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15

VEIL

T here’s an unbelievable strum running through my veins, and both Gemini and I grow still, my back pinned to the wall as his fingers dig into my bare arms.

His eyes widen, and I feel mine do the same as his mouth falls open on a sharp inhale. But when I see his expression shutter, his typical non-threatening demeanor evaporating, my urge to run as far away from him as possible surges back like a deadly tsunami.

His glare turns cold, and it coats my skin with frost.

“ What did you just do? ” he asks so chillingly, his teeth gnashing with a bloodthirsty threat.

His fingers dig even deeper into my arms, and I know I’ll find bruises in the shape of him tomorrow morning.

What did I just do?

Every atom in me is vibrating with the fear of Gemini’s righteous anger, but I can hardly concentrate. My mind is pulled to the crowd beyond the deserted corridor. I have an insatiable craving to hunt down every single lie and dirty secret of anyone with a pulse in the main room.

Gemini shoves me hard against the wall, and I snap my gaze back to him, realizing I was staring toward the closed doors at the end of the corridor.

“Who are you?” he growls, his tone accusing and enraged. His eyes bounce between mine as he stares, his gaze desperate but menacing.

He stares like he’s never seen me before, and I wonder if my time has come. If death has finally arrived to collect my soul for the long journey home.

“I — I have no idea what’s happening,” I manage to croak out shakily as I fight the urge to screw my eyes shut.

Then I sense it.

Like a balloon popping. And whatever it was that I was feeling, it’s now gone like a puff of smoke. I can tell Gemini felt it too. His grip loosens infinitesimally around my arms as curiosity flashes through his features.

The silence slithers itself around us, slowly curling around my throat like a lazy, coiling snake. I can hardly swallow, waiting for Gemini to say something.

“Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky.” It’s a low, threatening hiss. “Pretending to be a weak, little rabbit, when you are anything but.” His face now inches away from mine, he snaps his teeth close to my nose, and I wince. “Aren’t you, pet?”

My body rattles under his touch as his fingers dig painfully into my arms. “I don’t know what you mean …” I utter quietly, trying to bite down on the panic still filling my lungs.

He releases me and takes a step back. His face smooths back to the Gemini I’ve become accustomed to. Lighthearted and mischievous. The one skilled to manipulate me into feeling things I refuse to admit out loud. It sends a shiver down my spine, and I’m unsure what to make of the sensation, other than to ignore it.

“Well, Veil Vulturine,” he says with a dark curl of his lip, “I think it’s time for us to find out.”

“Where are you taking me?” Although I ask my question in a soft tone, my voice echoes through the arched corridor, and I cringe at having disturbed the silence around us.

Gemini doesn’t answer and simply continues to drag me by the wrist—I should be grateful that, at least this time, it’s not by a leash tied around my neck. I don’t have any more struggle left in me. For today.

All that I’ve gathered is that we’ve descended multiple flights of stairs to reach the subterrestrial levels of Mount Pravitia—the most prominent building in the city. It didn’t take much for Gemini to charm the guards into letting us past the lobby.

There’s a chill in the air, and I break out into goose bumps, the stones around us leaching any warmth away from my body. We haven’t passed a single soul since reaching this particular level, and I can’t fight the dread warning me of what’s to come.

Finally, we stop in front of two large, imposing doors. Gemini lets go of my wrist, and I puff out a small sigh of relief while I watch him push the doors open with a small grunt, the curve of his neck flexing with the exertion.

A great, cavernous hall appears on the other side, and before I even step into the room, I’m hit with a strong wave of familiarity, as if a dormant part of me remembers being here before.

Strange.

“What is this place?” I ask Gemini, hoping, this time, he’ll answer me.

But he does nothing of the sort, yanking me inside by the arm instead. I pick up my pace, following him in. His fingers are back around my wrist, his rings’ sharp edges digging into my skin. My attention falls on the flex of his toned arm, his sleeve pulled up to his elbow, before I snap my eyes back up to observe the lofty hall.

Sweeping my gaze across the room, I question the nagging feeling of familiarity that still tickles my stomach. In the very middle sits a vast, circular platform. It appears to be made entirely out of black obsidian. And even at a time like this, I wonder how much such a thing would cost to make.

