Beyond The Veil

Prologue

A staggering couple passed, giggling and too caught up in their own world to notice her.

She hated their drunkenness, the way they were overly enraptured with each other's company, and most of all their loudness. In their crass way, they demanded her attention, though they only had eyes for each other.

A cold look of disdain appeared on her face. Their very public displays of affection twisted in her stomach, churning and boiling, almost begging her to admonish them. But for tonight they were saved from her viperous tongue.

Tonight, it was reserved for a very specific target, and she was not going to be dissuaded by the two idiotic lost souls who never glanced her way.

With one casual flick of her gaze, she condemned them both, banishing them to the darkness.

The cross around her neck bounced against her breast as she marched onward. A small smile worked its way onto her face at the delicious thought of what she was about to do.

Her breaths came quicker as she thought of what she was going to say and the reaction it would leave. She longed to see the flash of realisation in her rival's eyes. The sweet moment when she revealed herself, to set the cat amongst the pigeons, and watch the fallout.

The smile grew as she imagined what they would say about her afterwards.

They called her pure, innocent, a perfect preacher's daughter. How she longed to set that image to rest.

If you flip a coin, were there not two images that appeared? Perhaps it was time for them to see the other side of her coin.

And pay reverent to it.

Be made to acknowledge that she was better. That she was just as desirable as they were. And that her rival was nothing more than a liar, a charlatan, pretending to be something that she was not.

But that pretence would come to an end, and her body quivered at the thought of being the one to unravel it.

She would not be the fool again. This time, she would strike first.

A sense of overwhelming joy overrode every other thought. She'd dreamt of destroying her rival from the first time they had meant. The feeling of satisfaction was likely to overwhelm her when she wiped the superior look off of her face.

A car stopped beside her, startling her out of her moment of joy. There was a nervous flutter in her stomach as she recognised the face staring at her from the rolled-down window.

'How did you know I was coming?' she asked.

'I was coming to find you,' a deep voice replied. 'I missed you, Charity.'

'But you were with her,' Charity accused.

'But I left her. I want you.'

Charity rushed to the car door.

'You've left her for good?'

'I only want you,' the voice assured her.

She closed her eyes, swallowing his words and savouring every morsel.

'What did she say of me?'

The man grinned, sending her heart into a frantic rhythm. 'You are heartless. That you stole her love. She never believed that you'd be capable of it.'

Charity laughed freely, her heart taking flight.

'I would have liked to see her reaction,' she admitted.

'And you will, but right now I want you.'

'You want to go...'

'Only with you,' he vowed.

Without a backward glance, she clambered into the passenger seat, her whole body vibrating with energy. Her desire to see her rival broken paled compared to her need for him.

His lips connected with her, and her toes curled in anticipation as the butterflies in her stomach soared, leaving only a feeling of pure unbridled bliss.

'To our place,' he whispered in her ear.

'To our place,' she agreed.