“Without her pack? Besides, Fara wouldn’t do something like that.” Anger flushed Lexie’s cheeks. “She helped Kerralyn in thejungle. She took care of Isi’s arm. That’s not someone who’d abandon us.”
“Then where is she?” Maddox asked.
No one had an answer for that.
A scattering of small leaves lay on the ground, and they weren’t here last night. I studied the cave floor, looking for any clues as to where they might’ve come from. Blown in from the storm?
The dirt was scuffed from all of us moving around, but near where Fara had been standing guard, I found gouges in the earth, grooves scraped in tight furrows.
Like something had been dragged.
Chills ripped down my spine, and I pointed. “Look at this.”
Bryson knelt beside me, tracing a finger through the marks. “Those weren’t here last night.”
They led across the open area and entered the jungle.
Fury boiled in my chest, partly at whatever may have stolen our friend, but also at myself for not sensing the danger. For not protecting her.
No blood. No scream.
Fara was…gone.
Sweet, nurturing Fara who’d helped Kerralyn when she was struggling. Who’d tended my wound without asking questions.
Something had taken her while we slept.
The jungle had opened its mouth and gobbled her whole.
14
ISI
We grabbed whatever we could use as weapons. Sticks, rocks, anything with weight behind it. My arm throbbed as I hefted a branch as thick as my wrist, but I ignored the pain. Fara was out there somewhere. We needed to find her before something else did.
Assuming something else hadn’t already found her. Those grooves…
“Stay close,” I said, itching to rush into the jungle to find her. “Watch the ground for her tracks.”
We crossed the open area fast, scanning the tree line for threats. The jungle pressed in on all sides, waiting. Bryson took the lead, and Maddox brought up the rear. The drag marks were easy to follow, furrows carved into the soft earth, leading straight into the undergrowth.
Thick, humid air hit us like a wall when we entered the trees. Sweat started immediately, making my leathers stick to my skin. If someone came at me with a blade, the clothing would probably save my life. But it sucked for walking through the oppressive jungle, especially still damp from last night’s rain.
The canopy blocked most of the morning light, leaving us in a green twilight that made everything appear distorted. Shadows slithered overhead as branches flipped in a breeze I wished I could feel.
Something high and eerie called out in the distance, a sound I’d never heard before. Metal scraping against bone. We all flinched.
Bryson paused, peering around, but the sound wasn’t repeated. Finally, he grunted. “Keep moving.”
Every step took us deeper into a world I suspected would be glad to consume us. Vines hung like nooses from the branches above. Thorns caught at our clothes, our hair, our skin. The ground squelched under our feet, soft and rotten. Everything smelled of decay and growing things left too long in the dark.
We followed a clear trail. Broken branches hung at odd angles, their white wounds weeping sap. Leaves had been torn and scattered, some still bleeding green where they’d been ripped from their stems. Grooves scored the exposed roots jutting up from the forest floor like gnarled fingers. If whatever this was had taken Fara, it had dragged her through the jungle without caring about hiding its trail.
A branch snapped somewhere to our left, the sound sharp in the oppressive silence. We froze, our hearts galloping. I held my breath, listening. The jungle held its breath too, as if it were listening back.
Nothing emerged from the green gloom. After a long moment that felt like hours, Bryson motioned us forward again.
My nerves stretched as tight as bowstrings. Every sound made me jump. A bird’s cry sounded too much like a scream. The rustle of leaves made goosebumps rise on my flesh. My injured arm ached with each movement, but fear kept me going.
