Free The Hunt: A Custodes Noctis Book by Muffy Morrigan Page B

good day.”
     

    “You can buy dinner then, we’re meeting Father Blake at Gateway to India at six.” Something rippled up the street, the dark waves like mirage on a hot day. Rob walked towards the window and focused with his Sight—letting the full strength of his Gift flow, without the usual restraint he maintained—trying to get a better “look” at what was there, he sensed Galen step up behind him.
     

    “What’s out there?”
     

    “I’m not sure, it’s not really visible, but something moved.” Rob concentrated, the movement was growing, becoming more substantial. “What the hell is it?”
     

    “I can’t see anything,” Galen said.
     

    Rob turned to him and blinked. Seeing his brother with the full effect of the Sight in force was always a surprise, power flowed around Galen like liquid silver, Rob reached out an put his hand on Galen’s arm, watching as the quicksilver power flowed over his hand. He let the Sight alter so Galen could “see” as well. “Can you see it?”
     

    “Yes.”
     

    “What is it?” Rob asked.
     

    “I don’t…” Galen stopped with a sharp intake of breath. “The Veil.” Rob wasn’t sure if Galen said it or he heard the thought through their connection.
     

    “No,” Rob whispered, but he knew it was true, they were seeing the ripple of the wall between the corporeal and non-corporeal worlds. The Between World was on the other side of the Veil, darkness lurked there, waiting for a chance to escape into the physical world. “Gods, no, it can’t be.”
     

    “I think it is,” Galen said softly.
     

    The movement subsided, the street empty. Rob let go of Galen’s arm and opened the door. There was nothing there, nothing moving but a single car. He glanced over at Becci’s stand, Cassie, the woman who worked evening shift waved at him. She was smiling, he guessed unaware of what had just happened. “No one noticed.”
     

    “I wouldn’t have noticed if you weren’t here, Rob. I might have felt something, but I wouldn’t have seen it.”
     

    “You really think it was the Veil?”
     

    “What do you think?”
     

    “I think you’re right.” Rob sighed. “And the creature in the park was only partially corporeal.”
     

    “They’re connected.” Galen said with a nod.
     

    “Yeah.” Rob took a deep breath, trying to dispel the sense of unease slowly tying a knot at the base of his neck. “We should head to the restaurant.” He stepped out the door and waited for Galen to lock it behind them. The restaurant was less than two blocks from the shop, so they always walked. He looked around, but there was no trace left of the ripple he’d seen. “‘The Wall is breached, the Veil torn asunder,’” he muttered under his breath.
     

    “What was that?”
     

    “It’s that line I was telling you about—the one I think goes with ‘first they come as men/darkness follows, calling all to rise’. It’s just a snippet, a single line that has never really been matched to anything. There was a debate in the Nineteenth Century about the origins of…”
     

    “Rob?” Galen held a hand up, laughter in his voice. “Before you launch into an analysis of the shortcomings of a translation and the etymology of one of the words—what’s the line?”
     

    “Oh.” Rob chuckled. “Sorry. ‘The Wall is breached, the Veil torn asunder.’ There was a question of…”
     

    “Will this take a while?” Galen asked, opening the door to the restaurant.
     

    “Uh.” Rob smiled. Sometimes he did get a little over-enthusiastic about things. “Maybe we should order something to drink first.”
     

    “Should we order appetizers? Do you think Father Blake will mind?” Galen asked as they were seated.
     

    “I don’t think so, he might want to hurry. He said he had an errand in town, which is why we’re meeting him here.”
     

    The owner spotted them and came over with a couple of bottles in his hand. He carried a variety of