Page 29 of Bound Paths
“Let’s get out of here,” she whispered. Power flooded the meadow, and the woman’s face did not look friendly. She could only be one person—one known not to like visitors.
Roots sprouted from the ground, wrapping around Rose’s feet and Carter’s paws as they took another step back. The land stretched to hold them hostage until its leader arrived.
The veil cats readied for attack.
Carter was mentally ahead of her. Fire shot from him, burning the roots away, freeing them. He turned, and Rosefollowed, sprinting toward the riverbank. A chorus of growls vibrated from the veil cats as they pursued. Carter urged Rose forward—her hand not giving an inch of its hold. They reached the river. Rose could see their target this time. Though there had been no sign of the veil when they’d crossed from the continent, now, above the river, something billowed—a break between realms.
“Stop!” the woman’s voice called. Power thrummed through the single word. Roots pushed through the ground again, after them—but Carter’s fire held them at bay. They needed to escape quickly.
They took another running start, and the Vesten Point pushed hard off the ground as they reached the river’s edge. She dug her fingers tighter into his fur and closed her eyes as they careened into the unknown.
Blackness surrounded them.
Once again, Carter moved with precision through an uninhabited space. Even panicked as she was, she tried to look in all directions, her hand still tightly laced in Carter’s fur as they moved through this in-between space. She saw nothing.
They were through it even faster than the first time. Landing with a thud, the ground was familiar—the cool and damp cavern floor. Rose didn’t bother to push herself up. She looked to her right to ensure Carter had returned with her. Seeing his fae form sprawled beside her, she let out a breath of relief, before her head fell back to the cave floor.
“How’d it go?” Juliette’s familiar voice was somehow calming, even with their failure.
Rose replied. “It definitely could have gone better.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
550 YEARS AGO
Andie ran through darkness in feline form. She could barely see and had no idea where she was going. The veil cat—she had to believe it was still inside her—seemed to tell her the way. It wasn’t a voice in her head but an inherent direction she knew to follow.
The spirit held fast to her fur, and she needed to get it to its final resting place. A distant part of her knew she should be worried about Cee. Consumed by her mission, thoughts of her sister started to fade into the surrounding darkness. There wasn’t room to worry about other veil cats in the space between realms.
It felt like forever that Andie moved through the unknown. This darkness surrounded her and the spirit until she suddenly knew it was time to leave.
She jumped again.
After so much darkness, the world forming around her was a welcome sight. Andie and the spirit exited the void between realms. They plummeted before Andie’s mind could catch up with her current feline form. Andie had the sense to look down,to see what they would hit—not that there was much she could do about it.
A river rushed below them.
The urgent gurgle of the water’s flow told her all she needed to know—the current was strong. She didn’t know how well her cat form could swim, but this would not be pleasant if it were anything like when strays were caught in the rain at home.
Andie held her breath and waited for the cold shock of rushing water to overtake her. She hit it with a splash. A second splash sounded as she burst back above the surface. It couldn’t distract her from the water’s icy temperature.
It wasn’t just cold—this wasn’t a refreshing dip on a hot day to cool off. The river was frigid; the stab of cold was bone deep. Her body, even as a feline, started to panic. She lifted a paw to paddle forward before she lost all sense of direction.
It wasn’t a paw Andie lifted, but a hand. The feline was still inside of her—she could sense it. But she looked down at her body returned to human form, dressed in the tunic and leggings she’d worn in the woods. Her clothes were heavy on her body as she swam for shore. She was shaking from cold, exhaustion, and pure panic.
She’d lost track of the spirit in her progress. Leaving the river without it was not an option. She was its guide on this journey. A splash drew her attention to not only the spirit but her sister, too.
Andie raced for them both.
“Come on, Andie,” Cee said as she left the spirit to fend for itself and swam toward the bank.
Knowing her sister was safe, Andie turned for the spirit. Before she could think better, she reached for it. Without her veil cat form, would she be able to touch it? The pull to shepherd the spirit was so strong. A rightness settled over Andie as her hand closed around the spirit’s solid wrist.
Andie pulled hard, swimming diagonally with the current. She set them for a trajectory of the shoreline. The spirit was another weight to add to her tired swim. Andie’s ability to touch the spirit left her too stunned to notice.
She let out a gasping breath as her arm made the final stretch for the shore. She pulled herself and the spirit forward, her body shaking in earnest now that they were safe. When they finally reached shore, the spirit smiled at Andie. A soft smile she wasn’t quite sure she deserved. She hadn’t stopped her sister’s attempt to steal this spirit’s essence. She hadn’t prevented her sister from following her to this…realm, even though Andie knew Cee wanted to steal more spirits.
Andie rolled over onto her back, appreciating the soft grass of the meadow. Her breaths were still heaving—she couldn’t rein them in.
