body on the table in front of her, ignoring the overwhelming feeling that was desperately trying to pull her on, so close and so beautiful . . . and then something changed. The tiny lights faded to a distant glow and Kate no longer felt as if she was being drawn along. Something like water lapped gently over her feet, the whispers died away, and Kate had the feeling she had done something very wrong.
The silver mist cleared a little around her feet and she looked down at a reflection of herself cast upon shallow water. Her boots were submerged—and she then looked out across the perfect waters of a wide blue lake. She listened for Da’ru’s voice again but heard nothing. Even the water was silent.
All she could do was stand there, stunned by the complete beauty of what she could see, until she sensed something moving beside her. In any other place, perhaps she would have been afraid, but instead she reached out, calmly brushing her fingertips through a surging current of invisible energy that felt ready to snatch her up if she got too close. She knew at once she was looking at the way into death, the only safe path leading directly through the veil to whatever lay on the other side. All she had to do was let it take her.
Kate did not know how long she stood there mesmerized by the gentle call of death, and she only stepped away from it when she sensed the air around her shift and become heavier, distracting her from its presence long enough to break its hold upon her. Something had moved beside the energy current: a pocket of dark energy that disrupted everything around it like a stone in a fast-flowing river. The water shrank back away from it, and even death moved aside as something stepped out of the rippling void.
Kate’s first thought was of Kalen—she did not want to see him, dead or not—and then the shape took on a more solid form, moving toward her until it was real enough to reach out and touch.
“Impressive,” said Silas, stepping out of the mist as casually as someone walking across a room. “To come this far yourself . . . even Da’ru did not expect that.”
“I didn’t do anything,” said Kate. “What’s going on? How did I get here?”
“You resisted death. By connecting you with Kalen’s body, Da’ru exploited a weakness in the veil, allowing your spirit to be drawn through to this place. But there is more to do if you are going to save yourself. My plans do not involve your death, so you must do as you were instructed. Return Kalen’s soul to his body, before Da’ru decides you cannot control your skill enough to be of use to her.”
Kate’s consciousness switched briefly back to the testing room, where she saw her hand still pressed to Kalen’s stitched wound.
“Find him,” said Silas.
“No,” Kate said firmly. “He deserves to be dead.”
“And do you want to join him? Da’ru will do it without hesitation. She will sever your spirit from this life at the first sign of failure. Her ruthlessness has led many of the Skilled to their deaths. Do not let your stubbornness lead you to yours. There is a time for everything, and this is not the time to fight her.”
Kate did not see Silas step behind her. He moved as if he was a part of the veil, not caught within it, and he reached around and held his hand against her forehead, forcing her to focus upon what she had to do. She did not feel the touch of his skin, only a brush of cold air. There was energy within it: a force that intensified slowly, radiating out from his palm.
“Do not fight against the veil,” he said. “Embrace it.”
The silvery mist flooded all of Kate’s senses at once. Suddenly she could smell the water, feel the touch of the wind, and hear whispered voices drifting close to her again; only now she could also see the whisperers themselves, shadowed forms caught within beautiful flashes of dancing color, filling the surface of the lake like patches of floating moonlight.
“These are the lucky ones,” said Silas. “Each one of these souls has a chance to enter death when they are ready for it. Kalen’s death was a clean one. He should be here.”
“I can see him,” said Kate, her eyes drawn to an energy drifting alone near the center of