Page 27 of Bryce

Logan turned in a slow circle, a pair of binoculars held up to his eyes. I found myself holding my breath in anticipation, while my heart decided to thud like a bass drum. This was it. We were nearly there.

We were nearly about to find what the Gwydions did to trespassers.

My heart beat harder. I wished it did so out of fear for my own welfare, but that was not the case. I cared not nearly half as much for myself as I did for…

“There.” Logan pointed to a spot in the distance, where all appeared to be nothing but darkness even to my eyes. “I can see something in the trees.”

He handed the binoculars to Bryce, who nodded. “Yes. A brick façade. I can’t tell if it’s the compound or an outer building, however.”

This was it. I suddenly wished we’d never come. I wished I could shift and fly the rest of the way, that I could destroy the compound and everyone in it. Wouldn’t that solve our problems? I’d be a heroine. I would save us all.

I would spare those of us for whom I still cared tremendously from possible danger.

Bryce handed the binoculars back to Logan, his face grim. “All right then. Now is the time for us to be on our guard, more so than ever. Watch your step. Stay quiet. Listen hard. If you see something, scent something, hear something, alert the others immediately.”

No one said a word. Not even I.

His gaze fell on me, and it was hard. Unflinching. “And if you are told to do something, do it. Not just for your sake but for all our sakes. We depend on each other now. Remember that.”

I decided not to ask why he felt the need to look straight at me when he said it, besides, I knew why. And it brought me no small amount of shame. I’d been behaving like a petulant child, so much so that the rest of the team knew of an unspoken history between us.

I merely lifted one shoulder in a shrug.

His smile was grim, but he did not pursue the matter. “Let’s move out. Eyes open. Mouths closed.”

I couldn’t help but take note of the change in his demeanor. The sharp tone of voice, the no-nonsense attitude. Like a general prepared to lead his troops into battle. When Gate had lost his position as team leader, I knew not, but it had most certainly happened.

Bryce was in charge now. I wished I didn’t find him so appealing this way, even more so than I’d ever found him before. So stern, so commanding.

It was better to pay attention to my footing, and I did so as we made our slow, careful way to the compound. Bryce and Logan communicated with hand signals, the two of them practically moving as one. Years of working together had left them with this silent connection.

We hadn’t gone more than a quarter-mile before Gate came up short before me. I managed to stop before crashing into him. “What is it?” I breathed near his ear.

When I looked over his shoulder, my question was answered.

A huge, dark… something. A lump. A boulder? It would be fairly out of place in the middle of terrain which had been fairly flat for the last several hours.

“What’s that?” Leslie asked, looking to Logan.

He surveyed the scene using his binoculars, which I’d guessed by then allowed him to see in the dark. “It’s… an old car. Very old. Mid-century.”

“A car?” Gate repeated with a chuckle. “Of all the things.”

“Yes, and covered in overgrowth. Years of it.” He handed the binoculars to Bryce, who nodded in grim agreement. Every muscle in his body was tensed, revealing his apprehension. I understood how he felt, for this left me more unsettled than ever.

“What’s it doing out here?” I asked, looking around. Nothing could have seemed more out of place.

“It’s possible there was a road here at one point, that it’s too overgrown now to be seen. The thing could’ve broken down out here decades ago.” Bryce and Logan exchanged a look I could not decipher.

“Seems unlikely,” Gate muttered. “Why would they leave it here?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Leslie whispered. “We ought to continue.”

Bryce grunted his disagreement. “I don’t much like this. They might have hidden something around it, knowing a trespasser would be likely to approach and investigate such an oddity.”

“Let me.” Gate lifted his walking staff, prepared to throw it ahead and set off any traps which may have been set. “This ought to do the trick. Stand back.”

My dragon screamed. She knew it was a bad idea.

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