I’d been using my absorbent power to check the air for traces of magic ever since the curse went alert, but I made a show of checking the area anyway. “No mages in the area except Alba,” I yelled over my shoulder.
There was a commotion back on the main path. Tavar and I turned at the same time.
Eugene and an older, bearded Sentinel—Deacon’s friend—were sprinting off through the woods in the opposite direction. The curse was shaking with excitement now, holding my whole body still, ready for the Masters to approach.
I could feel Tavar tensing beside me, but the curse wouldn’t even let me look at him.
Cole looked annoyed but not particularly concerned as he turned back toward us. “Clear the camp and surrounding area,” he shouted.
I couldn’t even speak to reply. The curse held me in a cocoon of tension, certain the Masters would attack at any moment. It made me stick close to Tavar as he strode into the woods on the other side of the camp.
“You well?” Tavar kept his gaze on the woods around us as he addressed me, his voice quiet.
“Of course,” I choked out.
He darted a glance at me. “You seem … different.”
The curse squeezed me so tightly, I could barely reply. “I’m fine.”
Tavar glanced at the quiet copse of trees around us, then lowered his weapon and edged toward me. “Bri. C’mon. You don’t have to pretend with me.” He adjusted his pack strap, his blue-eyed gaze steady and piercing as he studied me. “I know we haven’t talked much lately, but I … I just want you to know … I’m here for you. As your friend, not just a sparring partner, or whatever it is I am to you.”
I swallowed. The curse snarled furiously in my chest as I met Tavar’s eyes, unable to speak through the curse’s tight grip. I wished I could tell him I wasn’t truly his friend. That he didn’t even know me. That I was about to lead him to the Masters, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. And he wouldn’t know until it was too late to escape.
“Find anything yet?” Cole approached us from the camp. “The others took positions behind the boulder back there.” He jerked his head back, toward the slope we’d been approaching on our hike.
“Nothing yet.” Tavar dragged his gaze away from me. “Still need to clear the other side though.”
We’d just finished checking the rest of the area when a shout came from the rocky slope.
Deacon waved a furious arm. “Cole!”
Cole and Tavar jogged closer. The curse’s excitement, mixed with my own dread, made my steps so clumsy I lagged behind.
Deacon met Tavar in front of the boulder, his eyes wide and his mouth in a grim line. “Alba’s gone.”
The curse vibrated happily. It is beginning, creature. You cannot stop us.
I paused and searched the area compulsively for traces of magic. How close were the Masters? But the only magic I found was Alba’s.
My feet tripped closer to the boulder, compelled by the curse. What was that? Alba’s trace wasn’t fading. It was just as strong as if she were standing right here, but she was nowhere to be seen.
I scanned the rocks that were nestled between the boulder and the slope, tuning out their voices as they argued about Alba. Was she somehow still here, but hidden? Underground?
“Tracker, report!” Cole’s command caught my attention.
What could I do? She was right here! Someone was with her, not a mage, but someone, someone in the Masters’ employ,
I held my breath, trying to think of a way to signal Cole to look for her, but the curse took over with a warning shock of pain to my heart. “No mages here,” it said for me. “It’s clear.”
“What about Alba? Any trace?” Deacon sounded frustrated.
The curse floundered, unused to speaking for me. Lie well, the curse growled. Or I’ll take over again, and you won’t like how that goes.
“I just found her trail leading back the way we came,” I blurted out, thinking fast. “Looks like she went back by herself.”
“Why would she go back?”
“She told me she was getting scared again during our last break.” Alba would never forgive me for this. “She said she wanted to go back to the fomewagon to wait for us. I thought I’d convinced her to stay with the group, but I guess with all the false alarms just now, she got scared and