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“She won’t even eat udon,” Lulu said, pity coloring her voice.
I looked at Connor. “This is private property, right? The waterfalls and surrounding area.”
“It is,” he said. “But I seriously doubt they asked for permission. And we’re going to bypass that for the time being. Apologies later instead of asking first.”
“If we find them there,” I asked, “how do we get them out again?”
“Unconscious?” Theo offered. “Worked well for Beyo.”
Connor smiled. “That would be my preference. Easier to move. And if Beyo’s any indication, they won’t be very heavy.” His voice was grim but determined.
“You want me here or there?” Alexei asked.
“You’d better stay here,” Connor said. “Just in case they show up before we do.” And then he nodded surreptitiously toward Lulu, got Alexei’s answering nod.
Since I appreciated the gesture, the fact that Alexei would keep a protective eye on her, I didn’t argue with the method.
“You think you could guide us?” I asked Lulu.
“I’m not going on a monster hunt.”
“No,” I said, “you aren’t. But you know this place and apparently the virtual tour. You can guide us.” I held up my screen. “Electronically. Assuming you found your screen?”
“I found it. And I’m not willing to go into further detail. You’ll let me know if there are any painting-worthy spots?”
“Absolutely.”
“You want to tell Cash before or after you go out there?” Alexei asked.
Connor sat back, linked his hands behind his head. “I don’t know. Frankly, we’re probably likely to get the same result either way.”
“Denial,” I suggested.
“Yeah,” Connor said. “But I have to think our chances of success are better if we come back with Zane and the others in hand.”
“Then let’s get to it,” I said.
***
We drove the same road we’d taken the night of the initiation, parked along the road near the trail. Ours was the only vehicle, and I hadn’t thought to ask Beyo how they’d gotten this far into the woods. It had to be at least ten miles between the resort and the waterfalls; had they run all that way?
We took the trail, passing the waterfalls and the spot where Loren had been found, and traveled deeper into the woods. After five more minutes of walking, the trail dwindled, disappeared.
“To the right,” Lulu said, voice ringing through our screen-linked earpieces. “There’s a pass up ahead, and we go through that, then over the boulders. That’s a bit of a scramble.”
“On that,” I said, and we veered toward the right. The terrain was relatively flat here, the ground soft and loamy, with silver birch towering above us.
“There are some really great rock formations on the other side of the waterfall, up the bluff a little. All right,” she said after a moment. “You’re getting close. It’s about twenty or thirty yards around that bend. Just hug the rock, and you’ll see it.”
“I’m going to take the lead,” Connor said. “Elisa behind me,” he whispered. “Sword out. Then Theo.”
“The cheese stands alone,” Theo said, and I gave that the sad trombone sound it deserved.
We slipped through the woods, keeping the bluff to our right, until we could hear the soft ping of water against rock.
Connor held up a hand, and we waited in silence, ears perked, listening.
There was no sound, no movement, no magic, or at least not recently.
