Read Drowning In The Dark: #4 The Veil Series for Free Online Page B

Mother-of-Destruction on them and destroy anything within range in the process. And underneath all that neurosis, Damien sits and waits, like some fucking monster ready to swallow me whole and spit me out, stripped of my humanity. So tell me again how I’m stronger than I realize.” Breathless and trembling, I whispered, “Jerry said half-bloods shouldn’t exist. That what we are—it’s impossible. I think I know what he means now. I can’t do this any more.” Dammit, I wasn’t going to cry in front of Stefan. He’d been through just as much, if not worse, and he wasn’t a jabbering wreck. Why couldn’t I get my shit together? I attempted a smile, as though that could paint over all the emotional cracks.
    Stefan’s lips barely twitched in response, but the diamond hardness of his eyes softened. For a few moments, I feared he might cross the room and gather me into his arms. I surprised myself by wanting it to happen, needing it to happen. But he didn’t move, and neither did I. Always distant. I couldn’t blame him. It was probably for the best.
    “You’re so much more than you think.” Jaw set, he gave a gentle shake of his head. “You think you’re weak. You’re not. So you’re not perfect. Survivors generally aren’t. I’ve seen victims, Muse. You aren’t one of them. You’ve survived everything the netherworld has thrown at you. You’ll never let it destroy you.”
    I wished I had his faith in me.
    I straightened and denied the doubt purchase in my thoughts. I’d come this far. I wasn’t going to lose my mind. Not yet. If the princes were coming, there were only a handful of people who could do anything about it. I was one. Stefan was another. He’d have a plan. He always had a plan. “What are we going to do?”
    “We meet Val’s force head-on. Get to the Institute half-bloods—that’ll make four of us. Val has three. We can beat back his attack here, or we take the fight to him.”
    Just the thought of releasing my demon sent shivers twitching through me: good shivers, bad ones, lust, desire, madness. If I had to go back to the netherworld, I’d be gone the second I stepped through the veil. My demon would win. Would I be like Stefan? Cold? Distant?
    I needed a drink. “Seven half- bloods for seven princes,” I mumbled. Surely that wasn’t a coincidence. The universe prefers order. What would chaos do to it should the princes prevail?
    “Four princes,” Stefan corrected.
    Right. One was here with me. Akil was locked down at the Institute, and the Prince of Envy had been killed by a little half-blood girl, a crime for which I’d volunteered to shoulder the blame. That left Sloth, Lust, and Gluttony. I was long overdue a date with the Prince of Lust—Asmodeus, my father—but had no desire to speed that process up.
    The few bites I’d had of breakfast churned in my stomach at the thought of facing him. “What do you need me to do?”
    “Find Operation Typhon’s Subjects Gamma and Delta at the Institute.”
    “Okay, I can try, but I don’t know where Adam’s base of operations is.”
    “Then find out. Appeal to my father’s scientific side. If he thinks he can get some value out of you, he’ll tell you anything. Nothing gets between him and the progress of the Institute. Plus, he’s fascinated by you. You’re the one that got away…” Stefan relaxed back against the wall and rubbed at his forehead. “I can’t go near him. I’ll kill him.”
    I figured Adam was on Stefan’s hit list. He was on mine. I puffed out a sigh and raked a hand through my hair. I really wasn’t up to this. “How long do we have?”
    “I don’t know… A week maybe. I only get whispers, pieces of their thoughts, bits of conversations. I try not to delve into what I’m hearing. Half of it I don’t even understand. I’m not sure I want to. I do know they’re concerned about Akil’s disappearance. It’s giving them pause.”
    “Is he part of their plan?” I asked, careful not to put