Page 50 of Veinblood
“At least you know they’re alive.”
“Or someone is, at least.” My head turns northeast, following the path the markers lead. “I know I should follow them, but if Ellie returns here?—”
“My Lord, remaining here won’t bring her back any faster. Your people need their leader. They’re out there, possibly in danger, waiting for you to find them.”
“If she returns here, and finds no one waiting for her, then she is also in danger?—”
“And she’ll try to find you, the same way she did in Chicago.” Nyassa’s voice is firm. “She’s resourceful. She always was. She will find a way to return to you.”
I hate to admit it, but she’s right. Duty demands I follow the trail. Even though every instinct screams at me to wait for Ellie, I can’t abandon my people on the chance she will return to the same place.
I stare through the trees, seeing nothing while I weigh her words against the fear fighting to take over. Nyassa waits quietly.
“She found her way to me twice before.” I’m talking to myself more than her. But does the first time count? The summons I sent guided her feet to the tower, and not any bondwe’ve developed since. The bond … I reach for the connection again, and still find only emptiness.
“I have confidence that she will do it again.”
The certainty in her voice tips the balance. I turn toward the trail, sending my raven out to scout ahead. “Northeast it is, then.”
We follow the trail through forest that grows denser with each mile. The markers lead us in the opposite direction to Stonehaven, deeper into the woods instead of toward the mountain range where the hidden fortress was preparing for siege when we left.
My raven flies ahead, splitting my awareness between my immediate surroundings and what lies further on. The forest shows only signs of wildlife and the occasional marker.
Nyassa moves quietly beside me. Despite the years she’s spent in another world, she’s adapting to the forest quickly, her steps barely disturbing the ground.
“How long were you searching before you found me?” I break the silence.
“Since dawn. I returned to Meridian somewhere south of Thornspire, and spent most of yesterday trying to get my bearings. I wasn’t certain which way to go, but I saw signs of horse hooves going south, and chose to go in the opposite direction. The path led me to Thornspire. It was through luck alone that I crossed your path.”
“Ellie could have ended up anywhere.”
“Or she might not have crossed back at all,” Nyassa says quietly.
Her words still me mid-step. I pushed that fear down once already, but hearing it spoken aloud makes it impossible to avoid, and sends my thoughts into a spiral I can’t shut down.
What if she isn’t somewhere in Meridian, where I can’t reach her? What if she’s still in Chicago, and that’s why I can’t feel her through the connection? Or worse, what if the ritual sent her somewhere she can’t survive? What if she’s hurt, alone, frightened, and calling for help that will never come?
I ruthlessly squash that line of thinking. Dwelling on possibilities I can’t control serves no purpose except to feed the fear already gnawing at me.
We follow the trail over increasingly rough ground. The forest floor rises and falls, fallen trees forcing us to climb over or move around them. Sometimes we have to double back and find another way through the undergrowth.
The farther we go, the more I believe that it was Mira who chose this route. She’s purposely picked a path to ensure that the forest will provide concealment against pursuit, and even experienced trackers would struggle to follow us. If someonewastracking us, we’d hear them long before they found us.
My thoughts pull back to Ellie. No matter how I try to focus on the ground in front of me, I keep reaching for the connection between us, searching for what isn’t there. Each time I find nothing, and the absence hits me again, dragging me into an endless loop of fear and guilt.
It’s another hour before my raven sends back images that make me dare to hope. There’s a clearing ahead, sheltered by trees, with figures moving around inside it. I raise a hand, signaling to Nyassa to stop.
“There are people camped ahead. Move slowly, and follow my lead.”
We move forward cautiously while the raven soars between the trees until it’s close enough to show me more. I relax when it sends back the image of familiar faces.
“It’s them.”
By the time we step into the clearing, Mira is already moving to meet me. From the lack of alarm, there must have been scouts posted that the raven missed.
“My Lord.” She scans me, then looks over my shoulder. “Where is Ellie?”
“I don’t know. Our powers combined and struck Sereven’s crystal. It threw us somewhere … else. I found my way back here, but she hasn’t returned.”
