The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,183

if I wanted to get out of here, I was gonna need a little more than that.

No one ever talked about this place, but it seemed a few things were accepted as being true. Once, this area had been a normal corridor. Not anymore. The veils didn't seem to offer access to it like they did everywhere else. Then there was the most important thing. Somewhere in this darkness, I knew about a tiny little hole that would get me back to Daemin. I’d found it when I locked that veil to the demons. It had been left when Mammon ripped Luke's seal from the protective structure that had been created to shield the world.

All I had to do was figure out how to reach it.

If the five planes had been separated like Nick described, then it only made sense that the veil would be pulled along with it. That meant the distance would be further than I expected. So how could I pull it closer? Did I even need to?

So long as I could touch it, I could spread the pattern across the surface the same way I had before. The veil was nothing more than an imperceptible layer that lay over the world around it. It wasn't actually a part of it, but more like a bubble that floated just above it. Too close for anyone to see the gap, but that didn't mean it wasn't there.

But the gap here was bigger than all the others. So I forced myself to my feet, wincing as my body protested. I could feel the current hammering my shield, slowly but surely pushing me towards that dark void at the center of all of this. In other words, I had a time limit on top of everything else. I also couldn't sit here waiting for someone to come save me.

Standing, I had to try again. Swinging my arm out as far as I could possibly reach, leaning to get just a few more inches, I tried to grab the edge of reality. Shockingly, my fingers just brushed something. Even in the darkness, I could see the shimmer of patterns burst across the surface, but the substance felt almost gelatinous. Sadly, the symbols were so dim that it was more like a hint than anything I could swear my eyes really made out, but I still knew it was there. Right there, just out of reach.

So I squared my shoulders, braced my feet, and locked my eyes on the spot where I’d sworn I'd seen it. That was the goal. Then, refusing to even blink, I shifted the gate inside my body and let the unused life in this place pour into me.

The power from this place burned. Desperate to fill any available space, thick and ancient aether rushed in so fast I couldn’t control it. All I could do was direct it. First, I sent it towards the aches, bruises, and other injuries I couldn’t even see. Second by second, the pain began to fade as my body healed. But that didn’t use nearly as much power as what was available.

So I took. Greedily, as if I had a right to claim all of this life surrounding me, I pulled it in. It felt as if my body stretched to hold it all, but I knew that was simply because my senses had no other way to handle the sensations I was experiencing. And there, in the middle of the blackness, I began to glow with a life that not even my eyes could deny.

Instead of trying to shut it off, I had a better idea. I bent my knees and jumped as hard as I could, aiming for that place where I'd seen the symbols. The one that I knew was just out of reach and yet the edge of the veil. With both of my arms thrust out before me and my fingers hooked like claws, I hit something. My nails dug into it, the tips of my fingers following partway through, and I clung desperately.

Everywhere I touched, symbols were visible, but not the specific ones I was looking for. Yes, this was the Daemin veil. It was my way out, but I had to find the crack, and that was right beside my legion's names. Not even trying to force myself through the barrier worked, so I needed that one tiny little hole that was doing nothing but fueling this place even more. Sliding one arm through the