He held her gaze. “Well enough. Besides, Bliss and I could never forgive ourselves if we didn’t help.”

  Shasta nodded. “You have my thanks.” While still not sure that Mack should be putting himself in this position, she drifted away. He’d made his choice, and she would respect it.

  The rest of the way to town she was sorting through what she knew, trying to separate suspicion, fact, and fiction. The more she thought about it, the more certain she was that Godric and Delilah had planned every step of this. It fit together too neatly for it to be anyone else, and she didn’t think it was possible to use charm-based spells to make someone say what you wanted them to say. Maybe they’d get there and find that someone else was controlling everything, but she wouldn’t bet on it.

  When they reached the shops, the men slowed. Shasta looked up from the road and couldn’t help but gape. Every person from town was there to send them off. They’d lined each side of the street, watching her and the men silently. As their group passed, the townsfolk bowed deeply.

  Some she didn’t recognize, but others she did. Ayla bowed. A few steps later, Bliss blew a kiss to her husband before bowing as well. Areena and Embath also bowed. Even Cicada bowed, though she wore a deep frown. The bows continued all the way to the end of the shops, where the last of the townsfolk bowed to them. Shasta and the men stepped onto the open road. The hunt was on.

  Chapter Thirteen

  As they moved to the woods, Shasta kept her shields open enough that she should be able to feel any incoming magic. She was also hoping to pick up some clues as to where Godric had taken Cord and the tree sisters, but her range was fairly limited. Even knowing the meadow was less than a mile away, she couldn’t sense it. The only magic she could detect was coming from the arrows in the six quivers. Apparently, the men had pillaged every magical arrow she’d given the town so they would be properly armed for the hunt.

  She held back in using her elven abilities. Not out of any misguided sense of fair play, but because the earth could often be very literal. If she asked it to help her find Cord and the tree sisters, it would give her a straight-line path. There was no guarantee that path would go past the meadow and she wanted to make sure the deer were still safely contained. The trip was worth it simply to ensure the deer wouldn’t come thundering to Godric’s rescue.

  Feeling the wall of magic on the fence, Shasta turned to the men. “We’re getting close.”

  Wyrran nodded, and that was all the acknowledgment she needed. Shasta kept walking, eyes scanning the woods for any glimpse of the fence. Even though she could feel the incessant buzz of magic, that didn’t guarantee the gate was intact.

  The slender game trail she and Cord had used emerged from between two trees. She stopped and lowered her shields a little more. This was where she would put a trap if she were Godric or Delilah. She examined the area with the combination of her magic and elven intuition, finding nothing that stood out to either of them. If there was a trap, it was well hidden. Shasta placed first one foot and then the other on the path. Nothing happened.

  Still not entirely ready to believe the path was free from impediment, she moved forward with careful steps. The men fell in behind her. It was a short but tense trip to the gate, which was still there and latched. The magic vibrated through the air, as it should with that many overlapping spells, and on the other side of the fence, she could see dozens of deer spread across the meadow. A few nibbled at the hay she and Cord had put out while others lipped at the grass.

  Wyrran let out a low whistle. “That’s a lot of deer.”

  Shasta reached for the lock but couldn’t force her fingers through the magic to touch it. Given time and patience, she could’ve gotten in through the gate, but a regular elf wouldn’t have her capabilities. Even the charms Godric and Delilah had armed themselves with were unlikely to counter her spell.

  “This explains where the deer have been for the past few weeks,” Meron muttered.

  Mack shook his head. “Are they all magical? What are we going to do with them?”

  “When Cord and I examined them, they all seemed to have been subjected to the same set of spells, but they weren’t violent with us.” Shasta shrugged, turned her back on the meadow, and swept her eyes across the tree line. “They’re still here, and the magic is holding, so if you had magical owls, magical deer, and also needed to secure four hostages, where would you be?”

  “No owls here?” Ashling asked.

