Battlefields: Veil Walkers Book Three

Chapter One

Author's Note:

Hi there! Thanks for clicking on my book. This is the third book in the Veil Walkers saga. It is a direct continuation of the second book, Over Yonder, and picks up right where that story leaves off. If you haven't had a chance to read that and the first book, The Survivor, yet, I suggest you drop back and pick those up. 

Dedicated to My Parents

Thanks for putting up with my bullshit all these years.

Chapter One

Home, Modern Era

The alarm had been both expected, yet not. The Veil Walkers had been gathered in their training room, working on strategies for the coming threat, when Danika had rejected.

Their newest team member had been with them less than a month, but what a month. Possessions, comas, a trip to the realm of spirits; Irem wasn't sure she'd have been as strong as the newcomer, but then she hadn't been demon-manipulated when she joined the team two thousand years ago.

Once Keegan had freed her mind, Danika had rejected quickly. They had saved her, thank God, but Irem still harbored worries. She could reject again at any moment, and they had locked away her powers for her own safety. When they unlocked them, which they inevitably must, they could lose her. They couldn't afford to lose anyone. They were too shorthanded.

Irem had to escape her thoughts. More important matters were at hand. She and the other ten Veil Walkers rushed to ops to answer the alarm. Since everyone had been in one location, they now all needed to take the same path, and in the same hurry.

Irem fell to the back, knowing she would stay behind when the others left for battle, but hoping she could still be useful to them. She had the suspicious amulet that imp had given them in her right hand, since it was the only hand she had, hoping Ming Yue would listen to reason. It was useful, even if she wasn't.

The others didn't think of her as field duty active yet, and she couldn't blame them. She had been sidelined for so long after she lost her dominant hand that she struggled to accept it as well. So far, both missions she had been on had ended sourly. That didn't bode well for her continued participation.

She was about as useful as the child who scampered along beside her. Irem looked down at Nanami, her surrogate seven-year-old Japanese daughter. Whenever her mom, Sumiko, was unable, Irem cared for the child. Those maternal instincts kicked in even now as she noticed the girl's left pigtail had slipped and she had a stain on the right arm of her favorite pink dress.

Irem threw out an arm to catch Nanami as they turned into ops, preventing her from getting underfoot in the chaos.

Cahya, the Southern Pacific man from the Niuean tribe, gave the rest plenty of space as he applied drag to his wheelchair so he could turn safely. He slipped inside after Irem, Nanami, and Danika.

It was a shame that he, that all of them, were kept from field duty. Cahya's reasons were obvious. His mobility restrictions over open terrain made him a hindrance and a potential hostage.

The still-recovering Danika would doubtless throw a fit at being unable to participate. She was arguably trained but had no battle experience and, if the scene turned out to be the one Irem suspected, she would be a hindrance to the timeline.

Ming Yue took over the situation with the skill only she could. The eldest living Veil Walker had seen the worst of times for the team. Once, Craeu, their ever-present foe and the source of the current rush, had left only Ming Yue alive. God only knew how the matron had held onto her sanity and rebuilt from nothing.