Gemini stops us just a few steps away from the platform and turns us so we face the doors.

“Now”—Gemini smooths his hands over his shirt, brushing out the wrinkles, his attention straight ahead—“let me do all the talking.”

My tongue burns with another question, but I swallow it down. The silence settles between us as we wait for what I’m assuming is someone while the flambeaus on the walls flicker as if dancing with an undetectable breeze.

A woman appears not long after. My heart batters at the sight of her, an inexplicable pull tugging my chest forward, as if I were seeing a long-lost kin.

She’s older, her long white hair delicately fluttering behind her as she steps inside the hall. With every slow step she takes, her bare feet peek out from underneath her long gray tunic. Her pale blue eyes are lined with painted gold, and my mind turns hazy when her gaze slams into mine, the feeling akin to a live wire making contact with water.

“Good,” she states dryly when she approaches, stopping a healthy distance away from us. “I see you’ve found her.”

Her words ring in my ears, something about her intonation prickling against my skin.

You’ve found her?

Gemini splutters—a reaction I’ve rarely seen him do. “Meaning?” he croaks out, seemingly much more serious than usual.

She must have some power over him to have him standing straight, like a dutiful schoolboy.

Tucking her hands into her opposite sleeves, she flicks her eyes from Gemini to me, then back.

“The seventh heir, of course.”

The stone beneath my feet turns into quicksand. My knees buckle, and I feel nauseous.

Gemini rakes his hands through his hair as he begins to pace around in a circle before burning me with his accusing stare. “I knew it.”

Blood rushes into my ears, but I somehow will myself to stay standing. I don’t understand what’s happening, the words hardly sinking in, but I continue listening. The woman and Gemini speak about me like I’m not even in the room.

“But the gods chose her as my sacrifice. How could that be?” Gemini says with a small hiss.

“She’s alive, isn’t she?” the woman intones, clearly unfazed by Gemini’s question.

“Because I let her go.”

“As the gods had known you would.”

They both fall quiet and stare at each other. I can almost hear the unspoken conversation coursing between them.

“What do you mean, the seventh heir ?” My voice is weak, barely a whisper, as nausea roils in my stomach.

The woman turns to me. “The gods are ushering in a new epoch. The existing damnatio memoriae has been dissolved. You are the sole survivor. ” She gives me a curt nod. “Welcome home.”

I struggle to comprehend what any of this means, but the weight of her declaration is not lost on me. I think I’m going to be sick.

“She serves the god of thievery then?” Gemini muses out loud, seemingly connecting pieces that I know nothing about.

The woman gives another short nod. “Yes.” Her attention back on Gemini. “I can count on you to guide her through this new chapter. She’ll have quite a few questions, I gather.”

Gemini looks at me from the corner of his eye, his grin feral and cunning. “Of course.”

The woman turns to leave, but Gemini calls out to her, “Oh! And, Oracle?” His voice is far too amused, making my hackles rise.

Half turned, she waits for him to speak, her expression cold and stern.

“Is it true about the fornication rule? It no longer applies?”

“Correct,” she states before turning around without another glance.

It takes a few seconds after she disappears through the doors for Gemini to react.

But when he does, it sends a chill down the length of my body, rooting me to the spot.

He bursts out laughing, big belly laughs that have him doubling over.

Anger spikes through me like an iron rod, as I’m suddenly overwhelmed with the weight of what just transpired. How dare he find this amusing when my life has been anything but?

Without any rational thought, I shove him with all my strength. He stumbles but quickly regains his footing, which only makes him laugh even harder, the sound bubbling up and up and up, until I finally snap .

The sound of my hand striking his left cheek detonates through the now-quiet hall, and the shock splashed across his face mirrors the shock twisting my insides into knots.

Although my small outburst has made him stop laughing, he hasn’t lost his mirth. It glimmers wildly behind his mismatched irises as he brings a palm to his reddening cheek.

“Oh,” he says much too calmly, a smirk slowly spreading across his face, his eyes shimmering with a wild glint, “this is going to be so much fun.”