Page 45 of Veil of Shadows

“Are you all right?” Jax pressed a kiss to my temple, and a tizzy of whispers erupted following that gesture.

I shivered and forced a nod.

We wandered into the barn, the rest of our group following, and Jax’s touches continued as we all pretended to look around and admire the domals. They were some of the largest I’d ever seen, and I wondered what events they would be used for at the Matches.

The aura around Jax swelled as we ventured down the aisles. So far, only stalls had greeted us, and certainly not anyone who looked like his brother.

I leaned up and pressed a kiss to Jax’s neck. His step faltered, but he quickly corrected himself when I whispered, “Sorry, I wasjust trying to get closer to your ear so I could tell you that this is likely the wrong barn.”

He squeezed my hip. “All right. Let’s walk the length of it and search for more.”

His pulse throbbed in his neck, and even though he was masking his worry in his expression, I could feel it since I stood so close to him. The end of the barn neared, and crashing disappointment rose from him in swells.

We ventured outside again and went to a barn farther west, but after searching that one too, we once again came up empty handed.

“There’s another one over there.” Lars pointed subtly toward it.

We strode through the crowds, admiring everything we passed, but when we reached the third barn, nothing about it showed any hint of Bastian being there either. So far, each barn had simply held stalls with animals, and that was it.

Worry grew in Jax’s aura, and I knew that he was thinking of the time that’d passed since his calling. Bastian could literally be anywhere now.

“The damn Lochen,” he whispered under his breath. “If they hadn’t...” But he cut himself off, as though realizing complaining about things he had no control over was pointless.

We were about to leave the fourth barn we’d checked, dismay evident in the prince’s energy, when I spotted a door with a large room closed off in the barn’s corner. I stopped, effectively halting the prince with me.

“What do you suppose that is?” I angled my head toward it.

Jax’s eyes narrowed, and his pace increased. He seemed to realize his eagerness two steps into it, though, because he slowed.

Only a handful of other siltenites were in the barn, and none of them were paying us any attention, yet Jax still kept his pace controlled.

The door neared, and the more I studied the enclosure, the more I realized that a sizeable room lay behind it.

When we reached it, I subtly brushed my fingers over the handle. “It’s locked.” Before anyone could reply, I whispered one of the many unlocking spells I’d mastered. The words flowed effortlessly out of me, not even a hint of rattling coming from my collar in its new relaxed state.

The door clicked the second the final word left my lips.

Alec snorted quietly. “You fit right in, Elowen.”

I gave him a side-eye but couldn’t stop my smile.

Jax turned the handle, and we all sauntered into the room casually as though it was part of our self-guided tour.

Inside, my eyes widened at what it held.

A dozen beds, bolted to the walls and stacked three on top of each other—all the way to the ceiling—waited before us. On the far wall, domal equipment and saddles waited, but it was obvious a group of employees likely slept here. A few of the beds even had rumpled sheets.

Energy spiraled out of the crown prince, and before I could say anything, Jax had the door closed and locked behind us.

Everyone kicked into action. All of the males went to each bed. Jax even bounded up several of the bunks to reach the top ones. He brought the sheets to his nose, then the pillows, going from one bed to the next.

My jaw dropped. It hit me that he wasscentingfor his brother.

All of the other males were doing the same, going to each bed and sniffing, their stag senses kicking in.

“Here!” Jax hissed. He’d stopped at the middle set of beds, his face going white when he lifted the pillow from the mattress.“This smells like Bastian. Elowen was right. He’s been here, and recently too.”

A moment of relief hit me that we found a clue as to where his brother had been, and that he was stillhere, but just as quickly, I wondered why that was and what had happened to Bastian to make him run from his only brother in the first place.

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