Veiled Shadows (The Age of Alandria: Book Two) by Morgan Wylie Read Free Book Online

I... Am I dead?” Kaeleigh stuttered out.
    “Do you feel dead?”
    “Well no, actually. I feel more alive than I ever have now that I think about it,” Kaeleigh said, stretching out all her limbs and rotating her head like an athlete preparing for sport. She closed her eyes. “I can feel, um, life... or energy coursing through my body,” she said with excitement.
    Eva nodding in approval. “Good. And no, you are not dead. You are very much alive. However, you are in a place called the In-between—a type of limbo between the realms. We cannot tarry long here for fear that you could get stuck... it can be a very dangerous place for that reason, but it was the only way for us to meet.” Her mother looked sad.

 
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
    Pacing the floor in front of the window, Chel nervously wrung her hands over and over while she periodically shot a glance over to Kaeleigh lying very still on that wooden table. She didn’t know what to do. Hunter said that Kaeleigh wasn’t gone completely; all that meant to her was that she wasn’t dead yet . She apparently was still breathing, but barely, and her heart rate had slowed way down, but he said that was to be expected anyway with her new changes. Chel could tell by what he wasn’t saying, though, was that it wasn’t supposed to be that slow and he was worried. Not doing anything for her friend... her sister... was going to drive her insane. For the first time since they began this adventure, she wished her parents were with them. They might not know what to do for her friend, but they would be there. Chel heaved a deep breath. She was scared, but she needed to be strong for Kaeleigh.
    Finn was standing hunched over Kaeleigh’s feet at one end of the worn wood table staring intently, willing Kaeleigh to open her eyes. Every line and muscle of his body was taut. His hands were fists as they gripped either edge of the table where he leaned. His breathing was deep and a muscle in his jaw kept ticking with each clench. He looked like he was either going to erupt and take down everyone in the room with him, or he was going to have some kind of breakdown. Every so often, he would spare a glance from Kaeleigh to watch Daegan, who stood statue still at the opposite end of the table, by Kaeleigh’s head. The edges of Finn’s mouth would curl reflexively, then soften as he remembered Kaeleigh needed him... needed them all if she was going to make it back. He couldn’t believe that this was where her story would end. He wouldn’t.
    Chel watched Daegan out of the corner of her eye as he stood solid next to Kaeleigh at the table, whether out of some developing loyalty or he just didn’t know what else to do. Chel wasn’t sure what to make of him. One minute he was ice cold to everyone, including Kaeleigh, and then another moment he seemed to be, well, less cold, especially to Kaeleigh. He stared intensely at the floor next to the table, but Chel caught him on a couple occasions shift a quick glance to Kaeleigh’s face, but then something akin to concern flitted across his eyes and they’d shift back down. Perhaps it was just concern that they wouldn’t make it to their initial destination; to take her before his leaders for whatever reason they could possibly want of her. She didn’t think that was all of it though. She had good instincts about people and situations. And Chel had bad flutters in her stomach when she thought of Kaeleigh going before stuffy royalty. She would talk to Kaeleigh about it if she woke up from wherever she was... Not if , but when. Chel shook herself for even doubting her friend’s return. Kaeleigh was strong, she would make it back to them... she had to. Chel turned back toward the window as tears began to fall from her eyes.
    Kaeleigh gave a slight gasp, causing all of them to look to her expectantly. But there was nothing more.
    Hunter shifted in a chair that he sat in next to the table, suddenly looking older than he had moments before. The