An Uncommon Truth of Dying (Broken Veil Book 2)

by Marie Andreas

  Caradoc snorted as they walked closer. “Seriously? At what point do we realize magic and tech don’t always play together?”

  “I was going to ask at what point do we find out what the owner does for a living and switch jobs to that?” Maeve walked along the plane in awe. “I could get used to one of these.”

  The boarding stairs lowered and Maeve was the first onboard. Aisling followed. She understood Caradoc’s view, but didn’t completely agree with it. Technology and magic had been working together fine for a few centuries, there was no reason to think that was going to change.

  Bart welcomed them onboard with a smile that looked like he was showing his first born.

  Aisling had to admit the plane was amazing. Only ten seats in the main cabin, all looking more like fancy massage chairs than anything found on an airplane. Each one could fully swivel, recline, and had an attached arm with a micro screen and an adjoining table. “You even gave us snacks?” Aisling picked a chair and riffled through the basket on the table. Food, water, sodas all packaged and waiting for them.

  “I didn’t want anyone getting hungry. Nice, eh? And it’s been fully scanned—three times. I’ve been onboard with the doors secured since then.”

  Even though Caradoc had been annoyed at the use of magic for the plane, he was pulled into the technology end of it and was already checking out the cockpit. “This is amazing. I almost bought one of these but didn’t because of the magic. Might have to rethink that.”

  Maeve laughed. “Right. Because we could all buy one of these.” She rolled her eyes.

  “He probably could. He doesn’t always act it, but Caradoc is sort of rich.” Aisling continued her inventory of the snacks. She was peckish, so this would be helpful.

  Harlie was last on the plane and he walked in like a small child seeing the circus for the first time—excited, but also terrified. “The shielding is powerful.” He made his way to the centermost chair and slowly sat, still wide-eyed.

  Maeve narrowed her eyes and looked to Caradoc as she took a chair near Aisling. “If you can afford things like this. Why don’t you?”

  Caradoc was still examining the cockpit but shrugged.

  “Because he doesn’t want anything that would be like our mother. She’s rich, so he’s in denial.” Aisling opened a packaged fruit bowl and an iced tea.

  “No.” Caradoc came out and took a seat. “Well, mostly no. I like having a nice reserve. I donate to charities.”

  “And you don’t want to be in any way like her.” Maeve grinned.

  He sighed. “I don’t. Our other siblings have all gotten rich by supporting her schemes and from her directly. You’re looking at the only three self-supporting family members of the clan.”

  Reece and Jones took their seats. Reece stayed near the cockpit and Jones took the chair near the emergency exit.

  Bart retracted the steps and locked the door. “Now then, shall we finally get you all to England?”

  Reece looked over to Aisling and looked ready to speak, then shook his head and buckled in.

  “What? You’re looking for horns now too?”

  “Horns?”

  “Long story, but I won’t be growing any.”

  Harlie had been looking around but leaned over. “Yet. That we know of. There are elven fey with horns you know. They look fine.” His grin indicated he was joking, but Aisling still rubbed her head to make sure.

  Bart taxied the plane and they lifted off.

  “You could really buy one of these?” Maeve asked Caradoc.

  “If I ever do, you’ll be the first one I take up.” His smile looked like it escaped from one of his magazine covers.

  Aisling covered her laugh and turned to the folders on her table. Along with the snacks, a small portfolio sat at each table. Most of what was inside they’d already heard. Information about the attack in Noth, and comparisons to verify all three building sections were from the missing Area 42 building. She didn’t know that an analysis of that sort could be done on building material, but apparently Area 42 had unique markers in all of their structures. If anyone would be that paranoid, it would be them.

  The building pieces were the same at their core, but there was a serious breakdown in the cohesiveness of what landed. The first to hit, the parking lot one, was fairly intact. Or had been until it smashed into the parking lot. It hadn’t gone deep either.

