Page 103 of The Bound Blood
“Something on the other side of the Veil.”
My heart slams into my ribs. No. No, no, no.
“Okay,” I breathe, stepping in front of her before I even realize I’ve moved. My voice firms, turning into something I barely recognize—controlled, certain. “I’m here. Stay behind me. We’ll call patrol backup. Don’t go near it. Don’t?—”
A whisper slides through the air again.
Louder. Clearer.
“Lindsaaaay…”
She flinches like it hooked her.
And then she steps around me.
“Lindsay!” My hand darts out, grabbing her wrist, but she slips free, eyes locked on something I can’t see—or maybe something onlyshecan.
The shadows near the Veil ripple unnaturally. The wards pulse once, dimly, as if something on the other side is pressing a palm against them.
“Lindsay, stop.” My voice sharpens with panic. “Don’t—please don’t go closer. Stay with me.”
But she is already drifting forward, breath gone, gaze glazed in a way that terrifies me to my core.
The voice whispers again, hungry. “Come closer…”
The wards hiss. A gust of cold air sweeps across the path, lifting the hair on my arms. Footsteps thunder toward us. Auron arrives first, boots skidding to a halt on the stone path. His eyes widen.
“What happened?” he demands, already positioning himself between Lindsay and the Veil.
Before I can answer, another figure steps through the trees.
Dorian.
Lantern light catches silver in his hair, but his expression is all steel. The lazy princely amusement he usually wears is gone, replaced by something colder. Something dangerous. His gaze snaps to Lindsay—and the entire world seems to still.
“What did she hear?” he asks as if he already knows it spoke to her.
I swallow hard. “It said her name.”
Auron swears under his breath—a vicious, quiet sound.
Dorian steps toward Lindsay, his posture shifting, magic humming around him.
“Lindsay,” he says, tone softer but edged with command, “step back. Now.”
She doesn’t respond. She takes another step forward.
The Veil pulses—a faint, sickening glow threading through it, as if something is tracing her outline from the other side.
Dorian curses in Fae. Auron moves instantly, snapping a ward sigil from his pocket. I tighten my grip on my lantern, pulse hammering.
“Lindsay,” I whisper, terrified, “please come back.”
The Veil whispers her name again. And this time—it sounds like a promise. Something cold sinks into my stomach.
She takes another slow, trance-like step forward.
No. No, I’m not letting this happen.
