Casimir
The storm had passed, but the air still tasted like lightning. The rain had slowed to a whisper, falling in thin silver threads over the harbor. The rift was gone, sealed again for now, but the world had not settled. It trembled, as if holding its breath.
I stood on the pier with my sword still drawn, the blade slick with rain and shadow. My hands would not stop shaking. The hum of the Veil still echoed through my chest, steady and wrong, as if my heart had forgotten which rhythm belonged to me.
Nicholas wiped his blade and watched the sea. "It is quiet," he said. "Too quiet."
"Nothing about this is over," I said. "The quiet is just the breath before it starts again."
He sheathed his sword and turned toward me. "You need rest. The fight took more from you than you admit."
"I have had worse nights," I said. "And longer ones."
The truth was, the connection to the rift had burned through me like fire. When I called on my power to contain it, I had felt something tear inside. The bond that linked me to the Veil, to her, had flared too bright, and it had not dimmed since.
We started back toward the cliffs, the mist rolling around our boots. The town slept uneasily behind shuttered windows. Every few steps, I caught glimpses of the Veil's light flickering through the fog, like the pulse of a dying star.
Nicholas broke the silence. "You said her name earlier. The healer. Ava. You think she did this?"
"She stopped it," I said quietly. "And that may be worse."
He glanced at me. "Explain."
"The Veil reacts to her. It should not. It should not react to anyone." I rubbed my hand over my arm, where faint heat still lingered beneath the skin. "She steadied it tonight without meaning to. That means it recognizes her blood."
"And you think that makes her a threat."
I shook my head. "It makes her the key. And keys are always the first thing to be hunted."
The path curved inland, toward the outskirts where the farms stretched in dark rows toward the trees. The air grew thicker, heavier. The scent of rot crept in with the mist. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, uneasy.
Nicholas went still beside me. "Do you smell that?"
"Yes."
We followed the scent until the road ended in a field of ruined soil. The ground was black, slick as oil. Crops lay shriveled, their roots twisted around each other. At the center of the field, something glowed faintly beneath the mud.
I crouched, pressing my palm against the earth. It pulsed beneath my touch, the same rhythm as the rift, slow and deep. My breath caught.
"Cas?" Nicholas asked.
I did not answer. The energy pushed back against my hand, alive and aware. It crawled up my arm, burning under the skin. I tried to pull away, but the ground held me. The light flared, white and violent, searing through my veins.
A snarl tore from my throat. I fell back, clutching my arm. The burn spread fast, like molten silver running through my blood. Nicholas knelt beside me, his voice sharp. "What happened?"
"The Veil," I hissed. "It touched me."
He reached for me, but I waved him off. The skin along my forearm glowed faintly, veins dark and pulsing beneath the surface. The pain came in waves, deep and heavy. It was not a wound that could be seen, but something deeper, stitched into the soul.
Nicholas's expression darkened. "You need to let me take you to the healer."
"No."
"Cas…"
"I said no," I snapped. "If she touches me now, it will only spread. Whatever this is, it is not meant for her to carry."
He hesitated. "Then what do we do?"
I looked toward the cliffs, toward the faint glow that still lingered above the town. "I find out what it wants."
We rode in silence after that. The fog swallowed the road. Every movement sent another pulse of pain through my arm, sharp and hot. I clenched my jaw and forced the horse onward. By the time we reached the ridge, the sky had started to pale.
Nicholas dismounted first. "You will not make it far like this."
"Then I will stop when I fall," I said, and kept riding.
He sighed, muttered a curse, and followed.
The town below still slept, unaware that the ground beneath them was bleeding. I could feel it now, every heartbeat of the Veil echoing through me.
It was as if the barrier between realms had crawled under my skin. Each wave sent flashes of light across my vision, in form of whispers beneath the sea, and her face. Always her face.
I did not know how long I rode before the world blurred. The pain spread from my arm to my chest, every breath dragging fire through my lungs. My vision dimmed, my strength unraveling. The last thing I saw before the darkness took me was the faint outline of Haven's Nook ahead, its windows glowing like small suns against the storm.
I tried to dismount, but my legs gave out. I stumbled into the road, my knees hitting the wet earth. The sound of the sea roared in my ears. The air tasted of her magic, warm and sweet and strange.
I pressed a hand to my arm, but the veins there had turned black, threading toward my shoulder. My wolf fought to heal, but the power burned hotter each time it tried.
The last of my strength slipped away. I fell forward, the rain soaking through my clothes. Somewhere beyond the fog, I heard footsteps… light, hurried, human. Her voice followed, soft and frightened.
"Casimir."
It sounded like a prayer.
The world went still. I lifted my head just enough to see her running toward me, her hair unbound, her eyes wide with terror and something else, something that looked like recognition.
Her hands reached for me, trembling. "You are hurt."
I tried to speak, but the words would not come. My throat burned. The pain surged again, and this time it broke through me in a flash of light that cut through the rain.
She caught me before I hit the ground. Her warmth pressed against me, and the moment her skin touched mine, the world turned white.
The Veil sang.
Then everything disappeared.