Beyond The Veil: A Paranormal & Magical Romance Boxed Set

by Multiple Authors

  Her aunt placed a thin arm heavily across Kyna’s shoulders, fingers biting into her shoulders and urging. her forward. There seemed to be a lot of touching around these parts. Soon she found herself guided down a few endless hallways adorned with museum-like art. Rolling landscapes with cloudy skies, along with men and women in various poses, flickered in and out of her view. Rooms opened up around her, but they rushed past them so Kyna could barely take in the ornate nature of each of them. She’d never seen so much rough stone, deeply colored wood, and rich hued fabrics before.

  The Greenbrier stood out to her as an elaborately decorated, predominately white structure. Pastels mostly decorated the crisp and clean finish of that place. Here, oversized fireplaces and dark toned furniture warmed a more primitive almost medieval style of home, which was indeed very castle-like. Candles and flowers appeared everywhere. There had to be employed a servant in black whose only job existed to take care of fresh flowers and candles. Lavish, elaborate, and affluent, were all words that came to mind.

  A quick look back showed Aedan followed along, stealthy and deliberate in his movements. As they entered a room, a flash of lightning lit up the image of a forlorn forest just outside an almost floor to ceiling window. Two such gothic windows surrounded a fireplace in the cave-like room. Wooden beams loomed overhead, holding up a cement-like ceiling. Long window seats, adorned with various shapes and sizes of pillows, spanned the lengths of the windows. Closest to her, on both sides, at the opening of the room where they stood, sat an overstuffed, velvety couch and wide, leather chairs. Rugs thrown about the floor bore intricate patterns. All of this, seen only through the low light of colored glass lamps and multiple candles cast a cozy, albeit eerie sort of ambiance around the room.

  Aedan strode immediately to the first chair as her aunt guided her to a plush, animal fur rug in front of the fireplace. She found herself surrounded by pillows larger than any she’d ever owned. A servant wheeled in a cart of food. Kyna wondered how many worked in a place like this. Smells of bread, oil, and potatoes met her, forced her stomach to rumble for everyone to hear.

  This gained a smile from her aunt, one filled with warmth and affection like she hadn’t been the recipient of since she’d said goodbye to her mother in the States. A stab of guilt plagued Kyna as she remembered not returning the love, so angry and wired over her news and trip. At this moment, she longed for the only mother she’d ever known to be with her even in this, as she’d been her whole life. Kyna had tried to remind herself of this fact several times, as she’d recounted lie upon lie throughout her life during the never ending plane ride over the ocean.

  “I ordered a draft cider, sweet and warming. I hope that’s all right. If you’d prefer something else, I can order it now.”

  “No, that sounds great. Everything looks great. This room is amazing. The whole house, actually. Is it an actual castle?” She promised herself to be more articulate tomorrow.

  “No, not a castle, just my home. It’s a country estate, rebuilt after a fire by my…our family in 1836.”

  “It’s just so big, like the resort my mother works in back home.”

  “My father accumulated great wealth, though the accounts as to how the money was assumed are sketchy at best,” her aunt offered with a shrug.

  The woman insisted Kyna help herself to the bounty of food that had been wheeled in on carts. While what she called boxty-potato pancakes filled with meat and vegetables tasted wonderful. Their greasy, but crisp texture and hearty filling sat like a brick in her stomach after only a few bites. She concentrated, rather, on the warm Irish bread to soak up the draft cider, which had gone down way too easy. Regardless, it had warmed her chilled bones and calmed her jumpy nerves.

  She swore nerves had to be the cause of the rolling feeling of energy inside her. Never had she experienced such a rush, a feeling of power such that she could accomplish anything she wanted at the snap of her finger. A strong, independent woman, at the insistent upbringing of the woman she’d called mom her whole life, never had she felt so unsettled and so undefeatable at the same time, so sure and unsure of her life. Maybe they’d put something in the drink. Being drugged by this new relative wouldn’t surprise her at this point, she guessed. Even now, something electric balled in her stomach as her fingertips tingled.

