VEIL OF EDEN

UGLINESS

“All right.”

Rina’s eyes remained on me.

“I’m listening.”

She tapped the end of her pipe against the ashtray beside her. The small sound seemed strangely loud in the quiet room.

“Three nights from now, a caravan leaves the southern district.”

I said nothing.

“It will be carrying girls from several houses in this quarter. Some are being sold to northern establishments. Others will be sent into private households.”

My fingers rested against the pouch at my waist.

“So?”

“The caravan is heading north.”

I looked at her.

Rina smiled faintly.

“And you are going with it.”

I stared at her.

There was a moment of complete silence.

Then I laughed.

It wasn’t because I found it funny. It was the sort of laugh that escaped when a person heard something so absurd that their mind needed a moment to decide whether to be offended.

“You want me to go north.”

“Yes.”

“With a slave caravan.”

“Yes.”

I pointed at myself.

“Me?”

“Yes, Nerezza. You.”

I looked at Mimi.

She was standing near the door, her arms folded across her chest. Her expression gave nothing away.

I looked back at Rina.

“You want me sold?”

“Temporarily.”

“That doesn’t make it better.”

“It isn’t supposed to.”

For a few seconds, I simply stared at the floor.

The North.

Everyone knew what it meant.

The northern territories were wealthier than ours. The noble families there controlled some of the largest estates, mines, military houses, and trade routes in the realm.

They also had very little patience for people like me.

An Anixless girl wasn’t exactly the kind of person northern society welcomed into polite company.

Which was precisely why Rina had chosen it.

“You want me to get kidnapped.”

“Exactly.”

“Voluntarily.”

“Exactly.”

I looked up at her.

“Do you hear yourself?”

“Yes.”

“You want me to arrange my own kidnapping.”

I rubbed my forehead.

“This is insane.”

“Probably.”

“At least you’re honest.”

Rina smiled.

“I’ve never pretended to be anything else.”

That was true.

Rina could be many things, but dishonest wasn’t one of them.

If she wanted something from you, she told you.

The price was usually the part she left until the end.

“You’ll enter the North as one of hundreds. Once you’re there, you’ll find your way into the royal celebration.”

“And steal the elixir.”

“Yes.”

I laughed bitterly.

“You say that as though it’s the easy part.”

“I didn’t say it would be easy.”

We both knew what that meant.

If I couldn’t get the elixir, I wouldn’t get paid.

Ten gold bars for walking into the North.

Ten gold bars for walking back out with something that was probably locked behind enough guards to make my previous Duke job look like stealing bread.

I looked at Rina.

“You accept?”

She waited.

I sighed.

“I’ll do it.”

“Good.”

Rina reached for her pipe again.

“Once the caravan leaves, you’re no longer my problem.”

I smiled.

“Touching.”

“You’ll survive.”

“I usually do.”

Three days passed.

Rina had been right.

She couldn’t simply sell me herself.

Too many questions could lead back to her, and Rina didn’t survive by leaving loose ends.

So she didn’t.

She arranged things carefully enough that nothing could be traced back to her.

And strangely enough, getting back to being a slave wasn’t difficult.

These were trying times. People were selling their own families for a little cash, right now I should not be on the streets .

I took a bite of my apple as I watched the familiar Earth Anix lumber along beside its owner.

The sight made me pause.

A familiar scent drifted toward me.

I lowered the apple.

“You know, I never got my Pristol.”

His Anix growled at me.

I smiled.

“Still holding a grudge?”

The vendor’s expression hardened.

I moved a little closer.

His Earth Anix shifted with him, its heavy body scraping against the ground.

“Come on,” I said. “just one Pristol.”

The creature suddenly lunged.

I jumped aside as the ground erupted where I had been standing.

“Hey!”

A slab of earth shot toward me.

I ducked.

It smashed into the wall behind me.

People nearby scattered.

I glanced at the damage.

Then back at the vendor.

“You’ve gotten dramatic.”

His Anix charged again.

I ran.

The creature slammed into the ground behind me, sending a tremor through the street. I stumbled, caught myself, and grabbed the edge of a wooden stall.

The vendor came closer.

“move along .”

