Page 93 of Veil of Shadows

The door opened, but Lars didn’t step over the threshold. The mid-afternoon sun shone on his scarlet locks, vibrantly highlighting them as he kept his face firmly positioned toward the floor. “We were going to head back to the clearing, and the others are wondering if you plan to join us?”

Jax nodded. “Yes, we’ll be out in a few minutes.”

But just as Lars was about to close the door, I called out, “Wait.”

The guard stopped but didn’t remove his gaze from his toes.

I clasped Jax’s hand tighter. “There’s so much going on here, Jax. So much we don’t understand, but we need to if we’re going to save your brother, and I don’t think returning to the clearing to continue our search is going to provide any further answers than what we found this morning.”

I let my words sink in, the inner meaning of them hitting Jax, then Lars.

“No,” Jax growled just as Lars’s breath sucked in.

“Yes,” I emphasized just as sharply. “I need to do another calling for you. It’s the only way to truly understand what’s occurring and find Bastian.”

Jax’s jaw locked, the muscle in the corner sharpening. “Absolutely not. I’m never doing again to you what I did back at the palace?—”

I brought my fingers to his lips. “But what if it’s different now? We’remated. Bound by the very stars in our galaxy. AndI’m stronger. My magic is freer because of the loosened collar, and I wasn’t adversely affected when I ventured to the Veiled Between in my dream. I firmly believe that it won’t be like last time.” I removed my hand from his mouth and coasted my finger over the mark on his inner wrist. “Please trust me.”

A shiver racked his entire frame when I touched my mark on him. “But is it too soon to demand answers of the semelees?” he asked.

I shrugged. “It’s close to two full weeks since your last calling, so it may be okay, but regardless, we’re mates. A bond lives within us that’s born of the gods. I no longer know what rules are at play.”

Warring emotions surged across Jax’s face, and I could practically feel Lars’s trepidation at the thought of me venturing to the Veiled Between again.

“Please,” I added quietly. “Let me help you. Let me find Bastian. Do it for me?”

I felt it the instant he surrendered to my wishes, as though a power greater than himself demanded that he please me.

A low rumble shook his chest, but eventually he nodded. “All right. We’ll try it one more time, but if it’s anything like the first time, that’s it, Elowen. I’m never allowing you to do a calling for me again, and please”—his voice turned hoarse—“don’t ask it of me again.”

I nodded, my brow furrowing. “I won’t. You have my word.”

I lay on the bed,similar to how I had the first time I’d done a calling for Jax. The others all stood around me. As soon as I willed it, my magic rose, and my soul detached from my body and shot me through the stars.

Amazement filled me at how easy it was to call upon my lorafin powers, but I also knew it’d only been days since my collar had been loosened, and sooner or later, it would tighten again and lock down my magic with chained suppression.

But at the moment, I was mostly free.

I shot through the galaxy, spiraling amidst the stars as I traveled to the very edges of the universe and reached the Veil.

The Veil parted like a mist, a shadowy curtain that opened only for a lorafin.

On the other side, the semelees stirred, sensing my presence as I entered their domain and ventured farther into the plane between planes.

She’s come, one of them crooned.

A large one slithered forward, its cool scaled skin gliding past me. Power surged through me, stronger and sharper than it ever had been before, and deep within me, I felt my mate bond burning bright.

The semelee paused, then dipped down, nearly bowing at my feet.What do you seek, Lorafin?

Where’s Bastian?I called upon Jax’s magic, feeling his hand still wrapped around mine even though eons of time stretched between us. Our mate bond heated and glowed.

An image of Bastian readily appeared in my mind, and I showed it to the shadow creatures.

The one nearest me slid around my legs.Ah, the same one you sought last time.

Yes, tell me where he is and how we can reach him.

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