Through The Veil

by Christi Snow

  She shook her head, chewing on her lip, wondering what it all meant.

  “Malcolm also has minor healing abilities that use the energy that flows naturally from the Earth. Between the two, it makes for quick recuperation to most injuries.”

  “Wow, okay. Really?” She watched him for duplicity, not trusting anything, especially her instincts anymore. But he seemed sincere. For now, she would go along and see what she could learn because she agreed with him. It seemed things were very different here.

  “Come on in. We can talk for a little bit and then I can show you to your bed,” he said.

  He acted like he planned to stay here with her. Hell to the no if he expected something sexually from her.

  She eyed him suspiciously. She understood how Alice felt when she followed the rabbit into Wonderland. Going through that hole had brought her into a whole new fantastic world and she didn’t know who or what she should trust.

  The last time she trusted someone, she ended up being a science experiment for six years. She needed to remember that and keep her guard up. “Wait a minute. Is this your house? You think I’m staying here with you?” She tried to keep her tone calm, not voicing the panic she felt.

  “Yes, this is my house,” Marcus answered, his voice soothing. “No one is going to hurt you here. We have empty homes for guests, but most are in the trees and you can’t get up or down from them since you don’t have wings. We don’t want to leave you alone for the night, especially after your injury. I’m a Warrior, the equivalent of what we have for law enforcement here, so I took charge of your care. If you’d rather stay with Malcolm or Brooklyn, I can call them.”

  With those few words came the realization that she didn’t want to be with anyone else. She wasn’t sure she could trust any of them, but for some reason she felt a higher level of security with Marcus. He had helped her and offered her shelter when he had no reason to trust her either. For all he knew, she was here to harm his people.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t want to seem ungrateful. It’s just all so different.” She hadn’t eaten in days and with the stress and strain, she suddenly felt lightheaded. “Right now, can I get something to eat and maybe I’ll have a better grasp on my bearings?”

  “Yeah, of course.” He opened the door and waved her in. “Come on in. Let me see what I have to eat. How’s your stomach? Would you like something substantial or something a little bit lighter at first just to see how it settles?”

  She peered around the room they entered. It looked small, with a mix of both the living room and kitchen fitted into a cozy little space. All the furniture featured log construction and had a great masculine rustic feel to it. She blinked in surprise. Even though they were in a tree, a small stone fireplace dominated the corner of the room. She would have thought that was a fire hazard.

  The room had all the comforts of home…art on the walls, bookcases overflowing with books, even several comfy-looking throw pillows on the large chairs. She turned her attention toward the kitchen and found Marcus standing there, watching her with an eyebrow quirked and his arms folded across his massive chest. He’d seemed large before, but in this small room, he was huge.

  A blush suffused her cheeks. “I’m sorry. It’s just all so incredible. Did you ask me something?”

  He smiled at her gently. “How hungry are you? Do you want something light or something heavy? I don’t want to overwhelm your system.”

  “Something light I think just to take the edge off. I haven’t eaten in a couple of days so I probably should take it easy. Maybe just bread?”

  He frowned at her like he didn’t like her answer.

  Nudging her into a chair that sat at the edge of the kitchen, he handed her a glass of what looked like milk, but tasted much sweeter. He set to work making her up a plate filled with a couple of slices of bread, fruits, and cheese pieces.

  When he sat it in front of her, she lifted her glass, took another sip, and asked, “What is this? It looks like milk, but definitely has a different flavor.”

  He shook his head. “No. We call it trilk, short for tree milk. It comes out of the trunk of a new kind of tree that’s developed in the last eighteen years. It’s full of nutrients and most of us love it. Since we don’t have many cows anymore, it works as a good substitute for milk.”

  He’d been examining her with a scowl on his face. Now he reached toward her and touched her cheek at a tender spot. She flinched and he immediately withdrew his hand, suddenly appearing even fiercer as his expression tightened.

