How was he so much stronger?
Pamela let go of the sword, her fingers sliding off the hilt one by one as she stared into the opening of the Veil. "I … I need to give him time."
The rock around Rylee cracked and her eyes shot to the Veil, softening as she saw the one Pamela retrieved.
"There is no time," I said. In that, Talan was right. Either he would make it out of the Veil or he wouldn't.
I spun with my arm still around her waist. Shazer swept down between us and Rylee, and I caught his mane, pulling my captive and me onto his back with ease. The snow leopard and tiger shifted as they leapt, both housecats landing lightly on Shazer's rump. The orange cat bled from a few wounds, but that didn't slow her.
Interesting. I thought that was a gift only of Peta's to be both a large cat and a small one.
"Oka!" Pamela called out as we were yanked into the sky.
"I'm here." The now-miniscule orange cat grappled over my back to get to Pamela. She was barely half the size of Peta, even though she was bigger as a tiger. Peta climbed onto my shoulder and dug her claws into my leather vest.
I held the young witch in front of me, then leaned over the side and peered at the scene below.
I could see Rylee as she got herself out of the ground. Talan was there and then gone in a blur of pink lines that coursed over his body.
I doubted that meant I was done with him. Already there was a pull on my body and mind to follow the Spirit Walker to the north. Damn him.
I kept my legs tightly on Shazer's sides, holding onto him in midair. "Wait." I wanted to see if the one Pamela had called through the Veil made it or not. I wasn't sure it mattered, but a growing suspicion told me this moment might be important to our future, even if I couldn't pinpoint why exactly.
Pamela curled around her cat, and I kept one arm around them both. Shazer glanced back at me. "I have to take you where he wants. He's got a hold on my body."
I knew he meant Talan, and my anger spiked. "Mine, too. Do it. I will deal with him there."
Shazer gave a laugh. "I look forward to that."
Peta put her mouth to my ear.
"You realize what we've allowed to happen?"
I shook my head slowly. "It could have been worse, Peta. No demons came through the Veil."
"They won't," Pamela said softly.
"How can you be sure?" Peta asked.
With a shudder, Pamela turned to look me in the eye, her shoulders straightening slowly as she pulled herself together. "Because I was not opening the Veil to them. I was breaking it entirely."
CHAPTER 2
Breaking the Veil.
While Shazer flew higher, I kept my eyes on Pamela as I let the words sink in. The reverberation from the earth that I'd felt in my bones, the power and pain of the world crying out-I'd known nothing good could have come from that. But breaking the Veil? Was it even possible?
"Raven set you up to this." The words slid from my lips before I could even fully process them.
Pamela's blue eyes hardened. "I chose to do it, knowing the consequences."
Worm shit. I looked over her head, between the Pegasus's ears. There was more to this story than Pamela just breaking the Veil. I was sure of it.
"Shazer, how long before we reach the waterfall where Talan wants us?" I asked.
He flicked his ears a couple of times. "I think maybe a few hours at most."
"Then, Pamela, you have time to explain to me why you did what you did." I tried my best to keep my words even, and nonjudgmental.
She was quiet a moment, struggling to find the words. "I … the mother goddess told me to."
Of course, the mother goddess-the true mother goddess-had spoken to me, too.
"Any idea why?"
Pamela shook her head. "No. I went with Raven on my own. He taught me how to use my powers, taught me to weave them together. But when it came down to it, I wasn't sure I should open the Veil. The mother goddess told me to go ahead, that I had to break the Veil."
"And then she told me to save you," I said softly. "So for whatever reason, this had to happen. I believe you."
A tiny sob slipped from her. I tightened my hold around her.
"Did he hurt you?"
"What?" She turned confused eyes on me. "Who?"
"Raven."
"No, he … he saved me from the Guardian that came through the Veil. It was coming for me because I was the one to open it." She shook her head. "He would never hurt me."
She said it with such sincerity that it was obvious she believed her own words.