Page 86 of Veil of Shadows

“Of course, you know I’m always happy to speak with you.”

Jax stepped forward silently, the first move he’d made since we arrived at Esopeel’s den. He crouched beside me, and Esopeel took a few steps back.

“He won’t hurt you,” I said gently.

Her tensed body relaxed slightly, but she still eyed Jax warily.

Jax extracted a few rulibs from his pocket, the coins nearly a quarter the size of her small body.

“Will you keep us posted if you see anything further?” He stacked the rulibs at her side. “You could dispatch a dillemsill to one of my friends if you learn new details.” He gave her an address in the capital, but it wasn’t his residence, and I had no idea where that location was.

Her eyes widened, and she glanced toward me. I nodded encouragingly, and she replied, “I suppose I could do that.”

“Thank you. I will be in your debt if you’re able to help locate the half-breed we seek.”

Jax retreated back to the Wood, putting a safe distance between them, and Esopeel collected the payment, hefting the coins to the entrance of her den.

Once they were stowed away, she said quietly to me, “Is he the one that took you?”

My brow furrowed, my loyalty to her and Jax warring within me. I wanted to trust her with that secret and knew that I probably could, but I wouldn’t risk Jax’s safety nor that of his friends.

“No,” I replied, the lie rolling off my tongue. “He actually rescued me from the Dark Raider.”

But while I knew part of what I said was a lie, another part of me felt it wasn’t. Because when Jax had abducted me, he’d truly been the Dark Raider, a stranger, a foreboding enemy, but that was before I’d come to know him. Now, he was Jax. My protector. My rescuer. My friend. Mymate. My cheeks flushed when memories of last night brushed against my mind like butterfly wings, but it was the truth. He’d become so much more to me than the male who’d taken me from my guardian all those weeks ago.

Esopeel patted my hand, but if she suspected I wasn’t being entirely truthful, she didn’t push for more details. Instead, she said, “It was lovely seeing you again, dear Elowen, but please take care.”

I nodded gravely. “I will. And, Esopeel? If you happen to see Lillivel in Tassalee’s Market, will you please tell her I’m fine?”

Esopeel’s furry lips twitched into a smile. “I most certainly will. She’s been as worried about you as I’ve been.”

We returnedto the clearing again, in search of a way to enter the caverns below. Now that we knew for certain that half-breeds were indeed under the soil, and Bastian was likely one of them, Jax had turned into a prowling beast.

His brother was here. Just beneath our toes. And all we had to do was get to him.

“What do you think that means, what she said about the dark magic?” Bowan asked as we all searched for a hidden entrance to the caverns.

Jax’s aura pounded around us, yet the prince didn’t stop his searches. “I don’t know. Honestly, I’m not sure I want to know.”

“And what about those anklets she mentioned?” Lander added. “That obviously has to mean something too.”

Ever since Esopeel had released those details, a churning motion had settled in my stomach.

“Did you notice any unusual flares of magic around them when you saw Bastian and that group this morning?” Jax asked Bowan. “And did you see anklets on any of them? Do you know what that jewelry is made of?”

The stag shifter swallowed, his throat bobbing. “No, but I wasn’t scenting for magic, and I was too far away to feel any of their auras. And when I got close enough to clearly see them, I was only trying to discern their features so I could identify them. I wasn’t looking near their feet.”

Jax’s nostrils flared, but he nodded sharply.

“We’ll find him, Jax,” Phillen rumbled for what felt like the umpteenth time as he dug through the soil across the clearing, searching for a door or tunnel orsomethingthat would allow us entry.

“He’s right,” Lars agreed. “We’ll find Bastian, Jax. We won’t stop searching until we do.”

And now that we knew Bastian’s disappearance from Stonewild likely was because of a nefarious reason, it suddenly seemed imperative that we did.

CHAPTER 24

Hours later, we were still in the clearing, yet we weren’t any closer to finding an entrance to the hidden caverns. Everything we’d tried—digging, sending out magical pulses, thumping against trees’ bases for hollowed doors—hadn’t worked. We were no closer to discovering any entryway than we were when we’d arrived.

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