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“But it is,” he said, his voice monotone. “I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking. It’s just what Gabe said, though. Liam is the most level-headed out of all of us. Of course, he can handle a familiar on him.” He shook his head. “I should’ve went after him. Now he’s God knows where, and who knows who he is right now. The Liam we know, or the Liam he was last night with you.”

I pulled out my cell phone, praying he was the Liam we all knew. The Liam who was with me for a brief second last night was scary, evil. I touched Liam’s name, and it rang and rang, but no one picked up. Randy watched me eagerly, but I finally lowered it and shook my head. “Nothing.”

Travis and Gabe ran down the steps at the same time, then we all headed outside. I sat in the back with Gabe, his hands interlaced with mine as I sat on the edge of my seat while we drove from Ipswich to Salem. The distance had never bothered me as much as it did right now.

“Your bike was in the driveway, wasn’t it, Randy?”

He nodded.

“Maybe Liam couldn’t have gotten that far,” I mused.

Travis locked eyes with me in the mirror. “He was gone all night. He could’ve walked into Salem in that time, or called a taxi, or an uber, or anything.”

I sat back, deflated for the moment. Gabe whispered pretty things in my ear as I scoured the tree line, hoping to see something. Maybe Liam walking, Liam sleeping, just Liam in any way, shape, or form. A piece of me was missing, and a hole had formed in my stomach.

As soon as we pulled up to the apartment and got out of the Jeep, I knew he wasn’t there. I couldn’t feel him at all. We went in anyway, looking at anything that was out of place or any sign that he could’ve been there. Everything was just as we’d left it before though. His room was immaculate. He’d even made his bed before we moved into his parents’ place in Ipswich, as if someone was going to come in and see what type of person he was by how clean his room remained when we weren’t even staying there.

“What now?” I asked, the hope that had been building inside of me seeping out little by little.

“Do you think he’s at school?” Gabe asked.

Travis checked his watch. “It’s way too early for that. What about the shop?”

I gasped. “He has a key. He might go there.”

We ran back out of the apartment and Travis took us through Historic Salem until we were at the end of the cobblestone street. He parked, and we all got out, practically running toward the shop now. My fingers trembled as I put the key in. Travis covered my hand with his, helping me twist it into place. I looked up at him. “Thanks.”

He nodded and pushed the door open, pulling the key out for me and handing it back. Again, there was no sign of Liam. No tug he was anywhere near here. I ran to the back anyway just in case I couldn’t feel him. When he wasn’t there, I kicked the desk. Hard. Gabe wrapped his hands around me from behind. The smell of new rain on a hot day washed over me, soothing me a little.

Randy swore loudly, smashing his fist into the backroom door, leaving a dent in the wood.

“Alright,” Travis said, loudly. “Let’s stay calm. Just because he’s not in any of these places doesn’t mean anything bad. Let’s try a locator spell.”

I was somewhat familiar with those though I was sure Granny worked her magic in a different way. She had a knack and though she used magic to do it, she didn’t always use a spell. Sometimes it was intuition, or just a feeling. Why couldn’t I have inherited that from her? That would’ve been so handy right now.

“We won’t be as strong,” Randy said.

“At least it’s something,” Travis countered. “If we can even put a little bit of a trace on him, it will help.”

We all held hands and closed our eyes. I brought up a picture of Liam, his adorable, awkward self. Him, pushing his glasses up his nose. Him, paging through a book. Or him, with the laptop screen glow highlighting his features. The guy who was in my room last night wasn’t him. I should’ve known better than to just let him go. It wasn’t Randy’s fault. It was mine. I shouldn’t have let him leave like that because when it finally was him, he would’ve hated himself for what he almost did to me. It may have pushed him into an even darker place, and that was the exact opposite of what he needed.

An image of a street popped into my head.

“There,” Gabe said. “We got something.”

It wasn’t exact. It was just a street. We didn’t know if he was there at this exact moment or if he’d just been there. The image was cloudy, barely visible. It could’ve been our magic, or something else, like the familiar blocking him from us.

“You know where it is?”

“That’s Chestnut Street,” Travis said. He pumped my hand and then pulled. “Let’s go.”

Chestnut Street wasn’t that far from downtown Historic Salem at all. In fact, it was still in the historic part. We passed the Witch House on the way there, and we drove slowly down the street, looking and searching for something that stood out as Liam. “Does he know anyone who lives here?”

Randy shook his head. “Liam doesn’t know anyone but us. He’s never felt comfortable around others.”

Right. I knew that. I was just grasping at straws.

A sharp tug gripped my stomach. I doubled over. At first, I thought it was for Liam, but then the pain started and the rest of them also reacted. “Shit.”