Page 249 of The Edge of Darkness

I wasn’t sure if I trusted that, especially if he had gotten that information from Killian.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I’m fine,” he said over his shoulder. “Just trying to get you there quickly and safely.”

Gods, his footfalls were getting clumsier by the minute. “Are you . . . frustrated with this whole transfer-of-power thing?”

He glanced back over his shoulder at me once more. “Let’s just say things haven’t been as easy as I hoped they would be.”

A few dozen feet later, I spotted the slight distortion that shimmered around the trees ahead. Vivid colors moved like vertical waves in the air, lapping against the tree trunks.

Memories of The Veil’s essence flashed through my mind, sending a shiver over me. Would it feel the same, crossing the threshold again? Or would my mental shield keep the voices and their overwhelming presence at bay? That concern faded from thought when Breck reached back for my hand.

“The time is now.”

I met his eyes and placed my hand in his, trailing behind him, stepping lightly, anticipating the worst as we neared the boundary. I dipped into my power, fortifying my mental shield, just in case.

Breck didn’t so much as hesitate. He stepped into the curtain of The Veil and began to disappear. Time seemed to slow as I watched his arm dissolve into the shimmering substance until his hand vanished, along with mine. The moment I touched The Veil’s magic, the strange, foreign sensation washed over me, devouring my body as I slipped fully into its grasp.

The woodland faded away into a dense, white fog, just as disturbing as it had been before. I blinked, fighting the panic that swept through my gut as my vision was lost to the void. Seeing nothing but white was entirely worse than seeing nothing but darkness. It pressed in on me from every angle, and I clenched my jaw, waiting for what I knew would come next . . . The part that I dreaded.

The voices.

A distinct sound broke out across my mind, but . . . it was . . .

One.

Whole.

A sole being, speaking with the undertone of both a male and female voice. There was nothing erratic about it this time. No feeling of impending doom. Just its otherworldly voice that said, Daughter of Karios.

My hand slipped away from Breck’s and fell to my side.

Again, you come.

The presence of the entity felt heavy around me, but not suffocating. It drew near, but remained ever-fleeting. The sound slid against my mental shield, vibrating against the barrier as it spoke. The shield must have been the buffer I needed to tame the chaos from before into a single voice that I could now understand.

I searched for my own voice, but found myself mute. My thoughts were the only line of communication I was able to access, so I sent my response on a thought like I did with Niall. I would say it’s a pleasure, but given the circumstances, I’d be lying.

The voice chuckled, simultaneously deep, and lilting. Then, it sobered, turning flat and serious far quicker than I was comfortable with. You should not be here.

My heartbeat began to pulse in my ears. The stillness of The Veil was already more than unnerving, but the clear warning in the entity’s voice compounded every ounce of anxiety I had been harboring.

Breck was probably on the other side by now, looking for me. Or perhaps he was caught up too, conversing with the voice that sounded like living death. Either way, I didn’t have much time for a drawn-out conversation.

Yet . . .

How do you know where I’m supposed to be?

The voice dipped closer. Near and far, the world whispers, and I hear it. High and low, creation moves, and I see it. Many things have been whispered as of late. All of which say that you are needed elsewhere. Can you not hear it in the wind? Feel it within the earth?

I shook my head, confused.

Against my better judgment, I squinted, as if it would help me see something out of nothing. Who, or what, are you?

I am witness to all, yet a savior of none, the voice swirled. I am set into form, though I am not designed to belong to a singular existence.

Aether? I whispered in my mind.