Page 61 of Enchanted Shadows (The Enchanted Kingdom #6)

T he castle workers were decorating for Winter Solstice.

While I understood what day the calendar read, that they had delayed it as long as possible, I was immediately irritated.

I couldn’t think of celebrating anything right now.

Not without knowing my wife was alive. Not without seeing her with my own two eyes.

Boxes and crates were being pulled out. A massive fake green tree Jorah insisted on, as she refused to cut down a single real tree from the healing forest. Strands and strands of sparkling lights.

Glittery balls and stars. And those stupid little atrociously glittered whisps that clung to absolutely everything.

It was a time for quiet reflection and hope.

The ending of a year and starting of a new.

And all I felt was rage building. I couldn’t even see the decorations without wanting to kill something, namely two someones, Calix and Bram.

And I knew that even with Kessara missing, even with the castle still on lockdown, the wall still closed while we searched for all three of them, time was still passing.

It wasn’t really the castle workers’ fault they were decorating, and I didn’t necessarily resent them for it, but I did resent anything designed to be joyful and perky when I was clearly feeling the opposite.

They could cover every square inch of this castle in holiday decorations, and I would still feel the same.

By sunrise I had checked in with the team who stood guard last night.

They had heard the wolves moving in the night, but that was it.

It had snowed a light dusting that tossed everything in white.

The forest looked like a powdered dusting that Jorah used on a cookie recipe of hers, patches of snow around patches of cleared path.

But all that made me think of was how cold Kessara must be.

The truth of it was that I had now slept two nights not knowing where my wife was.

Not knowing if she was gravely injured or even alive.

And the darkest thought that came to me, one which I flat out refused to give a voice, was that small what if.

What if Calix and Bram had already managed to escape with her?

No.

There was a quiet yet smothering war waging within me, beneath my skin.

One in which I refused to give up hope but felt the weight of the situation all the same.

I had been trained to think through all these possible scenarios, I had been trained to assume the worst. But when my wife was the main character in the scenario, I found I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.

“Owen.”

I spun from grabbing a muffin out of the kitchens at my sister’s voice. “Wren.”

She took me in, head to toe. “You don’t always have to be tough you know.”

I let out a derisive snort. “Tough? If this has showed me anything, it’s how I am entirely the opposite.”

Her eyes filled with tears, and I sensed all the questions she was wanting to ask. When had things between Kessara and me gone from fake to real?

It was a question I didn’t even know the answer to myself .

I got a cup of coffee in a disposable container and headed for the door, tearing into the muffin for something to do. Jorah had snapped at me down our bond to eat something, so here I was, obeying my queen. Worrywart that she was.

Wren fell into step beside me. “I just wanted to check in to say that we didn’t see a thing all night long.

Fern is threatening to shoot water at random shady spots until she finds Calix.

And Pippa informed her that was a terrible idea.

Which only led Sam to launch into forming a more efficient and cohesive plan. ”

Even in the thralls of utter despair, I felt my lips smirk. That sounded exactly like my team.

Wren stopped me, pulling on my arm.

“What Wren? I have to—” I didn’t even know what exactly I had to go do, only that I had to do it. “Walk the forest again. Even if it’s useless.” We were still pulled back this morning, but I would walk that barrier and edge all day if I had to.

“Can I walk it with you?” she asked. “I’m worried about you.”

I was beyond sick of the worried glances and whispers by this point. “About me ?” I gestured toward the forest. “Kess is the one out there freezing and starving to death!”

Even though I had just bitten her head off, my sister threw her arms around my neck and held on. “I know,” she bit out. “I know. Miles told me you aren’t sleeping much. I’m not either. We love her too, you know.”

I closed my eyes, feeling the sun on the back of my coat, the burn of my emotions. “Wren, I can’t breathe. I hate this.”

“I know. We do too.” After a moment she added, “But I have to think that she will come back.”

“Because you refuse to think otherwise?” I whispered, voice raw.

Wren pulled back and smiled at me even while wiping at her eyes. “Because if she can put up with you in all your stubborn glory, that woman can do anything. ”

I took a deep inhale, a trick I had seen Kessara do a hundred times, to try to control her breathing when she couldn’t control anything around her. I saw Miles walking over, Miles who had again spent the night on my couch, which I knew from personal experience was not all that comfortable.

“I love you, Wrenchy,” I told her as I ruffled her hair, which I knew she hated. Life was just too short and too chaotic not to grant those words often and freely to the people you loved.

“I love you, big brother,” she said back.

“Wren is going to walk the perimeter with me,” I told Miles.

Miles was quiet a moment.

A moment too long for my sister as she snapped, “What now? I’m following all orders. We stayed out of the forest last night despite the fact that we are missing a very big part of our team. ”

“I didn’t say a word,” Miles said defensively. “Not a single one.”

“I could feel your judgy thoughts.”

I put up a barrier of magic around the three of us without another thought.

They both turned to me surprised.

“Knock it off,” I snapped. “Whatever this tension is between the two of you, I’m over it.

Life is too short for this shit. Talk through it, or don’t, but don’t do whatever this is.

