I lay a hand on the stone of the Veil.
The ether swirling within trembles, pulsing purple and blue and red in quick succession before finally unfolding into the deep emerald green that signifies the human realm.
I can’t say for certain why the Veil has always opened to me when I need it.
Different realms and different beings have different tricks to make it open. I’ve seen sprites who leave offerings of freshly picked fruits and flowers, nymphs and fae who wield power stranger than any I’ve seen in a human witch. Demons are the only other beings I’ve seen able to make it respond to the touch of a hand, though that’s probably because their magick is so intrinsically linked to portal travel.
For me, the same principle seems to apply.
Maybe it’s my own magick. This fathomless, endless hunger to explore, to seek, to be free. Maybe that’s why I’ve always been able to close my eyes and lay my hand against the Veil’s smooth stone, to watch it flicker and swirl, feel it hum like it’s giving me its approval, and then open up to wherever it is I want to go.
And right now, I want to go home.
Right now, I want to get away from the demon who’s just about to shake off the last of his paralysis.
I want to escape… all of this.
I step through, but like I’m caught in an invisible snare that won’t let me fully free, I can’t help but look back one last time.
Callum’s face is twisted into an expression I can only name as desperation. He opens his mouth, says something, but I’m already falling back into the ether.
It never gets easier, this strange lurch between realms.
Weightless, swirling, with no sense of up or down and nothing to do but surrender to the whims of the Goddess.
4
Callum
As my mate disappears from this realm, the very last scraps of the magickal bindings she put on me snap.
The Veil pulses vibrant green for the space of a few heartbeats before it settles back into its usual swirl of opalescent white.
Before I can fully register what it is I intend to do, I’m bounding across the clearing, slamming my hand onto the stone, anything to bring that emerald shine back. To follow her. To get her to stop, listen to me, find a way to make this chasm in my chest stop splitting me in two.
When I lay my hand on the stone, the ether burns red.
Ready to send me right back to the demon realm.
With a growl of frustration, I remove my hand, then put it back.
But the stone is cold and merciless, and the Goddess is in no mood to grant my request.
“Please.”
The crimson reappears, and I’m not foolish enough to try a third time and risk almighty wrath.
Finnicky, this magick. As much a product of the Goddess’ will as the desires of the being who would access the sacred pathway between her realms. Though there’s nowhere I’d rathergo than to the realm my human just disappeared into, I know enough to respect the fact I won’t be going there tonight.
On shaky legs, I step back from the Veil.
Even if I can’t follow my mate, that doesn’t mean I’m ready to go back to my realm, either.
Why? I don’t know.
It’s not like she’s coming back.
It’s not like she’ll step out on her side of the Veil and suddenly be struck with regret. It’s not like she’s going to change her mind and realize she made a mistake.
