Beyond the Veil - J.C. Kelley (ready to read books TXT) 📗

and struck his wrist. Before the sword even hit the ground, she had grabbed his golden hair and held a gleaming silver dagger to his throat. 

He grumbled, “Come on! I had you that time!”

Jade stepped away, sheathed the dagger, and grinned up at him. “Obviously.”

“It’s just because you’re older, and you know it,” he complained. “How’d you know it was me?”

“Because you’re the only warrior on Earth who fights while wearing Crocs." She glanced down at his pitifully conspicuous red shoes.

Michael looked away, blushing intensely. “They’re comfy.”

Before his sibling could continue her ruthless bullying, Kade walked in and flipped the lights on, illuminating countless mats littering the floor of the makeshift gym. “I don’t understand why you insist on fighting in the dark.” He looked at them. “Don’t beat yourself up about it, Mike. She does have an affinity,” he said, noticing the dropped sword, Michael’s red face, and Jade’s triumphant one. 

“It’s not fair.”

“Not fair?” Jade play-punched Michael. “You can pick up a car without a problem and you’re saying I have an advantage?"

Kade chuckled. “Come on, guys. It’s your turn to set the table.” 

They groaned and followed him out of the gym. Jade couldn’t help staring as they passed the countless weapons and paintings depicting ancient battles which adorned the walls of the mansion. Gazing at the weapons of her ancestry, she always felt like she was reliving their lives; the weapons changing slightly over time, the painted battles leaping through centuries of her family’s history. 

She was so engrossed in her thoughts; she didn’t realize they'd reached the kitchen until Michael elbowed her in the gut. She blinked and curled up a bit, more out of shock than pain.

“You jerk,” she bellowed, and slapped him. And thus, the battle began.

Kade rolled his eyes at their scuffle and joined his sister at the stove. He inhaled deeply at the scent of garlic and lemon-pepper seasoning. “Have I told you you’re my favorite sister?”

Robyn giggled. “I'm your only sister. You're just lucky I know how to cook. Without me, you'd have starved by now. Or accidentally poisoned yourselves,” she added, almost as an afterthought, turning back to the meal.

Kade’s eyes widened in mock horror. He reached out and covered her mouth. “Don’t speak of such things! You’ll ruin our good fortune!” 

Robyn started to laugh, but it was cut short by a choking sound, followed by a gurgle, and then without warning she doubled over and retched. Kade immediately sobered and held her hair out of her face as she went pale and was sick all over the floor.

Jade and Michael hurried over and helped Kade half-carry Robyn to a chair. She’d stopped vomiting, but her whole body shook as she dry-heaved. She looked around blindly with swollen eyes that had turned a more electric violet, the irises almost swallowed up by incredibly huge pupils. The whites had turned a gruesome, bloody crimson. Eventually the heaving slowed down, and Robyn sat trembling in her seat, clinging to her brother and friends. She closed her eyes gingerly, afraid to put too much pressure on them. When she reopened them, they weren’t as puffy and the redness had faded to a slight pink. The pupils gradually shrunk to a regular size as she regained her sight, though the irises remained bright, the electric spots pulsing like lightning. 

Jade gently held onto her best friend’s frail shoulders and whispered, “What was it, honey?” Robyn shook her head. “You know talking always helps.” Robyn shook her head again and started muttering nonsense. 

Just then Alex and Nick ran in, paper and pencil in hand.

Kade said, “How—?” 

Nick smiled and tapped his temple. “Dude, you’re practically broadcasting to the whole neighborhood.” 

“Yeah,” Alex agreed. “Not fun. Just to let you know.”

“Sorry.” 

Robyn disentangled herself, snatched the paper and pencil from the twins’ hands, ran to the kitchen counter, and started writing furiously. Two minutes later she slammed the pencil down, shouted a triumphant, “There!” and shoved the paper into Kade’s waiting hands. 

He read and reread it, unsure of what to make of it. He looked at his sister, whose head was already clearing. “Do you know what this means? Or even who it’s talking about?”

Robyn’s head bobbed excitedly—and stopped, as she grimaced at the sharp pain behind her eyes. “Well, not really. I know it has to do with us, though. A lot to do with us. I saw flashes of us the whole time.” 

Kade shrugged. “Well, I've got nothing on the translation. But if it has to do with us, I guess we can ask Jon when he gets back tonight.

"But,” he added, “He’ll probably be more willing to hear it if there isn’t—uh, a mess—to clean up.” He pointed at the floor. Everyone else nodded and immediately started cleaning. 

It wasn’t like Jon was a clean freak—he was fine with dirty dishes, old pizza boxes under the bed (in fact he had three under his), dirty clothes in the back hallways—he just couldn’t stomach the smell of sick people. He and Kade’s dad were only half-brothers; they had different mothers. Jon’s grandmother was half Loup Garou, so he had a sensitive nose and eyes, with great reflexes for a man in his late thirties. Which he would use on them during sparring practice if he came home after a week-long hunting trip to find vomit in the kitchen; his not-so-secret haven. 

