Page 136 of Veiled

That wasn’t a stranger.

That wasn’t a friend or family member like Varin had warned.

It was mine.

The exact words I begged with when my father locked me in the cellar and forgot about me.

I was nine.

Alone for eighteen hours.

The first of many nights with no food. No water. No bathroom.

And when he finally remembered I existed the next day, when he opened the door and saw that I hadn’t been able to hold my bladder and peed my pants, I was punished for that too.

The training hall tilts again, and I swallow hard, digging my nails into the palm of my hands.

Everyone else hears echoes meant to confuse them, but I heard a memory that the simulation or Clowess should never have had access to.

My stomach twists, and I sprint to the trashcan before I purge all my stomach contents. As I try to process where they could have gotten that recording, I realize not having the answer terrifies me more than anything inside the marsh did.

Chapter forty-nine

Annalise

“Where is it?” I say aloud, my hands moving faster as panic starts to spike.

I dump my beach bag turned storage bag out on my desk. Sunscreen, my rolled beach hat, a notebook, too much sand, and an array of pebbles and seashells we found scattered everywhere. Several pieces roll off and crash against the floor as I dig through the mess with shaking hands.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Ana, what are you looking for?”

“My anklet! It’s not here, it’s not anywhere!” Aiden tilts his head, thinking. “You took it off before we left the room, remember? You put it in the jewelry tray in the bathroom.”

“I know, I checked there,” I choke out. “I’ve been looking everywhere, but I can’t find it.”

I tear through the bag again, lifting things I just moved, like it might magically appear if I look hard enough. It isn’t until my second frantic sweep comes up empty that Aiden gently catches my hands.

“Hey,” he says softly. “Tyr’s waiting for you to go on your run before class. Why don’t you go do that, and I’ll stay here and look for it, okay?”

“Do you remember what it looks like?”

He scoffs, “Yes, Honey. I remember what the anklet that you wear all day, every day looks like. Now go, I’ll meet you at the vault.”

“Are you sure?”

“He’s sure, Little Faren. You need to practice your morphing, and I need to see you. Your anxiety spike from the other day still has me on edge.”

Feeling guilty for making Tyr’s emotions change without his consent, I kiss Aiden and take off down the hallway for our morning run.

“Seems like all those drinks on the beach are still slowing you down,” Tyr says as he takes another pass overhead. He’s invisible, camouflaged to look like the sky, but I can feel him.

After I told him, Aiden, and Matt about hearing male voices behind me throughout my last run through the woods, they will hardly let me go anywhere alone.

“It’s called a jog. I’m trying not to draw attention to myself, remember?”

“Sure, that’s it. And what was your excuse before we started heading to your class?”

Tyr’s laughing chuff settles me as I head into the woods that run along the obstacle course, my chosen route to the vault today.