Chapter 17

The first time I'd gone through the barrier I'd been scared, but not as much as I was now. I'd been ignorant then and ignorance was bliss. Sadly, I was no longer ignorant.

From the moment we stepped through, I was on high alert. Since no one drove out here anymore, the road was overgrown and it soon became no more than a trail. We were all tense; our heads were constantly swivelling to look around. Last time we'd had GPS coordinates as a starting place, but now we were heading up the mountain looking for plants. It would have been a nice day out but for the dangers around us. And the beast wasn't the only worry: the nantinaq hadn't been too pleased with us last time, either.

Sidnee grasped my hand and I felt her tremble. Her eyes were mer black; if she'd been anywhere near a body of water, she would have shifted. I squeezed her hand reassuringly.

Thomas veered off the path at a place that seemed sensible to him; since I was still a newbie at bushcraft, I was happy to follow. Connor's footfalls were as silent as Thomas's. I still didn't know how they did that. I had vampire reflexes but I couldn't do it – at least, not yet.

The sunlight was coming through the conifers and I could see where to step. It was much easier than stumbling around at night, but I still crashed about. At least Sidnee was just as noisy. I'd have been reassured by that except that we were trying to be quiet and not attract the beast. I prayed it was sleeping somewhere far, far away. It had to sleep, right?

Thomas was moving ridiculously quickly; if I'd still been human, I'd have been hard pressed to keep up. I took a shuddering breath when we came across the remnants of the Savik brothers' firepit, and I couldn't help wondering if we'd be next. Nope! No negativity allowed on this trip. We were going to find the plants and be in and out before anything scary found us. Easy-peasy.

Thomas found animal trails for us to walk along when he could, but the terrain was rough. Even though people like the Saviks had been coming out here to hunt, there hadn't been enough of them to wear footpaths into the forest. Soon he and Connor were deploying machetes.

Thomas paused every now and again to make sure we were all together and to determine where we were going. He pointed out trees and other landmarks so that if we got separated, we'd have an idea how to get back. The very thought of being alone out here was terrifying. Sidnee stayed by him as the trail narrowed and I brought up the rear with Connor.

When I heard a branch crack behind me I whirled around so fast I nearly fell on my arse. It was a deer, as surprised as I was. It was small and brown, with a darker patch on its forehead and a white strip around its nose. Its dark eyes looked at me for a moment and one ear flicked at me, listening.

Connor must have heard me stop because he came back and put his arm around me. He whispered in my ear, ‘It's a Sitka blacktail. Watch when it turns.' Sure enough, the deer flipped around on its back feet and bounded off. Its short dark tail flicked and it was gone.

I released my breath. That had been almost magical: for one moment I'd enjoyed nature and not worried about the beast. ‘It's beautiful,' I murmured. And not tasty in the slightest. Deer blood was gross.

‘Yes,' he agreed and kissed my forehead.

From Portlock at sea level the mountain was only around a thousand feet high, but it was covered in brush and tough going; we were all panting with effort before we reached the top. As we neared the summit, we started searching for a life-saving evergreen shrub with tiny pink blossoms. Luckily, we were there at a time when it bloomed, so in theory it shouldn't be hard to spot, but Thomas's earlier comment had fear curling in my gut. What if it wasn't there?

Thomas stopped abruptly and the rest of us nearly barrelled into him. ‘If it's anywhere, it'll be here. Keep your eyes sharp.'

I looked around hopefully. No pink blossoms anywhere.

Thomas reached the same conclusion. ‘We'll have to spread out and cover the whole of the mountain top. It's not going to jump up and announce itself. We can collect the devil's club on the way down. I've seen a tonne of that already.' I had too: we'd had to avoid the prickly plant all the way up. It made sense to collect it on the way down so it would be as fresh as possible.

Sweat was dripping down my back, and it wasn't entirely due to the climb. This was the most dangerous part, where we split up and our attention would be divided between watching for signs of the beast and looking for the plant.

I caught Connor's eye and knew he felt the same: he didn't want to leave me. I tore my gaze away from him and checked on Sidnee. She looked small and lost; if we weren't being driven by such an urgent need, I'd have insisted she stick with one of us. But we had a mission and our loved ones" lives depended on it.

We agreed to meet in one hour and each took a different direction. I deliberately thought about my mum and all she'd put me through, using my anger to build the fire in my gut so it was ready. I felt alone, afraid – and utterly determined.

I walked in a zigzag across my section, checking every plant I saw – which was a lot. After a while I looked at my phone to check how long I'd been looking and was horrified to see it had only been fifteen minutes. It had seemed like forever: it turns out that time crawls when you're petrified for your life.

The next time I checked it had been forty-five minutes and I'd run out of fresh ground. That was when I heard it: an eerie howl. My floppy heart gave two quick beats and a chill ran down my spine. I knew that sound because it haunted my dreams.

Our time was up. The beast was awake, abroad and we were about to be hunted.

I rushed back to our starting point. The others must have heard the howl too, because they all returned within moments of me. ‘It knows we're here,' Thomas said grimly.

Fear threatened to overwhelm me but I pushed it down. We were here for the plant and we weren't leaving without it, no matter how much the beast yodelled at us. ‘Anyone find it?' I asked, even though I could see from their empty hands that they hadn't.

Another eerie howl came and it sounded closer. It was coming our way – and fast. ‘Time's up,' Thomas said. ‘We have to go.'

I didn't know what to do. We had to find that plant but we also had to survive long enough to take it back. Sidnee grasped my hand again. ‘We can't leave,' she pleaded with Thomas. ‘This is their only chance. I can't lose them. I won't.'

She was right. ‘You go, I'll stay and look,' I said. ‘I have my fire.'

‘Fuck that,' Connor growled. ‘I'm not leaving you.'

In the end, it didn't matter because the beast decided for us.