I walked toward her and picked it up off the ground, putting the dried beef back inside before closing the pocket. “And I don’tthink there is anything wrong with sharing the burden. We can trade on and off.”
She hummed sarcastically as I wrapped my hands around both straps for a better hold. With two swords at my back, carrying it as she had done wouldn’t be as easy. I was fine holding it. “Are you actually going to trade with me, or are you just going to take over?”
I repeated the tone of her hum and gave her a wink as we headed toward the water source.
“Can you track it and Sadie at the same time?” I wondered aloud as we walked.
Meera nodded. “It’s just another thread.”
“And you know which is which?”
She tilted her head one way then the other. “Mostly. When I search for something or someone I feel a pull. More strings means more pulls, but all I’d have to do is stop tracking one thing to know which is which.”
“Hmm. Your ability to find things is fascinating. Especially when you don’t have a witch mark. Could you lead us to water?”
Meera shook her head. “I mean, technically, yes. But I’d get a pull in too many directions if I just searched for water. It’s different if I’m looking for a specific body of water, like Lake Michigan—that’s a place. Whereas water in general is vague. Plants have water in them. People too. Not to mention all the many bodies of water that exist in a realm.” She shook her head again. “I also have to have a connection to the object or person.”
The further we went from the clearing, the louder the slight rustling of water became. “You have to know them? How were you able to track Damon then?”
“Photo,” she answered. “If it’s not a person I know or an object I’ve encountered before, I need a picture of it to anchor the connection.”
“And everyone you work for knows this?”
She scoffed. “Of course not. I’m not giving away that secret to just anyone. But even a regular bounty hunter without my ability would be hard up to do the job if the client didn’t provide that. You have to know what you’re looking for.”
Between the trees in the not-so-far-off distance, something was glowing. It wasn’t until we were only ten or so feet from it that I was able to identify it as a series of pools. Each one was several feet higher than the last. Bioluminescent water spilled from one into the other, ending in a tiny lagoon at our feet.
Meera whistled. “This is cozy.”
She hobbled over to me, but instead of reaching for me, she went for the bag I wore on one shoulder.
Now she sifted through it, muttering to herself. Wrappers crinkled as she pushed some granola bars aside, looking for what, I didn’t know.
“Aha!” she said excitedly after a minute. “Found it.”
I lifted a brow as she held up a vial of clear liquid with an eyedropper.
“And that is?”
“A potion. One that cost me a pretty penny to have made. After I nearly died from dehydration in another realm a few years back, I had Amelia make me a ton of this stuff. Every survival pack I make has it.”
Immediate distrust filled me, and it was no doubt written on my face. “The same Amelia that has a portal to Eversus in the backroom of her bar?”
The excitement she felt waned a bit. She lifted a shoulder and looked at the ground. “She made this when she was still my friend. I’ve used it before. I know it works.”
“What exactly does it do?”
Meera smiled, and even with a leaf stuck in her hair and dirt smudged across the bridge of her nose, she still looked beautiful. Everything about her was pure. “This little guy is going to tellus if the water is safe to drink and not, ya know, poison or something.”
She unscrewed the dropper and extended her arm over the pool, careful not to spill. A single crystalline teardrop fell into the pool and dispersed. Nothing happened.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. If the water isn’t safe, it turns black when the potion touches it. Clear means we’re good to drink.”
We refilled the canteens in silence, the quiet hum of the surrounding forest oddly soothing. Meera sat crisscrossed at the edge of the lowest pool and dipped her fingers into the glowing water. “You know,” she said, not looking at me, “this reminds me of hiking trips with Sadie.”
I turned my head. “You hiked?”
