“Sunaya,” Fenris’s voice was heavy with dread, and I turned to look at him as nerves prickled along my arms. “Look up there.”
I followed to where his snout pointed, and my heart sank into my shoes. High up a tree across the stream, there was a tiny glowing stone winking from an empty nest.
“No. No, that’s not possible.” I took a step back as denial ripped through me. “That can’t be right.”
“Do you want me to retrieve it?” Fenris asked gently.
“No.” I set my jaw. “I’ll get it.”
I leaped across the river, my booted feet landing firmly on the other side, then with a running jump grasped one of the lower-hanging, but sturdy branches. With a grunt, I hefted myself up, then continued climbing until I reached the branch the nest was sitting on. Tears filled my eyes as I recognized the thicker, more masculine silver links glittering between the small twigs and feathers of the nest – it was the same chain Iannis had put around my neck, and later his own, when we’d made these charms back in Solantha.
I took a deep breath and blinked the tears away, then reached out and carefully untangled the necklace from the nest. Instantly the throbbing pulse died away, only to be replaced by a hollow feeling of despair as I stared at the charm resting in the palm of my hand.
I’d thought that Iannis was going to be at the other end of this chain, but I was wrong. He’d taken it off, and now he was gone.
“Sunaya, you need to calm down.”
“Calm down!” I whirled around, a snarl on my lips as I shot Fenris a death glare. He and Annia had been waiting for me to settle down so we could plan our next move, standing by as I paced furiously beneath the trees.
But I didn’t want to calm down. My beast was close to the surface here, furious that I’d failed in my quest to find Iannis. The one advantage we’d held, the serapha charm, had proven to be utterly useless. Worse, from what I understood, the only way Iannis would have been separated from the charm was if he had taken it off voluntarily.
“Why would he take it off?” I raged, turning on my heel again so I could continue pacing. I wanted to punch something, and at the moment Iannis’s face would have been the preferred target. What the fuck was he thinking, taking off the charm? “Did he decide that he didn’t want to be found? That doesn’t make any sense!”
“It is possible the charm was taken by force or trickery,” Fenris said, his voice steady.
I turned again to face him. “How? Iannis said –”
“I know what Iannis said,” Fenris snapped. “In case you’ve forgotten, it was my suggestion that he use the serapha charms in the first place. And while they generally cannot be removed by anyone other than the wearer, an unusually strong mage could find a way.”
“What, you mean like by torture or mind control?” The very idea sent a shudder through me.
“Those are two possible options, yes.” Fenris’s voice calmed again. “I don’t believe Iannis would willingly get rid of the charm, not when it’s his only link to you, and the only way for you to seek him out.”
I let out a breath as shame swept through me. Fenris was so calm and controlled, but the truth was he had every reason to be just as upset as I was. He’d known Iannis for much longer, and the two of them were very close. If he could keep his head under these circumstances, then so could I. I was letting my emotions get the better of me, and blaming Iannis for losing the charm wasn’t going to help us find him.
“I guess now would be a good time to track down that Resistance camp the shaman was telling us about?” I asked as I fastened Iannis’s chain around my neck. I’d considered stowing it in my pack, but wearing both charms together felt right. It helped settle the unease in my chest, and as the charm came to rest against my skin next to the other, a comforting feeling washed over me.
“That does seem to be our only option, yes.” Fenris pulled out a compass from his pack and consulted it. “We’ll likely be walking through this forest for a while yet. Perhaps you and I should change so we can make better use of our senses.”
“How about one of you stays human for once?” Annia complained. “That way at least one of you can communicate with me if something goes wrong.”
“Very well,” Fenris conceded reluctantly. “I will remain in human form while Sunaya changes.”
After I’d quickly shifted into panther form, we moved forward, using Fenris’s compass as a guide to navigate the forest in the proper direction. I trotted through the forest silently on four legs, and though there was the occasional crunch of a twig or leaf beneath Annia’s or Fenris’s boots, for the most part we traveled soundlessly. There was evidence that humans had passed through this area, from footprints on the ground to the occasional bead or button from a piece of clothing. We even passed by the remains of a campfire in a clearing that was a few days old. I spent several minutes sniffing around the blackened wood and stones, hoping to catch a whiff of Iannis’s scent, but his familiar mix of musk, sandalwood, and magic was nowhere to be found.
We made it several miles into the forest before I caught the fresh scent of humans, and I stopped dead. Fenris and Annia went still behind me as I lifted my head, trying to discern where the scent was coming from and any other information I could glean.
“There’s a group of humans up ahead,” I told Fenris. “At least three of them, all men.”