Up ahead, Ellard slowed.He flapped his hand over his face.“Can you hear that drone?”
“Yeah.”
“Force field,” Leeam said, his voice coming from over to her right.He and Sheera remained invisible to conserve their energy, although their faces had shone brighter after their kiss.Such an interesting race, and unlike any she’d met before.
“So the force field is above and in front of us,” Ellard said.“This doesn’t look good.I’m willing to bet if we walk in the other direction, we’ll also come to the force field.”
“If we’re in a trap, then how did we get through?”Gweneth asked.
“No idea.My best guess…it’s something to do with the ship.For some reason, it could pass through the field, but that doesn’t help us get out.”
“A ship,” Leeam said.“Can you hear it?”
They cocked their heads to listen, the uneven whine of the engines indicating the pilot had the ship hovering above them.
“They’ve found us.”
“Heat-seeking instruments,” Ellard said tersely, his large frame locked in position.
“I can flash up to the top branches,” Leeam said.“Stay here, Sheera.”
“Be careful,” Ellard said.“Until we learn whether it’s friend or foe.”
“I’ll be fine,” Leeam said.“I won’t be visible.”
“But I presume you still give off a heat signature?”Ellard scowled, his serious bodyguard expression.“Don’t get cocky.This situation feels wrong.”
Ellard continued frowning, his attention on the treetops, and Gweneth picked up his unease.They waited and waited.Leeam didn’t return, and without warning, the ship moved off.When they could no longer hear it, she exchanged a glance with Ellard.
“Leeam,” he called.“You can come down now.Leeam?”
Sheera’s face popped into sight in front of them.Tears welled in her eyes.“They’ve taken Leeam.I can’t find him.I can’t sense him any longer.”
Chapter 11
“Whatdoyoumeanyou can’t sense him?”Ellard turned in a circle, his gaze on the tangle of branches and leaves above their heads.He sucked in a breath, identifying the smells—the greenery of the plants, the earthy scent of the ground underfoot, and the faint floral perfume from Gweneth.No sign of Leeam, not a hint in their surroundings.
“It’s like he has vanished.I should be able to sense him in the way I could when we were all together,” Sheera said, her voice becoming increasingly higher and frazzled.“I don’t understand.I never heard anything apart from the ship.Leeam blinked off my inner radar.We have to find him.He could die if he can’t feed.We’re already weaker than normal.If it wasn’t for you and Gweneth, we would have died because we seem to be trapped in here.”
“Steady,” Ellard said.“We need information.We’ll walk in the direction the ship went.”
“If it was a friendly, they would have got Leeam to communicate with us,” Gweneth said.
Yeah, his thinking exactly.No matter which way he looked at it, Leeam’s disappearance didn’t bode well for any of them.“We’ll reconnoiter and gather information, then come up with a plan.Sheera, we need you to keep calm and help us.Can you do that?”
During the brief pause, Ellard steeled himself for tears.Tears were tears, even if they were the invisible sort.
“Sheera, you need to be strong,” Gweneth said.“We need to work together to learn what has happened to Leeam.I want you to go up to the treetop like Leeam did and tell us if you can see anything.”
“I…what if I disappear?”
“We will come and find you,” Ellard said in a firm voice.“But I think his disappearance has something to do with the ship.”
“All right,” she said, but her voice lacked confidence.“I’ll do it now.”
“Stay alert and keep talking to us the entire time.”
“I’m going now,” she told Ellard.“I’ll morph up to the sturdy branch up there and stand on it.Should I become visible?”
