Page 9 of Avalon Tower

My tour group still looks terrified, and I wish they’d stop clinging to each other.

“We’ll turn right here,” I call out, and move to turn back down the street—then realize that a couple of patrolling Fey are marching on that road, too. “I meant left, of course.”

But now, we’re also getting pinned in by the Fey soldiers. I clench my jaw, my mind whirling.

I turn toward them, marching backward, beckoning for the group to follow me. “Our tour continues down by the beach!”

I take another step back, and Aleina shouts my name in a panic.

Violet-sheened fog snakes around me, and my stomach plummets. The misty veil has roiled closer, and it’s drawing me in.

Magic thrums over my skin, making my teeth chatter.

My thoughts go dark, my body cold. I’m inside the veil. And that means I’m about to die.

CHAPTER 3

Like the nightshade flower, the beauty of the veil hides its deadly nature. Fey magic isn’t particularly stable, and the results of touching it vary. Some people die of a heart attack. Some scream in agony as their insides melt. Some turn to dust or freeze solid. But the end is the same. The veil is hungry, and it feeds off death.

And yet—

Despite standing in the midst of it, I’m still alive. Unless—as some people say—the dead don’t realize they’re dead?

Through the coils of fog, I stare down at my hands. The mist shifts and slides over my wrists, strangely sensual in the way it moves like a living thing.

I’m still breathing. I don’t feel any pain. How long will this death take? I inhale humid air tinged with sea salt. I feel fine.

I can’t even hear the mist’s buzzing or feel the prickling of magic on my skin.

Strange. Maybe the magic doesn’t work in this part of the veil.

From here, I can still see the others—silhouettes in silver and violet beyond the veil. From my ankles up, the fog slides under the white lace of my dress like a lover’s caress.

“Aleina?” I ask.

“You’re still alive?” she asks, shocked. “I can’t see you.”

Hope lights in my chest. “That’s perfect, then,” I tell her. “This part of the veil is fine. We can hide here, I think. It’s not lethal.”

“No!” she mutters, terror in her voice.

“It’s an in-between space,” I say. “I’m fine, and it’s the perfect place to hide. And the soldiers are blocking us in right now.”

The seconds tick by as my anxiety grows. I understand her reluctance, but those soldiers will end up noticing them, and I can only imagine what will happen then. I’m about to urge her to move when I see a silhouette nod and step forward. Aliena’s hand comes through the fog, and she takes a deep breath as she sidles up next to me. “Come on, everyone,” she whispers in Fey.

One by one, the demi-Fey slip into the veil, and instead of draining them of life, the mist seems to welcome them in its embrace. I gesture, and the little boy grasps my hand, joining me.

Through the whorls of fog, I can still see the stone alley beneath my feet. But everything’s different here beyond the veil. For the past few years, no one has come here at all. Garbage has accumulated in this no-man’s land, and the air smells of rot and decay. I swallow. I shouldn’t be here. Outside the mist, I see the silhouettes of Fey guards pass by, swords drawn. They don’t notice us at all.

“How did you get through the veil the first time?” I ask Aleina.

“We had a…I don’t know how you say it in English. An orb? A Cosaint orb. But it shattered.” She swallows. “We lost two people when that happened.”

A shiver runs along the back of my neck, but I push the fear away. I count to ten, giving the guards time to walk away, then emerge from the mist. Aleina follows me. Then the rest.

Creeping to the edge of the alley, I peer out. No veil patrols. Good.

“Okay, we’re clear,” I say. “Let’s do the same as before. We’re just a group of tourists, okay? It’s crucial that you all give the appearance of being calm, even if you don’t feel it.”