"This also appeared from nowhere," Vincent said.

  "It came from the past," I said. Using as little description as I could manage, I told them what I had seen.

  By the time I was done, I had three men looming over me, and one who was next to me. It was strange to think that with the seemingly endless and empty forest around us, I was starting to feel crowded.

  "At least one other person went into the forest?" Boone asked.

  "I think there were more. The one I noticed ran in that direction," I said, waving off into the forest.

  "You say these people were infected by something?" Boone asked.

  "Yes."

  When Vincent was done with my arm, he remained sitting close enough that he could keep contact with me, which made me feel somewhat better.

  "We should have you Read the other end of the village," Logan said. "Let's get a good look at what's behind all of this."

  "Not today," Vincent said, rising to his feet.

  "A quick look—"

  "Let's give her some breathing room," Vincent said, cutting Logan off.

  "I'll pull the team in closer. Now that we have a possible direction to check, I'll send two out to scout that way," Boone said.

  "We need to make a decision on what to do with," Logan waved his hand in the direction of the building, "everything."

  "We also need to find a base of operations," Boone said. "We could be in the area for a few days."

  "I can look for suitable sites," Vincent said. "I need to chat with Logan for a minute first, though."

  "I'll send Tolman with you when you head out," Boone said.

  "Rider, take it easy until your side heals some," Logan said. "Keep an eye on each other."

  They walked away, leaving Rider and me alone. He sat down next to me, and said nothing. I leaned my head back against the tree and closed my eyes. With the sun shining down on the village not far away, and the sound of birds talking and animals moving around, it almost felt serene—as long as I could keep my mind blank.

  The silence Rider and I shared was a comfortable one, despite the challenges of the day.

  Sometime later, Logan called Rider over and they chatted for a while before Logan returned, taking Rider's place.

  "He'll be back shortly," Logan said. "I'm not sure how werewolves treat the dead in their own world, but here, he's going to take a minute to say goodbye to the werewolf that died inside."

  "What are you going to do with the place?" I asked.

  "Burn it," Logan said. "We don't know what caused people to turn on each other like that. Sterilizing the area seems like the best move."

  When I didn't respond, Logan began to whistle. The two sounds he made blended into a beautiful harmony. I loved to hear it, despite the fact that it was Home on the Range, which I'd heard about a million times over the past year.

  "I don't need a babysitter," I said once he stopped.

  "There are several people that might have turned crazy and they're running around out here. From this point on, we stay in pairs. No exceptions."

  “What about Rider?”

  “Boone is with him.”

  Feeling the need to be productive in some way, I started to get to my feet. My legs shook and I had to lean against the tree to keep upright.

  "How're you doing?" Logan asked.

  "I could use some caffeine," I admitted.

  "Funny thing is, Boone thought of that. The first-aid kit comes complete with caffeine tablets."

  Logan combed through the supplies and handed two over.

  I popped the pills in my mouth and followed them up with some water. "What should I be doing?"

  "Until you can stand on your own, not much," Logan said.

  I rolled my eyes and forced myself to stop leaning on the tree. "Now what?"

  Logan looked around, scanning the landscape carefully. "Are you up to getting back to work?"

  "That's what I'm here for."

  "Let's go for a walk."

  Chapter Twelve

  It wasn't until we started walking through the village that I realized he was taking me to the place where someone had been dragged into the woods.

  The last thing I wanted to do was admit I was spent, but as we approached the small pool of dried blood, I realized I'd have to say something. "I'm not sure there's much more I can do in the Path today."

  "That's what the caffeine was for," Logan said.

  I stopped and stared at him in surprise. "Is everything okay?"

  "Nothing here is okay," Logan said.

  "I mean with you. Not just here, but back at home, too. You haven't been yourself lately."

  He looked agitated. "Are you suggesting there's something wrong with me because I want you to Read the Path?"

  "No, I'm saying this because you've jumped the gun at several things lately. Back at the office, then here with Rider, you became worked up over something that you'd normally be calm about."

  "Rider could have done some serious damage if he had lost control."

  "Yeah, but you weren't even considering another option beyond fighting. That's not like you."

  "So, you're not going to do this?" Logan asked.

  I looked at the trail the creature took through the woods, wondering what I should do. On the one hand, I wanted to help all I could. On the other hand, I didn't want to fall flat on my face. It didn't help that I was scared of what I might see.

  And of what might see me.

  "Later," I said. "If I do any more right now, I'll drop from exhaustion. That's going to make me a liability."

  Logan looked around at anything except me.

  "It left a pretty obvious physical Path in this world," I reminded him. "We could follow it."

  "We should know what we're up against first."

  I bit my lip and mentally took stock of the energy I had remaining. There was a reason I could hardly stand earlier. With my energy this low, I had nothing to work with.

  Logan's forlorn look turned into a smile, which he actually aimed at me. "Even if we did find something today, there's nothing we could do with it. You know, a year ago, you would have jumped in with no questions. Your grandmother would be right proud of you."