  “No. I had no idea there were any other creatures we needed to worry about until they started carrying people away.” Shasta swallowed and forced herself to focus on the important aspects of the owls’ appearance, not her missing partner. “But like Wyrran said, the area is hunted out. The only place with a relatively normal distribution of small creatures is in the town. The rest of the woods are depleted. If they’re hunting, they aren’t locked up all the time, but I have no idea where they’re roosting. It’s not near Quercuston. Cord and I have searched that and I would’ve felt the magic.”

  “If the owls can feed themselves, they wouldn’t need as much care as the deer,” Nerrin said. “It stands to reason that they would be farther in the woods, but how does that help us find the tree sisters and Cord?”

  Meron shrugged. “How many hideouts can they have?”

  “Let me try a spell.” Shasta pulled the tracking charm out of her pocket along with a few strands of Cord’s hair. If this didn’t work, they could continue with the guessing game. Shasta held the hair against the clear stone in the center of the charm and added a drop of magic to activate it. The spell fluctuated wildly as it searched for Cord. Shasta fed it more magic, hoping to stabilize it. Little by little, the spell evened out until a flickering green dot appeared. Shasta pivoted, but the dot stayed facing the same direction. According to the charm, they needed to go east and deeper into the woods.

  Grinning, she held it up for the men to see. “For now, we have a tracking charm. I suggest we take advantage of it.”

  “Lead the way.” Mack motioned for her to go ahead.

  After tucking Cord’s hair back in her pocket, she checked the charm. The game trail was as good of a path as any to take. The men followed her silently. Even though they were a group of six they were a group of six elves—well, five and a half—and they walked quietly through the trees as only elves could. Only the soft crunch of leaves gave away their passage.

  Shasta divided her attention between the charm and the forest ahead. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to keep her mind busy. Images of the horrible things Godric and Delilah could be doing to Cord and the tree sisters kept popping into her mind. They were ugly, useless, and counterproductive.

  Pushing those thoughts aside, she checked the tracking spell. The game trail twisted to the left, but the spell was directing them to continue east. Shasta guided the group off the path. Off the trail detours around trees and unsuitable terrain slowed their progress, but Shasta kept checking the charm. The direction in which they needed to travel to find Cord wasn’t changing. Unfortunately, the spell was giving no indication that they were getting any closer.

  After guiding them around a clump of rhododendron, Shasta checked the tracking spell again. The green dot was gone. Frowning, she stepped into a break in the trees where more light filtered down. The dot still wasn’t there. She didn’t need to probe it to feel the magic in the spell. It should be working, only it wasn’t. Unlike when someone had exploded the cups to destroy the tracking spell, there hadn’t been any surge of magic; it had simply quit working. “Damn.”

  “What?” Meron asked.

  “Something happened to the tracking spell. It’s not working anymore.” She tilted it so the men could see.

  Wyrran hesitated. “Is he dead?”

  Shasta shook her head. “The ... the spell works to find the physical link, alive or dead, unless it’s been blocked with magic or more ordinary means. Maybe a large stream would be enough to disrupt it, but I doubt it. Usually, it takes something drastic like burning the body or submerging it in a large body of water.” She tried not to envision Cord in either of those situations. They were horrific images and unrealistic ones. Hostages weren’t any good if they were dead.

  Wyrran looked behind them and then ahead. “We’ve been following a fairly straight line. Why don’t we continue that and see where it leads?”

  After one last look at the tracking charm, Shasta pocketed it. “Agree.” She tipped her head forward. “Let’s go.”

  The men reorganized themselves with Wyrran and Meron joining her at the front. The first few minutes passed silently, though Meron glanced at her from time to time. After the fifth glance and only a couple of minutes, she couldn’t help herself. “What is it?”

  “I know you and Cord are more than work partners. What happens if you have to choose between saving him and saving the girls?” Meron studied her.

