Riding the Veil (Veils Book 1)

by Claudy Conn

  “Not good enough,” she snapped.

  “What should I do?” he asked.

  “What should you do? What do you think you should do when a woman rubs herself against you and that woman isn’t me?”

  He laughed out loud. “Walk away.”

  “Aha!” Jacie repeated. “He finally gets it.”

  “Baby, I’m sorry…I wasn’t aware. Honestly, and the kiss…I didn’t. She did, but I didn’t respond.”

  Jacie stomped her foot. “Not believable, Ret.”

  “Honestly, I had other things on my mind, and she is forever touching all the men…didn’t think, but you are right, if a man tried to touch you and you allowed it…” He let the sentence trail off.

  She eyed him and he folded her into his embrace.

  “I love and adore you, Jacinta…and it hurts me that I caused you discomfort.” He kissed her then, long and feverishly.

  “Er…as pleased as I am that you are back on track, we have to get going,” Henry said. “Celine has sent a message to meet her in the Dank.”

  Jacie felt her cheeks get hot and as she pulled away, Ret took her hand. Time to shift out! “Ret, if you don’t hear from us in five minutes, it means the plan is in trouble.”

  ~ Fourteen ~

  JACIE AND HENRY STEPPED OUT of the shift and had a moment to survey their surroundings. They smiled at each other as shouts started up and guards came at them from every direction.

  It was then that she saw Celine freed now of the salt containment by the team, gliding towards her, some feet off the ground. Her godmother was graceful, her long white hair flowing to her trim waist. She wore a gown of silk that looked like a medieval costume, and it suited her.

  Celine smiled and stroked her head. “My darling girl. You are so much like your mother. Now together, goddaughter, we shall do this together.” She eyed Henry, whom she immediately recognized. “Henry.” She inclined her head in greeting.

  A door in Jacie’s brain slid open, one she had never known was there. Magic lit up her head with warmth and promise as she heard Celine whisper words full of power.

  A wave of their hands and the Dank guards rushing towards them were frozen in place.

  Celine’s two companion witches arrived, also garbed in medieval clothing, and quite ethereal and lovely. They took their place with her.

  Jacie was drawn mentally into their circle as they concluded the spell and she looked around to find every single guard stuck in place, unable to move.

  “And so they shall stay until you have freed all our people,” Celine said. “Now…I must join my coven and get them to safety.”

  In a poof of white smoke, Celine and the other two were gone, safely out of the way, signaling to Ret and Niall to portal the teams to the Lower Planet.

  Henry said, his voice deep and low, “Come on…let’s get these cages opened so we can have them ready for Niall and Retaal to send through the portal.”

  Easy, Jacie thought as they waved their hands and unlocked the glass doors. Too easy, as Niall and Retaal arrived and began leading the Cumas and supernaturals to the portal.

  “You and me…do that thing you do and get us to the inner Dank on the upper floor. It’s where they keep the shifters,” Henry said.

  Jacie shifted them and discovered why she had a prickly sensation worrying her.

  In the flash of a moment, all hell broke loose.

  She had not thought to disable the surveillance cameras.

  Crawly’s militia at Crawly headquarters above them had realized what was happening and an onslaught of militia were on the attack. Too many coming at them from everywhere.

  Shifters were susceptible to the silver bullets. They would kill the shifters before they would let them escape.

  She had to stop them from shooting the shifters with their silver bullets.

  Henry growled as he opened his arms wide to cast a spell on the onslaught coming towards them.

  Henry wasn’t immortal, Jacie thought, and immediately threw a protective shield around him as he stood his ground.

  Silver bullets flew, and as Jacie saw that there were too many to stop all at once, she knew she would have to find another way.

  She opened the shifter cages and threw a blanket shield over the shifters as they gathered at her back.

  Two militia guards got past Henry and fired. Jacie threw herself in front of the female shifter to her left and caught a spray of silver bullets.

  Her body jerked and pain shot through her as she turned, and with a flick of her wrist, she sent the guards flying.

