Page 113 of Spark of Sorcery

“What? Those stupid dumbass looks? That’s because they don’t share a brain cell between them.”

“No,” I say, “it wasn’t that.”

I bolt up the staircase of her tower, two girls flattening themselves against the wall as I pass. At the summit, I hammer on her door, leaning against the frame as I catch my breath and then hammering again when it doesn’t open.

“Are you looking for Briony?”

I spin around to find her two friends huddled in the doorway of the boy’s room. I’m not liking the concerned expressions on their faces.

“Where is she?” I boom.

“We don’t know,” the boy says, voice trembling. “She wasn’t in her room this morning. I thought maybe you got back early or something, but then she didn’t turn up for breakfast or first periods.”

“We’ve been looking for her,” the girl adds. “Asking around.”

“But people are being weird as shit.”

I glance at my bond brothers. This isn’t good. Kratos’s smile seems more and more sinister to me with every passing second.

“When did you last see her?” Dray asks them both.

“Dinner time,” the girl says.

“And then where did she go?” Dray asks. “Back to her room or …?”

The boy glances at Thorne and then swallows. “She may have gone out to the forest.”

“The forest?! Why the hell would she go to the forest at night?” Damn that girl. Didn't I tell her to be careful?

“Erm.” His eyes flick to Thorne again. Is he worried my bond brother might unleash his deadly magic? “She’s been going there every evening.”

“Why?”

He shrugs but I can tell by the way he can’t quite meet my eyes that he knows the reason. The reason isn’t important right now though. That can wait. Right now, we need to find her. She could be in danger. Or hurt. Or …

Bile rises in my throat and my heart stops beating.

Not that. Not that. I shake my head.

I’d know if it were that, wouldn’t I? I’d feel it in my bones. In my heart.

“Did you hear her come home after her visit to the forest?” Thorne asks – and thank the stars someone is thinking straight.

“No,” Fly says, “but I’m often asleep before she gets back.”

Fly glances once again at Thorne which is really starting to piss me off.

“Why the fuck is she going into the forest?” Dray says. His face darkens and he growls. “To meet some other dude?” And I can’t help it, but that thought has my hackles rising too.

“You’d be able to smell if she was with some other man,” Thorne points out, my shoulders relaxing. “We can worry about questions later. Right now, we need to find her.”

I rub at my chin, covered in a layer of thick stubble, the bristles sharp against my finger tips.

“We can split up,” I suggest. “You two,” I point to Briony’s friends, “can go check the commoners’ clinic again. Thorne, you can–”

“There’s no need,” Dray says, already striding towards the staircase. “If I can find her scent, I can track her down.” He descends the first step. “What are you fuckers waiting for?” Thorne and I follow after him, the other two remain where they are. “And you, too,” he snaps, making the boy and the girl scurry after us.

Out on the pathway, Dray sniffs the air, then turns back to Fly.