know it frustrates him as much as it frustrates me.
I move to his side, ignoring the heavy, awkward thud of my false leg. “One set or two?”
He crouches in the sand, touching one step. “Two different sizes of feet, both in boots.”
“Smell,” Gren says, his voice nothing more than a growl.
I turn to look at him, and he touches his strange nose, his lips parted as if tasting the scent. “Smell,” he says again, and then takes off down the beach in a different direction.
I pause. Is he warning us of danger? He knows we are searching for my Devi, so why is he leaving? I bite back frustration in an effort to understand. We cannot afford distractions. If S’bren has truly stolen her, he will want to get away as fast as possible.
“Smell!” Gren calls again, from farther up the beach. Meanwhile, K’thar follows the two sets of tracks that wander along the water’s edge and are close to being washed away.
“I will see what he wants,” J’shel says, touching my shoulder before jogging after Gren.
I turn and follow K’thar, because I do not care what Gren smells at this moment. If it is a beast, we will deal with it. For now, I just want my mate.
We follow the tracks, and they lead to cliffs where even now, the tide comes in, crashing against the rock.
“The footprints stop here,” K’thar says unnecessarily. I can see that. I can track as well as him. I stare down at the sand, where the icy water brushes against the soles of our boots. Either they turned in another direction and hid their footprints somehow, or they have followed the cliffs. I look at the rocky, dangerous shoals, now nearly covered in water, and anger burns in my heart. If he has taken her this foolish way simply to hide his trail…
“Ho,” J’shel calls, and I turn to the side. He and Gren walk along the cliffs, the fur-covered darker male raising his head every now and then to scent the air. J’shel holds his spear at the ready and his mouth is pressed into a firm line. He points at the sand. “Kaari tracks,” he says. “Tidewalker kaari, too. Biggest one I have ever seen.”
“Here?” K’thar snorts in disbelief. “It is too cold.”
“It is here anyhow,” J’shel says. “And its trail follows very close behind them.”
My mouth goes dry with fear. Is it hunting my Devi? Has it picked up her lovely scent? Does that fool S’bren even know how much danger she is in? A kaari is trouble on its own. Tidewalker kaari are the worst kind, able to live both on water and land and terrorize both.
Gren turns his head, his entire body stiffening. He gazes out at the cliffs, where the water crashes.
Just then, I hear it. A muffled scream.
Female.
Devi.
My mate.
“DEVI!” I howl, flinging myself forward toward the cliffs. I stumble on the rocks, my false leg unable to find a grip. Snarling, I slam into the sand and quickly get to my feet once more.
J’shel is at my side in an instant. “Take my hand,” he says, extending it to me. “Use my weight to balance.”
I want to bare my teeth at him, to snarl that I need no one or nothing, that I can walk myself—but I hear Devi’s muted scream again, and I am reminded that nothing matters but her.
Biting back my pride, I lock one of my arms around J’shel’s and we move forward onto the rocks, spears gripped at the ready.
DEVI
I scream as the icy water rushes in once more, slamming me against the back wall and turning the debris in the cave into an awful soup of filth and bones. It soaks my boots and pants, and then rushes back out again, sucking at me and dragging me back across the floor.
I might be dead before the monster even gets to me if this keeps up.
My teeth chatter and bang against themselves as I get to my feet, staggering. S’bren seems less affected than I am, remaining vigilant at the entrance of the cave. Every so often, he stabs and snarls at the creature when it tries to attack once more, but we are in a standoff. It can’t get to us, we can’t kill it.
And all the while, the water rushes in, creeping higher and higher with each sweep of the tide.
I press myself against the back wall, my feet desperately trying to find purchase and somewhere to perch so I