Jess thought about her options. She hadn’t actually thought about what she would do if she managed to get through the barrier. Coming to a decision, she willed herself through the veil towards the Summer Palace.
Jess smiled appreciatively as she stared at her target from the veil. He stripped off the formal blue vest with the gold and silver braid of his rank that he hated so much and dumped it on the couch as he walked past it. As he started unbuttoning his shirt to reveal his chest, Jess unaccountably blushed. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen him take his shirt off before—and a good deal more than that—but watching him this way when he didn’t know she was there wasn’t what she’d intended. Jess passed though the veil, appearing in the room behind him before he pulled his shirt off, and cl
