Page 81 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

With that thought, I snuck away from camp to do what I had to do.

???

The early streaks of dawn woke me. I leisurely sat up and wiped the gritty sand from my eyes. When they finally cleared, I realized Ryder was gone.

Did he see me—

Elle slept soundly beside me. My gaze shot to Walker or rather, where Walkershouldhave been. Cadence snored and beside me, Arion stretched.

“Where did they go?” I asked him.

He laid back down and crossed his front paws. I sighed in frustration and shook Cady’s shoulder.

“Wake up,” I urged. “Your brother is gone.”

Her emerald eyes snapped open, and she sat up.

“For how long?” she asked and searched our surroundings. “Ryder’s missing too? Maybe they went to get breakfast.”

Though I hoped she was right, my gut told me something was wrong.

“They would’ve woken one of us to keep watch,” I argued.

Cadence blew out a breath and brushed a stray hair out of her face.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “What do we do?”

Find him,instinct urged, but I glanced at the chimera, who still, somehow, slept. The High Witch was not set to arrive until sundown, and I couldn’t risk letting Elle out of my sights before then.I didn’t trust her with Cadence, no matter how sweet she pretended to be. Elle could be conniving when she wanted to be.

I threw my life jacket at Elle, and she yelped, but sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“You could’ve just tapped my shoulder,” she grumbled.

Regardless of the creature’s feigned disdain for Ryder, Elle noted his absence immediately.

Of course,I thought.He’s her only path to safety.

“Where did he go?” she asked.

“That’s what we need to find out,” I said. “Walker is missing as well. We need to move. Now.”

As I stood, my thoughts raced. If the Sovereign had sent his wolves after the chimera, the other Leaders had probably sent their own teams too. They could’ve taken the guys as some kind of trap.

Magic emanated from the island itself—there was any number of creatures who could’ve attacked them.

I cast a magical net and searched for Walker’s familiar power. He wasn’t in the surrounding area. I spread it wider and found nothing. Panic thudded in my heart.

“I found him,” Cadence said. The girl’s eyes were squeezed shut. “His power is muted, but it’s there. Halfway across the island.”

I checked again, more slowly this time, and caught Walker’s flicker of power. What usually felt like a thunderstorm was reduced to a mere spark, but it called to my magic all the same.

I studied the forest. “The jungle is too thick for Arion to take us there. We’ll have to hike. Quickly.”

“What about…” Elle hesitated. “The other one?”

“You didn’t bother to learn his name?” I said. Elle just stared at me with eyes rounded by concern “Ryder’smagic isn’t apparent, but if something diluted Walker’s, then wolf magic is probably impossible to detect. Hopefully, he’s with Walker.”

Elle looked like she wanted to say more but finally nodded.

---