Page 18 of Veil of Shadows (Fae of Woodlands & Wild #2)

CHAPTER 18

I was breathless by the time I reached the inn, but I didn’t stop. I shed my illusion the second nobody was looking, then I sprinted up the stairs two at a time, darting down the hall and into Jax’s private suite at breakneck speed.

And once I was in his chambers, I nearly collided with the wall since I ran so fast to the jar that Quinn had produced earlier and left behind.

I fumbled with it, knocking it over in my haste to collect a key. The jar clunked to the side, thankfully not shattering, but a waterfall of keys spilled over the table’s edge and scattered all over the floor, going everywhere.

“Shite!” Fingers shaking, I crouched and snatched a single key off the floor, not bothering to pick up the rest.

Slow your breathing, Elowen. Don’t panic. If you mess this up, Jax and all of his friends are dead.

I sagged against the wall, clutching the key to my chest as I heaved in shallow gulps. I just thanked the galaxy I’d been paying attention when they’d all left. The words I’d heard Quinn use to activate this peculiar magic flowed out of my lips as I concentrated completely on where I wanted to go.

“Open key for thou I ask, I need a door for this new task.”

The realm vanished around me, and a void opened up beneath me.

I fell into nothingness.

Yelping, I held onto the key tightly as the realm spiraled around me, pulling me every which way. Panic threatened to close my throat. Jax. Possyrose Forest. Take me right to where Jax is. Please!

My breath rushed out of me when I abruptly materialized, my feet hitting solid ground. I teetered, my balance off, but I managed to stay upright. I stood on moist soil with trees towering above me.

The key I’d been clutching fizzled out of existence, and it hit me that in my haste to find Jax, I’d forgotten to grab more keys, and apparently, I needed another key for the transfer back.

Double shite!

Darkness filled my vision. The trees blocked most of the moonlight. I spun around.

“Jax?” I hissed, panic making my voice breathy.

“Elowen?” Jax’s shocked call came from close by. “Fuck,” he growled. “What are you doing here?”

Before I could reply, hands grabbed me and were forcing me down. His scent hit me simultaneously, pine and spice. I nearly cried in relief that he was still free.

Six other sets of surprised eyes met mine. His entire band was still free, but the rage in Jax’s aura quickly doused whatever relief was coursing through me, but the reminder of why I was here hit me just as fast.

“What in all the realms, Elowen?” Jax snarled. “Did you use one of those keys to get here?”

A large bush covering us rustled slightly from his agitated movements, and my grin disappeared.

I gripped Jax’s forearms tightly. “We need to get out of here. The kingsfae are coming for you. They know you’re here. That’s why I’ve come. To warn you.”

Dark eyebrows snapped together under his scarfed head, and he glanced quickly at Lander before growling at me, “What? How do you know that?”

“I heard two kingsfae speaking near the Venapearl Fountains?—”

“You were at the Venapearl Fountains?” His voice rose slightly.

“Yes, but”—I frantically shook my head—“I wasn’t running. And I wasn’t stupid. I hid myself under an illusion. I just wanted to enjoy my freedom.” I shook my head again. “But that’s not important right now. We need to get out of here!”

Phillen crawled along the soil to be closer to us, his large body barely rustling the leaves. “The shipment is only minutes away. What in the realm is going on, Jax?”

“You’re not listening,” I hissed. “We need to leave. Now !”

Jax’s gaze cut to mine, and something swirled in his irises, an understanding, a connection... Something that I couldn’t entirely name, but a swift current of energy passed between us.

He gave a curt nod. “Retreat. Now,” he called quietly to the others.

Trivan cursed softly under his breath, but nobody questioned their prince’s order. Everyone immediately began slithering through the forest, moving so quietly and low to the ground that they were nearly undetectable.

I did my best to keep up and stay just as concealed, but more than once, Jax pulled me along, quickening my movements while keeping me partially covered with his body.

When we were roughly fifty paces away from where they’d been hiding, the sound of distant wagon wheels carried through the air.

Jax stiffened. He tugged me closer, then raised his hand in a silent gesture.

Everyone stopped, and in a blink, Jax was on top of me, shielding me completely since my purple sweater was easier to spot than their attire.

Several of the others cast envious glances toward the approaching shipment, and I second-guessed if I’d made the right decision. They were about to watch their night’s raid pass by, and I could only imagine the disappointment coursing through their systems.

Another moment of doubt hit me. Goddess, I hope I didn’t mishear what the kingsfae were saying. My guardian had always admonished me, making me second-guess everything and making me feel that I constantly misunderstood things. That age-old insecurity reared, and I had the strongest urge to bite my fingernail.

Above me, Jax grew entirely still, his body hot and heavy. Nobody moved or made a sound.

I wanted to wring my hands. I wanted to apologize. Nothing was happening. The shipment was merely rolling by in several wagons. No kingsfae were about. Nothing seemed amiss.

Oh Goddess. What have I done?

But just when I was about to whisper that I was so sorry and had been mistaken, a burst of kingsfae atop domals abruptly appeared through the trees as if coming out of nowhere.

My eyes widened to saucers, and I clamped my lips closed to avoid making a sound. Jax turned entirely rigid, and in my next breath, he whispered a spell. Thick illusion magic from his Mistvale power cloaked all of us, hiding us completely, and a silencing Shield followed it.

