All Chapters of SHADOWS OF THE VEIL: Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
17 chapters
CHAPTER 1 – THE NIGHT RUN
Rain had been falling since sunset, the kind that turned streets into mirrors and made the whole city smell like wet iron and secrets. Greyhaven never really slept. The lights never went out, and the noise never died. But at 2 a.m., the city changed. The people who worked in the day disappeared, and the night took over—the drifters, the restless, the ones who didn’t belong.Rick Danner was one of them.He leaned on his battered delivery bike outside a rundown diner, waiting for the last order of the night. The neon sign above him buzzed like it was struggling to stay alive. Steam rose from his breath as he checked his phone for the pickup address.“13 Dockside Avenue.”He frowned. That part of town was practically abandoned. Nobody lived there anymore—at least, nobody normal.Still, a job was a job. He zipped his jacket, pulled his helmet over his messy brown hair, and kicked the bike into gear. The city lights stretched and blurred as he sped down the slick streets, puddles splashing
CHAPTER 2 – THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Rick didn’t sleep that night. He tried. He really did.But every time he closed his eyes, he saw glowing eyes in the dark, claws flashing, and that pale, red gaze burning straight through him.By dawn, he was sitting in a corner of his small apartment, wrapped in a blanket, staring at his phone. Lira’s last message still glowed on the screen:“They’ll be looking for you now.”He’d met Lira six months ago when she hired him for what she called “off-book deliveries.” They paid twice the normal rate, no questions asked. She always wore black, always paid in cash, and always met him at night. He’d assumed she was part of some underground courier network or maybe even something illegal.But now, he wasn’t so sure.At 7 a.m., his door buzzer rang.He jumped, nearly spilling the cup of cold coffee in his hand. For a second, he considered ignoring it. But the buzzing came again—longer this time, urgent.Rick crept to the door and peeked through the peephole.Lira.She stood in the hallway, bl
CHAPTER 3 – THE RULES OF THE VEIL
Rick woke up to the sound of rain again, this time softer, gentler — like the sky was trying to wash away the night before.He was still sitting on the couch, half-covered by a blanket. His arm ached, his knuckles were scraped, and his brain was trying to decide whether last night had really happened or if he’d finally gone insane.Then he saw it.The faint glow under his skin.A light that pulsed like a heartbeat, fading and returning every few seconds.So no, it wasn’t a dream.Across the room, Lira stood by the window, staring outside like a shadow with purpose. Her coat was off now, revealing a black suit and white shirt beneath — professional, cold, and clean. She looked like she belonged in both a boardroom and a battlefield.Rick sat up slowly. “You stayed all night?”She didn’t look at him. “Had to make sure you were still breathing.”“That’s comforting.”“It wasn’t meant to be.”He rubbed his eyes and sighed. “So… this is real? All of it? Vampires, werewolves, glowing hands?”
CHAPTER 4 – THE HALLOWED COUNCIL
The car’s engine hummed quietly, a low sound that matched the rain tapping against the roof.Rick had no idea how long they’d been driving. The city lights had faded away, replaced by dim tunnels and shadows that stretched endlessly.At one point, he thought they were underground — then the car tilted downward, the air pressure shifted, and the GPS on the dashboard went blank.“Where the hell are we?” he asked.Lira didn’t look up from her phone. “Beneath Greyhaven. The old subway lines. The Council’s stronghold is down here.”“Secret magical government hiding in an abandoned subway,” Rick muttered. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”She almost smiled at that — almost. “The Hallowed Council has existed for centuries. Humans like you built over their sanctuaries, thinking they were just ruins. You’re standing on top of old magic every day and don’t even know it.”The car finally stopped before a set of massive steel doors engraved with symbols Rick had never seen before. They glowed fain
CHAPTER 5 – THE BREACH
The elevator shook violently as it descended. Rick gripped the side rail, his heart pounding in his chest like a drum. Dust rained from the ceiling, and somewhere above them, another explosion roared.“What the hell are they?” he shouted over the noise.Lira pressed her hand against a glowing rune on the wall, forcing the elevator to move faster. “The Eclipse Order. Fanatics who believe the Veil should be torn down completely — that magic should rule over everything.”Rick swallowed hard. “And they want me because—?”“Because you’re proof it can be done,” she said. “A human who survived the Veil’s touch? To them, you’re a key.”The elevator jolted to a stop with a harsh metallic screech. Lira cursed under her breath, kicking the control panel. “Power’s out. We’ll have to move on foot.”The doors slid open with a strained groan, revealing a corridor filled with smoke and flickering blue light. The sound of boots echoed in the distance — too many to count.Rick hesitated. “You’re armed.
