Chaos Rises: A Veil World Urban Fantasy by Pippa DaCosta

don’t know anything.” I realized I sounded whiny and petulant, and Allard’s unimpressed frown wasn’t helping. But it was the truth. Whatever plans the demon had, he didn’t share it with Del and me. Then he was gone, and we were on the run in the netherworld—until the veil fell.
    I scratched at my arm and relished the human pain. It grounded me, reminded me who I was, where I was. Human. Gem. In Los Angeles. Not demon. Not in the netherworld. Not lost to the horror.
    Allard’s dark eyes studied me closely. “Interesting how a prince would go to the trouble of breaking you both out of an Institute facility. Why was that?”
    “I told you. I don’t know.”
    “Speculate.” The ground trembled, and a sound like a truck rumbling by shuddered through the air.
    Clearly, he wasn’t going to drop the subject. “Why do you think?” I snarled.
    He drew in a deep breath. “Be very careful, half blood. I’ve treated you kindly, given you sanctuary. How long do you think it would take for the Institute to find you? Minutes?”
    I clamped my teeth together. Control. I had to stay in control. Now was not the time to challenge him.
    Allard regarded me coolly, waiting for my reply. Further along the sidewalk, we’d earned ourselves a small audience. It was probably that audience that stopped him from driving me into the sidewalk.
    “The prince wanted our combined power.” My teeth tingled, lengthening. My demon was bleeding through, and I let her stretch, just a little. “Before the veil locked up tight, half bloods could draw their element from this world and the netherworld, making us twice as powerful as any demon—besides the princes.” Sighing through my nose, I loosened some of the knotted tension. “The Institute, the princes, they all wanted a piece of us. We were created as weapons to defend humanity against demons like you.” But it didn’t quite go down that way.
    Allard stood demon still, his predatory mind going over the facts. Had he known I had the potential to blast him and his demon buddies all to hell if the veil should ever fall again? He did now.
    He shifted his stance, ran the top of his tongue along his bottom lip, and canted his head. A new suspicious curiosity narrowed his eyes, and I started to wonder if I’d given away too much.
    “What did you feel, Gem, when you drew your element from the veil?”
    Unstoppable. Lethal. A force of nature. Like I could freeze both the worlds. “What does it matter? The veil’s locked. And I can barely make a snowball in this heat.”
    He laughed, properly laughed from deep inside. “Gem, you have me all wrong! I have a surprise for you at Fairhaven.” He turned and sauntered up the street, leaving me frowning at his back.
    What if the surprise is my brother?
    With a flick of my fingers to shake out the slither of power, I jogged after Allard.

Chapter 9
    A llard pressed his hand against the basement door. The glyphs flared white hot and dissolved with a dramatic lick of smoke. Had he bothered to look over his shoulder, he would have seen my impressed gawk, but he simply swept the door open and stepped to the side. I couldn’t say I wasn’t curious. I’d never seen anyone use the basement door, and Allard had never mentioned it. Still, there was something sinister about the cool stairwell.
    The hotel had settled around us. Most of the demons preferred the night and were likely prowling the shore. Perhaps it was that unusual quiet that had my instincts all jumpy. Whatever it was, I hesitated to pass Allard.
    “Really, Gem. If I was going to hurt you, we both know I wouldn’t have to go to these lengths to cover it up.”
    I forced a bright, utterly fake smile onto my lips and strode past him, chin up. Bastard. “What are you hiding down here?”
    “Patience, half blood.”
    His voice echoed down the stairwell, sinking into the bowels of the building. The door slammed shut behind us. I flinched, glanced back at Allard, and shivered at the sight