits as it traveled back to the continent. Andie wasn’t sure Cee could navigate the space on her own. Something in the lake’s magic must have powered her as the swirling water rolled through the void and dropped onto the continent.

The water and spirits flowed through the darkness between realms, the path between them remaining open. Cee landed in her human form. Andie could see a large gash on her hand, still fresh with blood. Her sister pressed on it as she called forth more magic. They landed in the woods outside the village. The water continued to swirl, a storm of its own, and Celeste was its center. Her goal was simple—Andie could feel her intention—save the village. She no longer just wanted magic to fuel food growth. Now that she knew the extent of the corruption on the continent, she wanted a way to save her people from it.

Andie’s paws barely hit the ground when a net was thrown over her. A growl tore through her as she thrashed against the trapping. She recognized Garth and a few villagers who helped Cee regularly, trying to hold it down. They shouldn’t be here. How much had Cee told them before they followed the second spirit? Andie snarled again, but they all froze in place as the magic shifted—with Cee’s growing intention, there was a larger need for power.

Something beyond the veil pulled at Andie. It felt like her spirit was ripped from her body.

This had been her fear—her hesitation—before Cee took the choice from her. The way Celeste pulled now, it was more than excess. Every spirit at rest in the lake cried out to Andie as whatever Celeste had planned emptied the lake.

The lake shifted to a stream as it came through the space between worlds and swirled around the village borders. A soft glow wrapped around the circling water, building higher and higher. Screams followed the flow. Andie could no longer tell if they were from the spirits or the villagers. No one knew what was happening. It was unlikely Cee knew what she was doing. Andie only knew that the land beyond the veil was crying out to her, the scream more devastating than anything she’d ever heard from the continent. The water crested, and the earth shook as the spirits spiraled toward the crop fields. The plants grew before her eyes, and magic from the spirits continued to flow. Andie didn’t think it would ever end. She was going to be sick.

The magic appeared able to cycle itself. It wasn’t a single crop growth being produced but an unending cycle of growth and renewal. This was more than feeding the village. It was a wall of protection from whatever the gods subjected them to.

The water rushed around the village border, protecting it. It rose like a dome to surround the borders. Cee separated the village from the continent. The wind swirled through the water as an icy blast, almost freezing. Finally, fire followed the wind and water, creating a sizzling barrier of steam rising around the city.

Andie had no doubt this would work.

The elements continued to swirl and rise. The magic sustaining the interaction started to wane. The combination of elements covered the village. Andie knew: It would keep the inhabitants safe.

Andie thrashed beneath the net, still captured by Garth and the others. She didn’t think too hard about it as it tore beneath her claws. Freeing herself to save her realm was as natural as her next breath. She had only seconds to get back—to do what needed to be done. The weight of her realm’s pending collapse was heavy on her shoulders. She landed in the realm beyond the veil in human form, a jagged rock in her hand as she cut long and deep on her arm, offering everything she had to the realm.

She hadn’t stopped her sister.

Celeste had taken everything.

The lake bed was nearly empty, so few spirits remained. It was Andie’s fault this was happening. It was her fault the realm was at risk. Her intention was clear. She’d do anything—give anything—to fix it.

Cassandra, Lady of the Veil, landed in a crouch outside of the human village of Marcil.

The governor and some villagers waited closer to the new, magically erected wall.

There was no sign of Celeste.

Cassandra hadn’t felt her sister’s presence beyond the veil—but it had only been a few days since the Lake of Spirits had been stolen. Celeste may never recover from the power she wielded. Cassandra wasn’t sure she felt anything one way or the other.

“Andie?” The governor’s use of her pet name was all she needed to hear.

“Eric,” she replied.

His head tilted as if surprised by the greeting.

“I’m no longer who I was. Celeste’s actions have consequences you can’t even begin to understand. I should take back everything that was stolen and leave this village to the fate the gods have in store for the continent.”

Her father’s eyes widened in surprise. “We hoped you were returning to us.”

“Hope is not a strategy,” Cassandra replied, pulling the sword from its sheath at her hip. “When I last arrived on the continent, these villagers”—her gaze lingered on Garth over her father’s shoulder, and she gestured with her weapon—“tried to trap me. I know Celeste told you more about the spirits and veil cats than she let on.” Cassandra’s sigh was deep. It was unclear if Celeste had known the implications of her actions. Cassandra wasn’t sure what to believe. It was another knot in her chest where all her feelings about her sister should be.

The reasons didn’t matter.

The damage had been done.

“Veil cats will no longer travel between realms. I keep telling myself this isn’t your fault. You are reacting to the situation the gods put you in, but every time I think about the devastation you have wrought…I have a hard time remembering that.”

“Cassandra,” her father tried.

“Please don’t.” Cassandra shook her head. “You’ve made your choices, and I’ve made mine. Celeste knew what her actions would cost me. She took them anyway.” Cassandra lifted her chin. “Now, we must each play the parts we chose.”

“And what part is that?” her father asked.

“You may call me the Lady of the Veil. I rule the next phase of human existence, and I will not take kindly to any interruption of a spirit’s journey to my realm.”

Her father swallowed.

“Remember,”—she pointed again with her sword—“each of you will end up in my realm someday. Any actions you take against helpless spirits will be paid back tenfold.”

This was why she was here. These villagers were the only ones who knew about the magic of the spirits. She needed to ensure the information didn’t spread. Spirits needed to remain protected on their journey. The wide-eyed villagers, her father included, seemed to understand her threat. All would be residents of the veil at some point.

It was inescapable.

“I see we understand each other.” Cassandra didn’t wait for the villagers to finish nodding. As their heads dipped in understanding, the Lady of the Veil returned to her realm.