Chaos Rises: A Veil World Urban Fantasy Read Free

maybe they did know, and they were keeping me here until the proper authorities arrived to deal with me. I listened hard for the stamp of boots and rattle of automatic weapons but heard only background chatter and the rustle of patient charts.
    “I have to go. Where are my clothes?”
    Officer Ramírez gave me what must have been her normal pity-the-victim smile. I almost believed it. She didn’t look much older than me, at least physically. Her dark hair and eyes gave her a sultry look that probably won her the wrong kind of attention, but her hard smile and square stance broadcast a don’t-screw-with-me attitude. “There wasn’t any ID on you when we picked you up,” she said. “Is there anyone you’d like me to call to come and collect you?”
    “What? No.” There’s no one. “Where’s my brother?”
    “Your brother? Was he with you?” Finally, her brown eyes sharpened, taking me seriously.
    “He was there.” I reached for a plastic cup and sniffed at the warm water. It smelled faintly of chemicals. Was it drugged? They might drug me for when the Institute arrived. I set it back down, un-tasted.
    “Shall we start from the beginning?” Ramírez asked. “What’s your name?”
    “Why?”
    She smiled her hard smile. “How old are you?”
    “Older than I look,” I grumbled. I needed clothes. I needed her to go away so I could get away from hospital. I had to find Del. What if he was still back there? No, no, he’d loosened his power. That mistake had probably saved his life, but where was he? Why wasn’t he here with me?
    The cop cleared her throat, drawing my skittish gaze back to her. “Look, Jane Doe, this will be much easier if you cooperate. I have a few necessary forms to fill in. A name, address, birthdate are all I need for you to be going on your way.”
    I almost laughed. My name was fake. My address didn’t exist. And my birthdate? What did that matter? I wasn’t even wholly human. If Officer Ramírez knew a demon lurked inside me, she’d probably take that pistol from her holster and shoot me right between the eyes. Six months since the Fall weren’t enough for people like her to forget what the demons had done.
    Her face tightened in a weary frown. She sighed through her nose and tucked the notebook away. “I can see you clearly want to leave. Help me to help you.”
    I ran my scratched-up fingers through my hair. “My name is Gem.”
    “Great, Gem. Is that short for Gemma?”
    Close enough. “I live…” I wet my lips and fought with several lies. “Can I just go? I don’t need your help. I’m fine.”
    She held my gaze without blinking. “My partner and I were on patrol when we found you out cold by the nw-zone. You’d clearly been attacked, probably by demons. What were you doing in the zone? An explanation would at least help me with the paperwork so we can both get on with our day.”
    I gritted my teeth. I didn’t owe her anything. And the more seconds she wasted, the more chances there were of me being found out. All the docs had to do was take a peek below the bandages to know I’d already healed many of the bites. They’d likely run my blood work and would find PC34A in the toxicology, the drug used by the Institute to control a half blood’s inner demon. Why would a girl have an Institute drug in her veins unless she was demon?
    I threw off the sheet, swung my bare legs over the edge of the bed, and frowned at the little blue flowers peppering the paper-thin hospital gown.
    Ramírez raised an eyebrow. “I can get you some clothes if you answer my questions.”
    Damn, she was persistent. “You’re just doing your job. I get it. But my brother is missing, and I really need to find him before…”
    “Before?”
    What if he’d run? What if he had no intention of coming back? What if… What if his demon was free? I couldn’t think that. He was probably at the pier. If his demon rode him hard, he’d have gone back for his meds. That was the only reason he