Page 70 of Veil of Blood and Bone

The words slur, more images filling the empty spaces in my head. They blur. Faster now. A bombardment of color and memory and information long lost.

Eventually we leave the bookstore a mess behind us.

I hate Helene’s home.

It’s not secure. There are too many windows, too many weaknesses. The house itself is one strong breeze away from tilting and pulling free from the foundation. It’s an unsuitable dwelling for her, unbecoming of her value and status.

The others should know it’s impossible to protect.

Hundrs.

They ignore my feeble protests. Kari’s weather turns the wind cutting, sluicing underneath my sweater and scattering autumn leaves.

The beast’s corps is a dwindling drift at the periphery of my vision as I’m maneuvered down the sidewalk.

Damn this town. Damn the veil for thinning and allowing the creatures to come through with such ease.

The nine worlds are bleeding together. And the second the knowledge lands, the pain strikes again.

“Easy there, bird brain. We can’t have you locking up on us. Not when we have two blocks to go.” Wren’s voice holds none of the teasing notes I’m used to.

My legs are not under my control. Neither is my breathing.

My lungs pump, then stall. Nicholas leads the initiate like he knows exactly where we’re going and has marked the path many times. He probably has.

Helene stills any protest she desperately wants to make and soon the cracking steps of the old Victorian swim into view.

“Only a couple of stairs and then you’ll be able to rest,” she tells me. “You’re going to be okay, Forest. And please for the love of all that’s holy, do not kick down the door. My landlord will charge me to replace it.”

“I wasn’t going to.” Nicholas pauses at the door before maneuvering the girl in his arms and opening the door with his hand instead of his boot.

“Good call,” Wren agrees.

I’ve never cared for him. Have I? Dökkálfar are notorious for being untrustworthy.

The moment the thought airs, it dissipates under another swell of pain. “My head is splitting open,” I force out.

“We’re almost there. Another few steps and you’ll be able to rest. I’ll...get some medicine. I’ve got migraine pills in my First Aid.”

The staircase groans underneath our combined weight, like it’s only built to handle a single person at a time. My toe catches the scuffmarks from their daily march up and down, the scrapes of Audra’s crutches.

Shadows haul me over the last riser and bite deeper than chains.

“You better lay off those meatballs, asshole,” he whispers to me alone. “Getting a little heavy.”

Helene unlocks the door and directs us forward. “There’s only one bedroom. We, ah, we share it. But my bed is larger so put him there. His feet will still probably dangle over the edge. It’s only a double.”

“We’ve got it,” Nicholas growls.

He takes the girl over to the couch while Wren maneuvers and unceremoniously dumps me on the mattress. Shadows pat the back of my head in parting mockery as I roll to my side.

Pain flashes, scalds. The moment I stretch out onto my spine, my vision whites out, the rest of the world clicking off.

I’m forced into memories more solid than anything I’m able to touch.

Helene’s scent, the one connection I had to reality, fades.

I stand on the battlefield with the same Valkyrie I saw earlier crushed beneath her dead horse, her sightless eyes a beacon. The wind rattles my braids and sends beads rattling together.