Katie hesitated then continued onto the path Gabriel had told her to follow. She didn’t know what the creature was. He looked like Andre, but Andre was dead-dead, which meant the creature following them was something else.
Shivering, she began to run again on the trail. She heard the fast moving stream long before she reached it and paused to catch her breath on its bank. The water looked … black in the moonlight. She took a step back and looked up towards the moons. As Gabriel indicated, one moon was lower than the other. In the distance, she heard the sounds of both fighting and pursuit.
Still breathless, Katie forced herself onward along the stream’s rocky bank. The sounds of fighting grew faint and then disappeared. The stream wound through the jungle until it reached a small waterfall that fed into a massive lake whose black surface reflected the stars and moon. Katie slid down the hill beside the waterfall to the lake’s edge, uncertain what to do. Gabriel hadn’t mentioned the stream ending or the lake.
Andre appeared before her suddenly, and she stopped. The phantom looked at her then past her. Katie glanced back without seeing anything. The phantom had moved when her gaze returned to where he had been. He stood a short distance away, pointed to a small hollow in a tree then took up a protective position several feet away, watching the way she’d come.
There was no way she was sleeping tonight, even if she didn’t feel any threat from the phantom. She definitely didn’t feel safe without Gabriel there. She hesitated before going to where the ghost indicated, not wanting to continue without Gabe. Popping a food cube, Katie huddled in the hollow of the tree and waited.
Rhyn was alone on the island sanctuary in his dreams and awoke to the feeling that his magic had slipped even more from its binding. His body was hot from the inside out despite the cold rain falling in the forest. The fire had died overnight. He pushed the waterproof cloak off him.
Toby was gone.
Rhyn rose and crossed to the small cave, peering into its depths. Toby’s backpack was there along with his pink coat. Rhyn straightened, angry at himself for not hearing the boy leave. A flash of purple caught his eye through the trees, and he loped through the forest. Toby’s purple sweater, streaked with foul-smelling angel blood, was strung across a low branch.