Page 57 of Veil of Shadows

“You’ll stay hidden from others?” Jax asked me, his eyebrows raising.

I knew his concern was about Mistvale fae. As unlikely as it was that I would ever be captured or interrogated by one, it was the entire reason he’d refused to let me be free.

I nodded. “I’ll stay hidden. You don’t need to worry. No Mistvale fairy will capture me.”

His gaze dipped to my mouth, so briefly that I nearly missed the flare in his eyes. Hunger filled them, and the heat of it hit me right in my center.

He’d been giving me looks like that all week. Each time, I grew flushed, and at this point, I was ready to combust. But just as fast, Jax was pulling black clothing from one of his bags and issuing orders.

“You’ll have to change back into normal clothes,” he told Bowan, Lander, and Quinn. “We can’t leave looking like that since fae in the city will see you. You’ll have to change into your raider attire once we reach the forest.”

“We can actually leave like this,” Quinn replied. “Nobody will see us.”

Jax cocked his head. “How so? I can’t cast an illusion over us. Fae may knock into us on the street. And you know we don’t glamour ourselves when our presence is already known in a city, just in case the glamour fails.”

“We’re not going on the street. We don’t need illusions or glamours. We’re going to travel using these.” Bowan opened his palm to reveal several tiny keys.

The keys glittered like metallic stardust, and my eyes widened. Stepping closer, I had the strongest urge to touch them but managed to refrain.

“What are those?” I asked curiously.

“Portal keys.” Bowan nodded toward Quinn. “He brought them along.”

Jax’s brow furrowed, and he planted his hands on his hips, giving Quinn a heavy look. “Where did you get portal keys?”

Quinn smiled slyly. “From Drachu.”

Jax’s eyebrows shot up. “Drachu? The Lochen fae king?”

Quinn shrugged. “He lost a bet, and I don’t feel the least bit guilty about it. After his raid on our northern coast last week, he deserved to lose all of these.”

Jax gave him a resigned look, his sigh following. “Do I want to know the backstory of how that encounter with Drachu happened?”

Quinn grinned wickedly. “Probably not.”

I eyed the keys again, my interest growing. “What exactly are those?”

“Portal keys are forged in theotherrealm,” Quinn explained. “Yet some fae in our realm have also acquired them.”

I cocked my head. “What do they do?”

Quinn pinched one between his two fingers. The key was tiny. “They allow one to magically transport instantaneously, like the Solis fae who can mistphase.”

My brows shot up. “You’re jesting.”

Bowan laughed. “He’s not. We’ve had these before, but not this many.” He inclined his head toward a jar on the table that was full of them.

My jaw dropped. “You wonallof those in a bet?”

Quinn smirked. “What can I say. I’m good at weighing my odds.”

Bowan laughed and clapped him on the back. “Normally, we don’t have this many portal keys at once, but since Quinn is well...Quinn...” He shrugged. “At the moment, we do.”

The prince placed his hands on his hips, and a small smile tugged on his lips. My breath caught. He’d gotten changed in the time I’d been talking to the other males, and he looked exactly as he had the night he’d taken me.

He glanced at me, only his eyes visible, and damn my traitorous body, but a pool of desire flared in my core.

His voice dipped, taking on a husky tone, his eyes never leaving mine when he said, “You’ll be okay?” I nodded again, and he added, “If nothing else, those keys will help make this raid in Possyrose Forest faster and more discreet. Shall we then?” he asked the others.

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