It occurred to me then how long he’d gone without water, and I felt guilt settle in my stomach at my carelessness. His cup sat untouched at his side, in danger of spilling due to his lack of spatial awareness. I was opening my mouth to remind him of its presence when he shifted from his place on the floor, twisting toward me.

He had a pensive look on his face, which suggested something was baffling him.

“There’s a guy who crops up in every ledger I’ve looked at,” he said, glancing over the four books strewn across the floor in front of him and the one in his hand. “It might be a coincidence, but I’ve never heard of him in the palace, and he’s the only one who doesn’t have his occupation or any other information listed. From what I’ve seen, he’s made over fifty trips back and forth through the Veil, and that’s in just the last hundred years or so.”

I placed the journal I’d been reading face down on the table before sinking to the floor to join my mate, easing gently into the narrow space behind him. My chest was plastered to his back and my arms were around his waist. I planted a soft kiss on the side of his head.

“That sounds like something we definitely shouldn’t ignore,” I said.

“Maybe.” He subconsciously melted against me. “The pattern just seems irregular. Typically, anyone who goes through the Veil either doesn’t return at all, or they come back after a while and stay in the Otherworld. They don’t really keep making the journey, so…” He leaned forward to snatch up the farthest open book before nestling back against me. “I checked the most recent ledger on the shelf, just to see how far the pattern continues, and he is the very last entry. The script is different, as if written by someone else, but it’s dated eight months before I was born.”

My brow furrowed, and I peered over his head at the book. “What was his name?”

“Zadok Velarde.”

Without warning, a gasp escaped my mouth and my entire body jerked forward, swaying as if hit by an invisible force. I squeezed Luca tightly for balance as a shooting pain pulsed from my nape to the middle of my forehead, my vision blurring as memories flooded me.

There was a Fae, tall and slim with twisting black horns and kind, familiar eyes. He threw his head back and laughed heartily as tendrils of magic flowed from his fingertips, bathing the palace in a violet hue.

I knew him.

Small hands cupped my cheeks, and once I blinked away the fog, I realized Luca was in my lap, staring up at me with concern etched on his face. “Are you okay? What was that?”

“I… I know him,” I said, voice slurred as if I were intoxicated. Luca dropped his hands to my chest. I mourned their loss on my overheated face. “He was my father’s adviser, and the main Fae representative in Edenglas.”