A Veil of Secrets Read online

  “What I am?”

  She spun through the air on gilded wings. “Necrita.”

  “What have you done?” I shoved upright, gut pitching as my bed swayed. “My back hurts.”

  She swatted her hand. “It’s your wings, darling.”

  “My—” I reached behind me and found four translucent wings, soft as a baby’s cheek.

  “They harden with time, if that’s what concerns you.”

  “Wings.” My voice cracked. “I have wings.”

  I meant to stand, but there was no floor beneath me. Instead I plummeted through a gilded dome hung with more beds like mine. More pale faces like hers peered over their edges at me. Suddenly, I was glad to have fallen. Whatever those creatures were, they weren’t Araneaean. I refused to be one.

  “Marne.”

  Gentle hands shook my shoulders.

  “She having a seizure or something?”

  “No, she’s not having a seizure.”

  The tumble of voices through my ears helped me blink away the past.

  I came to myself lying in the grass on my side, curled into a ball. Asher’s hands were on me. For a terrible second, I thought—but Idra wasn’t here now. This was Asher. I was safe.

  “Are you all right?” He pushed sweaty hairs from my face.

  I took his hand and curled around it. “I thought it would be easier.”

  He rubbed my shoulder. “We can try another way if you want.”

  “The only other way is if I go alone.” I was willing. I had stayed behind not even out of concern for Asher. I had stayed behind because I knew there was strength in numbers, and I needed support.

  His grip tightened on me. “That is not an option.”

  “Here.” Pascale passed a waterskin over his shoulder. “Drink something. You need to wash that stench out of your mouth.” She pried Asher from me and pulled me upright. “The river is just there. I think you should get yourself cleaned up before we enter the veil. The males should too. We brought spare clothes. They won’t fit you or Asher exactly, but they’re close enough. No. Don’t argue. You can’t go in there stinking of sour blood. Not if you want any hope of maintaining the element of surprise.”

  She had a point, and any clothes she brought would be a better fit than my makeshift dress.

  Pascale smirked. “I see from your scowl you agree with me, even though you don’t want to.”

  “We’re going to wash up.” She led me back to camp and slung a bag on her shoulder. The males had both followed us, and she wrinkled her nose when she looked at them. “You two do the same.”

  “As the tyrant wishes.” Lleu mock saluted her.

  I finally drew myself together and asked, “Where are the sigils?”

  Asher lifted a tin Lleu must have brought with him. “They’re in here.”

  “Good.” I breathed easier already. “Keep an eye on them.”

  Lleu eyed the tin. “Are they still alive?”

  “I’m not sure. I think so. How else could they have eaten so much of the ursus? That pale skin makes me think they might be in a chrysalis phase.” I rolled my shoulders. “I don’t know. I wasn’t with Idra long enough for her to teach me about them. I’m guessing about this the same as we all are.”

  “Let’s get this done.” Pascale glanced skyward. “We’re losing the light.”

  It took some time to reach the river, and more time to scrub myself clean. Pascale had refused to touch the ursus corpse, so she sat on the shore and pretended not to stare while I washed myself with my back to her. The air all but vibrated with her unasked questions, but she kept her mouth shut, and I offered her no enlightenment. I did debate which she would ask about first—the scars or the wings.

  “How did you get those scars?”

  I smiled to myself. She chose the less obvious, the better to ease me into conversation.

  “My master whipped me when I was disobedient.” I smirked. “I misbehaved often.”

  “He wasn’t worried they might show?” She sounded incredulous.

  “Fashions being what they were, there was little chance anyone would see them.” I shrugged. “I doubt anyone would have had the nerve to comment on them. He was a very influential male, and no one would have wanted to bring themselves to his notice. Besides the fact I was a lowly slave girl.”

  “That doesn’t make what he did right.” Fabric rustled behind me. “I can’t believe people are still so backwards in their beliefs these days. How they can justify slavery is beyond me.” Pascale huffed. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you and Edan escaped. The circumstances weren’t ideal, but still.”

  “Until last week I was glad too.” At least if we had stayed in Fortunia, he would be alive.

  “That is your grief talking.” Pascale’s sigh carried to me. “Don’t mourn him again. Not yet.”

  I nodded and resumed my washing. She had no idea how fast the plague infected a host, no concept of how time moved in the crossroads. Only I had experienced it, and I had no idea what magic was at work there. Time had moved slower. Did that mean his illness would too? I wasn’t sure, and there was no one to ask. I had to hope I would find him soon. Since we were so near Beltania, Old Father might be able to administer the cure before it was too late.

  After sinking under the water to rinse the bloodstains from my hair, I surfaced with a gasp and waded to shore. Pascale was waiting with a pale blue, sleeveless dress. She had been busy while I bathed. She had cut out the upper portion of the back so my wings had room to move in case I needed to fly.

  “Here.” She waited while I stepped into the dress. “Let me help.”

  I felt her fingers move across my back and heard the sound of metal snaps catching. At once the dress fit tighter. Not constrictive, exactly, but it would have to do. I had no other clothing options.

  “You look lovely.” She grabbed me by the hair and began combing.

