Page 155 of Stormvein

“What if I don’t like what we find?”

“Then we’ll deal with it. Together.”

She blinks, then nods, stepping forward so she can wrap her arms around my waist, and bury her face into the front of my shirt.

Standing here with her in my arms feels right, natural, and I’m not entirely sure what that means, but if it’s what she needs, then I find myself willing to give it to her.

I fought alongside many during my years as leader of the Veinwardens, but there was always a necessary distance kept between me and everyone else, even Varam. Legacy, position, power—all things that make it difficult to maintainnormalrelationships. But with Ellie, it’s different. What began in the tower has evolved into something far beyond anything I expected.

We remain that way until there’s a quiet knock on the door. Ellie sucks in a breath and moves back, putting some space between us as the door swings open to allow Varam and another man to enter.

“Lord Torran,” he says. “This is Jaris.”

The fighter who enters has a scar running from eye to jaw. He limps toward me, one hand pressed to his heart.

“My Lord, Hi?—”

“Please, sit. There is no need for formality here.”

He settles onto a chair with a slight grimace, the movement clearly aggravating old wounds.

“Varam says you are looking for information about Silvermist Pass.”

“Yes. What can you remember about that raid?”

“I remember it was strange. Not like our usual ambushes.”

“How so?”

“We typically hit Authority convoys moving prisoners to Blackvault when we had the numbers. You know this. Youled many of them yourself before—” His teeth snap together, tactfully avoiding mention of Sereven’s betrayal and my capture.

“Continue.”

“Rumors reached us about a special prisoner. A child the Authority was keeping separate from the other captives.”

“How young?” The question comes from Ellie before I can say anything.

He hesitates, looking at me. I nod, telling him to answer her.

“No more than three, I’d say. Still small enough to be carried. Normally, we wouldn’t commit resources to a single prisoner, but this was different. We’d ambush, free who we could, and get out. But there were more than thirty fighters organized for this one.”

“That would have been risky. Harder to hide that large a group. Who arranged it?”

“That’s what made it different. The four remaining Veinblood masters came together for it. Kalliss, Meren, Nyassa, and Vorith.” He shakes his head. “I’d never seen them all in one place before.”

“All four?Together?”With the focus on purging all those with Veinblood powers, for all four masters to unite behind a single cause means the mission was urgent.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. Earthvein, Flamevein, Tidevein, and Windvein powers working in concert.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“We ambushed the convoy at Silvermist Pass. The Authority had more guards than we expected.” His expression darkens. “We lost good people that day. But the masters … they cut through the lines like they weren’t even there, and reached the child.”

“Did you see the child? Female or male?”

“Only from a distance. A little girl.”

“After the rescue, where did they take her?”