  The second piece, the one in the sinkhole, had been less sound when it came out of wherever it had been. The Area 42 people were obviously avoiding the term ‘veil’ in all of their documents. Part of the reason it created the sinkhole when it crashed through was that a section of it merged with the ground as it made impact. Literally.

  Noth was the third event, and the building piece was extremely fluid as it landed. It was also the most aggressive with the green goo; although had Harlie not crashed Caradoc’s car into the sinkhole in L.A., that might have been a different story.

  The event in the ocean was looking to be useless. They were pulling up what they could but it was already breaking down in the salt water.

  The slime in the airport was now being treated as the fifth building drop, even though there were no visible building remains nearby. Analysis showed mutated markers that matched those belonging to the building present in the green goo. No actual building section, but it still managed to be there. The theory was that because it had hit the electrical flight panel, it was stopped. Sadly, not before twenty-two passengers and three airport personnel were killed.

  She looked up and found Caradoc, Maeve, and Harlie reading the same report. Reece and Jones were watching out the windows, but they’d most likely already been read in on the situation.

  “The green goo is part of the building? How did it break down like that? It doesn’t say anything about the veil in here, but is that still the assumption? Something pulled the building through the veil and it’s now coming back in pieces? There are no other options I can think of.” She would ignore the images of skeletons she’d seen in the goo for now, but she had a bad feeling the people from Area 42 who’d been in the building when it vanished were dead.

  Harlie nodded. “Beyond the veil is definitely involved, whether Area 42 wishes to admit it or not. I just wish I knew how or why.”

  “And if your friends from the other side are involved.” Caradoc nodded to Aisling.

  She didn’t respond, but she hoped the vallenians weren’t involved.

  “Area 42 is officially in denial about the veil being compromised. But I agree with you all about that.” Reece nodded to Aisling. “And you never did explain about that necklace. Yeah, I do know you weren’t wearing it when I first saw you in my bunker.” He was looking at her neck and Aisling realized she hadn’t pulled it under her shirt.

  She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. At this point secrets weren’t going to help anyone. “I was the blonde woman you saw near the parking lot at the first building drop. We figured you’d be limited in what you could tell us, so I went in to distract the agents while Stella gathered samples. The thing chasing me was a spell meant to also distract everyone. When I stopped, it was because a vallenian at the site popped up right in front of me.” It was still hard to say their name. Should be easier now, she and the vallenians were obviously good friends at this point. She coughed to stifle the laugh that followed the thought. “He blew back the agents chasing me, vanished, and I ran on. I didn’t notice the necklace until I got back to your hidden room. Sorry, bunker sounds as wrong as lair.”

  “Impressive. We tried to get intel off the vids we had of you, but couldn’t break them,” Jones said.

  Reece looked torn between being pissed and something else Aisling couldn’t identify. “Did Stella find anything? And what has this to do with your necklace?”

  “No idea about Stella, but we moved everything to Caradoc’s so I doubt it, unless she did some magic mojo, or she might have sent the sample or part of it to Grundog. This necklace appeared on me when I got bac
k. Or rather, we noticed it when I got back. I think we can assume the vallenians are changing from family boxes to jewelry.”

  “Can I look at it closer?” Reece asked before he got out of his chair. He was possibly as weirded out about the siren issue as she was and didn’t want to push closeness that might or might not be real. The entire situation was made worse by the fact that as much as they trusted him, they couldn’t let Bart know. The most dangerous secret they had was that Reece appeared to be a breed with fey powers. Even Area 42 couldn’t protect him if the High Council found out.

  “Sure.” Aisling stood up, the plane had leveled out at cruising speed already and it would be easier for him to see it if she was on her feet.

  His hands were cold as he lifted the pendant up, but he kept the chain as extended as he could without pulling at her. “That gold line running through it is impressive. I’ve never seen such fine detail. The entire design is extraordinary.” He released it and stepped back a foot. “Any idea what it does or why they gave it to you? I’m assuming since you’re still wearing it you can’t take it off?” He resumed his seat.