  I was grateful my back was still to her so she missed the faces I made.

  It was apparent in the way she tugged without consideration of pain that she had never brushed another person’s hair until now. If she had, I prayed they hadn’t been tender-headed. My eyes watered as she raked the comb through my hair.

  “There,” she said at last. “All done.”

  I blinked my eyes a few times before facing her. “Thank you.”

  “It was nothing.” She repacked her supplies, and we made our way back to the males.

  Lleu and Asher were scrubbed clean and dressed in fresh clothes. Lleu’s shaggy blond hair was damp and dripped onto his collar. Asher’s was combed with a precise part and slicked to his head. It made for a starker contrast between their clothing. Lleu’s fit him, of course, but Asher’s pants hung too long, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his forearms. His entire person seemed to sag, but he still looked formidable to me. When he spotted me, I was rewarded with a tender smile that made my wings flutter. My feet hovered just above the ground until Pascale clamped a hand on my forearm.

  She laughed at me. “I’ve heard it said that love gives a person wings, but this is too literal.”

  “I was merely drying my wings.” I flicked them in her direction.

  The danger in spending so much time with Asher was the potent feeling of knowing that he accepted me in a way Edan never had. I was Edan’s sister. Therefore, he loved me unconditionally.

  I was no one to Asher. I had nothing of value. I was a sickly outcast that would never fit into the Araneae society. Yet he chose to stand by me, to protect me. He made me feel safe, and that was a dizzying concept. For someone who had few allies and fewer friends, his attention was heady.

  “Are we ready?” Asher sidled up to me but directed his question to Pascale.

  Her smile remained fixed in place, but her eyes were haunted as she reached for her blowpipe.

  She
struck so fast, Lleu never saw her lips purse or her breath exhale.

  He grasped a red dart in his neck, and his eyes bulged. “I’ll skin you for this, you little…”

  Lleu dropped to his knees, and Pascale caught him. Asher and I rushed to help ease him onto his back. The poison worked. He couldn’t lift an arm to swat at us. After several more seconds, his chest began rising and falling with even breaths. He had fallen deeply asleep as we made him comfortable.

  “I worry about leaving him here.” Pascale pushed a lock of hair from his forehead.

  “The alternative was letting him come with us.” I took my sheet and covered him. “If he fought us in the veil and we had to sedate him there, I would worry whatever creature collects the tithes for the gods would steal him or harm him. He’s safer out here than he would be in there. He’ll be furious when he wakes, so we best start searching for the crossroads before he stirs and comes after us.”

  “Let’s go.” She rose and dusted off her skirt. “Before I change my mind.”

  Pascale set the pace. Her chain kept her from walking too quickly, and we had to stick together.

  “There are few predators left in the southlands,” Asher said. “I doubt anything disturbs him.”

  The greatest threat, though none of us said it and all must be thinking it, came from risers.

  But the Salticidae were aware of the danger. Mimetidae patrols had kept their lands clean so far. There must be a reason why the risers hadn’t crossed the veil into the southlands after us. I believed he was safe from harm on that score. I thought it much more likely they were guarding the other side to prevent me from escaping back into the safety of the northlands now that Idra had trapped me.

  “Do you have the sigils?” I matched Asher’s strides.

  “They’re in my pack.” His gaze lingered on me. “The cut of that dress flatters you.”

  “Do you mean the way it pushes my breasts up to my chin or its absence of a back?”

  He chuckled. “Must I choose only one when I find both features so appealing?”

  I clicked my tongue at him. “You are shameless.”

  “You are beautiful,” he said earnestly. “Perhaps if you were less lovely, I might behave better.”

  “You are a handsome male, and I seem to have no trouble behaving around you.”

  His chest expanded. “Handsome, am I?”

  “You know perfectly well you are, or you wouldn’t spend so much time on your appearance.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make a good first impression.”

  I ruffled his hair. “You know everyone here, and we have all duly been impressed.”

  He let me make a mess of his careful style, proving his appearance didn’t matter. He might have fooled me, except that his fingers twitched at his side and his arm lifted twice I saw before he caught himself and lowered it. How it must pain him to be dressed so humbly and to have such mussed hair.

  Once my amusement over his predicament waned, I squeezed his arm. “Thank you.”

  His expression could only be described as wary. “For?”

  “Distracting me.” Sometimes it almost worked. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do.”

  “You give me too much credit.” His face relaxed. “Flirting with you is no hardship.”

  “Except to those who are forced to overhear it,” Pascale grumbled. “What are we looking for?”

  “Denser pockets of mist.” I shrugged. “Roads that crisscross this one.”

  “All right.” She nodded. “Sounds simple enough.”

  We walked in a perpetual loop for what seemed like hours, with only flat road to tell us if we were making progress or caught in some trap. As before, the path ahead was blurred and distant, the trail behind was clear and welcoming. We could have turned around and left at any time.

  But then Idra would have won, and I couldn’t bear that.

  “Can we rest for a bit?” Pascale’s cheeks were flushed, and her steps were painfully slow.

  Asher made no comment, letting me decide for us.

