Beyond the Veil Read Free

refill my glass. “ It was hand crafted. ” I recalled the tease of power I ’ d felt from the blade. I rubbed my fingertips together, the ghost of its touch like pins and needles beneath my skin. “ Similar to a Japanese katana but it had an elaborate guard. It ’ s unique. ”
    “ Did you read it? ” He returned to my side.
    “ No. ” I flicked Akil a smile as I took my refreshed drink. “ You know, the more I think about it, the more I wonder why he came to me. He asked me what payment I wanted for reading the sword. I told him, but he threatened me instead of just giving me the money. Why would he do that? ”
    “ He wasn ’ t there for the sword. ”
    I was beginning to realize the same. “ He was testing me. I thought it was odd at the time. He deliberately pissed me off to get a reaction. ” I frowned. “ Why? ”
    “ It ’ s obvious. ” Akil ’ s smile was one I recognized well. He was waiting for me to catch up. “ It wasn ’ t about the sword. You weren ’ t meant to leave that workshop. He wanted you dead. ”
    But that didn ’ t make sense. “ He had plenty of easier chances. ” A gunshot to the head would have done it.
    Akil inhaled, leaning back and rolling his shoulders. “ When have you known our kind to do anything the easy way? If he ’ s any kind of demon at all, he ’ s not going to execute you without having his fun. It makes perfect sense to me. He went there to kill you, but he wanted to get his kicks. Maybe he ’ d heard of you. Did he call you by name? ”
    “ Muse? Yeah. ”
    “ Then he knows who you are. Someone hired him. ”
    Akil ’ s words rang true. How else would Mr. A have known my demon name? Only those from my past knew I ’ d been given the name Muse by my former owner as a cruel joke.
    “ Shit, ” I hissed.
    “ Indeed. ” Akil licked his lips. “ You should stay with me. ”
    Hell, no. I immediately looked away, smiling awkwardly. I felt his gaze on me, roaming where it shouldn ’ t. This was not why I was here. I couldn ’ t do this, not again. I owed Akil everything, but I was just a half-blood demon. His world had nearly killed me before. I couldn ’ t go back to that.
    “ Muse. ” He sounded apologetic until I saw his smile.
    I pushed away from the couch — away from him. “ You know what, don ’ t call me that. ” I tried to make it sound like an order, but the nervous tremble in my voice undermined my intentions, reducing the words to a request. “ I left for a reason, and I ’ m not coming back. ”
    “ You think your assassin won ’ t try again? ”
    “ I ’ ll take my chances. ”
    He winced a little, his smile twisting into something darker. “ How long do you think you ’ ll survive out there, Charlie? You ’ ve got power but not nearly enough to stop them all. ”
    “ I did it before. Five years, Akil. I had five years without you — without them. ” It had felt good. The freedom. The life. The normality of it all. I paid bills. I drank coffee. I even had a cat. Life. It was real. A tangible dream, one I ’ d worked hard to hold on to. He wasn ’ t going to take it from me, and neither was Mr. A. I was sick of running because they deemed me some half-baked mistake, tired of fighting those who thought me an abomination.
    “ He ’ s out there, you know, ” Akil said.
    When I looked at Akil, watched him walk slowly toward me, I knew he wasn ’ t talking about the assassin. My heart sank, and my dream of normality slipped away. I lifted the glass to my lips and finished off the potent whisky, wincing as it burned a path down my throat.
    Akil stood a little too close. The proximity of him stole my breath away. A trickling current of power stirred within me, my demon half recognizing him as her savior. He tipped my chin up, perhaps sensing my reluctant defeat and brushed the back of his fingers down my face. “ Your brother sent that assassin. You know he did. Stop fooling yourself. It was never going to last. Your