Bastien’s voice trailed off as his eyes moved further up the beach. They fixed on an area in the distance. He sped up again and then stopped after about half a mile. There appeared to be nothing different about this stretch of beach than the one we had just traversed. There were no signs of holes or indentations anywhere. I was not sure why he was stopping here…
My heart sank as he said, “The portal should be here. I swear, it’s on this stretch of beach.”
And yet there was nothing. He raced further up the beach and then further down it, along the path we had already traveled, as though he might have missed it. But we hadn’t. No portal was anywhere to be seen along this beach.
“Are you sure this is the right beach?” I asked.
“I’m positive,” Bastien said.
“Then what could’ve happened to the gate?” I breathed. “Could the hunters have… closed it?”
“Not without the help of a powerful witch,” Bastien murmured. “But maybe they do have witches at their service… That would explain a number of things.”
Closing gates was something that Ibrahim and Corrine were able to do, as well as Mona—since she had regained the strength she’d lost after Lilith’s death. In the past we had fantasized about the three of them traveling the world with Mona’s map of portals and closing off all of them to solve this whole supernatural problem once and for all. But they had discovered even before I was born that the map was in no way comprehensive. Even if they managed to close them all, there were possibly hundreds of others we would never locate without a new map.
I wondered what kind of witch would ever want to side with the hunters.
“I wonder why they would want to close this gate,” I mumbled.
Bastien shrugged.
Maybe it was for more control. They wanted as few points of entry—and exit—as possible while they were here. Hmm.
“But there must be other gates in this realm?” I asked hopefully.
Bastien began moving away from the center of the beach and toward the shelter of the trees again. “I don’t know,” he replied. “I am sorry.”
Oh, great. What am I going to do now?
Once we were deep within the woods again, Bastien halted and let me get off. I began pacing up and down—or rather, hobbling up and down. “I need to get back to my family,” I said. I was just praying that Heath and Grace managed to escape and had made their way back through the portal, and would hopefully now be safely returned to The Shade.
“It’s possible we might come across some other wolves who know of another portal… if you come with me,” Bastien suggested.
I turned on him. “And where exactly do you plan to go now?” I asked, dreading to think how many more bumpy hours—or maybe even days—lay in wait for me atop Bastien’s back.
“As I said last night, I need to find allies. I plan to head east, toward one of the few packs that the Blackhalls are—or were—actually friends with. I believe they might be far enough away for the hunters to not have reached them yet. But I have to hurry.”
“And how long do you estimate that journey will take?” I asked, steeling myself for the answer.
“It’s hard to say,” Bastien said. “I’ve not made the journey since I was a boy. I would estimate perhaps a day. It could be less or it could be more, depending on whether or not we meet with any obstacles along the way.”
I drew in a deep breath. “Okay,” I said, my voice deep with resignation. My choice was hardly a difficult one. There were no other options on the table other than to go with Bastien.
I couldn’t miss the flicker of relief in his gray eyes. At least someone has benefited from this turn of events. He would no longer be left on his own.
Grace
Day had broken by the time we reached the end of the woods and arrived at a mountain range.
“Oh, I know this place,” Micah said. “This is Blackhall territory. Maybe that man is a Blackhall.”
We moved toward a wooden door at the base of the mountain, yet the arrow on our device’s screen was not pointing there. Rather, it was pointing us toward the meadows on the other side of the range, beyond which lay more trees.
Micah sniffed around the door. It was a good thing that his sense of smell was unparalleled even in his human form. “They came right up to here. I’m guessing that they went inside. Though if the device is correct, they must have left again. Perhaps they just stopped for rest or refreshment.”
Where is that wolf taking her?
“Should we ask in here?” I suggested. “Someone in here may know where they’ve gone.”
“Yes,” Micah replied. “We should.”
“What do you know about the Blackhalls?” Vivienne asked.
Micah shrugged. “My pack never had many dealings with them. I hardly know anything, other than they’re strong, resistant wolves.”
Micah hammered his fists against the door. We stepped back, waiting with bated breath.
The door creaked slowly open to reveal an imposing bearded man dressed in the garb of a guard—his chest plated with armor, his belt loaded with blades.
“My name is Micah Kaelin,” Micah said, extending a hand.
The guard refused to shake it. He looked at him suspiciously, then at us. “What brings you here?” he asked Micah. “Who are these people?”
“We are searching for a human girl whom I believe might have been captured by a member of your pack. A werewolf stopped by here with a human, didn’t he?”