Page 62 of Veil of Night & Flames

“Chase. I didn’t—I didn’t do that to hurt you. I had no idea.”

“I know.” His words are gentle, but his tone is still hard.

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know yet.” His voice is very even. “I came here because if I stayed alone in that apartment one more minute, I was going to break something I’d regret. So I’m here. And you’re going to tell me whether you knew this could happen.”

“Of course I didn’t.”

He nods, then sits on the bed beside me, close, but not touching.

For a moment, neither one of us speaks. Then he begins, his attention on his hands, not me. “I felt everything he felt. Every sensation he experienced with you. From the smallest on up. And now I have to sit with that. I can be reasonable about you wanting him. I cannot be reasonable about feeling him in my own body while he has you. Those are two different asks.”

“I get that.” What I don’t say is that I won’t give either one of them up.

“I don’t know what to do with this.”

“Neither do I.”

We look at each other. The anger has gone out of the room a little, and I’m afraid I’m about to bring it back. But I have to say it. “I need to call him.”

Chase’s eyes narrow, but I just shrug. “We need to know what he felt. And, honestly, if anyone in the five realms is going to have an answer about what just happened, my money’s on him.”

Chase rubs his fingers against his temples. “Fine,” he says. “Call the bastard.”

I start to point out that he may have the wrong attitude for a civilized conversation, but decide not to. It’s going to be a clusterfuck no matter what. Pun fully intended.

I slide off the bed and pull open the closet door.

“What the hell are you doing?” Chase asks.

“Calling him.” I glance over my shoulder. “Liminal space. It’s a cheat, but technically, he stayed out of the Real. Just like you told him to.”

Chase just shakes his head, but I think I see the tiniest hint of a smile.

A breath later, I see Adric in the sand, his focus not on me but on the man peering over my shoulder.

“Brother,” he says.

“Get your ass over here,” Chase retorts.

Adric’s eyes widen with false innocence. “Ah, but I cannot. I made a promise to not enter the Real.”

“Just get out of the closet,” I say.

He steps out, all poise and grace, his shadow coat fluttering as if there were a breeze. He looks from me to Chase, then back to me again. “I’m guessing my brother is feeling less than kind about the loophole we exploited.”

I start to say that he exploited it, not me, but that would be a lie. “Pretty much,” I say, instead.

For a moment, Adric eyes Chase, and then the amusement that had been dancing in his eyes spreads to his entire face. “Oh,” he says, taking a step toward Chase. “I see. This isn’t about the liminal space at all. You felt it, brother. When Cora and I were…” he gestures casually, as if referring to the weather. “I thought perhaps you had.”

“What?” I say, my voice rising with mortification. “When the hell did you think that?”

“Throughout,” Adric says. “On and off. I thought it must be Chase. Apparently, I was right.”

Chase’s hands close into fists at his sides. “You thought what was me?”

“A presence.” He shrugs casually, as I gape at him.