  Aisling looked at the pendant, then tucked it back under her shirt and sat down. “Not at all. It did seem to stop something that tried to get me in my sleep, but aside from sometimes flinging people around and fighting off a bad case of the chills, even Harlie doesn’t know what it does. And you’re right about the not-able-to-remove part. It won’t come off.” To demonstrate she tried to lift it over her head. There was enough chain to easily clear her head, yet it wouldn’t go past her ears.

  Harlie had been looking all around the plane in slow motion as he studied everything, but he turned toward them at the sound of his name. “I think it’s a ghau pendant. A source of great power on the other side of the veil.” He smiled as though that wasn’t the first time he’d told anyone that.

  “A what? Why didn’t you mention that before? Are those even real?” Caradoc was on his feet, next to Aisling’s chair, and had the pendant in his hands immediately.

  Harlie’s grin faded as he saw the same looks of confusion on everyone else. “I didn’t tell you? I’d meant to. I realized it when we were waiting for our first plane. Then things happened and I must have forgotten. Sorry. I believe it’s a ghau pendant from the early dynasty of the elven rule on the other side of the veil.”

  “That was ten thousand years ago...this couldn’t be a fraction that old.” The chain around her neck suddenly felt heavy.

  “Oh, the odds are extreme, but I believe I am correct. The addition of the gold line tipped me off. To bring it through the veil, they must have brought it to the base metal. As it adapts to this side of the veil, more aspects of it will appear.” He looked way too happy.

  Aisling hadn’t been happy about the necklace before. Yes, it might have saved her back at Caradoc’s house, then again it could have been whatever called that knife to her. But now she was becoming freaked out. Elven history from beyond the veil wasn’t taught in most schools. At least nothing beyond that things were good, then they weren’t, so all the fey left before they were killed. But she’d heard of the powerful, and unpredictable, ghau pendants.

  “Are we sure we can’t get this off me?” She tugged on it. “It’s feeling warm.”

  “Because you’re pulling on it?” Maeve stayed in her seat.

  Aisling dropped it. “Still warm.”

  Harlie came closer to her. “This is interesting. I think it’s changing again. Might not be optimal here on a plane flying over the Atlantic Ocean.”

  “Do you want to tell it to stop? It’s not listening to me at all.” Aisling tried to stay calm, but if the pendant lashed out or did pretty much anything, it could crash the plane.

  “Take calming breaths. I can’t stop it, but perhaps we can contain it. I’ll need you and Caradoc to help me. The rest of you might stand near the exits. Life vests would be a good idea too.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Caradoc got on the speaker and warned Bart. The swearing from the other end was clear throughout the cabin.

  Aisling stayed still as her brothers stood near her to create a triangle. Harlie held out his arms and placed them on each of their shoulders. Then he turned to Maeve, Reece, and Jones. “Whatever goes on here, don’t touch us until I break the containment. Which I won’t do until we’ve landed. If the plane starts going down, save yourselves. I’ll protect us if I can.” He nodded, then faced Aisling and Caradoc. “Link arms.”

  Caradoc and Aisling both held out their arms as Harlie had and sealed the triangle.

  A flow of energy crossed through Aisling’s wrists and up to her shoulders. Her magic responded, but not in a way she was used to. It was as if it wasn’t hers, and not something she could control. She had an odd feeling that this was her formerly repressed magic testing its range, not the pendant.

  “Don’t fight it or try to help.” Harlie shot a glare to Caradoc. “Just focus on our arms.”

  A green shield surrounded them. Aisling could still see through it to the others, but they were faint. The pendant was definitely getting warmer, but seemed to have slowed down increasing the heat. She closed her eyes. If she was going to have to stand in the middle of a plane the entire way to the U.K., it was better if she wasn’t watching her friends waiting for them to explode. Or implode. Or something else equally unsavory.

  “Aisling? Can you hear me?” It was Harlie’s voice, but coming through the connection he’d made. Not outside her, but also not in her head.

  “Yes. This is weird.”

