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VEIL

A s promised, Gemini escorts me to Animus almost daily. I soon realize that this small piece of freedom might be worse than being stuck in the house. On the plus side, I’m surrounded by people here, but Gemini’s menacing glare makes everyone steer clear of me. All it does is make the abject loneliness more acute.

And where is Zazel?

I’ve been here for a few days and have not seen them anywhere. I try to remember if they had a fixed schedule, but my mind has a hard time conjuring up anything from before my kidnapping. However, the thought of Zazel discovering the truth of my disappearance has my skin crawling with apprehension. Maybe it’s better if my friends think I’m dead.

But even that morbid hope is futile when Gemini plans to have me perform onstage in front of a large crowd of Pravitians in less than two weeks.

I’ve been practicing for a few hours now with Gemini carefully watching me from his spot in the corner of the room. It’s a private space, and no one is allowed inside while I’m practicing. A floor-to-ceiling mirror spans an entire wall, and there’s even a trapeze hanging from the low ceiling. The apparatus is novel enough that I’ve started incorporating it into my routine, just for something new and stimulating to master.

When straining to execute a rather difficult sequence of movements atop the trapeze, I slip and almost fall. I curse under my breath as I dismount, pushing the small hairs sticking to my forehead away with irritation.

I’m breathing hard, both hands flat on the back of my hips as I stare into the mirror.

“What’s wrong, my beloved?” Gemini casually asks from behind me. His gaze is down, flipping through a tabloid magazine as he sits on the floor. His back rests against the wall, legs sprawled in front of him while he idly flips a coin over and around the fingers of his free hand.

My gaze finds him in the glass. The feeling of unease I’ve had since I woke up this morning sits heavily on my chest. That, paired with his new pet name, which feels like so much more than just a pet name.

“Nothing is wrong,” I snap.

Gemini’s eyes flick to find mine in the mirror. His eyebrows rise in a hint of surprise, and a subtle grin appears at the corner of his lips.

Then, in the most embarrassing turn of events, I burst out crying. Shocked and mortified, I bury my face in my hands, keeping my back to him. But Gemini is next to me in seconds, grabbing me by the shoulders so I can face him, even though I’m trying my best to keep my face hidden as I hiccup through the tears.

“Veil, look at me,” he says with a slight bite to his voice. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

Knowing he won’t let this go, I force myself to calm down before sheepishly lifting my head up to face him. “I don’t know,” I answer truthfully.

I attempt to shake myself out of his grip, but his fingers dig harder into my shoulders. I roll my eyes in exasperation at his refusal to let this go. Averting my gaze, I try my best to furiously wipe my cheeks dry from the damning tears.

“I’ve been feeling restless, like — like something is missing.” I slide my gaze to his. “There’s an urgency to the feeling, and it’s only been building as the days pass.” I chew on my lip nervously. “I can barely put words to it.”

Gemini is quiet. He studies me, as if holding a much larger piece of the puzzle than I ever knew was missing. And something about that fleeting sentiment has the resentment of still not knowing anything about my family’s history flaring through my veins, alongside the growing restlessness.

“How long since you last collected tithe?”

His question further irritates me.

“Speak plainly, Foley.”

He pushes out a small chuckle before speaking again. “When was the last time you stole something?”

Surprise prickles my skin like a fresh set of goose bumps, but it’s quickly subdued by how ridiculous I find his question. “How long since you kidnapped me? Then you’ll have your answer.”

Impatience flashes across his face, but he is fast to erase it away and laughs dryly before finally letting me go. His gaze turns arrogant. “Still hung up on that, I see.”

I’m about to fling my retort back in his face, but he beats me to it. He begins to pace in front of me, hands clasped behind his back. He looks especially dapper today, wearing a black velour suit, the top buttons of his dress shirt undone.

“Do you want this feeling to cease or not?” he hisses, clearly growing tired of my crossness.

I snap my mouth shut and let the silence temper the rising tension between us before muttering a small, “Yes.”

“Good!” he chirps, his mood shifting instantly. He snaps his fingers and points to the floor. “Sit.”

I balk for a split second before Gemini flops down and crosses his legs. I follow suit, settling in front of him as I eye him suspiciously.

He drags both hands through his pink hair in some sort of theatrical pause before giving me his full attention. “You must feed your god, Veil Vulturine.”

“But—”

He waves me off like a pesky fruit fly. “You’ve been doing this all your life. Now you must learn to do it intentionally.” His gaze turns serious. “With purpose.”

Confused, I make a show of looking around the empty room. “How am I meant to steal anything when it’s just us two?”

His smile turns devious. “Steal my power.”

I stare at him, dumbfounded. “I — I can’t.”

“You’ve done it before.”

My mind drifts back to the day at Pandaemonium, when he caught me trying to run away. Something happened between us that day, and I never quite had the words to press Gemini about it. Just one more thing cloaked in maddening mystery. And I always seem to be the last one to know.

“Whatever that was, I don’t know how that even happened, let alone how to do it again.”

“Not everything needs words to be understood, pet,” he replies far too dismissively. Placing his hands palm up between us, he adds, “Put your hands in mine.”

I resist his command and instinctively curl my hands into fists instead.

Gemini scoffs, followed by a dry laugh. “You are incorrigible.”

Admittedly, I’m not sure why I’m being so difficult right now when he seems to genuinely want to help. Or as genuine as Gemini Foley can be.

I conceal a small sigh and delicately place my palms in his. Electricity zaps through me, and I’m flooded with images of us. Of him . His naked body towering over me as he fucks my mouth with abandon. A shiver travels down my spine, and I try to swat the image away as quickly as possible.

This isn’t the time to think about any of that.

I try to hide where my mind has gone by looking away and fidgeting into a more relaxed position on the floor. But Gemini never misses a thing, and I pretend not to see the twinkle in his eye when my gaze slides back to him.

“Ready?” he says.

I nod.

“Close your eyes.”

Again, I unconsciously resist, taking a few unnecessary seconds before I do what he said.

I inhale deeply. The heat of his hands against mine is now heightened with my one missing sense. It takes longer than expected for Gemini to speak again, the pause feeling intentional, as if he’s trying to teach me something, even in the quiet spaces in between.

“There is no such thing as a rift between you and your god,” he says, his tone sounding quite solemn. “You are an extension, a mortal rendering of their divinity. This means there will always be a connection — inside of you. It’s from that source from which you draw your powers.”

His fingers curl around my open palms, and I break out into goose bumps.

“It’s time, Veil Vulturine, for you to find that loose thread. To feel that power pulsing through your veins.”

What if I can’t?

The reaction is immediate. Still so unsure and questioning, let alone accepting, that I have some kind of divine ability—no matter how amoral the gods are or how frightened I am of them. I swallow down my insecurities and take a large inhale, dutifully keeping my eyes closed.

Gemini falls silent, his presence still imposing, even without my eyesight. But the touch of his skin against mine grounds me, and I don’t linger on how uncomfortable that thought makes me. Instead, I use it as my first stepping stone, hoping that maybe it will lead me to this ever-elusive place inside myself.

I don’t know how long we sit there for. It’s long enough for time to start feeling like an elastic band being stretched and stretched and stretched. I don’t know if and when it will eventually snap.

Gemini is right. The words evade me. Like smoke, they become immaterial, and I lose myself in the feelings.

I float.

I drift.

I linger.

Until, suddenly, I snag on something.

I almost miss it. Almost pass right by it.

I curl my hand around it, like a thin gold thread, and tug .