  “Everything alright, Kyna?” Aedan inquired, having come at her aunt’s request to gather himself a plate of food.

  “Yes. I think living on coffee during the trip rather than food is allowing this drink to have its way with me.” She admonished herself for using such a turn of phrase.

  Her cheeks blushed at the admission that him having his way with her had been on her mind far too much for all she had to deal with today. He proved an escape her subconscious dwelled on. That had to be it. He provided the sexy thoughts her mind needed rather than shut down from overload.

  “It can sneak up on you. I can attest from my travels to the fact the Irish take great pride in their drink, and it shows,” Aedan added, with his shoulders back and his face intense, though his words were spoken softer than any she’d heard him say thus far.

  He still seemed ready to leap at a moment’s notice as he ran a constant scan of his environment, even while addressing her directly.

  “You live here alone, Aunt Saoirse?” Kyna asked.

  “Sadly, now, yes. Although, I have many servants. I have Aedan, now, as head of my security team. And, there is Darcaryn, an employee but long time friend of the family whom you shall meet tomorrow, I’m sure. He’s been staying here of late, but has gone out for the night on some pressing personal business.”

  “I’m sorry to press, but my mother, what can you tell me of my real mother? Do you have pictures? I have a thousand questions.”

  “I’d anticipated you would. I apologize, as I did in my letter, for causing such an abrupt upheaval to your world. I know your mother in the States was sworn to secrecy regarding your true paternity, but I just needed to see you. I can’t fully explain it. But, I had to. And, all the dangers you were sent away for, they just don’t, well, exist as such any more. Please understand, I had to contact you.”

  “No, I’m glad to know the truth. I want to know more,” Kyna admitted, trying not to beg and plead with the woman for information.

  Her aunt drew in a long breath as she gazed down at her tightly entwined fingers. After a brief glance up, Kyna twitched at the flash of heat that overwhelmed her when she met her aunt’s wide, tear brimmed eyes. The woman cleared her throat and shook her head, but still didn’t speak.

  “It’s okay…” Kyna attempted to say, but found her words cut off as she laid her hand on her aunts. A shock, like static electricity but much more intense, shot through her hand, up into her arm. She fought the urge to stand, to defend herself, though nothing warranted such action.

  “No, it’s not. It won’t be. I’ve not lied, but I failed to tell you the whole truth as to calling you here. I had no choice. And now, seeing you, I just want to protect you. I don’t want to confess all you must know,” her aunt sobbed.

  An angry roll of thunder gave an ominous touch to the woman’s dire words.

  “I don’t understand,” Kyna stammered.

  Kyna looked behind her, a sudden tingling sensation indicating someone else had entered the room. Though she would’ve staked her life on the fact another man stood by the window to her left, none did. Yet, the incessant ghost-like feeling of being watched remained. She turned her head so quick to locate Aedan, a muscle in her neck pinched in the process. She relied on no one, never had. So, she took this pain as a reminder of that, of her failing to depend on only herself. She heard her mother’s words ring in her ears as to her strength, her invincibility, if she just counted upon herself. She’d heard those words so many times in her life when they’d fallen on rough times. Right now, though, in this moment of true uncertainty, she thanked the gods the man stood there, and not just for something nice to stare at.

  “I don’t know wh
ere to start, but time, I can sense we have little.” Her aunt looked around her as if she’d sensed a ghost as well.

  Kyna couldn’t help but notice how the woman’s fingers outstretched, tense, yet trembling, as if she scrambled for purchase upon something lingering unseen in the air.

  “Okay,” Kyna demanded a bit loudly even for her ears. “I’m not breakable. I can handle it. And, I insist upon the full truth after traveling all the way here.”

  Her aunt directed her gaze to Aedan rather than Kyna. He moved from his seat to the floor, a mere foot from her, like a lion protecting cubs from an enemy sensed but not seen. She startled, then braced. Every muscle contracted as the energy rumbling inside her core threatened to burst forth from her every pore. The sensations had to be from some odd alcohol. How else could one explain such a thing? It had to be a drunken flight or fight response going on inside her.