  “I want all of them back.” Shasta bit her lip. This type of a situation was discussed by everyone at Oaks Consulting prior to being hired. She and Cord both knew their duties. “I get the girls first. Cord and I agreed to risk ourselves for others when we joined Oaks Consulting and took this job. Part of that was that we don’t get to choose to save each other first.”

  Meron gripped her shoulder. “I’ll do my best to help you get your man back.”

  “Thank you.” The smile she gave him was sad but honest. They’d trained for this, had agreements and plans, but none of that made it easier to walk toward a dangerous situation knowing she might not be able to save the man she loved. She would try her best, and hopefully, her best would be enough.

  For several minutes, they quietly moved through the woods. Something kept scratching at her senses. She tipped her head to the side, like that would help. She couldn’t perceive it clearly enough to determine if it was magic or an unusual creature.

  “Stop!” Wyrran whispered sharply.

  Shasta planted her feet where they were.

  He pointed between two trees ahead of them. “Bear scat.”

  She squinted as she peered at the pile. From here it still looked moist and relatively fresh. She couldn’t tell if it was fresh as in the bear was still around, or if the bear had been here earlier today and might’ve moved on.

  The strange tickle returned to her senses, distracting her from the pile. She couldn’t get enough detail to figure out if it was a bear, but the men needed to know. “I can sense something moving around, but I don’t know if it’s the bear. I think it’s been spelled and that’s obscuring it.”

  Keeping her eyes on the woods, Shasta took her bow off her shoulder and nocked an arrow. Around her, the men were picking their positions and adjusting their grip on their own bows. Unfortunately, if it was a bear and had been subjected to the same type of alterations as the deer, she wasn’t sure how effective the bows would be. Bears naturally had a thicker hide than the deer, and the magical augmentation would only make that difference more apparent.

  Whatever she was sensing started moving quickly in their direction. “It’s coming.” Unfortunately, she couldn’t even figure out the direction it was approaching from. She braced herself, hoping it was anything but the bear.

  A branch snapped behind her. Shasta whirled around, bringing her bow up to aim. As fast as she’d moved, the black blur charging toward them was moving even faster. Nerrin and Ashling shot at it, but either they missed or neither arrow could penetrate the bear’s hide. Before Shasta could sight a target, it was upon them.

  Mack leaped to the side, dropping his bow as he rolled away. Ashling and Nerrin tried to dart away as well, but they waited too long. Shasta watched in horror as the bear didn’t even slow down before plowing into Nerrin. Hitting the elf didn’t slow it down as it barreled through the group and back into the trees.

  Mack had managed to roll safely away and was scrambling to pick his bow up off the forest floor. Ashling’s hand shook as he pulled another arrow out of his quiver, but the only target the bear presented him with was its rump.

  Shasta still had her bow drawn, ready to find a target and shoot, but now she didn’t have a good angle. The bear continued running through the woods, winding between trees as it circled back around. This time it ran squarely at the group, and none of them had a good bow shot.

  Nerrin was still on the ground, blood covering his pant leg. Even if the rest of them scattered, he wasn’t going anywhere on his own power. She wasn’t sure if she should help him or try to find a better angle to shoot the bear from. She had to move soon, but to help Nerrin, she’d have to put down her bow, which left her relying on her sword. That would be a terrible way to fight the beast.

  Mack rendered the debate moot when he tossed his bow to the side and lifted Nerrin across his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. The bear’s head swung in their direction.

  Shasta swore and darted to the right. Hopefully, she could buy Mack enough time to get Nerrin to safety. “Hey!” she yelled at the bear, catching its attention. “Over here!”

  Mack seized the opportunity and took off in the other direction as fast as he could while carrying Nerrin.

  The bear started to move his head back toward them.

  “Wrong way! You want to come over here!” Shasta kept shouting as she stomped on every branch, twig, and crunchy leaf she could.

  The bear looked back at her and slowed to a loping gait rather than the all-out run it had been doing.

  So far her plan was working. With the danger level somewhat lower than it had been moments ago, Shasta reached out a mental hand to the bear. Even though she doubted the animal would believe her, she had to try. She hated seeing a bear killed for no reason and being spelled into doing something it wouldn’t normally do wasn’t a great reason for it to die.

