Yasmine Galenorn - Crimson Veil

“Yes, I took you to the Veil. You were exhausted and weary. You’ve had some great shocks lately. The Veil is a place of renewal and regeneration. And you so dearly needed both.” He stood then, pulling me to my feet. “I have business to attend to before the rest of the night is spent. But Menolly… thank you. Thank you for letting me help you. And remember what I said about Nerissa. You need to give her more of yourself. You can’t just take on a title of wife and expect that wearing it will be enough. You have to live the part.”

And with that, he grabbed my hand and we raced through the forest at a blinding speed. He stopped at the bottom of the porch steps, kissed me once more, and then vanished into the night.

As I headed up the stairs, I realized that for the first time in a long while, I felt rested and ready to face whatever might be coming. Inside, I glanced at the clock. It was going on four. Mourning my Jag, but feeling oddly content, for the rest of the night, I watched old movies, curled up in the living room.

The next evening—or rather late afternoon, considering how early the sun was setting—I woke up to a relatively calm house. Hanna was washing dishes, and it looked like dinner was over. Maggie was playing in her playpen, Delilah and Camille were poring over the documents Carter had given us about the Farantino Building. The guys were busy outside cleaning up after the storm. Though I hadn’t noticed it the night before while in the throes of wild hot monkey sex with Roman, the wind had been blowing up a gale, and now branches littered the yard.

As I picked up Maggie out of her playpen and snuggled her for a moment, Kitten gave me a resigned smile. But at least, it was a smile. Maggie yanked on my hair—which hurt like the devil—as I cuddled the little gargoyle.

“Camille, can you braid my hair? I’ve decided that, while it’s pretty down, I don’t want to keep it loose in case of a fight. Too much chance to have it used against me.” With how curly and tangled my hair was, much safer to leave it braided up. I tucked Maggie back in her playpen and crossed to the table.

“Sure.” She stood, arching her back. “Where are the beads?”

I handed her the box I’d picked up off my dresser. They contained a bunch of new beads that Nerissa had bought for me and I had pretty much ignored till now. “Here, why don’t you try some of these?”

They were pretty—greens and blues and gold. I’d been hesitant to change them because… well… now I wasn’t sure what my reasons were, but this seemed like the first step to letting my wife know how much she meant to me. She’d mentioned once or twice how I wouldn’t even consider some of her suggestions when it came to hair and clothes.

Camille smiled softly as she picked up the box. “I helped her pick these out, you know. She asked me what you might like.”

Now I did feel like a heel, but I chose to ride over it. “I have to buy a new car. I don’t want to buy a new one, but there’s no help for it. Mine’s trashed. So what say we go down to the dealer and see what we can find? Roman will front me the money, so no worries on that count.”

“We can get one hell of a good deal. We did before.” Camille snickered as she began brushing through my hair and parting it into sections. She used a mister to moisten the curls and smooth them down as she braided them.

“What kind of car are you thinking of getting?” Delilah pushed aside the files she’d been looking at. “Another Jag?”

I frowned. “No… too many associations now with being almost pulverized twice. I’m thinking I might get a Mustang. I thought about it before the Jaguar and now… well…”

“Why don’t we build it online and then order it?” Delilah brought up the website, and within seconds, we were building my new car. I wanted the royal blue color—or that’s what I called it—and as we added up the options, I grimaced at the price tag. But Roman had said to get what I wanted and I could take as long as I wanted to pay him back. Of course, he’d also said I didn’t have to pay him back but that wasn’t going to happen.

Delilah hit the final update button and then a search. “Looks like you can have it in three days at the Belles-Faire dealership. Forty-one thousand and some change.”

I grimaced but texted Roman. Within minutes I had a return text to forward the information and the check would be delivered to the dealership, so that I could pick up the car without worries when it came in. And that was that. No muss. No fuss. No hours spent listening to the dealer trying to sell me something I didn’t want.

“Is Nerissa home yet?” I wanted to talk to her. Wanted to start mending the fences before they fully broke.

“Not yet, but she should be soon. Now hold still while I finish your hair.” She made quick work of the rest—by now she’d had plenty of practice—and I had shiny new beads in my cornrows.

I suddenly wondered why I’d been so hesitant to change them before. The new beads were pretty, and they didn’t do anything but spruce up my hair. Why had I been so resistant? Pondering the question, I barely noticed when Camille’s phone rang and she answered. But the next moment, I sure as hell noticed her conversation.

“Holy fuck. Right! We’ll get right over there. Thanks, Carter.” As she punched the End Talk button, Delilah and I looked at her, waiting.

“You don’t want to know. But we have to go out tonight and we’d better get our butts in gear. Carter wants to see us now . And he said come prepared and with a full crew, which I’m translating to ‘ be ready for a fight. ’”

We scrambled. I scribbled off a note for Nerissa, while Delilah hurried outside to alert the men. Camille raced upstairs to change clothes. Within ten minutes, we were armed and ready to go. Because Aeval’s men were guarding the house, we decided that Roz and Trillian should stay behind, while Morio, Smoky, Shade, and Vanzir would go with us.

“Morio, Smoky, Menolly—you come with me. Shade and Vanzir, ride with Delilah.” Camille barked out orders as we crowded out of the doorway. As we split off to the two cars, a streak of lightning split the sky and rain thundered down. It was definitely the night for a fight, all right.

Carter was waiting for us. He hurried us in, out of the rain. Tea was waiting, and cookies—you could always count on Carter to provide refreshments and hospitality, even if the situation was dire. And by the look on his face, the shit was about to hit the fan.

We filed into his living room and gathered around the coffee table, where he had what looked like some architectural plans scattered around. He took his seat, and without chitchat or even his usual niceties, he dove right in.

“I think Lowestar will try to wake Suvika tonight.”

Crap. None of us had expected to hear that. We stared at him, silence thick as pea soup.

“What the hell did you do to spur him on like this? It had to be you—only a major disruption in his plans would force him to move this fast. He’s slow and steady; otherwise he wouldn’t have flown under the radar all these years.” Carter bit into one of his cookies and cocked his head, a quizzical look on his face.

I glanced at the others. “We may have freed all his potential sex slaves.”

“You may have? Or you did ?”

“Well… did. Or at least all of them we could find. We have them in hiding—if Lowestar finds them, chances are he’ll either kill them or worse. He’s not the type to take this sort of behavior lying down.” I scuffed my foot against the carpet. “By the way, do you know of a Fae woman named Eisha te Kana?”