Page 169 of Veil of Death and Shadow

“And—” He ran his hand through his hair, the movement frustrated and tense, then pinched the bridge of his nose as if resisting the next part. “Same goes for me.”

My head shot up, searching his face. “What do you?—”

“Blank slate. If you’re going to survive the trials,” he exhaled, his tumultuous gaze burning into me, “and this place, I’m going to need to stay away from you as much as possible. And you’re going to have to pretend like we didn’t meet until you crossed into the Between.”

I nodded, fighting desperately to hold onto the final strand of composure I had left. All I wanted to do was hole up in a room and cry. Ideally with Sora and Menace. “Okay.”

“You’ve got a world of explaining to do, Kieran,” an unfamiliar voice barked into the room.

I turned around, searching for the voice’s owner, and that final strand of composure snapped.

Standing in the doorway was the man who’d haunted my dreams for more than a decade. The man who’d ripped Amto Amani from me with an unflinching callousness.

His bright amber eyes were wild with barely constrained rage as he stepped into the room.

And when that fiery gaze fell on me, I knew that the time had finally come.

I was staring into the eyes of Death himself.

To Be Continued…