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“Well, we just have to hope they don’t come back,” I said, setting the torch into the holder on the wall as I tried to decide where to begin.Averee can keep watch at the door while I—I dispelled the thought before it formed. Averee had stopped speaking to me weeks before I’d left Askeland. But I still couldn’t get used to us not watching each other’s backs after we’d trained together every day for half our lives. I kept having to remind myself that we weren’t best friends anymore. It was just me and Kah now. We had to do this on our own.

Not knowing where the Jakeens would have hidden a stone of power, I tore through the room, searching every shelf, looking behind the wooden bookcases, and even checking the walls for signs of hidden compartments or passageways.

Nothing.

I clenched my fists in frustration. I’d been sosureI’d find the stone here. Except, I’d had nothing to go on but a stupid hunch.

I hated hunches.

If I’d been able to use my magic to find the stone, we would’ve tracked it down months ago. Kovaks were master trackers. Like most of the other tribes, we embodied the traits of our kana. Terrans were strong and solid like the earth. Riders were as swift on their feet as they are on horseback. Jakeens were as resilient as the eron metal that coated their skin and tended to live longer than the rest of us.

For Kovaks, our magic connected us to our bears’ animal instincts so we could track like them, hunt like them, and fight like them. At my father’s insistence, I’d spent most of my life training and strengthening my magic. To become the best. So, Ishouldhave been home by now, stone in hand, getting married to Lila. Except, for some reason, my magic had failed me when searching for the Zavien stone, forcing me to rely on less reliable means of tracking—like seers, hunches, and dumb luck. None of which had worked so far.

“Should we check under Thrailkull’s mattress now?” Kah said.

“Not helping, Kah.”

“Well, now what?”

“We search these archives,” I said. “We’ll look for anything we can find about stones or magical objects.”

Kah was silent, probably deliberating on whether to remind me that we’d already torn apart the archives back home in Askeland without finding a single mention of the stone. I hadn’t forgotten. I just hoped the Jakeens kept better records than the Kovaks.

As I moved along the line of shelves, we both scanned the spines of the decaying leather books. There was information oneverything from the history of magic to wrangling wild horses to ancient maps of Eastlandra. The sheer mass of written material surrounding us was overwhelming. Skies, this could take days.

I glanced over my shoulder to check the door. No sign of any Rathalans.

“Wait,” said Kah, noticing something. “Go back to the table.”

I did as he said, noticing a thick, green, leather book lying on top of a disheveled pile of books and scrolls. When I moved toward it, the faded title caught the torch light.

Stones, Runes, and Minerals of Eastlandra.

“Skies, this is it.” Holding my breath, I flipped through the brittle parchment pages while Kah and I both scanned for any mention of the wordZavien.

“There’s nothing there,” Kah said with a heavy sigh when I reached the end.

I rubbed the back of my neck. “There must be. Maybe we missed it or—” I stopped short, staring at the table.

“What is it?”

“Something’s not right.” The pile of materials scattered across the table didn’t appear to be random like I’d assumed. I shuffled through the stacks of books and then tore open the discarded scrolls, discovering one very familiar topic—magical objects.

Kah sucked in a breath. “Someone was looking for the same information we are.”

We both knew what that meant.Someone else might be after the stone.

The air in the room suddenly seemed to become heavier.

“The question is, did they find what they were looking for?” I said.

“There was a book open on the table when we got here. Which one was it?” Kah said. “That might give us a clue if they found anything.”

“It had a rusty brown cover … wait, here,” I pulled the book from the pile and read the title.

The Tribes of Eastlandra.

I could sense Kah staring at it through the necklace. “Strange, it seems to be the only one not about magical objects.”