“You still owe me for the Pristol.”

I stared at him.

“You’re trying to kill me over a snack?”

His eyes flicked toward the street.

Then toward the men standing farther down the road.

For the first time, I noticed them.

Not customers.

Traders.

Waiting.

Something changed in his expression.

Recognition.

Calculation.

His gaze returned to me.

Then to the bracelet beneath my sleeve.

Then back to me.

I frowned.

“What?”

He didn’t answer.

His Earth Anix moved.

I reacted immediately.

I stepped backward, but the ground beneath my foot hardened.

My ankle caught.

I fell.

Before I could roll away, the Earth Anix slammed its weight down beside me.

Dust exploded across my face.

I kicked free and scrambled backward.

The vendor was already there.

He grabbed my arm.

I twisted.

He tightened his grip.

“Let go.”

He didn’t.

I drove my elbow toward his ribs.

He grunted and staggered.

I pulled free.

For half a second, I thought I had him.

Then the Earth Anix struck the ground.

The impact threw me sideways.

My shoulder slammed into the wall.

Pain shot through my arm.

I pushed myself upright.

The vendor stood over me.

His eyes were no longer angry.

They were calculating.

That was worse.

I looked toward the men waiting down the street.

Then back at him.

I laughed , the ways of this f****d up world , everyone was watching us, all of them watching us as if I could here their thought

‘I should have caught her first’ I looked at the vendor , never got his name

He said nothing.

My stomach tightened

“You’re selling me.”

His face remained blank.

I laughed again

The Earth Anix stepped closer.

I tried to move.

The ground beneath me locked my feet in place.

The vendor grabbed my arm.

I struggled.

The last thing I saw was the Earth Anix looming over me.

Then everything went black.

I found myself in the basement of a house.

My eyes and mouth were wrapped shut.

My hands were tied behind my back.

For a few seconds, I stayed still.

I tested the rope.

Tight.

I shifted my shoulders.

Nothing.

Footsteps approached.

The door opened.

Hands grabbed me.

I was hoisted upright.

I struggled instinctively, twisting against their grip, but there were too many of them.

Someone dragged me toward the stairs.

Then Pain exploded through my body, I hit the ground hard.

A voice came from above.

“Are you trying to kill her?”

A groan was the only response.

Someone grabbed me again.

I heard crying.

Not mine.

Other girls.

The sound came from somewhere nearby.

The blindfold pressed against my eyes as we were moved.

Dragged.

Loaded.

Doors slammed.

Metal scraped against metal.

Then silence.

For a while.

Until someone finally removed the blindfold.

It didn’t help much.

The room was dim, lit only by a weak lantern hanging somewhere above us.

I blinked several times.

There were three other people inside the cage.

Two girls sat together against the far wall.

Twins.

I knew immediately.

Same face.

Same pale hair.

Same frightened eyes.

Even their Anix looked identical.

They hovered behind them like delicate creatures made from glass and light—something vaguely resembling butterflies, but not quite.

Their wings were too long.

Their bodies too thin.

And when they moved, they didn’t flap.

They simply floated.

I stared.

One of the twins noticed.

She pulled the other closer.

I looked away.

Then I noticed the boy.

He sat opposite us.

Quiet.

Completely still.

His gaze was lowered.

I tried to get a better look at his Anix.

There.

Something moved beside him.

I squinted.

A roach.

I blinked.

A cockroach.

I stared at it for a second longer.

Then at him.

The boy didn’t react.

His expression remained calm.

Almost unnaturally calm.

I wondered what kind of person looked that peaceful in a slave cage.

Before I could think much more about it, the door above us opened.

Light flooded the room.

“Out.”

The cages opened one after another.

A guard grabbed one of the twins.

She stumbled.

“Move!”

The other twin immediately reached for her.

“Don’t touch her!”

The guard shoved her back.

Something inside the girl snapped.

Her Anix flickered.

The guard froze.

The air around the twins suddenly changed.

The delicate creatures behind them expanded.

Their wings stretched.

The guard took a step back.

He laughed.

“Good. Let’s see what you can do.”

He raised his arm.

His own Anix surged forward.

The girl screamed.

And the room exploded into movement.