“Thought maybe we’d missed something farther back, but Brenna’s bracelet changes things. They were here, I know it. I just can’t see it.”
“Mmm.” Sev made a non-committal sound as he knelt to study the ground around the tree that had gifted them Brenna’s bracelet. Ran his fingers through the debris on the forest floor.
“You’re nearly as good as I am at tracking. Maybe better,” Sev said.
“I’m definitely better.” Rodric smiled slightly at his old friend.
They had been trying to outdo each other since they’d first learned the trade together, having met whenoneof them had angered a ferocious mother leopard. The deep peril had solidified their friendship.
“Eh… Maybe,” Sev hedged and smiled. “But the hard truth is, if that trail is really gone… you might have bigger problems.”
He was afraid of that. “Tell me what it is I’m not seeing.”
Dark, probing eyes met his, assessing him.
The back of Rodric’s neck tingled as unease began to slither down his spine. “Sev. Tell me.”
“You only have blinders about one thing, Rodric. The one thing you refuse to talk about, even to me, and we’ve seen each other at our worst.”
He studied the slightly challenging look on Sev’s face. “They magically made the trail disappear. That’s what you think happened.”
“All I’m doing is reading the markers, same as you.”
Rodric tilted his head to look at the darkening sky as he tried to work through that concept. “But why would mercenaries who hunt mages be using magic? That doesn’t make sense.”
“Makes more sense than ghosts.”
He huffed at his friend’s ridiculous statement.
Sev lifted both hands to ward off the visual daggers. “Maybe they’ve made an exception so that they can cover their trail. Or someone else is involved. It’s possible they crossed paths with someone they shouldn’t have encountered, and you’re seeing the result. I can’t answer the why. But the tracks don’t lie, Rodric.”
Smiling compassionately, Sev rose and squeezed Rodric’s shoulder in support. "You wrestle with that while I find our horses. That storm is moving in fast. Our time to search these woods has run out.”
Wrestle was a fitting description for the battle raging within him. This whole situation brought up things better left forgotten. Hard, painful things that had wrecked his family and wrung out his soul. Rodric dropped his head to his hands under the weight of it.
Stars. Avery, I wish you were here.Except if she was,hewouldn’t be here. Everything would be different.
Rodric had spent years avoiding anything and everything having to do with magic. For once, he wished he hadn’t. Then maybe his instincts would be better honed for such a unique situation.
Forcing his feet to move, he walked away. There was nothing more to be found. No trail, no evidence. No Brenna.
He needed a solution, fast. But magic simply wasn’t talked about in the open. It was talked about in hushed tones in closed-off basements and hidden rooms where secrets could be kept safe. Until someone let something slip to the wrong person and everything went up in flames. Asking questions was likely to get him arrested or killed.
The weight of the ruby bracelet was a warm comfort in his pocket, over his heart. At least Brenna was still alive. He still had a chance to save her.
Quickening his gait, he caught up with Sev to find his friend crooning softly to Rodric’s horse, Zora. The two had their heads bent together and Zora was rubbing her face against Sev’s chest.
Despite the horror of the day, Rodric laughed at the familiar sight. “You have an unhealthy obsession with my horse.”
Sev grinned as he rubbed the itchy spot behind Zora’s jaw. “That’s because I know she’s both the brains and the beauty of the operation. I count on her to keep you alive.”
“Hah! Well, there’s probably some truth to that.”
“Come on. Let’s get this beauty of yours stabled before the rain starts for the night and figure out how you’re going to find Brenna.”
Rodric took Zora’s reins from his friend, shaking his head at the sour look she gave him for separating her from Sev. She nipped threateningly at his hip as he checked the saddle over and tightened it.
“Watch the teeth, or you won’t be getting any sugar mints tonight,” he murmured to his sassy horse. Her ears perked at the mention of a treat, and she resumed a polite stance, standing still as he mounted.
