The plots were rectangular, and some were still tangled with the remains of last year’s plants; others were bare and ready for planting anew. Set against each other—the dark squares and light—they looked like a game board. The entire lot was bordered by woven wattle fencing to keep the plants safe from horned deer and rabbits.
Ferren had given us coordinates, so we counted down the rows until we reached their plot. The dirt had been turned, and tiny green sprouts in tidy rows marked the spots Innis had already planted. But they were the only hint of green.
“No Aether here,” I said, a little disappointed that there wasn’t more to show for the coin I’d taken.
“And no signs of a fight,” Nik said. Hands on his hips, hair falling over one eye, he looked down at the dirt. “He wasn’t taken here.”
“Then where?” I asked.
Nik looked up. “You tell me.”
He had a point. “I’ll walk the garden and look for Aether.”
Nik nodded. “We’ll look for clues here. If you see an evildoer”—he lifted his hands—“wave your arms.”
“I’ll be sure to send him your way,” I assured him.
I walked along the narrow path outside the woven fence and found nothing but dirt and rocks and plants. Those who’d attacked Innis would have to have come from somewhere, but there was no trace of them, or their magic, leading into the garden.
Water trickled nearby, where the land dipped just beyond the tree line. A stream, I bet, and probably used by the farmers to water their plots.
I found the well-worn path down to the water, logs placed in the ground to make steps down the hill. A similar path led up to the other bank. There were no logs to make the climb easier there, just a steep and muddied path where striplings would provide the only purchase. I squinted and could just see the faint haze of Aether left behind by someone’s manipulation.
The stream below was clear and shallow at the edges. I stepped carefully into the water, treading slowly across the current tokeep as much water as possible out of the tops of my boots. And as I moved closer, I could see footprints in the mud on the other side.
I began to cross the deepest section of the creek, but rocks shifted beneath my foot and I felt my balance go. I wheeled backward and prepared myself for the cold shock of water—but instead found myself supported just above the surface by a very strong arm. Blue eyes stared down at me, and Nik’s mouth quirked in amusement.
“Hello, Fox.”
For a very long moment, while I gazed up at him like a startled deer, I could think of nothing to say.
“Thanks,” I finally murmured as he helped me right myself, the stones still moss-slick and slippery. Mortification warmed my cheeks; I wasn’t a helpless storybook maiden who needed rescuing.
“Not the first time someone has fallen into my arms,” he said with the confidence of a man who fully expected it would happen again. “Now we’re even. You saved the prince from assassins. I saved you…from the damp.”
“I don’t think that’s quite the same level of danger,” I said.
“Then I’ll owe you one. What are you doing down here? Other than going for a swim.”
“Innis said he’d done some planting. Pretty sure you need to water plants when they go in the ground.” I pointed to the other side of the stream. “Look.”
He shifted his gaze to the mottled ground, then crouched and reviewed the footprints.
“Someone was pulled from the stream.”
“Drag marks,” he agreed, then rose. “There’s Aether here?”
“Not that I can see. Either the practitioner hid it—”
“Or he had someone without magic do the dirty work for him. Let’s see how far the tracks go.” Nik climbed up the bank, careful not to disturb the marks, and held out a hand for me.
“I’m fine,” I said, and instead used an overhanging branch to pull myself up the incline. My heart was still racing, and I could still feel the sensation of his hand on my back. This was more careful, just as Wren had requested.
The ground on the shore was too dry to hold footprints; it also held no Aether. So we made our way back to Galen, who waited near the horses.
“He was probably taken while getting water,” Nik said, and explained what we’d seen. “I think we’ve found what we can here. Let’s get back to the stronghold.”
I had my foot in the stirrup to remount Grim when I felt the new pinch. I gasped at the bright pain, and Grim shifted nervously.
