Ties That Bind: A Muse Urban Fantasy (The Veil Series Book 5) by Pippa DaCosta

Author:Pippa DaCosta [DaCosta, Pippa]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2015-04-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

“Remarkable.” Akil spoke so softly that I almost didn’t hear him. He stood, cool and calm, beside me on the sidewalk outside Adam’s house. At least, I assumed it was Adam’s house. It was difficult to make it out beneath the foot-thick layer of frost. Icicles hung like daggers over the doorway. Cresting waves had frozen where they’d crashed against the façade. Even the manicured lawn and parked car had crystalized beneath a blanket of ice. Considering the rest of the street was frost-free beneath the amber glow from flickering streetlights, I could safely assume this was a demon incident, and I had my likely suspect.

“Maybe you should—”

Akil sliced me a predatory smile. “There’s no need to concern yourself. This is not the Prince of Wrath’s doing.”

“One, I’m not concerned about you. Two, how do you know Stefan didn’t do this?” It sure looked like Stefan’s work, and then there was the fact this was his father’s house. Stefan had been quite clear regarding what he’d do to Adam.

“I hear Wrath, especially as we’re both this side of the veil. He’s some distance away. The others, through the veil, are more difficult to locate and decipher.”

Prince FM. I wondered how that worked. Something to do with the flow of chaos, perhaps. I wondered if Akil knew what I’d done to Stefan. “Is he okay?”

Akil closed his eyes and tilted his head. “He isn’t in danger or distressed.” He blinked open his eyes and studied me, waiting for the explanation he wasn’t going to get.

At least Stefan was okay. Li’el had kept his word. Well, wasn’t the Prince of Pride a bundle of surprises?

“Did something happen?”

“No,” I tore my gaze away and immediately winced, knowing Akil would see that lie with his eyes closed. “Nothing. It’s none of your business. Forget it. We need to get inside this house.”

“The precise application of an element, such as this...” He turned his attention back to the ice sculpture. He gestured at the splash of ice branching out from a downpipe. “It takes experience and delicate control.”

“If this isn’t Stefan’s doing, then whose? There’s only one other ice—Oh!” I bolted for the door, skidded a few times, but made it up the steps. “Adam—Adam, are you in there? Can you hear me?” I gestured for Akil to follow. “We need him alive. He’s the only one who knows where Dawn is.”

Immune to all sense of urgency, Akil sauntered up the steps and sidestepped the icicles. “He’s alive, somewhere close, on the ground floor. I can dispatch the ice, but I’m prevented from entering without an invitation.”

“I can.”

“The anti-elemental glyphs will subdue your heat. You’ll be vulnerable.”

Me? Vulnerable? I flashed a bright smile. “I think you have me confused with the old Muse.”

“Do you know the demon responsible?”

“Yes.” I pressed my palms to the ice smothering the door and pushed the heat through my touch. “Yukki Onna.”

“The snow witch,” Akil confirmed, sliding his gaze back to the door.

“Adam’s ex.”

He splayed his hand next to mine and let loose a pulse of heat that vaporized the ice and scorched the door.

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