Chapter 458: Hello, Brothers

"I know," Nicholas said gently. "I feel it. Through the bonds. Your grief. Your guilt. Your desperate wish that things had gone differently."

"I should have refused the resurrection," Lilith said. "I should have...."

"Don’t," Nicholas interrupted firmly. "Don’t dishonor my choice by wishing you’d stayed dead. I knew what I was doing. I chose willingly. And Lilith, I’m not suffering here. I’m not in pain. I’m okay."

"How can you be okay?" Lilith demanded. "You’re trapped there. Consumed by an ancient entity. Separated from everyone you love."

"I’m connected to everyone I love through the bonds," Nicholas corrected. "I feel Sebastian and Lucian every day. I feel you. I watch over all of you. And yes, I wish I could be there physically. But this...." He gestured at the grey expanse. "This isn’t torture. It’s just...different. A different kind of existence."

"Elena said she can make you visible," Lilith said. "In the mortal realm. Through the ritual. Sebastian and Lucian can see you. You can speak to them."

"Then let’s not waste time," Nicholas said. "Take my hand. Pull me through."

Lilith reached out. Her hand passing through his translucent form at first. Then....as she focused on the bonds, on the connection linking them, her fingers found substance.

Cool. Not solid exactly. But there.

She grabbed his hand and pulled.

***

Lilith’s eyes flew open.

She was still standing in the center of the circle. But her hand...her physical hand was glowing with silver light.

And forming in front of her....

Nicholas.

Translucent. Ghostly. But visible.

He appeared slowly. Like reality was painting him into existence one brushstroke at a time. First just an outline. Then more detail. Features. Clothes. Expression.

Within seconds, he was there. Standing in the ritual circle. Looking exactly as he had in life except you could see through him to the wall beyond.

Sebastian made a sound like he’d been punched.

Lucian stumbled backward. "Oh my god."

Nicholas turned to look at them. A small smile crossing his ghostly face. "Hello, brothers."

"You’re here," Sebastian breathed. "You’re really here. I can see you. I can...." His voice broke.

Nicholas moved toward Sebastian. Each step making him flicker slightly, like a candle flame fighting wind....but he stayed solid enough.

He reached out and placed a translucent hand on Sebastian’s shoulder.

Sebastian gasped. "I can feel you. Cold but....you’re there. You’re really there."

"I’m really here," Nicholas confirmed. He looked at Lucian. "Come here. Both of you."

Lucian crossed the circle on shaking legs. He reached out hesitantly. His hand passing through Nicholas’s arm at first. Then...like with Lilith....finding substance as the bonds synchronized.

"You stupid bastard," Lucian said. His voice rough with tears. "You died. You actually died and left us."

"I did," Nicholas agreed. "Because it was the only way to save Lilith. And I’d do it again."

"We know," Sebastian said. "But that doesn’t make it easier. Nicholas, we...." He stopped. Unable to find words.

"I know," Nicholas said. "I feel it. Through the bonds. Your grief. Your anger. Your desperate wish that I’d come back. But brothers....I can’t come back. My body is gone. This...." He gestured at his translucent form. "This is all that’s left. Consciousness preserved in the bonds and in the Veil. It’s not life. But it’s not nothing either."

Elena spoke from the edge of the circle. "Nicholas. Can you hear me?"

Nicholas turned toward her. "I can. Thank you for creating this ritual. For giving us this time."

"We have questions," Elena said. "About the Veil. About what happened to you. About...." She paused. "About threats we need to prepare for."

"I’ll tell you what I can," Nicholas said. "But first...." He looked at each of them. "I need you to understand something. I’m not the only consciousness trapped here. In the Veil. There are others. Souls consumed by the entity who were strong enough to resist complete dissolution."

"How many?" Victoria asked.

"I don’t know," Nicholas admitted. "Dozens. Maybe hundreds. Scattered throughout the grey. Most of them are fragmented. Barely aware. But some...like me, retained enough of themselves to stay conscious."

"Can they escape?" Lilith asked.

"No," Nicholas said. "We’re bound here. Part of the Veil now. The entity claimed us and we can’t leave. But we can resist being fully absorbed. We can maintain our sense of self. And through strong enough connections to the living world...." He looked at Lilith. "We can reach through."

"The entity," Elena said. "Tell us about it."

Nicholas’s expression turned grave. "It’s ancient. Older than gods. Older than the supernatural world as you know it. It’s not intelligent in the way you’d think. It doesn’t plan or scheme. It just....exists. Hungry. Consuming. Feeding on souls that pass through the Veil."

"And it’s aware of Lilith," Sebastian said. Not a question.

"Yes," Nicholas confirmed. He looked at Lilith. "When you came through the Veil during resurrection, when your soul was here for those few minutes....you absorbed part of its essence. The core power that makes the Veil what it is. And Lilith....it wants that back."

Ice slid through Lilith’s veins. "What?"

"The Veil essence you carry," Nicholas said. "It’s part of the entity. A piece of its fundamental power existing outside its control for the first time in...." He paused. "Possibly ever. And it knows. It can feel the absence. Like you cut off someone’s arm and they can feel the phantom pain."

"So the entity is going to come for Lilith?" Lucian demanded.

"It wants to," Nicholas said. "But it can’t leave the Veil. It’s bound to this space. So it’s trying to pull her back here. Every time Lilith accesses her power, especially when she uses both life and death magic simultaneously....she’s touching the Veil. Creating a connection. And the entity feels that. Tries to use it to drag her consciousness back here."

"That’s why I keep entering the Veil when I use too much power," Lilith said. Understanding dawning. "During the battle. During meditation. My consciousness slips into the grey because the entity is pulling on me."