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“Thank you.” I nodded, and he returned one of his own.

Pivoting on my heel, I started walking into the crowd. Alaina followed, not paying attention since she was still figuring out the best way to pack her satchel. “Your town,” I said, “you mentioned things were bad there, too. Why?”

“Same as here, I suppose. There’s a terrible famine, and more and more of us are going missing.”

I paused, spinning to face her. “Your people are going missing, too?”

She finished adjusting her bag and peered at me. There was a heaviness behind her unique eyes, one that told me she ached for the losses, just as I did.

“That’s one of the reasons we came here. The last one that we know of, he came to South Harbor to warn the others, but he never came home.”

My mind began racing, but I focused on some of her word choices. “We? Others?”

She straightened and took a deep breath, but didn’t seem bothered to share details. “Yes, I came with a travel companion. One reason was for collecting food scraps to take back with us, and the other was to look into Raf’s disappearance.”

She could see that I still didn’t get all the answers I was looking for, so she continued, “My companion and I are witches, so was Raf. We came to the Magic Supporters group to spread the word, so they start being cautious.” Someone else might have stirred or stiffened at that revelation, a reason she lowered her voice when she spoke.

“So who starts being cautious?”

“It’s not safe in Highcrest for magic wielders right now. Or anywhere, it seems.”

The revelation made me blink in question. She seemed to think the disappearances were affecting magic wielders, but nothing I’d discovered when looking into the missing person reports indicated that as a commonality.

Except…

Chol and I watched a ship cloaked by magic appear in the harbor. When Clemmons’ parents let me in while I asked them questions earlier today, I’d noticed they had a vase of willowroot in their living room. Melody would take some anytime she was sick, seeing as it was an herb most beneficial to those with magic. Then I remembered that Mrs. Gallagher showed up to the Supporters meeting. And Sverik and Sharla were there, too.

My thoughts swirled, wondering if this was the lead that would crack the case. Maybe these kidnappings were an act of hate against magic wielders. My blood coursed with greater purpose. I had to find out if everyone who had gone missing was either a magic wielder or supporter.

Then I had to tell Chol.

“You said Raf went missing here.” I debated telling her my suspicions.

“Yes.”

Not knowing if it would hurt her or help, I decided to share anyway. “There was a man found murdered on the beach. He wasn’t local, no one was able to identify him. I heard he might have been jumped by a group.”

She took in a shuddering breath, then a deathly calm settled over her graceful features. “Where is the body?”

“Oh, I…I don’t know.” My lips twisted in remorse.

Her gaze dropped to the ground, disappointment welling in her eyes. She was too late to save him. Helpless. It struck a chord in me, one that had me unable to abandon her in her grief.

“But I know someone who might,” I said, hoping Chol’s connection to the guardsmen would come in handy.

This time, when she peered up at me, my chest expanded with resolve over what I saw in her eyes.

Hope.

28

Nicholas

For the fifth time, I scoured the port’s documents, searching for any sign of irregularities or inconsistent deliveries.

Nothing.

I desperately wanted to find something to report to Ella when we met tonight. Hopefully, she’d found something useful for us. As the prince, it wasn’t like I could go question the missing boy’s parents, like Ella had asked. The amount of attention that would bring would cause more upset and signal alarm bells. So I focused on what I could do.