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But right now, he needed to find Cole and the others.
Adam scanned the rocky land and icy gray sky. The mountains lined the horizon, jagged rocks that curved and clawed in impossible shapes earth’s gravity would have brought down.
How did anything live here? What did they eat? He saw no water. No plants.
The only option must be predation, to feed on each other, which probably explained why he saw no birds, no small creatures.
Ian had survived here, as a Lost One, so he must have found food and water. He must have eaten.
Adam’s sight grew fainter, the landscape hazier. He was fading. He did not have the magic or the strength to maintain his presence. Casting even the smallest glamour would likely extinguish his power and send him home.
He wagered what he had left on a summoning.
Kneeling, he drew a circle. Sealing it took a lot. The right side of his body faded fully.
“Cole Walker Lawrence. I call to you. I summon you.”
He felt nothing. Saw or heard nothing. The rest of his physical form dissolved, leaving only his voice.
“Cole Walker Lawrence. I call to you. I summon you.”
No one answered. His sight darkened. The spirit walk was ending.
“Cole Walker Lawrence. I call to you. I summon you. Come on, man. I’m out of time.”
Then he heard it.
Not Cole, not the Wolf, but the song, the damn song. It came from every direction.
They flew toward him. At least a dozen banshees, maybe more. Adam let the last thread of the spirit walk go.
He woke with a gasp. Jodi and Emily were there. So was Bobby. He knelt beside the couch, taking Adam’s pulse with a worried expression.
“I’m okay,” Adam said, trying to move. His body was stiff. He must have looked a bit like Cole, examinate, empty. At least he’d hopefully kept his eyes closed.
“Anything?” Jodi asked.
Adam shook his head.
“I made it to the Between, but I didn’t see him, or any of them. I tried to summon him. All I got was more banshees.”
“What does it mean?” Bobby asked.
“It means they aren’t there,” Jodi said. “Cole and the others aren’t in the Between.”
“So where are they?” Emily asked from where she stood, holding Cole’s hand.
Adam shook his head.
“I don’t know,” Adam said.
15
Adam’s best mornings, aside from waking up next to Vic, were the ones when he got to the shop early. He’d even beat Shiri today.
Jesse trusted him with a key and the alarm code, so he let himself in, synced his phone to the shop’s speakers, and cranked up a playlist.
His latest project was one of Jesse’s reclamations, a used car they were fixing up in order to sell. Adam got a cut of the profits, which he put in savings for the day when they’d buy Vic’s food truck or open his restaurant.
