Beyond the Veil by Pippa DaCosta Page B

of a human a little too perfectly, but nobody would suspect him. He was too charming, too successful, too influential to be anything other than the city ’ s most successful developer.
      I poured myself some more wine and slumped in my chair. It wasn ’ t as if I didn ’ t know what he was. I felt the power in him every time I shared the same airspace as him, but it ’ s one thing to know and another to see. I ’ d deliberately forgotten who and what he was for the sake of my sanity. My half-human mind couldn ’ t keep up with what I ’ d seen, despite the fact that much of the same elemental energy ran through my veins. The human brain struggles to comprehend the truth about demons. The netherworld exists beyond our spectrum of understanding. Our senses are struck dumb by its extremes. Thankfully, the netherworld is locked beyond the veil, out of human reach, but while humans can ’ t survive there for long, demons can and do live among us here. Higher demons can cross the veil at will, but most prefer their homeland to ours. Aren ’ t we lucky?
     Akil had walked me out of that police department without another soul seeing us. The people had parted in front of us, veering around us without realizing anything was amiss. He had simply peeled the visible reality around us so that we emerged outside the building without so much as catching a sideways glance from the dozens of people on the sidewalk.
      Hands planted against the roof of his car as though to steady himself, Akil had stripped the demon from his visible form, shedding layers like a snake sheds its skin, revealing the male vessel inside. Watching him emerge like that — his human form reborn like a moth from its chrysalis — turned my stomach. By the time he ’ d sat me in the back of the car, I felt numb. When we reached his hotel, I still trembled like a leaf clinging to an otherwise naked branch. Without so much as a word of explanation, an apology, or an ‘ are you okay, ’ he handed me a cat mask and escorted me inside.
      That had been over two hours ago.
      If he knew of the turmoil spinning in my head, he hadn ’ t once mentioned it. For him, it was as though nothing untoward had taken place. Another day at the office.
      Nica slipped into a chair beside me, sporting a very fine leopard-print ankle-length dress and a witch ’ s mask, complete with a cute crooked hat. “ Hey there. ” She beamed. “ Akil said you were coming. ” Perhaps my smile came off more as a grimace than I ’ d meant it to because she flinched, her bubbly mood evaporating. “ Did you read all the information in the file? ”
      It took me a moment to even remember what file she was referring to. I hadn ’ t thought of Stefan since Bergin had mentioned him prior to turning into a snake-demon and trying to kill me. Now I wondered what the police would be asking. They wouldn ’ t find a body — of that I was pretty sure — but Bergin wasn ’ t coming back from a sword through the gullet, and I was technically the last to see him. How would Akil cover it up? Would he even bother?
      “ You look a little pale, are you okay? ” Nica asked.
      The concern in her voice roused me from my recall of events. “ Yes, I ’ m okay. Just tired. ” I mustered a warmer smile and downed my drink.
      She shrugged and refilled my glass. “ Something has happened between you and Akil. Am I right? ”
      I swallowed, reaching for the wine. “ What makes you say that? ”
      She looked past me, down the table to where Akil and a small crowd were gathered. “ He looks content, but you see how his fingers are tapping on the base of his glass? ” She nodded encouragement, so I had to look.
      “ He hasn ’ t touched his drink. That ’ s the same glass of wine he ’ s been nursing all evening. And that crowd — some of them are the most influential people in this city, and yet he hasn ’ t once engaged in business talk. He ’ s avoiding it, skirting around the