  “Listen, Kyna, just a few weeks ago, what your aunt is about to tell you, I would’ve thought crazy, too.” His voice, deep with a smooth, husky tone, worked like a balm against whatever ailed her current state of mind. “I’ve traveled the world over. I’ve fought men who were monsters. I’ve seen devastation, perils of war unlike most military ever witness. And still, nothing could have prepared me, no amount of unorthodox SEAL training, not kill houses or torture training, or even book learning, could have made me ready for what your aunt has shown me in this house.”

  “You’re not helping,” burst from Kyna’s lungs.

  A flash in his serious eyes broke her heart. Feelings she couldn’t exactly identify as her own overwhelmed her, overrode and mixed with her own. She’d always been good at reading people, sometimes too good for her own comfort. Aedan possessed a save-them-all-at-all-costs attitude that right now she sensed overwhelmed even him. She closed her eyes, positive she couldn’t know such a thing about him. Surely, she couldn’t feel him wanting to protect her in a way that scared even him. Neither could she sense how her words had sliced through his emotions. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her.

  Her mind, and thus imagination, worked on overdrive. That had to be it. Maybe her world-weary heart needed support to cling to so badly at the moment it would make it up if it had to. Never had she felt so far from her mother, from the source of all that had grown strong inside her. She’d often experienced the world on a deeply emotional level, but never, not ever, to this level. It had to be her addled brain in need of rest.

  “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound so mysterious. I just need you to know even I believe now. And, I’m here to help you if you need it.” His tone had turned brittle, but nothing about him hinted at him shedding a tear.

  “I get it. You’re being paid well to take care of me. I will trust in that. But, enough with cryptic talk, with evading the answers to my questions.” She turned to her aunt, who once again had tears streaming down her face. “Tell me now what all of this is about.” She swallowed over a dry throat, scratchy from the force of her words.

  “You have powers. Special powers,” her aunt cooed. “You were sent away years ago to hide you from those who would take you to possess them, to use you for their own dark desires.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? Powers? As in financial? As in some type of royalty, as in this is a castle and I have some huge inheritance?”

  “No, not royalty as in money, but still, a type of royalty in a way. You possess powers inside you, ones you were born with, but through distance and no education, and very specific lies, even certain magical measures, were stifled as much as they could be. Don’t tell me odd things didn’t happen to you as you grew, even despite all of this. Don’t tell me you didn’t always feel different in some way, some way you couldn’t explain because no one else acted or spoke about the same sort of things,” Saoirse asked even as her hands over-exaggerated her every word. “You knew things you shouldn’t. You felt things no one else spoke of. You had much more energy and life to you than you knew what to do with, how to channel. I bet you are overly active and sleep little. Your adopted mother, though she was a great comfort to you, aided in calming you, granting you a normal life. As normal as it could be, under the circumstances.”

  Kyna lowered her chin and pursed her lips rather than letting any response escape. Her aunt’s words had touched a little too close to home, but what could her not fitting in have to do with anything? She’d made her way with the help of her strong and resilient mother. They’d weathered financial woes and friendship crises together as she grew. A constant barrage of motivational type speeches from her mother had given Kyna an inflated sense of pride in herself, of confidence in her abilities while remaining compassionate to the plight of the world around her. So much so, she’d pulled herself above the poverty line with a college education she’d fought tooth and nail for. They’d sleep when they were dead had been their motto.

  “You feel it, the energy brewing inside you now that you’re back in your native land, so strong you can’t deny it here,” her aunt continued in a rush. “The odd sensations of power, that you can make things move with just a thought. I know you’re feeling them. You felt our energy together when you touched my hand earlier. Your mother in the States was instructed well on how to deal with or stifle any semblance of magic in you as you grew. It had to be that way for your own protection. Just like your name. Kyna was not the name on your birth certificate, but your mother wanted a unique name for the adoption so she could track you down later.”