  “It is.” Caradoc’s voice came in also. “Not that you asked, but I hear you also. Both of you.”

  “This is an old spell, one used when our people first came here and there was a concern that human magic might be a probability. It’s a way to keep things out, or in this case, keep them in. Try to think about nothing if you can.”

  Aisling gave a mental snort that was echoed by Caradoc. “Not going to be easy to forget we might crash this plane.”

  “We won’t crash this plane. The shield protects us and isolates the pendant. The pendant is our friend.” Harlie’s voice was almost hypnotic and Aisling was pretty sure he was talking to the pendant itself. Great.

  Aisling couldn’t control her thoughts to nothing, but she did enter a dream state. There were trees all around her, massively old ones. Hewlith trees from beyond the veil. There was a small grove of them in Wales, where the fey had first crossed to this world. They needed a lot of magic to survive on this side of the veil. And they couldn’t grow anywhere in this world outside of the Snowdonia Mountain region in northern Wales.

  But the trees she was looking at weren’t from the Welsh forest. They were hundreds of feet high and at least ten feet around. And they spread out as far as she could see. There was no one nearby, just a chill that felt like it came from the trees themselves. She circled the closest one, the chill stayed and so did the silence. Nothing threatened her directly, but she felt ill at ease. As if she’d come into a place of comfort that wasn’t for her.

  She passed a few more trees, but stopped when a low howling echoed in the air. Like the forest itself, it sounded like it came from everywhere yet nowhere. Figuring this wasn’t what Harlie had said to do, she tried to pull herself out of the dream. Slightly disturbing trees were one thing—something that howled wasn’t conducive to any sort of relaxing.

  She couldn’t wake up. Dreams were tricky, even for fey, but this wasn’t a sleeping dream, just an extremely vivid daydream. One she couldn’t get out of.

  Dark shapes started appearing in the woods around her, and a dense fog rose from the ground. Some of the shapes were the size of massive wolves, others bipedal but with unusually long arms. There was nowhere she could run as they surrounded her. Then the howling became words.

  “Why did you leave us?”

  “You left us here to die.”

  “Save us.”

  The voices were all slightly different and there were dozens of th
em. The coldness increased and a pressure filled her mind.

  “Let go! Aisling! Let go of the pendant!” Harlie’s voice twisted around Caradoc’s but both said the same thing.

  A coldness hit her heart and a bright glow came from her hand. In the dream she had grabbed the pendant and not noticed it. She still couldn’t pull free, but she opened her hand in the dream.

  The voices stopped, the howling vanished, and the trees began to fade. She felt two strong hands shaking her shoulders. “Wake up!”

  She almost let go of her brothers’ shoulders, but remembered what they were doing in time and didn’t let go. Grabbing the pendant must have only happened in the dream as her hands were still on their shoulders.

  “Is it closed?” Caradoc’s voice was still in the weird connection they had but he was talking to Harlie.

  “Yes, and I want to know how that happened.” Harlie sounded confused, and worse, frightened.

  “All three of our magics combined plus this shield sent her through. Somewhere.” Caradoc’s words were strong, but there was uncertainty behind them.

  “But where? I felt her elsewhere. I knew she was holding the pendant, and her heart was racing like a rabbit. Yet, where was she?”

  “I can hear you both, you know.” Aisling took a few deep breaths and opened her eyes. Okay, her heart had been racing a bit. Her brothers were trying to look supportive, she felt that in her head. The other three outside the shield looked freaked and all had life vests on under full parachute packs. Great. Whatever she’d just gone through in her head, something of it came out here.

  “What did you do?” Harlie’s voice was calm and measured, but Aisling felt Caradoc wanting to know the same thing.

  “I tried to meditate. Or relax. Or something so I wasn’t thinking that I was standing in the middle of a super fancy plane over the ocean, trying not to cause it to crash. Apparently, that wasn’t the best idea. What did you two see?”

  “Nothing directly, but your necklace was giving out sparks.” Caradoc lifted his chin toward her.