  Her body would heal, yes, but it would deplete her magic.

  “Get them to the portal!” Jacie ordered as Niall arrived. “Henry and I will hold them off.”

  “You’re hurt,” Niall said.

  “Nonsense…immortal witch…hurry, go. We’ll follow!” she yelled, and moved towards a group of guards coming at her.

  “Set your guns for Cuma!” one of the new arrivals told his fellow militia.

  Jacie realized she had to get Henry away. He was a mortal and in great danger. Her body was healing and draining her magic. Her spell of protection wouldn’t hold…

  And then it happened. The unthinkable. Henry took a bullet filled with Tricap. It was an herb that affected Cumas, sometimes fatally. She had no knowledge of it ever being used against a mortal witch, but then, the bullet itself…if it hit a vital organ…NO!

  She went to Henry and without thought, she shifted him to Ret’s headquarters. “Help him. At once. Help him!” She waited to make certain he was getting attention before she returned to the Dank.

  Retaal met her there and grabbed her hand. “Baby, get out of here while you are healing. I can handle this.”

  “We’ll get it done faster, together,” she said, and winced as nerve endings screamed out in pain.

  “Jacie, when I see you like this—hurting, my heart stops,” he said. “Please go back.”

  Suddenly, Jacie heard a call in her mind, Help, help please.

  “Retaal…there is a little girl. She spoke to me…she is somewhere hidden on this floor. We have to find her.”

  Retaal went into his head and began the process of tracking. “This way…I think.”

  The wall appeared to be solid wood, but it was in contrast to the rest of the walls, which were made of concrete.

  “Here,” he said.

  Jacie lifted her hand, and although it took a great deal out of her, she chanted, “Lorg!” Which called for the door to open and the hidden place to reveal itself.

  They saw two young girls there, no more than twelve, huddled together. “Witches, mortal witches,” Jacie cried, and went to her knees. “What are your names?”

  “I am Honey, and this is Shanta,” Honey told her. “Can we go home now?”

  A moment later, they shifted them to headquarters, where they put them in Celine’s care.

  Jacie went to Henry, who was lying unconscious on the sofa, surrounded by his team.

  She put a hand to his forehead, and Niall, who had just arrived as well, said, “I wanted to make him immortal. Now he is dying. My dear friend is dying.”

  “Not necessarily,” Retaal said. “Take him to Apollo. You know my father has extraordinary healing powers.”

  All at once, Niall and Retaal took each other’s shoulders in the age old sign of friendship. “I’ll go now. My team will help you with whatever you need to finish the job at the Dank!”

  Retaal dropped a kiss on Jacie’s cheek. “Stay here, recover while I take the teams and make sure no supernatural has been left behind.”

  “Coming with you,” she said.

  He held her knuckles to his lips. “So you are.”

  ~ Epilogue ~

  DEVOS WAS ALIVE WITH THE sound of laughter as the newly freed Cumas were reunited with their families.

  The rescued shifter packs were resettled in Canada, where they could live freely, as Crawly had not yet set up forces there.

  Both Niall’s and
Retaal’s headquarters had been jeopardized and they had to relocate. Niall set up very efficient headquarters not far from the Faery Mounds in Ireland.

  Niall and Retaal still had opposite philosophies, but made a pact to work together whenever the mission needed.

  Everyone knew Crawly was not about to stop. He would hunt Cumas and supernaturals until he achieved his goal—immortality for himself.

  Apollo was, at first, very reluctant to accept that peace negotiations were stalled and that even his son was of the opinion that Crawly and his militia needed to be wiped off the face of the Earth before peace could be attained.

  Jacie and Retaal took a short break from it all, and as they walked with Apollo to Jacie’s favorite cliffside, Jacie said, “I have an idea, Apollo.”

  “And your idea, little one?”

  “Cyber. Humans depend on cyber…”

  “Explain,” he said as Retaal broke out into a grin.

