Page 24 of In The Dark
“Who the fuck are you, and how did you do that?” I snarl, giving him a quick once-over.
His dark auburn hair settles just above his brows as a cocky grin smears across his face, his cloak flaring out as he crosses his arms. It takes everything for me not to fling my daggers as he eyes me from three feet away.
“I know you’ve already figured it out.” His tone is annoyingly casual. “Your little friend seemed to catch on pretty quick.”
He’s right of course, since Ren already discovered he was Shadovar. Still, my eyes narrow—assessing him. Perhaps Ren was wrong. But how would he know Ren figured it out? Alec continues to casually stand with his hands in his pockets, as if our little conversation is the same as any other day.
He scratches his jaw. “Your realm did a really good job ofwiping us from your booksandyour head.” He grins, tilting his head to the side.“Who do you think I am, darling?”
“Get out of my head,” I grind out.
My heart races as I realize that the voice I thought I imagined is real, very real—itishim. Entering my head and into my thoughts like a whisper in the wind.
“You’re not supposed to be in this realm. The Shadovar are banned here. What do you want with me?” I ask quietly.
“I want a lot of things.”He pushes the thought out.
“I said get out of my head!” I growl, but his words linger, leaving me to wonder what he meant by wiping them from my head. I step toward him. “How did you vanish like that? And how did I end up here?”
“I’m a Veil Walker. Just like everyone else in Aurelia.”
“I don’t know what that means,” I clip.
“You would if you’d give me a chance to explain it,” he says as a grin tugs at his lips.
With a huff of air, I urge him to continue with a wave of my hand, wishing he wasn’t holding my other daggers. The small clench to his jaw tells me that he must still be angry about me killing him a few days ago. But I didn’t kill him… clearly.
“A Veil Walker means that I can walk in the Veil, and that allows me to move undetected, but I can seeyoujust fine. It also allows me to travel great distances while still being able to hold a conversation. I’m able to touch and bring others with me, like I did with you.”
“What’s a Veil?” I ask, my shoulders tensing, hating how curious I sound. But I know nothing of their magic.
He sighs. “It’s hard to explain, but the Veil is like a thin layer between realms that exists outside the physical world but overlaps it.”
I shake my head. “Either way,youbeing here shouldn’t be possible—we sealed the border years ago, but that doesn’t explain how you’ve been tracking?—”
His form suddenly ripples, shifting his appearance right in front of me, back into the… young boy from earlier?
I blink as a boy with round cheeks, shaggy auburn hair, and light freckles stares up at me. His face appears younger, like he instantly reversed the clock. I stumble back before he quickly shifts into the male he was seconds ago.What the fuck?
“It’s the magic from my realm, similar to yours here. All Shadovar can walk in the Veil and manipulate their appearances. I can do it for a short time,” he says, exaggerating a wave of his hand. “From someone who is alive or has been alive, but it helps me meet someone discreetly without being noticed.”
Words seem to have escaped me when a disbelieving chuckle bubbles out, but I quickly compose myself. Yet I can’t help the confusion surfacing in my chest. What does a Shadovar want with me? He shouldn’t be here, but curiosity gnaws at me, and I find myself wanting to know more.
“Why would you want to meet someone discreetly? Can’t you just, I don’t know, meet them like a regular person?”
He gives a soft chuckle. “Because I want to assess what type of person they may be. When I want to see someone’s true character, I’ll appear in my child form to gauge how I can approach them. Turns out you can really tell who someone is by showing up as a homeless boy. From what I gather, the crown hasn’t completely destroyed your character yet.”
He offers my daggers to me like a peace offering. My eyes lock with his for a moment before I take them with a shake of my head and cross my arms. Little does he know, giving me my daggers back is a mistake.
“Who was the boy from earlier, since you steal appearances?” I ask.
He scoffs. “I don’tstealappearances—I adopt them for a short amount of time.”Like there’s a difference.He hesitates, as if debating his words, and he throws me a soft grin. “It was me as a boy, which is why there is no scar on his face.”
A breeze flutters my hair as he walks past to a nearby oak tree, leaning against it and crossing his arms, leaving me to trail behind.
My frustration rises. “Well, thanks for the useless information, but I have orders to kill you. As far as I’m concerned, you should already be dead. The Shadovar are banned here.”
He lets out a loud guffaw with a shake of his head. “Good luck. I’ll just come back, and then King Elion will punish you…again.” I growl this time, palming my daggers, but he just eyes me with a raised brow. “I told you—you can’t kill mebecauseI’m not from this realm, and a couple of other things that are unimportant at the moment. You do remember leaving me to bleed out?”