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I sensed her presence approaching just before we left. The scents of peppermint and pine were a soothing balm to my frayed nerves, and I inhaled deeply before turning to her. But there was something unsettling about her expression, she seemed guarded. I wondered if she sensed my weakness, how close I was to coming apart at the seams. Some future alpha I was. Her piercing eyes must have seen it, how the fear threatened to claw its way out of my throat.

“You don’t want to stay behind?” I asked, with false nonchalance.

I didn’t look back at her, but I imagined her frowning. “Do you want me to stay behind?” she returned.

“It would be safer. I… wouldn’t have to worry about you.”

I braved a small peek at her in time to see the flash of hurt she quickly reined in. “Would you… rather I stayed behind?”

It was the wrong thing to have said, I could tell immediately. I shook my head. “I cannot decide for you.” I stepped away, feeling small.

I felt her eyes linger on me from a distance. I knew I should swallow my shame and reassure her, but I was all twisted up with worry for my father. Letting it be her choice was the best I could do right then. She stepped forward with a nod, a look of resolve on her face.

We followed Hannah and Levi’s footpath through the forest, making our way to Half Moon Bay, using the dim light of the sickle moon to light our steps forward. The town was a short hike. When we arrived the place seemed deserted–there were no humans around or human vehicles on the road. Traffic lights blinked to a mechanical rhythm, and the pavement was damp with a recent and quick rain. We paused just outside the town border and crouched in a ditch as we held our breaths and waited for anyone or anything to pass by. The hour must have been too late because nothing did.

“Is there a hospital?” Diana asked. “The scrying mirror showed him on a smooth silver table. I think they have such things at the human hospital. We should start there.”

Jesse scoffed at her, “An obvious answer, but our enemies wouldn’t take him to a human hospital.”

Diana looked at the ground.

“We should try at least,” I said. “Leave no stone unturned.”

Hannah nodded. “I’ll take Diana to the hospital. We will ask around there.”

“I can check around town,” Levi volunteered. “There’s a bar that’s open late. Maybe one of the locals there has seen something.”

“Take Noah with you,” I said. “No one should go off on their own.”

“Then the two of us should scout the area marked on Terra’s map,” Jesse said.

I nodded at his plan. “Let’s meet back up in no more than two hours.”

Before we split to go our separate ways, Diana approached me a second time, her downcast eyes timidly tracing the ground.

“Diana,” I sighed. I didn’t like leaving her alone in this human town. But her visiting the hospital was a better choice than scouting the edge of town in near darkness. “I’m sorry—”

“No, don’t,” she said, meeting my gaze at last. Despite her quiet voice, there was a certainty in her tone. “There is no need for you to apologize. I understand your position is difficult. I should be the last of your concerns.” Her words adopted the edge of a wistful sigh. She started to pull away from me…

A cry echoed in my chest at this sudden barrier erected between us. I could not leave things as they were. Before she could disengage from me entirely, I reached for her hand, pulling her back to me, and crushing her to my chest for a few indulgent moments.

She stiffened with surprise only for a second before she accepted my embrace, burying herself in my chest, scrubbing her face against my shirt. Despite the fact that my world seemed to be fracturing around the edges, this felt like a moment that wasright. I took my first full breath since we left the compound. Diana and I were together, where we belonged, no matter what atrocities raged around us.

She stepped back, looking just as bewildered as I felt. I held onto her hand until the last moment, letting go reluctantly with the faint brushing of our fingertips.

And then we separated for each of our jobs.

Just to be safe, Jesse and I remained in human form as we patrolled, starting from one side of the bay before making our way to the other, where the town’s luxury hotel sat on the cliffside. We relied on our sense of smell to mark our path through the darkness. We remained on alert for any sign of Nathaniel or the ammonia stench we detected earlier.

Our first pass yielded no results, but Jesse was dauntless, taking new paths to cover more area.

As we fell into a pattern, I took the opportunity to fill in some blanks. I asked, “What’s your history with Cersey?”

He flinched at the name, and I imagined him clenching his fists in the darkness. “The witch?”

“You and Dad took her amulet?” I prompted, working to keep my voice neutral. Clearly, he was not eager to share what happened. I needed to play this cool if I wanted to understand what this was all about.

He scoffed, “I took it. Me. I took her amulet. I just gave it to your dad for safe keeping.”