“Where are they?” she asked.
“Maybe Gavin took them around to the other side where the water is a bit calmer.” An uneasy feeling spread through my body as we crossed over to the other side. The water lapped lazily against the sand in the shielded cove, but there wasn’t any sign of Annie, Jacob, or Gavin.
“Annie!” Liana shouted, her voice carrying away on the wind.
I cupped my hand around my mouth and shouted for Gavin. No one answered. The uneasy feeling thickened, becoming a knot in my stomach.
“Do you think they went back to the manor and we missed them?” Liana asked, stepping on top of a rocky ledge.
I steadied her arm as she peered around the side of the cliff into another inlet. She gasped and nearly toppled off the rock. I caught her around the waist, but she’d already squirmed out of my grip and clambered around the corner.
“Bowen, over here!” She fell to her knees in the sand beside the unconscious forms of Gavin and Jacob. Water licked at their heels, soaking through their clothes. She smoothed the hair from Jacob’s face and tried to wake him.
He groaned and winced against the bright sun streaming into his face. I crouched down next to Gavin and roused him, helping him to sit up. He shook his head, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes.
“How long have we been out?” he croaked.
“We don’t know! Where’s Annie?” Liana climbed to her feet, searching the small inlet, but the little girl was nowhere to be found.
Jacob shivered. His lips had turned gray. Both of them needed to get indoors and warmed as soon as possible before hypothermia set in.
Teeth chattering, Jacob tried to speak. “I remember what happened to Annie. We were drawing in the sand, and this strange cloud moved over the sun. It got so dark. That’s when we saw the strange woman. She was dressed all in black and had long, stringy hair.”
“Why can’t I remember?” Gavin asked, blinking the sand and salt from his eyes.
“She did something to you,” Jacob said. “Her eyes glowed, and then so did yours. You fell to the ground. Annie started screaming, but then she got real quiet. I tried to stop her, but I couldn’t move. She started to walk toward the woman, and then a man appeared. It was the same man from Bowen’s drawing.”
“Hendrik?” Liana asked.
“Yes. He took Annie’s hand, and the two of them left. But the witch stayed behind. I couldn’t move, and she came right up to me and whispered something in my ear.”
“What did she say?” I demanded, placing both hands on Jacob’s shoulders.
“That Liana needed to come too. She gave me this.” He unfurled his hand to reveal a small pink mint. “She said it would show you the way and that you needed to come alone.”
Liana choked on a sob and stared at the candy in Jacob’s palm. She took it from him and closed her fist around it.
I stood and paced a distance away, staring out at the sea. My mind raced, and panic climbed my throat, making it hard to breathe. The witch had Annie. Fists clenched, I tried to think. We had to go after her, but we needed a plan. There was no way in hell Liana was going alone, but it would have to be just the two of us. Any more, and there was a greater risk we’d alert the witch.
Liana came up behind me. “Bowen, look. I’ve seen those symbols before, haven’t I? In your drawings?”
She pointed to a spot in the sand a few feet away. It must have been where Annie was playing because a stick lay on its side next to a series of symbols. I blinked, unable to believe what I was seeing. How was it possible? Had Annie seen my drawings? But then the realization washed over me, and I discovered the truth had been hiding in plain sight this whole time.
My past came roaring back like rolling thunder in my ears.
Robert Lennox had hired me to find the Incantus, but it hadn’t been for him. He’d consulted a witch about his ailing health, and she wanted the Incantus as payment. Now, as I stared at the Incantus symbols etched into the sand, I understood there weren’t two witches; only one. Liana and Hendrik had been taken years ago by the same witch who played a part in my downfall.
And, according to Tessa, the witch wanted a vessel to transfer the magic from the Incantus medallion into her. Which meant she’d somehow found it after it vanished in the warehouse fire.
Liana murmured beside me, staring at the symbols in the sand. “It makes sense now. When she had us captive, I knew she was searching for something. I didn’t know what or even why, but I would sometimes hear her ranting through the walls about not being able to find it. She claimed she’d hired fools.” Her gaze found mine. “Bowen, the magic medallion you were hired to find is what she was looking for, isn’t it?”
“Yes, I believe so.”
“And if she took Annie, it means she probably has it.” Liana peered at the mint in her palm. “If the witch wants me, maybe Annie isn’t strong enough even with amplification—or who knows? Maybe the witch doesn’t want any loose ends. Either way, I have to go after her and Hendrik.”
I gripped Liana by the shoulders, forcing her gaze away from the mint and up to mine.“We’regoing after her. Together. Let’s get Gavin and Jacob back inside. We’ll need supplies, and then we’re leaving immediately.” I looked overhead at the midday sun. “I want to get there before dark.”
Chapter 25