  The bear ignored her attempts at communication, but her power did brush across several spells. They were the same flavor as the ones on the deer, including the one that made them difficult to kill. She kept sending soothing vibrations toward the bear, but if it could feel them, it didn’t respond. Like with the deer, whatever Godric and Delilah had done was blocking her from being able to communicate with the bear.

  An arrow went flying through the air, impacting the bear’s side where its vital organs were located. Shasta held her breath, hoping it was a kill shot. For a moment, the arrow seemed stuck in the bear’s side, not a killing blow, but potentially puncturing one of the lungs. Then the arrow fell to the ground. Not even these magical arrows were enough to get through the spells and bear hide. Of all the things she didn’t need while trying to save hostages, it was a magical bear that was going to be nearly impossible to kill.

  While the arrow hadn’t done any damage, it did irritate the bear into picking up speed again and close the distance between them fast. Shasta backpedaled and debated the best course of action. Even if she could outrun the bear for a time, she wasn’t going to be able to lead it back to the others, and she didn’t want to try and find them alone. Since an arrow wouldn’t be effective from this angle, perhaps she should switch to her sword.

  “Hey! This way!” Meron shouted.

  Shasta froze, hoping that if she wasn’t moving, Meron would become more interesting. When the bear turned, she might have a clear shot.

  Someone banged metal against metal. The bear shied sideways before turning toward the noise.

  Its side was facing Shasta, giving her the perfect target. Shasta carefully aimed for its lungs and doubled the magic in the arrow. She released it and held her breath.

  The arrow flew through the air and impacted exactly where she’d aimed. Unfortunately, it bounced off and toppled to the ground just like the previous one. She cursed and drew another arrow.

  “Try again!” Meron shouted.

  The bear’s ears swiveled, then it lowered its head and took measured steps forward.

  Shasta quickly infused the arrow with more magic, this time quadruple what she put in originally. The bear took another step forward. If she waited any longer, the trees would block the shot. She released the bowstring and watched the arrow. It hit the bear, and it didn’t fall off right away. However, she could still see most of the shaft of the arrow, and the bear hadn’t so much as flinched. The arrow wasn’t in far enough to do significant damage.

  The creature moved forward enough that she couldn’t see it clearly. Shasta drew another arrow and followed. She could probably load enough magic into an arrow to counteract the heavy layers of spells, but it felt like an inefficient use of magic. This wasn’t the only fight today and she might need that magic later. There had to be a better way.

  She gained enough ground that she had a decent view of the men and the bear. It slowly followed Wyrran and Meron as they led it toward a trap. Ashling had concealed himself behind a few bushes, and if the bear walked a few more steps, Ashling would have an unobstructed shot. Not that it would do him any good. The light magic infusion in that arrow wasn’t going to kill the bear. There was simply too much hide and too much magic for it to get there.

  Too much magic. That’s what she felt when she connected to the bear. Maybe she’d been going about this all wrong. If she narrowed her focus down to the spell allowing Godric and Delilah to control the bear’s actions, she might be able to single it out and unmake the spell. With that gone, she and the other elves could communicate with the bear normally, and they wouldn’t have to kill it.

  Shasta wrenched her shields open and focused on the bear, this time extending a probe that would find the spell controlling its actions. The probe brushed across the bear but couldn’t find what it was looking for. She directed it over the animal again and forced it to thread between the other spells. In the blink of an eye, it latched onto a specific spell. Shasta changed her focus from finding the spell to relaying information about it. Sure enough, it was a control spell.

  The spell had several parts. Along with a portion that forced the bear to follow orders, it also had a part that stored orders. Connecting the two was a complex underpinning that not only organized the control spell but also tied into all the others. But she didn’t need to unmake all the spells; only this one. She formed two chunks of magic into something akin to a knife and sliced the control spell away from the others.