The authorities spanned out. They must have been hidden underneath a powerful Shielding spell that they’d only just released. It was the only thing I could think of that would hide them for so long, but it wasn’t simple magic. A Shielding spell like that—if it didn’t come from one’s own magic—required potions carefully guarded by the authorities that were made by spellcasters from Mistvale and Ironcrest kingdoms using combined power. I’d heard such potions took months to properly produce, yet I wasn’t surprised if the kingsfae had drunk them to hide themselves.

One of the kingsfae glanced our way, but his gaze skimmed right over us, and I thanked the complexity of Jax’s magic. If not for that, despite the band’s dark attire, we likely would have been spotted.

Three dozen kingsfae atop domals trotted around the shipment. Swords were drawn, shields were held ready, and magic cascaded around them.

My hands fisted as the extent of the kingsfae’s might hit me. Magical devices glowed from within their ear canals, and I realized it was the same device the kingsfae had worn at the fountains. I knew those devices could be used for communicating, but something else I remembered registered in my mind. Something about those devices also preventing anyone with Mistvale magic from commanding them. Jax had once told me, if he was caught again, he wouldn’t be able to use his magic to command them again and escape twice.

“Any sign of them?” one of the kingsfae called.

“No, Commander.”

The commander snarled. “Enact the dome. He’s not getting away this time.”

One of the kingsfae threw something in the air, and a dome of magic burst into existence. It fell around the dozens of kingsfae, shimmering slightly in the darkness.

My eyes widened even more. I’d heard of the kingsfae’s protective magic over the seasons. It was a common tactical measure. Anyone who touched that dome was instantly paralyzed for several hours. The power it commanded was so intricate, so potent, that few were able to withstand its wrath.

Despite my heart feeling about to burst, Jax remained unmoving. His body was as still as stone, and I questioned if he was even breathing. Everyone else was just as silent despite Jax’s Shield containing our sounds.

The commander glanced at a female beside him. “Sheralynn, scan the area.”

The female’s eyes narrowed, and a swell of magic emitted from her. She scanned the perimeter, likely using sight sensory Ironcrest magic. Since the kingsfae employed by each kingdom could herald from any of the four kingdoms, their combined gifts made them uniquely formidable.

“Risalto,” the commander called to another. “Tell me what you hear.”

A male nudged his domal forward, then he closed his eyes, and a puff of magic radiated from him.

A brief moment of panic hit me when I realized that Jax’s illusion magic and Shield could hide us from sight and sound, likely masking us from the kingsfae with the sight and sound sensory magic, but Jax couldn’t hide our touch.

I held my breath as the female continued to scan the area. A moment passed as she carried over the Wood, her eyes tracking over everything slowly. Deliberately.

And at the same time, the second kingsfae continued to listen.

Stars Above. It felt as though my heart was going to leap out of my chest.

“Nothing,” Risalto finally replied, opening his eyes. “If they’re here, they’re entirely unmoving.”

“Agreed,” the female said, and her magic died around her. “I see nothing unusual.”

I released a relieved breath.

The commander seethed. “But the king insisted they would attack here . How am I to tell the king he was wrong?”

Jax tensed, the slightest tightening of his muscles.

I stilled. How does the king know that?

“I’m sorry, Commander,” the female replied. “But I sense nothing.”

Several of the kingsfae swirled their domals around, all of them surveying the Wood.

“Stay close to the wagons,” the commander finally called. “We don’t leave until this shipment reaches port. Perhaps the king made an error about the location, but that doesn’t mean the Dark Raider won’t be somewhere along this route.”

My heart thundered when another kingsfae kicked his domal to move deeper into the Wood, heading our way. He lifted his nose and inhaled.

Oh Goddess . The kingsfae was so close that if Jax hadn’t moved his band when he had, the domal would have been trampling us at this very moment.

The domal pranced closer, its breath huffing with every step. Closer. Closer .

The kingsfae stopped only four paces away. He scanned the area. Watching. Waiting. If he moved any closer, his domal would hit Jax’s air Shield.

“Berryl!” the commander called. “We’re leaving.”

At last, the kingsfae whirled his mount and joined the others, yet it felt as though I’d lost a full season off my life in that moment. Trembling, I forced my breaths to remain silent as Jax’s body remained as unyielding as stone atop me.

Finally, the wagons and kingsfae pushed onward. All of the kingsfae pulled out potions from their supplies and ingested them. One after another disappeared from view.

Nobody in our group moved a muscle. Not even when they’d left the area and the sounds of the wagon wheels faded. Even then, nobody said a thing as Jax’s illusion spell and Shield stayed in place.

Minutes later, when the shipment was long gone and the bird song had returned to the Wood, Jax’s magic at last dispelled.

He lifted himself from me completely, my back going cold in the wind when he eased himself away and to the side.

The prince lifted his hand and made several silent movements with his fingers. In a blink, Lars had a portal key in his hand, and everyone grabbed onto one another.

Phillen’s large hand enclosed my forearm, and I could have sworn his aura was trembling as he gave me a squeeze.

Lars began to whisper the spell to activate the key, and it hit me that nobody was touching Jax.

“Jax?” I called quietly and reached for him.

But he inched away even more. “Go,” he whispered quietly.

Wildness filled me, and I frantically grabbed for him, yet he pulled even farther away. “What are you doing?”

He shook his head and maneuvered to the balls of his feet, body still low to the ground. “I want to track them for a bit, to see what I can learn. They shouldn’t have known we were here. Go.”

Lars finished muttering the portal key’s spell, and the realm fell out from beneath me. The last thing I saw were Jax’s blazing sapphire eyes as the forest disappeared around us.