“That’s a good thought, but the way a healer’s magic works is in order for her to affect us, she has to be close by as well.”
Shawn nodded his eyes, showing his full understanding.
“Okay, so now explain how I’m to search for the magic.You said smell it, but is there something specific to the scent?”Shawn asked.
“It’s more rather the lack of scent.I know you’re just getting used to the idea of your Panther counterpart, but his sense of smell is incredible.Even when he’s not in control, your smelling capabilities outdo that of a normal human ten to one, easy.There is never a point where I don’t have some sort of scent assaulting my nose.Right now, I can tell you that there is a stray cat at the end of the alleyway, and it’s more than likely just dug through that dumpster and found itself what was left of someone’s muffin.I can tell you that this mud hole next to us has at some point in time had some oil spill around it and that you are chewing wintergreen gum.With Willow protecting them she’ll also mask any scents surrounding them.”
Shawn’s face scrunched up in concentration, and Ryan figured he was trying to find a way to smell any of the things Ryan had mentioned.
“I’ve got nothing.I mean it just smells like an alleyway, basically trash,” Shawn said frustrated.
“Don’t worry about the scent.You know how to track someone, look for what you do know.Leave the lack of scent up to me,” Ryan told him.
Shawn nodded and they set off on their path.They worked well together; Shawn wasn’t in Ryan’s way, and vice versa.There was no lingering, they easily cleared any building they could enter, and the ones they couldn’t they did their best to try and look inside.Shawn focused on the ground looking for signs of footprints, or anything El may have dropped.An hour into it, they hadn’t turned up anything, and either had Trip or Marcus.Everyone was frustrated and for good measure.
As they backtracked back to the bakery, Shawn stopped in front of one of the buildings that they had actually been able to go inside.He knelt down and ran his fingertips across the dirt-covered ground in front of the door.
“What is it?”Ryan asked.
“I don’t know.There’s something about this building,” Shawn replied, standing back up and dusting his hands off on his pants.
“I’m picking up a ton of scents here.”
“I know, and I know we searched inside, but there’s something drawing me back here.I’m going to go inside again.”
Ryan didn’t try to stop him as he gently opened the door and stepped inside.Ryan’s eyes immediately adjusted to the dark, but he watched as Shawn squinted in the dark.Ryan scanned the floor.The building was basically empty.There were a few shelves with leftover mechanic tools on them to the far side, but other than that there was nothing.
“I can’t imagine that they’re here,” Ryan said when Shawn began to walk around.
“Don’t imagine then.Think about it.Why is this building empty and unlocked.All the other buildings on this street that aren’t operating businesses are locked up tight.Why leave this one open?”
“Maybe someone busted the lock off it a while ago and robbed it,” Ryan shrugged.
“There’s no signs of that on the door.There is; however, a worn place where it looks like a deadlock hung for a long period of time.”
The hair prickled on Ryan’s neck.Maybe Shawn was just rubbing off on him, but he could feel a small glimmer of hope that El was there.Ryan still didn’t feel any distance between them, so he was convinced she was close.Willow was just really damn good at hiding them.
“Okay, so if they’re in here where are they.Willow can hide them, but I couldn’t imagine they’re just hiding out in a corner here for hours.They’d need a place with a bathroom,” Ryan said, moving to the other side of the building and feeling along the walls.”
Shawn did the same until they met each other in the middle of the last wall.
“It was worth a shot, brother, but I don’t think they’re here.We need to meet the others and regroup.The one thing we do know is that Willow won’t harm El.Maybe we should call your mom and go over the details of the prophecy again.Maybe we’re missing something.”
“More like details were left out,” Shawn growled.
Shawn sighed and finally let his hands fall from the concrete wall and moved in step behind Ryan.
“Why are you breathing so loud,” Shawn muttered just as they made it to the door.
Ryan stopped and turned to face Shawn.
“I’m not breathing any differently.What do you hear?”
“I hear you breathing.It’s loud,” Shawn repeated himself, reaching up and rubbing his fingers furiously on his ears as if the sound was painful.
“Are you hearing anything else?”
“No, just your loud breathing,” Shawn, growled.
