"Not something," I say.
Caz has already surmised as much and nods his agreement. "Someone. They sound injured."
I don't pretend to be able to pick up on the same details that he can, but I trust his judgment.
"Are they human?" Renee asks, wetting her lips. "I could go for another bite."
Somehow, I manage to refrain from snapping at her.
There were only three young women who were released in this area, only one of them seeming capable enough of surviving long into the Hunt. I won’t allow Renee to sink her fangs intoher. No matter how hungry all of us are.
Caz flashes us a wicked, toothy grin. "I guess we'll find out soon. They're coming this way."
I'm aboutto launch into a counterargument about how we should remain focused on finding Ursulette and keep trekking forward, when someone bursts through the trees.
Night has fallen, making in near impossible to see anything in the darkness cast down by the forest canopy. But the river of white that flows behind her is a dead giveaway, and the truest mark of any Devonshire.
The only question is, what is she running from?
Before she can limp too far out of earshot, I whisper-shout at her. "Ursy?"
I hear Ursulette's lopsided gait stagger to a stop, and then as she turns to search for us. "Malachi? Was that you?"
The three of us rise and, using the ethereal glow of her pale hair, we meet her where she’s leaning on a tree.
"You're alright!" Renee cries, throwing her arms around her.
Ursulette winces."Mostly, I suppose."
Through her panting, I hear the injury Caz alluded to, a heavy quality that drags every one of her words down. Some of it, I have no doubt, has to do with losing Rhain. But there’s something else now too, something physical.
Releasing Renee from where they embrace, Ursulette stands on her own, clearly favoring one side of her body. "They...they killed him."
"We know. We found his—we found him."
I reach for her shoulder and give it a comfortingsqueeze, but she jerks out of my hold, clutching her ribcage as she staggers into the shadows. It reminds me of the way a dying animal retreats into isolation for its final moments alive, and that makes something sharp twist in my gut.
"What's wrong?" I ask her, coming to her aid even if she doesn't want it. “What happened to you?”
To my relief, when I grab her elbows to steady her, she doesn't fight me. But her pulse is like a geyser beneath her skin, powerful and burning. I have to force myself not to jerk away from her.
Stifling something that sounds like a cough but could also be the tail end of a sob into her shoulder, she manages to regain her balance, then her composure.
"I had to jump out a window. I didn't land as gracefully as I would've liked."
Renee pulls Ursulette's cloak away and lifts the blouse underneath it to inspect the wound. It's no use though. The Shadowthorn forest is too dark to see much of anything.
"We should get her back to the castle," Renee suggests.
I'm inclined to agree with her.
Except then I remember I can't go back there. I might not ever be able to return again.
Not that my friends know that yet. I haven’t had time to tell them. We’ve been too focused on finding Ursulette, making sure she was safe from herself.
Maybe the time has come.
Before I can muster the courage to say anything, I notice Caz beside us. He hasn't said a word since she arrived, and although I can’t see him through the pitch blackness, I can feel his unsettled mind beside me like something still isn’t adding up.
