He was so stupid.How had he ever believed he'd make it out of the forest alive?He didn't know where he was.Maybe he'd already passed a town or maybe he was walking in circles.Either way, he needed to stop and wait for daylight.
A shiver took hold of him, and he allowed a small sound to escape.If he only could make it through the night, then he'd have all day tomorrow to find somewhere to stay.He could do it, right?He'd gone without food before.He'd been cold before.He had never been on his own before without anyone to ask for help, but he was an adult man.The others in his clan might not treat him as one, and Rourke might see him more like a prisoner than a real person, but he could do this.Right?
Fuck, it was cold.
He stumbled on something and thumped against the ground hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs.When he could breathe, all he could scent was the fragrance of the forest floor.
He had to stop.Next, he'd step into a hole and break a leg.With a sigh, he crawled up on his feet and tried to get a feel of the area around him.Not even the moon was cooperating.There was no light at all.
Slowly moving forward, he traced his fingers over the bumpy trunk of what had to be an oak.He should set up a ward.If he made a small circle around himself, he'd feel if something came close.Damn, he should've done it sooner when he'd still been able to see.
He took a couple of steps away from the trunk and clawed at his arm where he'd bled earlier.It stung, and wetness coated his fingers.He held the wound against a stone to anchor the spell.Then he took two steps forward and put an invisible pin on a fallen log.The circle was small.He didn't dare walk more than a couple of steps before making another focal point.He rounded the oak and made his way to the stone, completing the circle.
Exhaustion tugged at him as the web connected.He set it to react to everything.He didn't want to wake up face-to-face with a badger or something.If he'd was to sleep at all.
A sliver of fear wrapped around his spine.What if he didn't wake?
He did his best to quiet the voice in his mind and curled up against the oak's trunk.
* * * *
Chapter 13
Rourke watched as Jiprix drove off, not sure if he'd done the right thing or not by giving him a few cookies.Ezra wasn't a healer, was he?
"So..."Ulric gazed along the road where Jiprix had disappeared."Did he want to check on Ezra or are those cookies important?"
"I don't think he gives a shit about Ezra."Geri looked furious, which took Rourke by surprise.Since when did Geri care about Ezra?Had the cookies changed his men?
"We can ask Ezra how those cookies work when we find him, but we have to find him."He rubbed his chest again."We can rule out him going back to the clan.Jiprix wouldn't have come here to beg for cookies if they'd had Ezra in the coven."
"Where is he then?"Ulric looked straight at him."In the forest?I'd have known if he crossed through the ward, right?"
Rourke nodded.Twice Ulric had sensed when a witch approached.The wards must work."Let's search the woods."
The four of them rounded the main building and walked in among the trees.They fanned out to cover a larger area but made sure to be close enough that they glimpsed each other now and then between the trunks.
They walked for a few minutes as the darkness thickened around them.
"He'd have trouble seeing in this."Rourke spoke loud enough for Farkas and Ulric who were closest to him to hear."He has crappy night vision."
They didn't reply.
"His scent is here!"Geri's voice came from the other side of Ulric and they walked in his direction.Rourke inhaled.Yes, Ezra had been there.
Geri pulled his shirt off and undid his jeans."I'll shift to be able to smell better."He shoved his clothes at Ulric and melted into a large, almost black wolf.He dropped his nose to the ground and walked forward.Rourke followed, as did the others.An owl hooted, and Rourke scanned the surroundings.Why the hell did Ezra come here?
They walked for a bit, then the scent of blood, Ezra's blood, had Rourke rushing past Geri.
"The tree."Ulric motioned at a beech."He marked it before too when he set up the ward."
"We're at the edge?"
"Yeah, when he started to get tired, I cut through this area instead of having him ward the entire forest.Figured it was large enough to start with.He bled on this tree."
"He's bled on it again."Farkas leaned so close his nose almost brushed against the bark.Geri ignored the tree in favor of following a scent on the ground.
"Why?"Rourke didn't understand.Why would he cut himself and smear his blood on a tree?
