THE VEIL HAS BREACHED.
Fenric's demeanor changed instantly, all vulnerability vanishing beneath his professional mask. "We need to return to the Bureau immediately." He was already reaching for his tablet. "A Veil breach is a Level One emergency."
I nodded, the moment between us broken but not forgotten. As we hurried toward the garden exit, I glanced back at the Mood Blossom. It had settled into a steady pulse of blue and silver, with a single thread of crimson still winding through its center.
Chapter
Twenty-One
Winter
"We need to hurry," Fenric's voice had lost all its earlier warmth as we rushed through the Bureau's gleaming lobby. Gone was the vulnerable elf who'd shared glimpses of his past in the botanical garden. In his place was the rigid bureaucrat, all business as he flashed his credentials at security checkpoints.
"What exactly is a Veil breach?" I jogged to keep up with his long strides, my knee protesting the pace. Horrace, who'd been waiting for us at the Bureau entrance, was now wrapped securely around my shoulders, his tentacles occasionally patting my cheek in reassurance.
"The Veil is the metaphysical barrier that separates our reality from others," Fenric explained tersely as we entered an elevator. "A breach means something has torn through it. Something that doesn't belong."
How was that different from inter-dimensional? I'd have to ask later.
The elevator descended rapidly, bypassing the usual floors and continuing deep underground. The numbers on the display changed from regular digits to strange symbols I couldn't decipher.
"We're going to the Containment Levels," Fenric noticed my confusion. "The Bureau maintains specialized facilities for reality fractures."
When the doors opened, we stepped into a corridor that looked nothing like the polished marble and gleaming metal of the upper floors. These walls were made of some dark stone that absorbed light rather than reflect it. Glowing runes pulsed along the ceiling in rhythmic patterns.
"Winter!" Zane's voice called from down the hall. He jogged toward us, looking unusually serious. "Good, you're here. Rook and Milo are already at the breach site."
My heart skipped at the mention of Milo. I hadn't seen him since our kiss in the kitchen and Fenric's subsequent "cooling off period" mandate. Now that I paid attention, my heart was skipping being around Zane still.
"How bad is it?" Fenric fell into step beside Zane.
"Bad enough that they called everyone in," Zane's mismatched eyes flicked to Horrace, who was watching everything with intense curiosity. "Your little friend might actually be helpful with this one. It's an inter-dimensional tear."
So, did that mean it wasn't a Veil issue and the scroll was wrong?
Horrace perked up at this, making a series of musical notes that conveyed both excitement and concern.
"Where is it?" I pat Horrace's head.
"Sub-basement 12," Zane led us through a series of security doors, each requiring increasingly complex magical verification. "It started small, just a pinprick in reality. But it's growing."
The final door opened into an abandoned storage room. Shelves lined the walls, still holding dusty artifacts and ancient-looking books. But my attention was immediately drawn to the far corner, where a jagged tear hung in the air, edges glowing with an unnatural starry light. It was as if someone had taken a knife and cut a gash in reality itself.
It wasn't unlike the tear from the farmers market.
Rook and Milo stood near the breach, conferring with several Bureau agents in specialized containment gear. Milo's face lit up when he saw me, though he quickly schooled his expression when Fenric cleared his throat pointedly.
"Fenric," Rook nodded in acknowledgment, his amber eyes briefly scanning me as if checking for injuries. "Good timing."
"What's the situation?" Fenric was all business, tablet already in hand.
"The breach appeared approximately forty-seven minutes ago," one of the containment specialists reported. "It's expanding at a rate of 2.3 millimeters per minute. Standard containment protocols have been ineffective."
I approached the tear cautiously, drawn by something I couldn't quite name. As I got closer, I could hear sounds coming from within, whispers, fragments of conversations, words in languages I'd never heard but somehow understood. The blue markings on my arm began to pulse in response, matching the rhythm of the starry light.
"Can you feel that?" I asked Horrace softly. Through our connection, I sensed his recognition. Whatever lay beyond this tear was familiar to him in some way.
"Winter, stay back," Fenric warned, but I was already reaching toward the breach, my hand moving almost of its own accord.