  “As we seem to be making no progress, we might as well break while we can.”

  “Good.” Pascale dropped where she stood. “I wasn’t sure how much longer I could make it.”

  Asher sat beside me and pulled a waterskin from his pack for us to share. He handed it to me first, but I passed it to Pascale. When she leaned forward, her dress shifted to expose her ankles. They were raw and bleeding where the silken chains had cut into her skin.

  My hand went to my mouth. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

  “I knew what I signed on for.” She covered her legs. “It will heal.”

  It would, but gods knew it had to hurt.

  A tensing in my stomach forced me to find a new place to look. The smell of Pascale’s blood hit my nose, and the hunger that had been mercifully absent since Edan’s abduction reared its ugly head.

  Asher’s quiet told me he was piecing together what the issue might be. He reached into his pack and brought out one of the packets of dried meat Lleu had passed around earlier. Asher pressed one strip into my hand before tearing another in half and sharing it with Pascale. She took it and chewed.

  Once I trusted myself, I began eating my portion. Eventually, the worst of the hunger subsided.

  “Is it always like this?” Pascale studied the blurred landscape. “I never noticed before.”

  “Yes.” I took another bite. “I stumbled into the crossroads the first time. That or Idra brought me there. The second time was a fluke, or more trickery on her part. In between, there were attempts to find our way there that met with nothing but exhaustion. I’m starting to think this is one of those.”

  “Lleu may be waking,” she said quietly. “What if he comes searching for us?”

  I didn’t have an answer for her.

  “He won’t fall for that trick but once,” Asher chimed in. “He won’t let you go a second time.”

  “All the more reason why we should forge ahead while we can.” She grimaced when she stood.

  Asher and I rose as well, and that was when I saw it.

  Mist rose in a twisting column and spread over the ground in a cobbled texture.

  I had taken a step forward before Pascale eased in front of me.

  “What is it?” She kept a hand on my shoulder. “What do you see?”

  “The road,” I whispered, afraid any acknowledgment might make it disappear. “It’s there.”

  “I don’t see anything.” She squinted. “Asher?”

  “I see it.” He put a hand on my other shoulder. “We go together.”

  “Together.” As the words left my mouth, I knew I would give them a chance. If they failed, then I would go alone. All this aimless wandering was making me crazed with grief and fear and worry.

  Pascale shuddered. “Should we unpack the sigils?”

  “We might not get another chance.” I was pulling at Asher’s grip, ready to break into a run.

  “Keep hold of her.” Asher delved into his pack and withdrew the tin. “Will this work?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged clear of Pascale. “Let’s find out.”

  As before, once we reached the mist, I could step onto the cobbled road with ease. Asher saw it, but even with the sigils in their tin, his feet passed through to the ground. Pascale was blind to it all.

  “What if I held it in my hand?” He was already twisting the lid.

  I gasped when he opened it and husks blew from the container.

  Nestled inside were two metallic wasps with their shiny wings flexing. The bolder of the two lit on the edge of the tin while its antennae tasted the air. The other buzzed at us and cleaned its feet.

  “Marne.” Asher froze with the tin in his hands.

  Sweat beaded his brow. As
the first crept nearer to his fingers, his hand trembled.

  Instead of crawling onto him, it launched into the air. Without thought, I leapt up and caught it in my hand while Asher slammed the lid shut over the other. The sigil in my grip buzzed angrily at me. Its stinger raked across my palm, but it didn’t puncture my skin. It found the tip of my thumb, and its pinchers snapped shut. I screamed and flung my hand to rid myself of the thing.

  Its mandibles had drawn blood, and the coppery scent made the sigil in the box frenzied. Its hum had grown so loud I winced. The sigil that had bitten me dove at my head, tangling itself in my hair.

  I swatted my scalp, screaming and yanking my hair as its weight tugged my head backward.

  Its feet tickled down my nape. Before I got a firm grip on it, the sigil plunged its stinger in me.

  Heat spread from that point, lighting my veins on fire, leaving me panting on the ground.

  Asher knelt by my head. His lips were moving. His hands were on me.

  But all I heard was Idra’s cackle. All I felt was her sickly nail plunging once again into my soul.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I woke with a shudder, eyelids heavy and skin flashing hot. Asher’s knees were inches from my chin. He covered his face with his hand, shaking his head at something Pascale had said to him.

  She noticed my eyes had opened first and grabbed the hand I had lifted to check my neck.

  “Don’t touch it.” She struggled with me. “You don’t want to make things worse.”

  “Worse?” Hysterical laughter bubbled up my throat. “There’s a sigil burrowed in my neck, and you think things can get worse? Idra can summon me now. You don’t understand. She owns me.”

  I shoved upright and onto my knees. My heart pounded in time with my head. My head…

  “I don’t hear her.” I rubbed my face. “Before it was instant—I heard her. I heard all of them.”

  “What is she talking about?” Pascale asked under her breath.

  “Harbingers are all connected. When one infects you or ensnares you with its song, you can hear them all.” He glared at the box in his hands. “If Idra has control of Marne, then we have a problem.”