  Jacie’s plan was explored and discussed for days before she and Retaal visited with Niall in Ireland, and began the work they would need to do to incorporate Jacie’s idea.

  When they returned to Devos, Jacie and Retaal’s days were filled with the business of reuniting the rest of the supernaturals with their families, then relocating them where they would be safe.

  An open line of communication was set up for them so they could contact Niall if there was any trouble. The Cumas’ network had grown, and Jacie meant for it to crisscross all of Earth’s affected cities and towns—everywhere Crawly had set up a base.

  Jacie’s nights were spent in Retaal’s arms.

  He took her to his cottage on the far end of the island, and as they approached, he said, “This is ours…yours and mine. I want Apollo to pronounce us mated, and I want to bring you here afterwards…do you want that?”

  “Oh, yes, I want that,” she said, and snuggled into his arms.

  Life was…for her, at that moment, as perfect as it could be if she didn’t think about the war that would soon be waged with Crawly.

  They looked in on Shanta and Honey, whose parents had been killed. Both girls were living with Celine and her coven, and enjoying the care of all the witches.

  Celine told Jacie that their ‘darlings’ would grow up to be powerful witches and that she was considering giving them the Juice of Life. It would not make them immortal, but it would give them longer, stronger lives.

  Henry, under Apollo’s care, recovered…to Niall’s great relief and joy. He was welcomed as a hero with his team in Ireland.

  So it happened, on a beautiful summer day on Devos, Apollo pronounced his son and Jacie mated, and Retaal shifted them after the celebration to their cottage.

  She laughed when she looked around. “Retaal…the other day when you brought me here to it was empty except for your giant bed. Today, it is filled with furniture. It is magnificent.”

  He hugged her and dropped a kiss on her nose. “Change anything you like…do your own style.”

  “But I love it, just the way it is,” she said.

  He kissed her then, long and hard. The future of Cumas and humans was uncertain, but they had this on Devos.

  Another day went by before a portal opened in their living room and Niall stepped out.

  “We have to talk,” he said gravely.

  “Right,” Retaal said. “Er…I think you should first announce yourself before you step into a man’s house.”

  “Sure, sure, but this is important,” Niall answered irritably.

  “Talk,” Retaal allowed on a grin.

  “The Big Man. We need to hunt him down and assassinate him. I am sorry. I know Apollo does not believe in killing, but the atrocities he has been committing, even on his own, on humans, has reached a level we cannot and must not tolerate. Retaal, he has now begun targeting vampires in his quest for immortality.”

  “Trouble there,” Jacie stuck in. “He has gone into hiding. No longer at his NY headquarters. And besides…” She wrinkled her nose. “Don’t like most vamps.”

  He eyed her. “Just so you know…I am going to kill him when I find him. I am going to kill him myself.”

  “What happened, Niall? Why all this sudden anger?”

  Niall looked at Retaal. “You know how much I cared for Amanda. She was human…but special to me. She turned on me and I never understood it. She came to me yesterday to die. He took her, he used her, had operatives spread the word that she hated me because I was a freak. She died in my arms. Henry was the one who found her and brought her to me. I am going to kill this so called Big Man with my own hands.”

  “We will help all we can…we will help you find him,” Retaal said, and put his hand on Niall’s shoulder.

  And so, Niall’s story begins.

  BENEATH THE VEIL

  About Claudy Conn

  Claudy Conn, a native New Yorker, now lives with her husband, Bob; Rocky Man, who weighs in presently at 190 pounds and their horse, Southern Pride.

  She loves horses and riding and raised her ten-year-old gelding Southern Pride from the moment he was born. She also loves gardening, swimming, skiing, hiking, and travel—and of course, reading, writing, but no, she says, no arithmetic!

  To get her monthly news, her reviews for all her new paranormal romances, and excerpts, come on and visit her at her website.

  To see pictures of their hybrid wolf and his mother Cherokee now gone, have a look at her Facebook page!

  For all her titles check out her amazon page: Claudy Conn