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Cursing, I grab one of my vials and shove it into her hands. Her eyes go wide when she realizes what I’m giving her. “You refused my healing potions on the ship, but this one is different. It’s a protection potion. I want you to take one drop every day. You hear me?”

I had been saving that vial for my sister. It’s why I’ve never used it, but I have a feeling Sofia is going to need it more.

She begins to shake her head, but I curl her fingers over the vial. “I don’t need it, Sofia. I have a Prince of Death on my tail. He won’t let anything happen to me because if I die, so does he. We somehow linked life forces on my first night on the isle. I’m protected enough.”

For now.

She blinks at me a few times. It’s a lot to take in, but she doesn’t question me. “O-okay.”

Satisfied, I let my hands fall. “I’ll see you later,” I say as I fight the tears at the edges of my eyes.

If I see her again, it means I’ve failed. But it’s too painful to say goodbye.

She gives me a nod. “Later,” she confirms with the same glitter in her own eyes.

Then I walk out of the tent and into the night.

And I head straight for the wall.

CHAPTER 17

Relief swarms my system when I confirm that my night vision has returned. It seems to have a mind of its own.

The world around me is in black and white with muted colors. Silver moonlight adds a glare to the stone houses, and I keep to the shadows of buildings as I make my way through the narrow pathways.

Other shifters are nowhere to be found. Which is typical on this side of the encampment. Godric did a good job placing his tent on the outskirts.

The border right next to his tent runs adjacent with rocks and cliffs that I know I’m not going to attempt to climb down, so I go past what look to be natural springs. There are a few shifters in the water, but they ignore me and seem very intent on each other.

My cheeks flush as I overhear a few sounds as to why they’re so occupied with each other.

Get a room.

“Hey!” someone shouts, jolting me to my core, but they’re not yelling at me. They’re yelling at the stray couples tangled up together in the springs. “Pack meeting means pack meeting for you, too! Stop fucking and get moving!”

I don’t budge as the shifters clear out.

Why would Godric leave the entire pack without even some guards while they have this meeting?

I don’t question my good fortune as I reach a large collection of stone houses that seem more rugged than the ones I’ve seen before.

There aren’t any signs of life, so I continue on until I finally reach the wall. Trees tower from the other side.

Almost at the forest.

I pull out the tonic that the Outcast gave me and am about to take a sip when suddenly a rope swings over the wall.

Going completely still, I wait, but no one comes over it.

Taking my chances, I decide the rope must be for me. Maybe Godric is tired of Arwan calling the shots and is trying to move me off camp. That would make the most sense.

But who slung over the rope?

Curiosity mixes with fear as I take a swig of the strength potion, then I begin to climb.

There’s no way my body would tolerate scaling a literal wall using my own power alone.

Plus, if I’m walking into a trap, I need to be able to fight my way out of it.