CHAPTER 6 – THE AFTERMATH
The wind carried the chill of dawn.Rick sat on the edge of the cliff, staring at the sleeping city of Greyhaven below. Smoke still rose faintly from somewhere far away, marking where the Eclipse Order’s attack had reached even the surface world.Everything felt too quiet — too calm after what had just happened.Lira stood a few meters away, her coat torn and face streaked with dried blood. She was pacing, talking in low tones into a small crystal communicator that glowed dimly in her palm.Rick could hear fragments of her words: “Council compromised… Saren led the strike himself… No, he’s alive, but the Veil reacted…”The rest faded into the wind.He looked down at his hands. The faint blue glow had faded, but the veins along his wrist still shimmered faintly beneath the skin, like something inside him refused to rest.“What are you?” he muttered to himself.“You’re lucky to still be breathing.”Lira’s voice came from behind him, tired but steady. She slipped the communicator into he
CHAPTER 7 – THE UNDERVEIL
Greyhaven never truly slept. Even in the quietest hours of the night, something was always awake — the hum of traffic, the glow of neon lights, the whisper of rain against glass.But below all that, beneath the city’s heartbeat, was another world entirely.A world that didn’t belong to humans.Rick followed Lira and Marrek down a narrow service stairwell behind an abandoned subway station. The metal door above them creaked shut, sealing out the noise of the surface world. What replaced it was silence — thick, cold, and alive.A faint blue light pulsed from the rune stone in Lira’s hand, casting strange shadows along the wet tunnel walls. The air smelled of earth and rust. Rick shivered and pulled his coat tighter.> “You sure this is the only way?” he asked.> “Unless you can walk through walls,” Lira replied. “The Free Circles don’t exactly have a front desk.”Marrek chuckled softly. “Don’t worry, kid. You’ll get used to the dark.”Rick didn’t answer. The stairs seemed endless. As th
CHAPTER 8 – THE SHADOW HUNT
The city above had already begun to wake when Rick, Lira, and Marrek climbed back to the surface.The rain had stopped, but the sky over Greyhaven was still heavy with clouds, hanging low like a warning.Rick had never been so aware of how loud the world was — the engines, the chatter, the sirens. After a night in the Underveil, the noise of the human world felt strange… almost unreal.He shoved his hands into his pockets and tried not to think about the whisper that had followed him out of the tunnels.We see you now, Veil-Born.Even the memory made his skin crawl.Lira led the way through an alley behind the old docks. She didn’t look tired, but Rick could tell by the stiffness in her shoulders that she hadn’t rested either. Marrek trailed behind them, his coat fluttering in the cold wind, eyes scanning every rooftop like he expected an ambush.> “So,” Rick began, “this ‘first key’ Sova mentioned — what exactly is it? A literal key? A metaphor? A magic glowing rock that solves every
CHAPTER 9 – BLOOD AND SIGILS
The man from the Shadow Court stood perfectly still, like the darkness itself obeyed him. His coat swayed slightly with the draft whispering through the ruined shrine, and when he smiled, Rick saw the faint shimmer of runes carved into his skin — glowing red like old embers.> “You don’t have to do this,” Lira said, raising her blade. “The Council may have fallen, but some boundaries still hold.”> “Boundaries?” the man said, tilting his head. “The Veil is cracking, darling. Boundaries are myths.”He lifted a hand. The shadows along the wall peeled free, twisting into shapes — half-human, half-beast. They had too many limbs and eyes that glowed faintly red. The chamber filled with the low hum of corrupted magic.Marrek growled under his breath. “This is going to be ugly.”Rick gripped the sphere in one hand and clenched his fist with the other. The burning mark in his palm pulsed again, harder this time, almost like it was responding to the enemy’s energy. He didn’t understand it, but
CHAPTER 10 – THE VEILBREAKER’S MARK
The morning after the fight felt wrong.The city looked the same — the same traffic, same skyline, same distant sounds of people living their ordinary lives — but Rick could feel the difference in the air. It was subtle, like the city itself had started breathing in sync with something ancient and unseen.They’d spent the night in one of Lira’s safehouses — a cramped apartment above an old bookstore that smelled of dust, ink, and faint traces of magic. The blinds were shut, and every window was marked with sigils to keep unwanted eyes away.Rick sat on the couch, staring at his hand.The glowing mark that had burned there during the fight had faded, but not completely. Faint golden lines still traced across his palm, pulsing with a quiet rhythm — like a heartbeat.> “It doesn’t hurt?” Lira asked from across the room.She was at the kitchen counter, her jacket off, sleeves rolled up, writing runes on strips of paper that glowed softly in the dim light.> “No,” Rick said. “It just… hums