Page 25 of North

We crossed a green field, and I saw the ruins of a very old stone building. A chimney was still standing but the rest was rubble.

“Lots of old historic buildings from when the Europeans first settled here,” North said.

We crossed through the river, splashing as we came out the other side. On this bank, the trees thickened. I looked up at some birds squawking in one of the trees. I was so busy admiring them, I tripped on a tree root.

A strong hand grabbed my elbow and caught me. I turned and looked at North. “Thanks.”

He gave me one nod.

As he moved ahead, I still felt tingles from his touch. Then I remembered other places he’d touched me.

Jess, stop thinking about him.

Ahead, Kai paused. His brows drew together as he studied the ground.

“The tracks have stopped.” Marc looked around. “The ground’s really dry here.”

No. I looked at the hills around us. We needed a trail, or we’d never find the kids.

Kai crouched and pressed his palm to the soil. He closed his eyes.

A minute passed, and Kai didn’t move or say anything. Nor did the others.

“What’s he doing?” I murmured.

North got a strange expression on his face. “He’s reading the earth.”

My brows drew together. “But there’s nothing to read. There are no prints.”

“No, he’s not looking for prints. His mother is really connected to nature. He doesn’t have her full abilities, but he can still…feel things. Through the earth.”

My brows winged up.Oh, wow.

Then Kai rose and pointed. “They went that way.”

CHAPTER SIX

North

Jogging through the trees, dappled sunlight flickered over us through the branches overhead. I really wanted to believe the boys were still alive.

But the longer it took us to find them, the odds decreased.

Kai jerked to a stop and cursed.

“Kai?” Jameson said.

Kai looked up. “Blood.” He held up his gloved fingers; they were covered in red.

I stepped forward. The ground here was churned up, and as I scanned, I noticed several drops of blood on the dirt, splattering the dried leaves.

“It looks like one of the kids got free,” Kai said. “Maybe scuffled with their captor.”

“And got hurt.” My jaw tightened. I kept trying to tell myself that this wasn’t the same as Drew.

“The monster went that way…” Kai paused as he pointed, a groove in his brow. “It looks like it was following a set of smaller prints, but the blood doesn’t go that way.”

I looked around. “One boy was injured, and the other ran. The monster could only follow one of them.”

---