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“What the hell happened?” Dex demanded.
I scrubbed a hand over my face, the prickle of beard growth scratching at my palm. What I wouldn’t give for a razor and a moment’s peace to restore order to my appearance.
A scowl rose up in me at the thought, and I fought to keep from letting it show. I was stalling out of fear, and that was beneath me. But the chill hadn’t faded from the air, though none of the men around me gave any sign of feeling it.
“I… I detected what I believe is her magic,” I admitted. “Only stronger than I’ve felt it before.”
“She’s doing magic?” Niko asked.
“And strong enough to reach here?” Lars threw the forest an alarmed look.
“You sure about that?” Clay argued. “I mean, we all knew she could, but…”
“Is she nearby?” Dex asked, ignoring them. “Is she in danger?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
He let out a breath, turning away to scan the terrain. Nearby, Casimir looked ready to abandon human form and race onward to reach her, the fact the Voidborn might lurk out there be damned.
“Would, um…” Niko cast a worried look around, as if he didn’t want to ask the question but felt he must. “What you felt… would that happen if someone killed her?”
The others stared at him.
My stomach churned. “I don’t know.”
From where he’d been standing silently at the back of our group, Roan suddenly turned and strode toward the forest.
“Roan!” Dex called.
The other man didn’t stop. Shoving past the underbrush, he stalked off, disappearing from view a moment later.
“Dammit, man!” Clay yelled. “You don’t even know if you’re going the right way!” The blond giant threw us all a baffled look, as if seeking someone who could explain what in the world our friend was thinking.
I stared after Roan. He’d always been prickly. So focused on our safety and security that he worried more than seemed logical and caused all manner of undue stress for us over the years. But during the past several weeks, he’d changed. Prickly became sullen, became angry. He rarely spoke anymore, and he sulked on his own more often than not. While I struggled with being tempted by Gwyneira, he gave every sign of loathing her and resenting her presence, even taking it so far as to snarl insults at her on occasion.
In truth, it was a miracle he hadn’t left us already, to say nothing of whether the others might secretly wish he was gone. No one had asked him to go yet, but gods, the man was steadily working toward driving a wedge between himself and the rest of us with how he behaved.
“Well, uh… I guess we should follow him, yeah?” Niko offered into the silence. “The forest is more disturbed in that direction, so something did go that way.”
An unsettled feeling swirled in my gut. How could Roan have known that was the right direction…?
I shoved the thought aside. Only fools ascribed meaning to mere coincidence.
Yet still my skin crawled.
“Any sign of the Voidborn?” Dex asked Niko.
The younger man shook his head.
“What of Gwyneira?” Casimir asked.
Niko appeared worried. “I’m not sure.”
Lars hoisted his pack higher. “All right, well, better get after Roan then, yes? Since apparently, he knows where he’s going.”
“And before something kills his dumb ass,” Clay muttered.
I glanced at Dex, and I would swear the same thought went through his mind as went through my own. Whatever was going on with Roan, something killing him didn’t seem like as much of a concern as it may once have been. In the time since we crossed the Wild Lands, my worried, prickly friend had transformed into someone I didn’t quite recognize.
