Page 62 of The Hunt
“The point of me going to the Roost is to practice my hunting skills, isn’t it? I went to the pack territory instead.”
“I want you at the Roost every night. You can feed there.”
“If there’s one thing you’ve taught me, Adira, it’s that we can’t always have what we want.”
“You’re being very difficult this morning.”
“Because I won’t feed where you can monitor me like I’m part of some wildlife documentary?”
A flicker of surprise flashed in her gaze, and I knew my statement had struck close to the truth, which only provoked my intolerance of her.
“I’ll see you at the Academy,” I said on my way to the kitchen door. I paused just before leaving the dining room and looked back at her. “Oh, wait, that’s right. You’re discreet about your obsessive monitoring and use your network of observers to keep you updated. I guess I won’t be seeing you then.”
I marched through the empty kitchen and got into my car. It wasn’t until I was almost to the Academy that I realized my stupidity in challenging Adira like that on the morning I was supposed to hand over a shovel to the druids.
Mentally cringing, I pulled into the nearly empty parking lot and hurried inside with the shovel in hand. The few mermaids in the pool gave me odd looks before remembering to hiss at me and dive under the water.
Anne looked up from her place near the sink when I entered and gave the shovel a curious look.
“It’s the only personal item I could get,” I said.
“That’s not very personal.” Doubt coated Lauv’s expression as well as her words.
“I know it’s not. The windows are spelled against anything non-human, though. I’m lucky I got this.”
“Whatever,” Meg said. “Let’s just try it.”
I handed over the shovel and stood back. They sat in a circle while holding it, did some mumble-mumble chanting, mixed some twigs and powders together, then lit them on fire. I watched as they stared at the bowl of water. And…
Nothing.
Lauv spoke after several long minutes.
“We know this spell works. We tested it on Anne’s brother. On you. On Fenris. On the human boy. Each time, we saw your locations clearly in the water. Something has to be blocking Ashlyn. Something big.”
“We thought a personal item would help the spell focus,” Anne added.
“We’re going to need to boost this spell’s power to overcome whatever is blocking her.” Meg shook her head, looking annoyed. “It’s going to take more time.”
I considered the three of them and what they were telling me. What could possibly be blocking Ashlyn? There were some powerful creatures in Uttira. But powerful enough to trick a location spell? I had no idea. I wasn’t that knowledgeable in spells like these girls were.
There was another option. One that I’d been refusing to consider.
“What about Ashlyn’s death? Could that be why you’re not finding her?” I asked, feeling sick for even saying it.
“We thought that, too, which is why we tried summoning her ghost yesterday after the first location spell failed. The summoning spell is one we’ve used since we were little. A safe way to communicate with the dead. They can’t refuse. But she didn’t answer, so we believe she’s still alive.”
“Okay. What is it going to take to strengthen your spell?”
“Nothing you can help with,” Anne said. “We’ll gather what’s needed and try again. If you find anything more personal, we’ll take that too. It can’t hurt.”
“Meanwhile,” Lauv said. “We’ll continue to do the summoning spell daily, just in case. Be here earlier tomorrow for your spell. It’s going to take some time.”
I straightened away from the sink I was leaning against.
“If you can remove my tracking spell and make it so I can’t be tracked again, could someone else have done the same to Ashlyn?”
“We considered that. It’s possible, but it takes some pretty serious spellwork. The likelihood of her finding a druid with that kind of knowledge, who’d be willing to do it for next to nothing like we are, is slim.”
