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When Bryce nodded, I continued. “She’s Mzatal’s demahnk advisor, his ptarl. And Zack is . . . was . . . Rhyzkahl’s ptarl. What you saw was him breaking that bond.” I paused for emphasis. “That’s never ever been done before.”
Bryce maintained his bland expression, but there was a hint of holy shit in his eyes when he glanced my way. “That sounds pretty big. What happened to Zack?”
“I wish I knew,” I said. “But we have to find him. When he left he looked shattered.” And how long will Ryan remain stable without him?
Yet we didn’t find him at the Nature Center or the next two places we looked, and though I called his phone several times, it continued to ring then go to voicemail.
“One more try,” I said after a frustrating hour of searching and calling. “If he doesn’t pick up this time, I’ll have to enlist Ryan to trace Zack’s cell.” I really didn’t want to involve Ryan in the search, nor did I want to deal with whatever official channels would be necessary for such a thing, but we were running out of options.
“You gotta do what you gotta do,” Bryce noted with pragmatic calm.
Once again I called Zack and waited through five rings. But this time, it stopped ringing without going to voicemail, and my heart rate spiked. I couldn’t hear anything on the other end, but I knew Zack had answered. I willed calm into my voice. “Hey, Zack. I’m out looking for you, dude.”
Silence for a good ten seconds. “Kara,” he said, voice thick and hoarse. “I’m okay.”
“You’re such a liar. Where are you?”
“By the lake.” Each word came through as though a huge challenge to speak. “Park in the Worms and Perms lot,” he managed. “West about a hundred yards, then walk in toward the lake. I . . . can’t come to you.”
I looked over at Bryce. “We’re heading for the bait shop on Lakeshore Drive. Yo
u know the one?” He nodded and I returned my attention to Zack. “We’ll be there in five minutes, and no, I’m not hanging up.”
The line remained silent, and I had the distinct impression that Zack was gathering enough energy simply to speak. “What happened after I left?” he asked after about half a minute. “I know . . . the qaztahl are all gone, but I can’t sense like I should.”
I did my best to fill him in as we headed his way. The conversation remained fairly one-sided, but I had the sense it helped him simply to hear me talk. I caught him up on the various details, and did my best to ease his deep concern for Szerain/Ryan by relating my theory that he’d used the node to stabilize himself.
The car lurched as Bryce pulled into the empty rutted gravel lot of Bubba and Barb’s Worms and Perms, a mom and pop beauty salon and bait shop that had been a lake fixture for almost forty years. It had been rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina, but already had a dilapidated air about it. A single floodlight illuminated the shabby, faded blue building with BEAUTY SUPPLIES, LIVE BAIT and GET WORMS HERE painted on the side. I wasn’t too sure about the selling point of the last one, or the whole concept for that matter, but the place did a thriving business so what the hell did I know?
Bryce parked in the shadow of the building. I climbed out of the car and wrinkled my nose at the smell of the minnow tanks inside and ripe fish guts in the trash. “Zack told me he was a hundred yards that way then straight in toward the lake,” I said. “Bryce, stay with the car and keep your phone handy, please. Sonny, I need you with me.”
Sonny gave me a perplexed look. “Anything you say, but why me?”
“He sounded pretty strung out on the phone,” I told him, then smiled. “I think your ‘chill out’ knack might be handy.”
Comprehension bloomed on his face, along with gratification. I wondered how long it had been since he’d been able to use his ability for good.
“Also,” I continued, “he said he’s not sure if he can walk or not, and I sure as hell don’t want to try and carry him.”
Sonny let out a soft laugh. “I can handle that.”
We left Bryce and made our way through tall grass, swarms of mosquitos, and questionable footing. “Couldn’t he have blipped to a place with a trail?” I grumbled, then lifted the phone to my ear. “Hey, Zack? We should be getting close. Do you hear a herd of elephants nearby?”
“Rhinos,” he replied. “Definitely . . . rhinos, and they need to bear right . . . make their way around the curve.”
We continued to follow his directions and finally found him on a flat spit of stone that extended into the water. He lay curled on his side, his phone on speaker beside him.
I tucked my own phone away. The clouds were gone and the rising moon cast everything in soft light. A fat toad hopped across my path as I moved to Zack and knelt beside him. “I’m here, ghastuk,” I said softly, the demon word for friend coming up naturally.
“You’re right, I lied,” he said. “I’m a wreck.” He made what I suspected to be an attempt to sit up but ended up as little more than a body jerk.
I laid my hand on Zack’s shoulder, caught Sonny’s eye, and silently beckoned him to us. “No shit. But it’s going to be all right.”
Sonny moved in quickly, helped me get Zack sitting cross-legged, then withdrew a few feet, watchful. Zack scrabbled for my hand, found it, and hung on.
“It’s not all right,” he said. “It’s not.” The desolation in his voice matched the despair in his eyes. “There is only silence. Silence,” he said in a heart-wrenching whisper.
“We’re going to help you,” I told him. “That’s something you can hang on to.” The reminder of Mzatal’s silence and imposed distance twisted like a knife in my heart, but I swallowed the temptation to sink into my own pain and focused on Zack. I kept hold of his hand and wrapped my other arm around his shoulders. “Tell me what’s going on with you so I know how to help.”
