32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

The supernat recruits started to find each other; we had superior abilities, so it made sense that we’d work together to search. Eben was a shaman and Margi a water witch, but Harry and George were shifters: Harry was a caribou and George was a wolverine. Since I wasn’t familiar with those animals, I didn’t know how well their noses worked but they had to be better than human ones.

I grabbed Margi. ‘Margi, is there any magic you can do to help us find Danny?’

She grimaced. ‘Oh shucks. I’m sorry, Bunny, but truthfully I’m not much of a scryer. If I had something of his I could at least do a lower-level seek spell, or I’d happily try to. Jeepers creepers, this is a mess.’

I thought about the scrying I’d seen in the past. It had really taken it out of a witch who had been an expert. ‘Will it hurt you?’

‘It’ll wear me out, but I should recover after a night's sleep. It’s not as intense as a true scry – but it’s also not as effective.’

I dug out Danny’s handkerchief and handed it to her. She looked at the object for a beat then shook her head and handed it back. ‘Sorry, Bunny. It’s covered in your blood. The only thing I could scry from that is you.’ Dammit!

George came over. Keeping his voice low he said, ‘I think I picked up a scent, but I’ll do better in my other form.’ He looked around. ‘Cover for me, please, and hold on to my clothes. Don’t let anyone shoot at me.’ He looked nervous.

‘We’ve got your back, Georgie,’ Margi said firmly. ‘Go ahead, petal.’

He slipped behind a tree and dropped his clothes, then a strange creature waddled out and my jaw dropped. I’d honestly thought wolverines were some sort of small wolf, but no; this wolverine looked like a badger or otter hybrid. He had dark fur and cream-coloured stripes that went from his jaws around his sides and ended in a short bushy tail. He wasn’t large – and he wasn’t like a wolf at all. I’d heard wolverines were fierce. I stared at dubiously at George; the wild ones might be fierce but he was adorable.

‘Oh my,’ Margi said, eyes wide. ‘What a cutie!’

George looked up at us then went to the right. We followed. He chose a spot and snuffled around a bit before waddling off in a straight line; he had definitely scented something. Thank goodness he and Danny had roomed together long enough for George to recall his room-mate’s unique smell.

Carrying George’s clothing, I ran after the rest of the group. It was totally dark now and we were far away from the other recruits who had headed back along the route we’d come along. George was heading perpendicular to the trail we’d made on the way to the fourth landmark. He continued about a hundred yards before he stopped, snuffled and put out a clawed paw to scratch at something.

Sidnee knelt down and directed her head torch. ‘It’s a syringe,’ she said, despair in her voice as she reached out to pick it up. Thinking of Gunnar and the fisheye, I yelled, ‘Don’t touch it, not without gloves!’

Everyone froze, even George who’d uncovered it with a bare paw. ‘Are you feeling alright? Any strange sensations, sick stomach, hallucinations?’ I asked him.

He backed up two steps and shook his head.

‘Anyone have any gloves on them?’ I demanded. No one did. I looked at George. ‘Can I use your undershirt?’ He had an undershirt and an overshirt, so I figured he could spare it. He gave a distinct nod.

I used the material to pick up the syringe and examined it. It had definitely been used recently and liquid was still dripping from the needle. I was careful not to touch it or let the blue-tinged, clear fluid that was soaking into the shirt touch my skin. I could smell blood when I lifted it near my face. We could only assume it had been used on Danny.

‘George, do you mind shifting back so we can ask you questions about what you can smell?’ I asked urgently.

He looked at his clothes then headed behind a tree. I set his clothes next to it and we turned our backs as we waited. He came out as he finished dressing.

‘Thanks. So, why did you stop here?’ I asked.

‘The scent ended. If you look over there, you’ll see four-wheeler tracks. That’s all I could smell after Daniel’s scent finished.’

Sure enough, there was a well-used track next to the spot where he’d found the syringe; a four-wheeler had veered over to this spot and the syringe had been pressed into the earth by its wheels, which was why George had had to dig it up. Whoever was responsible for Danny’s disappearance must have dropped it accidentally and not noticed when they drove off. If I’d had any remaining doubts, they had gone. Danny had been kidnapped.

‘What do we do?’ Margi asked. ‘Should we tell the sergeant?’

A chill went down my spine. I still wasn’t sure if we could trust anyone in charge of the academy. Even though Sergeant Marks was a supernat, I had no way of knowing for certain if he was involved.

Sidnee and I exchanged a look. ‘I think we need to follow this trail before they get too far away or we might never see Danny again,’ I said, skirting the issue.

Sidnee backed me up. ‘I agree. Which way did they go, George?’

He pointed down the trail: great, they were headed towards town. I wished one of us could fly, but that was Danny’s skill and he’d been taken and drugged. ‘Margi, you and Eben go back to the academy. If we aren’t back in an hour, tell Sergeant Marks,’ I said finally.

Margi nodded. Eben looked surly as usual, but they were basically human when it came to running through the woods and they knew they’d hold us back. ‘Let’s go, Eben,’ Margi said, and they turned and headed back.

George, Harry and Sidnee looked at me. Connor would be here soon. It would be great to have him, Fluffy and a vehicle as well. ‘Sidnee, do you have your phone?’

She patted her pocket. ‘I’ve been keeping it on me in case I heard from Thomas about Engell.’ What a little rule-breaker!

‘Okay, I’m going to rendezvous with Connor and Fluffy. I’ll text you from Connor’s phone. Ping me your location when I do and we’ll join you.’

The three of them hurried off down the trail. I watched them for a second then turned back to the academy and started to run.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that Danny was running out of time.