Priceless

said nothing.
    Letting out a breath, I turned my back to him and put my hand on the lock he couldn’t see. “Hang on to me, and close your eyes until I tell you otherwise.”
    His hands grabbed the waistband of my jeans, fingers brushed against my spine. I fit the key into the lock and turned the handle, the mechanism clicking as it unlatched, but otherwise it was quiet.
    I stepped through, O’Shea tight behind me, his hand not loosening on my jeans. The veil shimmered around me and I glanced back at O’Shea. His eyes were dutifully closed, but his face twisted in a grimace like he’d smelled something bad. I took one more step, which pulled him all the way across and his face eased as did my tension.
    Reaching back, I loosened his fingers. “You can open your eyes.”
    He did, and I took the opportunity to look around myself. The thing with crossing the veil was you never knew where exactly you were going to end up. Today, it looked as though we were in a medieval castle. Carved stone walls partially covered with expensive tapestries and oil paintings. Other than that, I couldn’t tell
where
exactly we were. For all I knew, we were in England or France.
    “Where . . .” O’Shea started to ask.
    I lifted a finger to my lips. Reaching for India, I could feel her life force stronger than ever, pulsating with a steady rhythm that would have given me hope if not for her lack of emotion. She was alive, but no one was home.
    Pressing up against the wall, I skirted the edges of the room. I didn’t have to look back to know O’Shea would be doing the same.
    Now that I was on the same side of the veil as India, I could pinpoint her with ease. Following the pull of her life force, I jogged, wanting to get to her as fast as possible. Distracted by my concern for her lack of emotions, I wasn’t paying attention as I should have been; took a sharp right and ran straight into the back of a tall, cloaked figure.
    I had a moment of uncertainty, back pedalling as if I could take back my blunder, putting distance between us.
    The figure turned; his face only partially visible in the light flickering around us. He looked like someone I knew, or had known a long time ago. Eyes that spoke of pain and suffering, yet light and beauty also captured their azure depths.
    “Well, Rylee, it seems the Coven was right. You did turn up after all.” His voice was smooth, and I had images flashing through my mind of black satin bed-sheets, rose petals and crisp white wine. I struggled against his hold on my mind. Except for the Unicorn, no one had been able to turn my gifts on me before. Yet, while I’d had no doubt the Unicorn meant me no harm, this man could hurt me without a single moment of lost sleep.
    Something pulled me back and I blinked, unaware I’d been slowly moving toward those blue eyes and hypnotizing voice.
    “Adamson, focus!” A growl rumbled in my ear, O’Shea pulling me back to myself.
    With a speed that surprised even me, I whipped my sword up, pressing the point into the hollow of the cloaked man’s throat.
    He lifted his hands as if he meant no harm. The bright slash of a silver ring on his left hand caught the light as he moved. “I won’t try to stop you; go rescue the child if you want. It’s of no consequence to me.”
    My mouth was dry. “Who are you?” Not that it mattered, not to India, but I had to know.
    He smiled, the edges of his lips creeping up over a glimpse of white teeth. “I don’t think I’ll tell you. Not today. Rylee.”
    A shiver rippled through me; my name on his lips made me want to throw my clothes on the floor, and writhe naked against him. Trembling, I fought the urge, but again, it was O’Shea who snapped me out of it.
    “Let’s go.” The agent shoved me in the back, jabbing at my spine to prod me forward and around the man who’d so fully caught me in his snare. That thought was what it took to drive me out of my stupor.
    I didn’t dare look back as we rounded a corner. “Is he following us?”
    O’Shea checked and turned back to me, shaking his head. “He’s gone. What the hell was that?”
    I shivered all over, my body and mind a mass of confusion. “I don’t know.”
    I placed my hands on my thighs and leaned forward, swallowed hard on the fear and confusion attempting to choke me, struggled to get a hold of myself.
    O’Shea grabbed my arms and stood me upright. “You can’t lose it now. We’re too close and we have to get the kid out of here. So pull