The Shadows Between

Chapter 1: The Veil Between

         New York never truly sleeps. Neither does the Otherworld.

The rain dripped off the fire escapes like silver threads, the mist curling around the neon lights until everything bled together red, violet, blue. The colors swirled twinkling at the tiny pangs of water droplets. The water hitting everything making it feel more belonging to the night. I walked through it all, my coat heavy with water and secrets. To anyone watching, I was just another detective out too late, chasing another unsolved case. But my badge wasn’t from the NYPD. It bore the sigil of the Crossveil Bureau the one division that policed crimes spilling between worlds.

Any major disaster you can think of we have had a hand in. Monsters, witches, fallen angels, creatures from the Rift anything that crossed over fell under our jurisdiction. Any creature you can think of, they counted. Anywhere there was a disturbance we have done our best to keep things smooth. We handle most of the laws reguarding how magic is used within and outside of the veil, to how you can get into exchanges for potions or charms. But tonight is one of those days, one of those monsters had taken Kerin Moldova. My best friend..  The only person who didn’t flinch when she found out what I really was. We knew each other from our mother's who happened to work at the same Bureau. Our mother's were quite the duo, clean outstanding record. Highly decorated at that, scary even for the most part, but they made in that for their outstanding work.

The air around me pulsed with residue magic. I could still feel the aftershock of the summoning spell I’d cast earlier my veins buzzing with too much power, too much risk. My kind of power wasn’t supposed to exist. Half witch. Half celestial. And something darker still, a whisper in my blood I’d spent my life pretending wasn’t there. Pretending wasn’t an option. There was something deep within begging to rip me open. Crawl out of the deepest pits to search for her. That deep pulling gnawing feeling that you get out on a hunch. Here I am walking, thinking of any way that I can..

“Kerin…” I murmured, voice low, lost to the rain. I reached out with my senses, stretching past the barrier between realms. Her energy was faint like the last echo of a song fading into silence.. She didn’t have much time left. I could feel her essence shifting back and fourth through the veils.

Then the air shifted. It buzzed and cackled with a low vibrating hum.

Another low hum rippled through the alley, and the mist folded in on itself. My breath caught as a figure stepped through tall, dark edges and quiet power. His coat moved like smoke, and those molten silver eyes locked on to me with an intensity that stole my breath. His gaze held up the end of the bargin as his skin listened from the lights.

Lucien Vale..

Otherborn.. Dangerous.. Hot.. The kind of creature who made even demons think twice before speaking. His stature for being highly decorated. He has made a big name for himself, not only just for his looks. He's cunningly clever, and deceptively deadly.

“You shouldn’t be here, Raven,” he said, his voice low, smooth the kind of tone that made truth telling sound like temptation.

“The Veil’s thinning. You walk too close to its edge, and it will take you with it.” His stance stiffened.

I straightened, meeting his gaze.
“Then I guess I’ll have to be a little faster.”

A hint of a smile tugged at his mouth a dangerous, knowing one. “Still playing the hero. Do you even know who you’re saving her from?”

My magic stirred, instinctively coiling around me. The alley lights flickered as I drew a sigil in the air, blue sparks flaring from my fingertips. Shadows twisted, hissed, then scattered back into the mist.

“Not yet,” I said. “But I will.”

Lucien stepped closer. I could feel his power even before he reached me dark, magnetic, humming beneath the surface. He smelled faintly of cold iron and storm air.

“You carry something inside you,” he said softly, almost like a warning. “Something even the dark fears. If you keep going down this path, you’ll wake it.”

I held his gaze, pulse steady even though my magic wanted to recoil and reach for him at the same time. My gaze is harsh, cold, and calculated. This is my moment to at least get a shot at figuring something out. “Then let it wake.”

Lightning split the sky above us, thunder rolling in slow and heavy. The air crackled between us sharp, electric, dangerous. Somewhere beyond the city, I felt the Veil tremble.

Something old was stirring.
And it was calling my name.
I wanted to open it's name.