2

“Oh God, Kay, hold on!” Tyler said, running for the loops of rope lying some distance away. 

I rolled my eyes. Every time I hesitated, Tyler acted like I was gonna freaking die. Not that I wouldn’t die if I fell. That’s the risk when you climb without any gear. Believe me, it’s worth it. The feeling you get when you’re in danger, drenched in sweat with your adrenaline pumping, is the most exhilarating thing in the world. I live for it. 

But I hadn’t fallen since my first climb, about five years ago. I’d gotten better. A lot better. Then again, I wasn’t climbing a ten-foot-high plastic wall with a soft mat to land on. Today I’d chosen a big rocky cliff right on the edge of the ocean. She was about forty feet tall, give or take, and you could only reach the top by a long narrow path that gradually inclined.

At least, people thought it was the only way up. They didn’t know about the narrow strip of land that separated the rock from the ocean. Problem was, there was a slim chance that I’d hit land if I fell, and that water was filled with sharp rocks. 

There.

I spotted a thick crack in the rock, a little over a foot to my right, just high enough for my puny little arms not

to reach. Go figure. Maybe if I jumped....

I tested the strength of the rock supporting my feet. If I made the jump I could reach the top without a problem. I took a few deep breaths, gathered my strength, and pushed off— 

The rock crumbled under my feet, unable to handle the added pressure. Wonderful. 

“Kay!”

For a split second I was airborne, legs kicking and arms flailing for anything to anchor my self with. It was the longest second of my life.

Then my foot hit what was probably a boulder sticking out from the cliff. I pushed up with all my might and launched to the top. I managed to grab the big jagged crack, and hung there by my hands for a few seconds before swinging my legs up and scrambling over the edge, where I collapsed, exhausted, blood pumping in my ears. 

Tyler was at my side at once, nagging and fussing over every scrape and bruise. “Amazing! No broken bones or anything,” he would occasionally mumble.

I smacked him between the eyes, making him blink blindly for a couple of seconds. “Dude. Will you stop that? I’m fine.”

He stared at me, not in the least making me uncomfortable. “Oh, 'I’m fine,' she says,” he drawled, doing a bad imitation of a girl’s voice. “How can you be fine? You almost died and you’re fine?”

I failed to smother a giggle. “You sound like my mom.”

“Kay, you were free-falling. I was already planning what I would wear to your funeral when you jumped back up.” He arched an eyebrow dramatically. “How did you jump back up, by the way?”

I shrugged. “My feet hit a boulder or something. I don’t know. And I don’t care. ‘Cause that was awesome.” I stood up and wandered to the edge, spotting more hidden cracks in the rock. Maybe if I had enough time— 

“No.” Tyler pulled me back a little.

“What?” I asked, and made my eyes big and innocent. 

They were probably a mixed color right now. Like sea green or night blue. That’s the thing about my eyes—they change color. Usually according to my mood. The doctors say that I have an extremely rare eye condition, something to do with a shortage of some eye particle I can’t pronounce or spell. Let me think.... (Bifocofjsklvs? Bodjvjjas?) Whattaya know? I can’t spell it. 

Unfortunately Tyler is impervious to my would-be baby face. “I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is no. How would I explain it to your family? ‘Oh, don’t worry, Mrs. Kelley. She was an adrenaline junky, so she was really happy when she plummeted to her death.’ I don’t think so. Besides, we don’t have time for another climb.”

What? I looked at the setting sun. Crap. Just after seven. I don’t know how I knew, I just did. Crapcrapcrap. I was gonna be late.

Tyler tossed me some rope. “C’mon. If we run we’ll make it there in no time.”

*

*

We were five minutes late. But to my sister Sarah, it might as well have been an hour. Darn. I could’ve gotten in a couple more climbs. 

At five-foot-seven, Sarah had just turned seventeen. She was thin, blonde, pretty tan but nowhere near my bronze coloring, and at the moment really, really, really mad.

“Where were you?” she screeched as soon as we stepped into my house. I thought about lying to help her calm down, but she was just so funny when she was mad.

“Climbing.”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tyler sag with despair.

Sarah’s face went pink. “Climbing? You went climbing on my birthday? I’ve been planning this party for months, and you went climbing?”

“Yep. Don’t give me that face! It’s not even your birthday. Which I think destroys the whole point of it being special. I mean, why would you have your birthday party two days before the actual event? Everyone’s doing that lately and I find it stupid. And stereotypical, to be honest. Really, why—”

“Shut up! I’m having my party today because that hag Juliana just has to have her pool party on the day that I turn seventeen!” Her hands clenched into fists. "This is a big leap in a girl’s life and she knows it! She’s hated me for years, and I’ve been nothing but nice to her from the start!”

“You did just call her a hag.”

I enjoyed seeing her face get redder and redder until she matched her flashy dress.

Her boyfriend Jason chose that moment to join them. He wrapped an arm around Sarah’s shoulders, and for a second I imagined clawing his eyes out. Jason towered over Sarah with his six-foot-three height. He intimidated Tyler but I matched his height so he didn’t threaten me. His skin was a gross yellowish tint because