Gunnar, Gavin, Liam, and I reconvened at the store. We were still in muddy clothes, still tired from battle. And since we all either had magic or were magical sympathizers, we were fugitives at worst, in legal limbo at best. I still had the redheaded woman on my mind, and I hadn’t looked into my father’s magic yet. But I’d have to deal with both later.

Everyone else was lying low. We’d gotten a pigeon message that Burke was all right. Tadji, Phaedra, and Zana were back at Gavin’s CBD condo with Darby as guard.

We debriefed with Gunnar so he could talk to the Commandant and try to make the best of the situation. And then we let Gavin vent.

Yeah, he and Nix hadn’t technically been together anymore. But she’d hinted even to me that she hadn’t given up on him. And her betrayal was pretty harsh.

“I should have known,” Gavin said, knocking back another shot of good Irish whiskey from the bottle Liam had pulled from his personal stash. “Her name was ‘Nixon,’ for God’s sake.”

I opened my mouth to ask the obvious follow-up, but Liam shook his head. “It’s what she named herself when she first came through the Veil.”

“She said she saw a Nixon bumper sticker on a car ditched in Bogue Chitto,” Gavin said. “She thought it sounded pretty.”

Grief darkened his eyes. “I knew she wanted to return, that she never really felt comfortable here. But I didn’t think she was capable of betraying us in order to get back through. She knew how bad it had been to come through in the first place.”

I sighed. “Speaking of how bad it had been, I need to tell you something.”

The room went silent, all eyes on me.

“What is it, Claire?” Gunnar asked.

“When we were on the battlefield, the Veil moved over me.” I paused. “And when it did, I could see through it.”

I figured there’d be some oohs and aahs after that, but there was nothing. I looked at Gunnar, since the next part was especially for him.

“There were a lot of Paranormals. Several battalions in a field, in columns. It was an army waiting to fight, more than I’ve ever seen together at once. And there was a woman on a very big horse in front of them. She had long dark hair. Very pale. She carried a spear. She looked like she was in charge.”

“Wait,” Liam said, holding up a hand. “You saw through the Veil?”

I nodded.

“That’s . . . amazing,” Gavin said.

I didn’t want to be amazing. I wanted to be inconspicuous. “Maybe every Sensitive can do it,” I said. “I mean, how many times have Sensitives been standing right inside the Veil?”

Liam lifted a shoulder. “I honestly have no idea.”

“The army,” Gunnar said. “The woman on the horse. Does it mean the Court’s won? That they’ve conquered the Beyond?”

It took Liam a moment to answer. “I don’t know. We’ll have to tell Malachi.”

I nodded. “The soldiers were prepared to fight. They had weapons, armor. She called to them. I couldn’t hear what she’d said, but she called to them, like she was getting them ready to charge.”

“The army is assembled,” Gavin said.

“They’re going to try to open the Veil again,” Gunnar said, standing. It was time for him to see the Commandant.

“Yes,” Liam said, and we all knew that worse things were on their way.

•   •   •

Gunnar left to make his report. Liam went back to Devil’s Isle to get a shower and a clean change of clothes. That left me and Gavin in the store.

It wasn’t fair of me to push my drama onto him, but I had the sense he’d like the chance to talk about something else. “Can I ask you a question?”