  “Why haven’t you been able to eat for two days? Is that how long you’ve been running with a bullet in your side?” Anger pulsed in his voice, and that didn’t make any sense to her. He didn’t know her, so why would he be angry on her behalf?

  She ignored his questions as she ate voraciously. She hadn’t realized just how hungry she had become. “What happened to all the cows?”

  “Predators,” he spat out through gritted teeth.

  One word that sent a chill down her spine. “Is that why you live in the trees?”

  “Yes. We have safety precautions for our remaining livestock and a few other ground accommodations, but for the most part, we prefer the safety the trees provide. It’s not safe for anyone to be out wandering around on the ground after dark. Never forget that.” As he spoke, his body tensed with anger and he clenched his jaw. She wasn’t sure what she’d said wrong.

  Suddenly her appetite fled. She’d simply crossed a bridge, but she’d entered a completely different world than the one she’d left. What exactly happened when the Veil fell, and how had their worlds diverged so drastically?

  “I think I’m done.”

  He scowled down at the food remaining on her plate. “Are you sure? You didn’t eat much.”

  She nodded.

  “Okay.” He pulled out a cover for her plate and placed it in what looked like a refrigerator. “I’ll put it in here, but if you get hungry later, come help yourself to it.”

  “Thanks.” She stood and couldn’t hide the grimace of pain. In just that short amount of time, she’d stiffened up.

  He hadn’t missed it. “Hang on. I almost forgot. Malcolm said you needed to drink this to help with your pain and to prevent infection.” He pulled a packet out of his jeans pocket and moved over to the sink, which she hadn’t noticed before, where he filled a glass with water.

  She inspected the kitchen with wonder. “How in the world do you all manage all this? Running water, refrigeration, electricity…all up in the trees?”

  She drank her medicine and marveled at how refreshing it tasted.

  “My brother, Malcolm, is brilliant. Doctor and inventor…we truly wouldn’t be able to function as a society without him. A lot of what you see is his invention.” As he talked he led her up the stairs and around the tree trunk.

  An awning covered the stairs to protect them from the elements. The shimmer of lights glowed from the other tree-houses through the leaves as they walked. “How many people live in this village?”

  “There are a total of forty-seven people in thirty-one homes in Springlake.”

  “Are there any children?” She asked, somehow knowing the answer already.

  “No.”

  His answer was short and terse and hit her like a blow to the gut. When she’d been little, she’d wanted to be a school teacher and mother. Her flight to the WS had been made out of desperation, but with it she’d harbored hopes of finding kids again. To find hope that maybe she wouldn’t spend the rest of her life alone.

  “Let me guess. Not in eighteen years, right?”

  “Yes. Is it the same in the ES?”

  “Unfortunately, yes.” Their two worlds still had a few things in common. She had really hoped sterility wouldn’t be one of them.

  He showed her his house in a more reserved and withdrawn manner. Neither of them raised the question of where she’d stay again. She didn’t see any sexual interest in his gaze and continued to feel safe in his presence. I
t was stupid for her to trust that, but she was too tired to fight it anymore today.

  Marcus’s house featured two bedrooms on two different levels with a bathroom built onto the middle level. They’d accomplished so much here, but as she sank her sore and weary body into the bed, she thought about what she’d learned. Obviously, sterility represented a concern here, too. What chance did they have as a society if they weren’t able to conceive a new generation?

  * * *

  Hours later, Marcus sat in the quiet of his living room and considered his unexpected guest. He still had so many questions for her.

  When the Veil fell eighteen years ago, they didn’t have any warning that they would lose complete touch with the ES.

  Within forty-eight hours, all the adults and a lot of the kids were simply dead. They had no idea how or why. Even more mysterious, the bodies disappeared within a couple hours of dying.

  Just kids at the time, they hadn’t known what to do. They were all terrified and hadn’t understood what happened. Hell, eighteen years later, they still didn’t understand it.