  I felt a little better, but it was tempting to dip a toe into the Path to see if he was still upset.

  "So am I. When you push your luck, there's going to end up being a time when you push it too far," he said.

  "While we're over here," I said, trying to deflect the attention. "We could decide where we're going to start work tomorrow."

  "Let's concentrate on what this thing might be. We can ignore the rest of the village, and start closer to where it went into the woods."

  I glanced back to where the ground was stained by drying pools of blood.

  "No need to bother with that. We've all seen a bit too much today. No one more than you."

  "Do you think we should follow it into the woods tomorrow?"

  "Probably. We’re going to burn the lodge, so we'll need to make sure the fire is taken care of first. Right now, that lodge is the most dangerous thing out here."

  "More than the crazed people wandering around and something called a nightmare?"

  "You can bank on it. If left alone, the smell is going to pull in every animal for miles. After all, to them it's a free meal."

  "I never thought about that."

  "And I know Rider said your soul might not attract the kind of attention it did before, but some predator could still be interested. I'd rather not test it out here."

  "Agreed."

  Logan went still, and after a minute, his ears rolled out to their points.

  My first instinct was to ask what he’d heard, but knew that would be stupid. Instead, I tried to breathe quietly and wait as still as possible.

  "You know that Path you saw back in Boone's office?" Logan asked. "The strange one that came through the wall?"

  "Yeah," I said.

  "Is that a Path you could block out?"

  "Yes. If it's here, I might even be able to do that now since it should be completely in the present."

  Logan's ears twitched and rolled back down until they resembled human—although lumpy looking—ears. "Not now, but tomorrow, we need to talk."

  "You and me?"

  "And Boone."

  "What about Vincent and Rider?"

  "Not for this one. Besides, Rider will already hear us, and it would look too suspicious if we all huddled together."

  "What do you know?" I asked.

  "It's more about what I suspect than what I know."

  "And that is?"

  "Tomorrow. Today, I need to go help Boone. Rider’s on his way. Maybe you two could go down to the river and clean up some."

  Looking down at myself, I saw the smears of blood on my arms and on my pants. Luckily, my undershirt had survived almost unscathed.

  "Soul shattered or not, that'll draw attention." Logan tipped his hat and started to walk away.

  "Logan," I called, getting him to stop, "you never answered my question."

  "Which one is that?"

  "Are you okay?"

  "Sugar withdrawal?"

  I'm not sure if Logan meant it as a question, but it sounded as though he were trying to gauge if I would believe him or not.

  "You're a bad liar," I said.

  "It's nothing that can't wait. Talking about it at home will be better than out here."

  I knew that was the only thing I would get out of him about it now, so I only nodded.

  "If I forget myself or don't sound like myself, call me out on it."

  "I can do that," I said. "Although, if you're all elfed out, I may hide behind Rider before I say anything.”

  Logan laughed melodiously.

  Being around a happy elf is always nice. Their good mood was contagious, like it or not.

  As Logan walked away, I briefly wondered if that meant his other moods were contagious as well, but I dismissed the idea.

  When I was alone, it felt once again as though I could close my eyes and imagine I was in some sort of tropical paradise. If I closed my eyes for too long, though, I was sure grim pictures would take over.

  I could see Rider and Logan talking where they met on their way through the village, so waved before I stepped into the woods to get out of the sun. Even though I was feet away from the clearing where the village sat, it almost felt like a different world under the canopy.

  A flash of color and the sound of something moving in the undergrowth had me checking the ground. Nothing stirred for a moment. When I turned to face the woods in the direction the creature had gone, I saw a hint of brown close to the ground, which darted from one tree to another.

  I stood stock still and watched the spot. Shortly after, a small head poked out from behind the tree. I glanced back to the village to make sure I was still alone, but Rider wasn’t far away.

  When I turned back, there were two of them standing there.

  "I thought I saw you out here," I said quietly. After checking the ground for snakes, I squatted down. "Can you understand my language?"

  The two didn't move any closer, but watched me with wide eyes.

  After a moment, I looked around. "Where's your friend? Aren't there always three of you around?"

  They looked at each other, and then disappeared behind the tree.

  I stayed put for a moment, but then stood. It was probably for the better that they didn't stick around. Who knows who might have been listening.

  When I looked at the spot they disappeared from, one poked its head out again and beckoned me forward. Glancing back, I still had a few minutes before Rider was here.

  Anxiety about going farther into the woods on my own threatened to roll over me. Before it had a chance to take root, I followed the little leprechaun.

  If I yelled, Rider and Logan would hear me. Keeping that in mind, I became a little more comfortable with following someone I didn't know into the rainforest.

  Thankfully, they didn't have to lead me far.

  A stand of what looked like vines created a small hollow at the base of a tree. Sitting in the center was a leprechaun, presumably the third in the group, tied up in small but tight ropes that looked as though they were spun from thin tendrils of a plant.

  The moment the leprechaun saw others, it struggled against its bonds ferociously. When standing it might be three feet tall, but even though he was small, the violence at which it struggled made me back up a step.

