WHAT LIVES BENEATH THE VEIL
Book One: The Unblooded Lamb
---
CONTENT WARNING: This series contains explicit sexual violence, human sacrifice, psychological torture, murder of innocent characters (including children and family members), ritualistic killing, and extreme horror. No character is safe. Read at your own risk.
---
Chapter Sixty-Four: The Noble in the East
Year 13 – One Hundred Twenty-Two Months After the First Sacrifice
The whispers had become a roar.
Fifty-four souls now served Liora. They filled the shadows of the castle, invisible to all but her, whispering secrets in voices only she could hear. They told her about the servants' fears, the guards' patrols, the nobles' schemes. They told her about the powerful ones who remained.
There is a noble in the eastern estate, they said. A man. Old. Wealthy. His soul is worth two.
He is a duke. He has power. He has influence. He has enemies.
No one would miss him.
He is perfect.
Liora smiled.
Thank you, she thought.
You're so useful.
---
The Eastern Estate – Night
Liora traveled east, invisible as always.
The whispers guided her. Fifty-four souls, bound to her, serving her, hungry for more.
He is close, they said. His estate is ahead. He is inside. He is alone.
He is perfect.
She found the estate.
It was large, made of white stone, surrounded by gardens and the smell of roses.
She climbed the wall.
She slipped through the window.
An old man sat by the fire, reading a book.
He looked up.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Liora."
"The princess?"
"Yes."
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you."
He frowned.
"Me?"
"Your soul is worth two."
"What?"
Liora moved.
Faster than he could follow. Faster than he could react.
Her hand closed around his throat.
"Please—"
"Shh."
---
The Draining – The Duke
Liora reached into the duke's mind.
It was easy now. The black blood had made her stronger, faster, more efficient.
She found the memories.
The desires.
The fears.
...rich...
...powerful...
...influential...
...but old...
...so old...
...dying...
...slowly...
...painfully...
...no one loves me...
...no one sees me...
...no one knows...
...what I am...
...what I've done...
...the bodies...
...the secrets...
...the shame ...
Liora pulled.
The memories flowed into her.
The secrets.
The shame.
The soul.
Delicious, she thought.
More.
She pulled again.
The duke gasped.
His body convulsed.
His eyes rolled back.
She pulled again.
He went limp.
She withdrew from his mind.
She looked down at the body.
Still breathing. Still alive. But empty.
Another victim.
Another name for Finn's list.
---
The Fifty-Fifth Ritual
She performed the ritual in the duke's chamber, surrounded by silk and gold.
The whispers watched.
They had been waiting for this. Hungry for this. The dark demanded blood, and the dark would have it.
She spoke the words.
She made the cuts.
She collected the blood.
And when it was over—
The darkness purred.
---
The Power – Fifty-Five
The fire in her veins burned brighter.
Fifty-five sacrifices. Fifty-five souls. Fifty-five streams of darkness flowing into her, merging with her blood, becoming part of her.
But this soul was different.
Stronger.
Worth two.
Two in one.
Two more.
If I take another noble—
None.
If I take a mage—
None.
If I take a warrior—
None.
If I take a king—
None.
If I take a child—
None.
She released the spell.
The shadows retreated.
She looked at the body.
A duke. Old. Wealthy. Dead.
No one is safe from me, she thought.
No one.
She smiled in the darkness.
---
The Disposal
She burned the duke's body in the estate's fireplace.
The fire was hot. The smoke was thick. She worked quickly, efficiently, scattering the ashes before dawn.
No one saw her.
No one ever saw her.
She walked back to the castle as the sun rose, smelling of smoke and blood and darkness.
She washed her face.
She braided her hair.
She chose a white dress.
She practiced her smile.
Eyes wide. Innocence.
Mouth soft. Gentleness.
Head tilted. Curiosity.
Perfect, she thought.
She went down to breakfast.
---
Finn – The List
Finn added another name to the list in his head.
The duke. Eastern estate. Fifty-five.
He recited the list every night before bed.
Fifty-five names.
Fifty-five faces.
Fifty-five souls.
Fifty-five, he thought.
She's killed fifty-five people.
Two more.
Two more until the curse.
Two more until she becomes something new.
Something more.
Something the world has never seen.
He lay in his corner, staring at the darkness.
He did not sleep.
---
The Castle – The Silence
The castle had grown silent.
Not the silence of peace—the silence of fear. The servants no longer sang at their work. The guards no longer laughed at their posts. The nobles no longer shouted in the halls.
Everyone was listening.
Waiting.
Watching.
For what, they did not know. But they could feel it coming. A storm. A shadow. Something dark and inevitable that had been building for years.
Liora felt it too.
But she was not afraid.
She was the storm.
---
Liora – The Evening
She sat in her chamber, reading by candlelight.
Fifty-five sacrifices.
Two more until the curse.
If she followed the faster way.
If she consumed the powerful.
If she drained the strong.
If she took the innocent.
Two more.
She closed the book.
She looked at her reflection.
The girl in the mirror was gone.
Something else was looking back.
Something ancient.
Something hungry.
Two more, she thought.
And then—
Then the curse.
Then forever.
But first—
The powerful.
The ones whose souls are worth the most.
The child.
She stopped.
Not yet, she told herself.
Not until I'm ready.
Not until I have no other choice.
But the thought lingered.
The hunger lingered.
She wanted to consume a child.
She wanted to taste that innocence.
She wanted to feel that power.
Soon, she thought.
Soon.
She smiled.
The darkness smiled with her.
And somewhere in the depths of the castle, in a cellar that no one visited and no one remembered, fifty-five souls whispered her name.
Liora.
Liora.
Liora.
She heard them.
She always heard them.
They were hers now.
Forever.
---
End of Chapter Sixty-Four