A light, flowery perfume that reminds me of spring precedes Eve, who stands next to me, also looking up. “This isn’t good.”
“Nope.”
“We move as planned, but fly low.”
I slide her a glance. “I didn’t know we were flying at all.” Thoughts of how Gabriel felt as he flew me over the campus assault me, and my body heats up again.
“We got a car.”
“From where?” Usually, she rides her bicycle.
“Don’t worry about it. The guy I know has it covered. His dad is a sergeant at the outpost. That’s how we’re getting through.” She turns me by my shoulders and hugs me, a little too long and a little too tight. I hear sniffling.
I rub her back. “What’s wrong, Eve?”
She pulls back and wipes under her eyes. “Nothing. I’m being stupid, and all my makeup melted.”
It didn’t.
“Ready?” she asks, a glint…of sadness in her kind eyes.
Chapter 5
We arrive at the Veil barrier, a cloak hiding what’s under it. Inside Sergeant Gunman’s car, we remove the tunics we wore to cover the lack of clothing underneath and leave them in the back seat, then exit the vehicle. Sergeant Gunman rolls down the window, his gaze sliding over my body and lingering at my waist where Eve’s hand touches my bare skin.
“You girls take care in there,” he says, but it sounds like an order, and Eve says, “Yes, sir.” I’m not going in there.
I scan the outskirts of the Veil. It’s empty. My dad should already be here. The last time Eve came back, he’d agreed to meet me right before the Veil so I don’t have to pass the barrier, but the officer doesn’t need to know that. Briefly, I wonder what his superiors would say about him smuggling people to the Veil and back, but I don’t care as long as he does it and I can pay for it.
He scratches his stubble, making the deep red gashes on his skin bleed. “Three kids from the school went in,” he says, eyes on my skin and Eve’s hand. “Thought you should know. Young, stupid, looking for fun.” He dips his head and grips the wheel, readying to leave.
“Wait,” I say. “What did they look like?”
He peruses my body again, and I cringe. “Two girls. One blonde and small like you, the other one, a brunette, also short, and a tall kid, maybe seventeen, eighteen tops, goes by the name Mike.”
Oh no. Oh no. I had a feeling they’d do something crazy and dangerous, but I kept hoping they wouldn’t dare to go past the Veil.
“Where are they headed?” Eve asks.
“To the palace, I’m sure.”
Eve bites her lip, her gaze distant, but she snaps out of it and grabs her tiny purse. She passes him a few more coins. “Thanks.”
The sergeant accepts them and then takes off, leaving me thinking about what I should do. Dad should’ve waited for me here. I would’ve seen him, made sure he’s alive, and passed him some coins, a little food I know he won’t sell, then tried to persuade him to come with me. He would leave angry. I would leave disappointed.
Eve is the one who goes inside the Veil.
Now I have a situation. “Those three kids are my students.”
Eve tugs my arm. “What are you thinking?”
“I can’t just ignore that they’re in there.”
“You’re not gonna rat them out, are you?”
“Well…”
Eve grabs my shoulders. “You’re not. Don’t be that teacher. Kids sneak into the Veil all the time.”
“They do? That’s terrible.”
Eve shrugs, dark brown hair bouncing over her shoulders. “They’re young and restless and want to know what sin feels like, and it’s really not as bad inside as they’d like you to believe.”
“I doubt that.” Dad walked in once and couldn’t stop going back, until one day, he didn’t return at all. Veil life is an addiction like any other substance, and Eve is an addict too. I fear one day she'll stay there.
Debating, I chew my lip. If I return to the House of Virtue and report the kids missing behind the Veil, Dad won’t get his coins, and he’ll find another way to get them, and that’s what I fear the most. If he finds a way to get coins elsewhere, he’ll never need me again, and I won’t see him anymore.
“Come with me,” Eve says.
“I can’t.” I can, but I’m afraid not just of vile creatures but of becoming one of the Marked, a mortal with no will of her own who does Lucifer’s bidding.
“Lucifer isn’t here. He’s over in the Court of Sunder, so he’s not marking under the Veil. He’s got plenty in there already. It’s kind of crowded. I mean, why do you think he’s trying to expand? Too many people, too little land.”
“I can’t. Here.” I shrug off my small backpack and hold it out. “If you see my dad, please give him this.” Gabriel expects me at nine.
Eve accepts. “What about your students? You gonna rat them out? Even if you do, nobody will go inside to get them out. They’re gone until they breach the Veil on their way out.”
“If they can leave.”
Eve nods. “If they leave.”
“How do you do it?” Maybe if I did what she does, I could get all the students and myself back out.
She smiles, a wicked glint in her eye. “I get my fix, and I’m done. Set limits, you know? Don’t break the rules.”
“What are the rules?”
She drops her gaze and clears her throat. “Don’t fall for Lucifer.”
I gasp. “You know Lucifer?”
“No, I don’t know him, know him. But I’ve seen him.”
“Oh my God. Goodbye.” I turn and march away, thinking no way in hell can I do this, then turn back and march past her before I lose courage, because I can’t leave those kids in there on their own, and I can’t explain why I was here to Gabriel, and it’s just a mess in my head, and I’m gonna just do it. I’m going after those three knuckleheads, and I’m gonna drag them back if I have to. Behind me, Eve giggles and catches up, taking my hand. Here we go. Brace.
An invisible force field hits our bodies. Electric wind pelts my skin, and I scream, leaning forward, trying to push through it. Should’ve taken the damn shoes off. Barely moving, I look over to Eve who seems unfazed. She walks as if there’s nothing there, pulling me along, and thank God for that, or I don’t believe I could get through the wind. The harder I push, the more I struggle and the worse I feel.
The Veil barrier is thick, and my belly starts to rise, threatening to spill. I swallow just as my skin starts burning. I cry out and grip Eve’s hand as she walks as if she’s taking a stroll. I swear, the Veil barrier is gonna spit us out and gonna make us fly and land somewhere, dead.
Dread claws at my very soul, and I feel like voices of thousands are screaming in my head.
And then it’s over.
We’re standing on a wide road with a white line down the middle. It’s flanked by rows of massive silos. Oh God, I’m inside this dreadful place. Why would anyone want to come here? It’s dark and terrible and terrifying.