Page 31 of Shattered Veil
The rift pulses, expanding and contracting like a living thing. We don’t have much time. If we don’t stabilize it soon, we’ll lose our chance.
I press my body against hers, letting her feel my arousal, my need.“You’re fucking magnificent like this,” I growl in her ear.“Don’t fight it. Be who you were meant to be.”
Brigid moans, her resolve crumbling. The shadows writhe around us, hungry and demanding. I feel her surrender, her power unfurling like dark wings.
The rift tears wider, revealing glimpses of a world beyond - twisted and alien. We’re so close now. Just a little more...
“That’s it,” I encourage, my heart racing.“Show me your darkness, Brigid. Show me everything.”
The rift suddenly expands, a gaping maw of inky blackness. Brigid gasps, her body going rigid against mine.
Brigid’s pupils dilate as she stares into the swirling void.“Holy shit,” she breathes.“I didn’t think—I mean, I wasn’t sure if...”
“If it would work?” I finish for her, unable to keep the smugness from my voice.“You doubted us?”
She shakes her head, still transfixed by the rift.“It’s not that. I just... I tried this with Tiernan before. Nothing happened.”
A snort escapes me before I can stop it.“Of course it didn’t work with him.”
Brigid turns to me, confusion etched across her face.“What do you mean?”
I cup her cheek, feeling the warmth of her skin against my palm.“Tiernan’s magic is... pedestrian. Safe. This—” I gesture to the pulsing rift, “—requires something darker. Something only we possess.”
Her brow furrows.“But neither of us has divine magic. How—”
“Divine?” I scoff.“Darling, what we have is far more potent than any so-called divine power.”
I can see the questions forming in her mind, but now isn’t the time for explanations. I pull her back to my front, my cock pressing against her back.“This,” I say, gesturing in front of us to the twisting, moving mouth of the rift,“is what happens when you embrace who you really are. No more hiding. No more holding back.”
I can feel the hunger in her, the desire for more. It makes my blood sing.
“What now?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
I grin, knowing we’ve crossed a line there’s no coming back from.“Now we see just how deep this rabbit hole goes.”
The rift pulses, tendrils of shadow reaching out like grasping fingers. I feel Brigid tense against me, her breath catching.
“It’s calling to me,” she murmurs, a mix of fear and longing in her voice.
I tighten my hold on her waist.“Then answer it.”
Her hand trembles as she reaches out, fingertips brushing the edge of the rift. A shudder runs through her body, and I feel an answering thrill in my chest.
“Fuck,” I hiss, my cock hardening further. The power flowing between us is enough to get drunk on, and I want nothing more than to lose myself in it—in her.
Brigid turns her head, her lips inches from mine.“Marius, I—”
Whatever she was about to say is cut off as the rift abruptly widens, nearly engulfing us. I pull her back sharply, my instincts screaming danger.
“Careful,” I warn. One of us has to go through, but it won’t be Brigid.“You need to stay here and keep the rift open.”
Brigid’s eyes widen.“But—”
“No arguments,” I cut her off.“Keep the rift open. I’ll be back with the mutt before you know it. If he’s still alive.”
Without giving her a chance to argue further, I turn and step into the rift. The shift is immediate and disorienting. Reality warps around me, colors bleeding away until everything is cast in shades of gray and black. The air feels like it’s pressing in on me from all sides.
Grotesque shapes slither at the edges of my vision, always just out of focus. I make myself to move forward, though it feels like the last thing I should do. This place wants to keep me here, wants to draw my shadows out and hang me by them.
