Page 153 of Of Masks and Fury

“The gift runs in blood,” Kerralyn said, reading from her notes. “You’re either born with it or you’re not. No amount of training can create the ability if it isn’t already there.”

“What else?” Trew leaned forward, his focus on her.

“There were once people called guardians of thresholds.” Kerralyn’s finger traced down the page. “Ancient veil-seers who could perceive the weave of magic itself. They were systematically hunted. The texts don’t say why, and some sections about them were torn from the books.”

Unease skated across my skin. “Someone wanted that information destroyed. To maintain their pretty lies and operate in the shadows, the controllers would’ve had to systematically eliminate anyone who could see the truth or they’d be revealed.”

“And listen to this part,’ Kerralyn said, tapping a faded diagram. “It says the guardians weren’t just observers. They were the ‘Needles of the Weave.’ But to stitch a tear in existence, the seer needs an elemental anchor.” She looked up. “Not sure what that means.”

We looked at each other, none of having anything to contribute. So obscure. So difficult to figure out.

“The execution records were also altered,” Derren said. “And everything else that might reveal the truth.”

“The few references I could find mentioned that veil-seers can detect corruption in the weave.” Kerralyn looked up at me.

The words resonated in my chest, an echo of something I’d always known but never had language for.

“That wrongness I feel when I examine wards,” I whispered. “The way some magical structures look twisted or pulled too tight.”

“Isi’s ability to break wards could be veil-sight,” Lexie said. She’d abandoned her breakfast, and her eyes had brightened with the kind of intuitive leap she was known for. “You’re able to see the structure of magic clearly enough to find the weak points.”

“I’ve studied with ward-crafters and scholars,” Trew said. “Few can see through protections.”

“Which makes you valuable.” Derren met my gaze. “And dangerous to whoever’s involved in all this.”

No one spoke for a moment.

I’d spent my entire life feeling like something was wrong with me. Like I perceived the world at a slight angle from everyone else, saw things others missed, felt things that had no name. My father had called it weakness. My tutors had called it distraction. I’d called it nothing, because naming it felt dangerous.

It had a name.

Veil-sight.

And someone had been systematically killing everyone who had it.

Pherin made a sharp sound behind me, her feathers bristling.

What’s wrong?I asked her.

Not sure.

I reached back to stroke her spine, feeling the strain vibrating through her small body.

“There’s something else.” Kerralyn hesitated, her pencil hovering over her journal. “The texts mentioned that bonded companions can sense when their person perceives corruption in the weave. Pherin might know when you’re detecting something wrong in the magical structure around you.”

Yes,Pherin said in my mind.Feel it. Know it.

Trew’s jaw clenched. “If Addie inherited this ability from your mother, it could explain why she was tortured in that tower. They might’ve discovered what she could do with her magic.”

The thought made my stomach turn. My sister, subjected to who knew what horrors because she could see things others can’t.

“We still don’t know how the ability actually works,” I said, forcing myself to think past the rage building inside me.

I shifted in my chair, trying to ease the tension making my muscles ache. Something felt off. Not the magical wrongness I’d learned to recognize, but a deeper unease that made my skin prickle. It was the same feeling I’d had late last night, lying in Trew’s arms while sleep wouldn’t come.

“One more thing.” Lexie unfolded a second piece of parchment. “The courts weren’t always enemies. Until about three hundred years ago, Syllavar and Caldrith intermarried for generations. Thenit stopped, right around when the Day of Mercy began and the philosophical split happened. One court embraced magic. The other declared war on it.”

She looked between Trew and me.