Page 44 of Veiled

“You weren’t kidding,” he says, steps closer and brushes a hand over the rough bark. “It feels—warm?”

“Warm?” I move in beside him. He’s right. The mark obviously isn’t fresh, so how can it still be warm to the touch? Even through my sleeve, I can feel a faint heat beneath the surface.

“Alright,” Sasha says quietly, “this is officially creepy.”

“Which means we’re probably in the right place,” Matt adds.

“Okay, it said ‘where the forest remembers fire, the path begins.’” I glance around. “So, where’s the path?”

Matt crouches, running his fingers through the fallen leaves at the base of the trunk. “Guys,” he says slowly, “I think it’s right here.”

Pushing aside the leaves, a narrow line of that same ash runs into the woods…thin, but impossible to be natural.

“Well,” Sasha says finally, breaking the silence, “we found where the forest remembers fire.”

“Yeah,” I whisper. “Now let’s see where the path leads.”

We follow the thin gray line, moving damp fallen leaves around every couple of feet, making sure we stay on the right path. The ash glows faintly in the dim light, like a dying ember refusing to go out.

“Anyone else getting the feeling we’re walking into a horror movie?” Sasha mutters.

“Worst case, we’re late and fail the assignment.”

“Or get eaten by tree ghosts,” Mattey adds.

“Not helping,” I chide.

The path winds between the trees for what feels like forever, until the forest suddenly opens up around us. A small clearing lies ahead: bare ground, perfectly circular, as if nothing has ever grown there. The ash trail ends right at its center.

“We came all this way for nothing?” Sasha says, her voice soft but confused. “Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?”

Before I can answer, a rustling sound breaks the silence. Two figures suddenly appear out of thin air, mere steps in front of us.

Sasha screams while I cling to Matt’s arm that he’s pulling behind him like he’s my human shield.

Major Halden lifts a hand in greeting, a faint smile on his face. “Great, you made it,” he says. His coat is dusted with leaves, like he’s been out here for a while. Beside him, Captain Lin nods in quiet approval.

Matt exhales loudly. “Seriously? You guys scared the hell out of us.”

“That was part of the exercise,” Lin says smoothly. “To see if you could follow the clue, and trust your instincts.”

Matt folds his arms. “So, what now? We just found an empty clearing.”

Halden’s eyes glint in the half-light. “Empty?” he echoes, glancing down at the ash beneath our feet. “Take a couple of steps forward.”

I follow his gaze. For a heartbeat, I swear the ash line at the clearing’s edge flickers, like a breeze catching a spark.

Chapter seventeen

Annalise

As one, the three of us move toward the instructors, and the world shifts.

The forest is still here, but it isn’t. The trees fade into the background, their edges soft and unreal, and suddenly we’re standing in a classroom. Desks. Whiteboard. The smell of pine lingers like a perfectly scented candle, and in front of us, four other students sit, waiting, quietly talking amongst themselves.

“How?” Matt asks, light as a breath.

“Magic, of course,” Lin says, as if that explains everything.