Page 73 of One Merciful Moment

He ignored the orders. The veil would open, and he was going whether he was chosen or not.

Copper grabbed his arm. "Listen to me. You're too close."

Boone jerked his arm free. "I'm not moving."

"You're not ready." Copper stood in his way. "The veil will kill you if you try to cross right now."

"I don't care."

Lightning cracked across the sky. Thunder rolled so hard it rattled the storefront windows. The wind surged, nearly knocking Boone off balance. He flung his arms out, pushing Copper away.

Rain fell in sudden, heavy sheets, soaking through his shirt in seconds.

Copper shielded his eyes against the storm. "Boone, look at me. You can't do this. You're tethered here. The veil won't take you. It'll tear you apart."

Boone finally turned his gaze away from the sky, rain streaming down his face. "I need her."

Copper shook his head. "I know, but this isn't the way."

The storm intensified. The cloud twisted violently overhead, swirling above him. The air hummed with electricity. Boone's skin prickled. He took one step forward.

Copper grabbed him, but Boone shook him off. "If you cross now, you won't make it through. You'll die."

The veil shimmered. The faint distortion in the air appeared just ahead of him. The storm roared around him, wind whipping fiercely. It stung his skin. Lightning flashed again, closer this time, illuminating Copper's terrified face.

He refused to move. He stood in the street, soaked, shaking, staring at the veil as the storm built to monstrous levels. He had no fucking clue if it was opening or rejecting him.

He only knew he wasn't stepping back. There was only one way to get to Ashley, and that's where he was going.

The storm hit so fast Boone barely had time to brace himself. One moment Copper was gripping his arm, shouting over the wind that the veil would kill him. The next, the sky split open.

Lightning cracked. Copper's body lifted off the ground, yanked backward as if hooked by an invisible force, and tossed to the ground. Boone held his ground as the storm roared around him. Rain slammed sideways. Thunder shook the ground.

He closed his eyes, raised his arms, and stepped forward, sacrificing himself.

A wall of force slammed into him.

Hit so hard his feet left the ground. His back landed on the asphalt. The air punched out of his lungs. He couldn't see, couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Pinned down, he couldn't move.

When his vision cleared, he recognized the weight on top of him. "Moe?" he rasped.

Moe's face hovered above him, wild-eyed and soaked, hair plastered to his forehead. "Stay down."

Lightning lit the sky, and the storm cut off. The rain ceased. The wind died. The thunder faded. Boone blinked up at the calm sky.

His heart pounded. He grabbed Moe's shirt. "Did I make it? Did I get through?"

"No. But I did." Moe rolled off him and scrambled to his feet. "Jillian!"

A few yards away, Jillian was on her hands and knees. "I'm here."

Hair tangled, clothes soaked, Jillian barely got to her feet before Moe embraced her and swung her around. Boone sat up. Finn and Kallie walked toward them hand in hand, disheveled from the storm but unmistakably back in Everstill.

Boone stood, grabbed Moe's arm, and turned him around. "Where's Ashley?"

"We tried, but she couldn't come through," Moe said quietly. "Ashley's still on the other side but..."

Boone didn't hear anything more. Ashley's still on the other side echoed in his skull, drowning out the rest of the world. The storm had stopped. The sky had cleared. But inside him everything was shaking apart.