  But with Lori’s appearance, all kinds of questions were raised. Did the same thing happen in the ES? Obviously not, but how much of their world remained the same and how much had changed? She could use telepathy, but didn’t expect them to use it, too. So, did that mean not everyone in the ES had heightened skills and gifts?

  She got through the Veil, but how did she do it and why? Would more follow her? Alarm flooded him. Even if the changes in the ES had been as significant as they’d been in the WS, they obviously hadn’t developed wings. That would make his people an oddity and something to possibly be studied or maligned. Man had always been obsessed with the idea of flying.

  But for the first time in a long time, Marcus embraced a flicker of cautious hope. Was Lori’s crossing a sign of better things to come? Or just the beginning of more strife and struggle in their lives? Goddess, he didn’t think he could handle any more pain.

  “Marcus, what’s wrong?” Malcolm asked mentally. “You’re tense.”

  And this exhibited the downside to one of their abilities. They’d learned over the years how to guard themselves from allowing others to come into their thoughts without welcome, but that didn’t eliminate their ability to sense each other’s moods. As brothers, Malcolm and he had a stronger bond than most, which made it impossible for him to shut his brother out entirely.

  “Everything’s fine. I’m just concerned about what all this means.”

  “Were you able to get any more information out of Lori?”

  “No, she’s tired and hurting, so after eating she headed right to bed.”

  “Okay, I’ll come by in the morning to check her sutures and bring you some more of the pain powder.”

  “Thanks, Malcolm.”

  There hadn’t been any more discussion about Lori staying somewhere else after she had eaten. At that point, she seemed ready to drop and he didn’t offer again, mainly because he didn’t want her to go. He wanted her here where he could protect her, something she obviously hadn’t had for a while. That bruise on her cheek bothered him more than he’d like to admit. What had happened to her? How did she end up here, wounded and terrified? Didn’t she have anyone in the ES to take care of her? To miss her?

  Marcus rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease the tension spread across there. It had been a long day and tomorrow promised to be just as eventful. He probably should get some sleep, too.

  He headed toward the steps to his bedroom. The bedroom he’d shared with Audra. It felt odd to have someone else in the house. No one else had stayed here since Audra died and Shane left. His life now completely revolved around being a Warrior, destined to live and die alone. He served and protected Bethany from the Predators and anything else that might threaten her. He did it well and took satisfaction from that. If the loneliness ate at him, well that was just life, wasn’t it?

  He’d given up that he’d ever have someone else here again and now someone else slept in his home. Someone he felt inexplicably drawn to. He never planned to get involved with anyone else again. That route just held pain and he wasn’t willing to go through anything like that again.

  Someone else didn’t fit into his world anymore.

  He pulled off his jeans and settled under the covers of his bed, trying to relax his tense muscles, ignoring the jumble of memories of Audra and visions of Lori that plagued him. He’d just dozed off when Lori screamed.

  Marcus’s feet never even touched the floor in his rush to get to her room to fight off her attacker. He barged through the closed door, yelling, “Lori!” He held his sword aloft, ready to protect her.

  He quickly searched the corners of the room ready to take down whoever had attacked, but could only see her from the light filtering into the room from the surrounding treehouses. She sat up in bed, clutching the covers to her body as she looked at him in shock and distress. She still had the rumpled appearance of sleep about her. She’d had a nightmare.

  He lowered his sword slightly, noting how sexy she looked in his bed. “Are you okay?”

  Her eyes widened as she gave him a full body perusal. “You have a big…” she hesitated slightly, her face reddening before swinging her gaze back to his arm, “um, sword.”

  Aw, damn. He stood here naked and his interest in her quickly became more and more apparent. As he looked at her sleep-rumpled appearance, he felt his face flush in embarrassment and resisted the urge to draw his wings around to the front of his body. Instead he went to stand behind a chair in the room to disguise his nudity, at least slightly. “Sorry, I thought someone attacked you.”