  “Listen, woman…uh, sorry, Aunt Saoirse,” Kyna faltered, “whatever I’m feeling is from lack of sleep, too much alcohol, and static electricity, at best. I came here to meet family I never knew I had, because as my mother prodded when your letter came, I should face whatever comes my way rather than ignore it. But, I didn’t sign on for crazy. And, Aedan…you? How? Why? I don’t understand how you could defend her in such a way. Surely you of all people are balanced by science and the rules of the world.”

  She stopped the movement of her head when pain threatened. She hadn’t realized how she’d shaken it back and forth with her denial.

  “Put up your hand,” her aunt requested as she held up her own like she signaled traffic to stop.

  “No. Why?”

  “Please.”

  Aedan moved back from them, and Kyna resisted the urge to grab him. Crazy? Well maybe. Strong? Yes. But, she didn’t need him or anyone else. And, she wasn’t afraid. What could possibly happen?

  In a fierce display of rising to any challenge, she raised her hand to her aunt's, positioned it just inches from touching the woman. A burst of light formed, scalded her hand like a cup of hot coffee on a cold morning. Pulling back as if she’d been burnt, she quickly became aware her palm remained unharmed. Rays of light shot and sizzled around them, landing on her lap, yet not burning, merely sparkled and disappeared.

  “What the hell was that? You some kind of magician?” Kyna accused.

  “No, a witch, a sorceress, whatever you want to call me…call us. That was merely energy, ours more powerful together, pulling from the earth, creating, controlling other energy,” her aunt hurried to explain.

  “You’re insane, and I’m sorry I came,” Kyna spat as she stood.

  The shaking of her legs shouldn’t have surprised her. The storm outside intensified, matched her every shot of anger, her every burn of distrust with light and sound.

  Thunder clapped loudly in time with several jagged streaks of lightning. In the next instant, her aunt used her still raised hand to lift a glass off the cart. Kyna stepped forward. Something bordering hatred made her need to prove her point, show her aunt a fraud. She moved her hands in a frantic wave around the glass in an attempt to disrupt whatever means held it there. She met with only intense heat, the sensation of electricity, and tiny sparks that hissed with her every move. Examining her hand, still no burn marks appeared. The damnable glass remained in the air.

  Aedan’s breath brushed her ear as he brought his hands to grip her upper arms.


  She allowed herself a second to lean into the warm, rugged mass of his chest.

  “I know it seems unbelievable. I went through the same when Saoirse first showed me. As a SEAL, I was trained to become an expert in everything overnight, and as much as I’ve tried, I can’t disprove this, what she can do, as anything less than the magic she claims it to be. I’m a voice of reason. From whatever you know about the SEALs, you have to know that. I’m the best of the best, right? Believe at least me. I’ve been here for weeks, and I’ve chosen to stay. I want to protect you both. You’re special,” Aedan whispered.

  “Protect us from what, ourselves if we can actually do shit like that?” She motioned to the glass still hanging out in midair, like an ornament without a tree.

  “No. I’ve learned of this group, this secret society,” Aedan answered. “For centuries they’ve gone after your family, like an age old feud. You’re the last of this powerful family, and not long ago, this group found you in the US. Your aunt contacted you and flew you here to protect you. They planned to take you, as they’ve threatened before. But your aunt lives in this house, warded, protected, and it’s the only place she knew she could also protect you. So she messed with the truth a bit to get you here.”

  “Have you any idea how insane all of this sounds? I mean, how do I even know you’re an ex-SEAL and not just some actor hired to play one?” she fumed. “An actor, yeah that would explain a whole hell of a lot!”

  “I’m not sure exactly what you mean by that, but it can’t be good. I am ex-SEAL.”

  Temper sounded through his words as he released the tender grip he’d had on her. She felt a sting of pain, like when someone’s deeply insulted you. Ignoring the odd emotions, she shot her aunt a look. The glass finally took its place back on the cart. To her amazement, the cup barely made a sound when it landed.