Page 119 of The Other Side

Will pulled up outside.

“Stay in the car, please.”

Osian hurried in through the door. The same young man was behind the counter. There was no one else in there.

“I need help. Please,” Osian said. “My friend’s been taken. I was hoping you could track him.”

“Taken by who?”

“People who want to kill him. I feel he’s alive but…” Osian gave a shaky sigh. “I got to his cottage and found it had been broken into. There’s blood on the carpet. The police are there but even if they can trace him, it will take too long. You could find him quickly.”

“Maybe. But not until it’s dark. I don’t want to get shot by a farmer. I could ask the others. Give me the address.”

Osian wrote it down. “Wait here.” He disappeared through the curtain behind the counter.

The silence that followed was almost unbearable. The café smelled of coffee, toasted bread and cinnamon, so painfully ordinary that it made the panic in Osian’s chest feel unreal. He glanced back to see Will sitting in the driver’s seat, watching through the window.

Voices murmured in the kitchen. One was the young guy, the other an older man, who returned with him. He was a broad-shouldered guy in his thirties with dark brown hair.

“I’m Luke.” He held out his hand. “You’re Osian. Fae.”

“Yes.” Osian shook his hand.

Luke glanced towards the window. “The man outside?”

“My friend, Will.”

“Does he know what you are?”

“No.”

Luke studied him for another long moment.

“No,” Osian repeated softly. “He doesn’t. I’m desperate. If they took Drum in a car from Pine Cottage…” He sighed. “They probably did. Can you still find him?”

“We can still track to a point, but we need to be quick. I’ll drive you back to where he disappeared. Your friend can drive Kit.”

Kit took off his apron and followed Osian outside. Osian bent at the car window. “Please drive Kit to Pine Cottage. Do exactly as he tells you. Thank you, Will.”

Will nodded and a few moments later they were on their way. Luke pulled up in a Land Rover and Osian climbed in.

“Tell me everything that happened from the moment you arrived home,” Luke said. “Exactly what you saw.”

When Osian had finished, Luke was silent for a moment.

Finally, he asked, “How much blood?”

“Too much, but not enough for him to have bled to death.”

“He’s human?”

“Yes.”

“You ran when the police came.”

“I had to. You’d have done the same. I have no ID.”

“If someone I loved disappeared and I found blood on the floor, I’d probably make a few poor decisions. I do have ID. But tracking someone in daylight isn’t easy. My pack can search separately without drawing attention, but the real advantage comes after sunset.”