  She blanched. “Does that happen here?”

  “No, you should be safe. I just heard your scream and assumed. Did you have a bad dream?”

  Her eyes skittered to the side as she simply nodded.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  She still wouldn’t look him in the eye. “No,” she said so quietly he could barely hear her.

  “Do you need anything else? Are you in any pain?”

  “No, I’m fine. I’m sorry I woke you, but thank you for coming to protect me.” She nodded toward the sword still clutched in his hand.

  “No problem. It’s my job.” He didn’t feel right leaving her here alone, but that’s obviously what she expected him to do. “Okay, well, I’ll head back to my bedroom. If you need me just yell and I’ll be here.”

  “Thank you, Marcus.” Her reply was soft and quiet and felt almost like a caress against his spine as he walked out of her room.

  He glanced down at his straining erection in disgust. He muttered, “You have no sense of timing at all do you?” He ran his hand over the back of his neck. Here she was, hurt and scared. He had no business getting turned on. Not that her fear turned him on. The woman herself did that for him, just her mere presence.

  He heard her cries twice more throughout the night. Both times he checked on her, but each time he did so by peering through her windows while flying with his bottom half clothed. Both times, she appeared to simply be caught up in her nightmares.

  While asleep, her mental guards were down so he used his telepathy to calm her. He tried not to intrude on her thoughts, but the overwhelming fear pervaded her mind. Terrified didn’t even begin to cover the depth of her emotions. It disturbed him. What had happened to this beautiful creature to cause her to be so petrified? And how could he resist that vulnerability when all he wanted to do was protect her?

  * * *

  The next morning, Malcolm showed up before Marcus even had the coffee fully brewed. He knocked lightly on the door as he let himself in. “Good morning. How’s our patient this morning?”

  Marcus squinted at him then back out the window into the ever-present fog of the morning. He scowled at Malcolm. “I’m not sure. She isn’t up yet.”

  Malcolm took a moment to look him over. “You don’t look so great. Rough night?”

  Marcus glanced up toward the dire
ction of the bedrooms. “Something’s happened to her in the past. She has horrible nightmares. I can sense how terrified she is, but I also get the sense that she doesn’t want us to know about it.” He ran his hand over his face, trying to rub the tiredness away. “We have to find out how she ended up here, but I’m afraid if I push her, it might scare her away.”

  The woman in question opened the door and walked into the room. Her mouth dropped open as she focused on his chest, her eyes becoming darker, and then she frowned in annoyance.

  Marcus eyed her critically. She looked like hell. There were deep circles of exhaustion under her eyes. He walked over to her and pushed a cup of coffee into her hands. He reached up to brush a lock of hair off her cheek, but he directed his comment toward Malcolm. “She needs sleep. Can you give her something to help?”

  Her eyes flashed in anger as she brushed his hand aside and then pushed his chest to move him out of her way.

  “And good morning to you, too,” she growled.

  Oh yeah, she didn’t wake up in a happy mood.

  “What is it with you guys?” She waved a hand at the both of them and their bare chests. “Don’t you ever wear clothes?”

  Malcolm raised his eyebrows and turned to Marcus as if to ask him if he wanted to take this one. Instead Marcus spoke to Malcolm telepathically. “You’re the doctor. You can explain to her the difficulties of shirts when you have wings.”

  She continued to glare at them like all her problems could be traced back to the fact they didn’t have on shirts.

  Malcolm continued to watch her like she might physically attack him at any moment while he responded to Marcus. “What did you do to her? She was a perfectly pleasant female when I left her in your care last night.”

  Marcus growled in his head. “I didn’t do anything but feed her and give her a bed to sleep in. Maybe she’s in pain. Did you bring more of that medicine?”

  Lori rolled her eyes. “At least it’s good to know that guys are completely clueless on both sides of the Veil.” She glared back at the two of them. “You do realize I can hear you, right?”