  One of them said something, then the other picked it up, when that one stopped, they turned sadly to the third. I felt a pang myself. They always worked in threes, but their friend was obviously not in his right mind.

  "I'm sorry," I said, my chest growing tight. "I don't understand what you're saying."

  They looked at each other for a moment as though communicating silently, and then one disappeared and almost instantly returned with twig. The leprechaun stepped inside, but stayed well away from his struggling friend. Using the twig, leprechaun two began to draw in the dirt.

  When he stepped away, I saw what I had been dreading. The crude drawing looked very much like a cat with more than one tail. The leprechaun pointed at the cat, then the village, then the cat, and finally their friend.

  "How long has he been like this?" I whispered.

  The two only looked at me, as though waiting for me to do something.

  If it was the nightmare that attacked the village and the leprechaun, I had an idea of what was happening. Moving closer, I looked into his eyes.

  The eyes were wild. More like that of an animal than of a person.

  I licked my lips and looked around. Would they let me bring someone else back here? Would they let me take the little man with me?

  The answer to both of those, I knew, would be no.

  Remembering what I had seen in the lodge caused me to shudder, but I tried to keep my mind on what the Path had done to the survivor in the village. He had been okay, or at least seemed okay, until the other Path encircled him, trapping him in a shell of madness.

  When I knelt on the ground, my knees were instantly damp.

  The two healthy leprechauns sat in front of me, all of us turned toward the snarling creature in the middle.

  One of the two took out a small stone that looked sharp. My mind told me it was a dagger, but I didn't want to believe that. It pushed the point into the ground so that it stood straight up and down.

  "I don't know what it is you're thinking," I said, "but you can stop thinking it right now."

  Neither of them looked at me.

  I wasn't sure if I could fix this, but I knew I had to try. Grabbing hold of one of the thick vines lining the hollow to steady myself, I closed my eyes and stretched myself until I snapped free and into the Path.

  Whatever had affected the villagers, whether it be a nightmare or something else, was also affecting the leprechaun.

  The dark purple had solidified, building a shell around the man, driving him stark raving mad. I felt the surrounding stream of Path, trying to find some sort of crack or hold over the smooth surface that encompassed him. Not locating what I needed, I put a little more power into it. Then a little more.

  Finding the faintest of openings, I wedged a part of Path into it, and as if I were using a crowbar, I pried away the affected area. When a piece broke off, I held it, not allowing the Path to flow away, worried it might affect something else.

  How did the nightmare catch a leprechaun? They made no noise, didn’t have a trace of a smell, and only showed themselves to those they wanted to see them. It seemed impossible for one to be caught.

  Unless it was silent and stealthy enough that the leprechaun ran into the nightmare.

  At first, I wasn't sure if the ragged breathing was coming from the bound leprechaun or from me. It took me a while to realize it was both. One of the leprechauns scooted forward on his knees, looking relieved.

  "No," I snapped, holding up a finger to show I needed more time.

  He froze, but didn't move away. The two began talking again. This time, the third joined in.

  While they chatted away incomprehensibly, I scoured his Path for any remaining trace of infection.

  "Cassie," I heard Rider call.

  "Rider, stop. Wait where you are," I said. “I need a minute.”

  The leprechauns were in a frenzy, wanting to move their friend away. Finally, when I was sure there wasn't a hint of contamination left, I dropped my hand and nodded.

  The newly healthy leprechaun and one other sped away.

  I was still holding onto the infected Path. Gripping the root, I fell back on my butt and turned to lean against it.

  The other leprechaun waited somewhat nervously. When I was mostly steady, it began to gabble at me.

  I sighed, then pointed at the sun. "When that goes down." I drew an imaginary line down to the horizon. "You bring him back to me." Hoping that the hand gestures were somewhat universal was the best I could do at the moment. "The elf, the man with the long ears," more miming, "can talk like you."

  The little creature cocked his head as though waiting for me to make sense.

  I shook my head and made a shooing motion. He looked confused and I sighed.

  "You do not sound well," Rider said.

  "One more minute." I turned my attention to the Path I had gathered. Although I couldn't see my own Path, I felt it, and I was trying to keep the contaminated Path well away from me. My mind was starting to get fuzzy. Since I had no idea what to do with it, I sunk the Path into the ground.

  I pushed it deep and hoped it wouldn't harm anything. With that done, I made a shooing motion again and the leprechaun finally took the hint.

  "I think I'm going to need your help, Rider," I said in a normal voice.

  When I heard him moving toward me, I pushed away the Path.

  I wasn't sure if I was actually swaying or if I had a bad case of vertigo. Either way, the world moved in ways it had no business moving.

  "I am not sure who you were talking to," Rider said.

  Before I could protest, he pulled me to my feet and started to look me over.

  "You didn't hear anyone else?" I asked.

  "I did not."

  "Do you smell anything else?"

  "My nose is not as it should be. Who were you talking to?"