So now I will walk the perimeter by myself.

You two will stay right here in my sound barrier and talk to one another.

” I held up a hand toward Miles. “And before you even ask, yes, that is an order.”

I dropped the barrier only to get out of it, and then put it right back.

I took another bite of my muffin, not even really registering what kind it was. Was it banana? Blueberry? Life had no flavor in its current state. I was beyond caring.

My eyes continued what I’d done the past two days, scanning everything, searching, begging.

Kess, where are you?

Miles wouldn’t leave me alone. This morning I had left him with my sister for over an hour, but now that it seemed they had a newfound alliance, they both were worrying about me.

All day we searched the barrier, plans made in the morning for a more methodical search.

We were going to move east to west, with a team waiting on the eastern side, for whatever we moved around.

The problem was that it was a forested area, there were numerous hiding spots, add in that there were shadows cast everywhere, and the hiding spots for someone who wielded shadows were endless.

Not to mention up in the trees, or in the caves and caverns around the terrain.

We could have been walking past Calix and Bram, them right under our noses for all we knew.

And so here I walked back to the castle, for a third night of hell on earth. A third night of no news. I was beginning to fear we would never find any of them, never hear a thing. In which case I would be in for a life sentence of hollowness.

I headed for the shower, again just needing to break down a moment. It seemed to be the only time I was left alone. Like it was a coordinated effort by my loved ones, and it very well might have been.

“Miles,” I began as we finally reached my door. “If you even try to shower with me, I will snap you in half.”

“I—”

“You need to let me shower. Alone. ”

“We could always shower back-to-back,” he offered with a playful grin. “Or I can get your back if you get mine.”

I glared.

“Fine. It’s just that I made a promise to your sister not to leave you alone. It was either that or stay with her team to make sure they listened to orders.”

“One of these days, you’re going to have to be done being intimidated by them,” I told him. I had no energy for mincing words. Also lacked the energy to withhold them.

“Likely the day after I get over being jealous they have a water wielder and a shadow wielder,” he commented.

“Good,” I nodded. “Now that that’s settled, I’m going to shower.”

As the water started cascading over my tired muscles, every joint seeming to scream with exhaustion, I thought again that by tomorrow at this time, maybe I would know more.

It was a trick I was playing with my own thoughts.

I had the same thought last night, and I knew possibly even less this night than I had before.

But I couldn’t give up. I wouldn’t even be up here sleeping if I hadn’t been ordered to by Krew, who was personally leading the night watch.

I didn’t know how to survive this; I’d merely just kept existing along as time passed. Kept enduring.

My magic flared as I got settled into another restless sleep. I was so exhausted I couldn’t avoid sleep, but I didn’t want to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I thought of Kessara marching down to the training ring and putting me in my spot. Or telling me she loved me. Or beneath my hands.

Why couldn’t I find her? Why did I keep failing the one person in the realm I didn’t want to?

I woke with a start a few hours later. My magic to blame. I immediately reached for my bond with Jorah, the one I had again frozen out earlier when I had needed to scream in the shower. I could tell and feel that she was in the castle. So unless the baby came very early, she was fine.

I sat there for a moment contemplating if I should speak down it to her anyway, just to make sure she was fine, when I heard a loud noise at my door.

Miles stirred but was mostly asleep.

My magic flared shortly after again. I’d been tired enough before bed that I considered that my power was urging me to sleep, to take care of myself. But as it flared a third time, I was now fully awake. If Jorah was sleeping, and no one was attacking me, then what the hell was going on?

I hadn’t bonded to Kessara, but did she need me? Did my magic recognize my terror, that with every breath I pleaded for my wife to be okay? Or was it trying to tell me that evil was lurking, shadows coming in the night?

It was then I realized if Calix and Bram knew the way down the secret passageway, they also knew the way back up.

Clunk.

Another noise, but this time I recognized it was coming from the balcony door. I was immediately up and moving, finding my boots.

“What is it?” Miles groaned.

I grabbed my sword off the bed where it had slept in Kessara’s spot the last few nights. I moved silently, peeking a look behind the curtains before making myself an easy target at the door. “My magic is flaring in and out again. I’m not sure. Cover the passageway, yeah?”

That had Miles fully awake with me.

It felt like we had only slept for a few hours, but actually we were about an hour away from dawn.

“I don’t see anyone,” Miles whispered.

“You won’t if they are hiding in shadows,” I whispered back.

I wanted to send out my power across my entire room searching for a mass of darkness, but something stopped me. What was the noise at the door? It seemed we were being lured outside.

As I took one more look around the curtains, I stilled. There on the ground by the door were two small flat stones. Just like the ones Kessara and I always threw across The Dead Lake trying to see how many skips we could manage.

Miles was cursing up a storm, getting himself hyped for what he was sure would be an altercation.

I moved to open the door handle, but Miles stopped me, pulling me back. “What are you doing?”

I threw him off and opened the door only an inch, reaching down and picking up the small pebbles. So small, and yet I knew for a fact they hadn’t been out here earlier.

I held one up to him. “It’s Kess.”