Page 122 of The Other Side

The helplessness was suffocating. Osian hated relying on others, especially when every nerve in his body screamed at him to tear the countryside apart himself. But he forced his hands to unclench. Asking the Sparlow pack for help had been the right call. His own magic was useless for tracking a cold scent over miles of wild earth.

The sharp buzz-buzz of the car’s dashboard console made them both tense. Luke hit the connect button.

“Kit!”

The line crackled with static. “The hills above Linton.” Kit’s voice came through, breathless but clear. “I had his scent, and I’ve lost it. I need the pack. Now.”

“We’re coming.” Luke cut the call and immediately dialled another number. “Grant. The hills above Linton.”

Osian’s heart was racing now. Except if Drum was in the hills, did that mean they were going to find his body?

When they passed the village sign for Linton, Luke parked on the grass verge behind another car, a battered 4x4. As Osian and Luke got out, three men and one woman exited the other vehicle.

“Osian this is Grant, Ivo, Thom, and Willow.”

“Thank you for helping me,” Osian said.

“Now we run,” Grant said. He grabbed Kit’s clothes and passed them to Osian. “Stay close, Faery. We run faster than you think. We won’t shift until we can’t be seen.”

“I’ll keep up,” Osian said.

He did, but only just. As he stopped behind the others, he saw Kit waiting, sitting naked on a rock, his phone in a bag around his neck.

“Somewhere in this area,” Kit said. “But…”

Osian didn’t want to hear a but.

“Maybe below ground which will be a problem,” Kit continued.

Osian barely kept himself upright.

Luke put his hand on Osian’s shoulder. “There are abandoned mine workings below us. A lot of tunnels.” He glanced around and looked up at the sky.

“It’s dark enough,” Osian blurted.

“It’s not but we’ll shift.” Luke gave a sharp nod.

The men stripped, then there was a sickening, wet crack of shifting bones, a sudden expansion of muscle and spine, and where they’d stood, four massive wolves took their places. Kit shifted into his lurcher and they all rubbed noses before running off in five different directions.

Willow gathered up all the clothing into neat piles, including Kit’s and put everything into two blue bags.

“I’m pregnant,” she said quietly. “Otherwise I’d track too.”

“And now we wait?”

“And now we wait.”

Chapter Twenty

Drum cried when the light faded. Then wiped the heel of his hand over his cheek and licked his salty tears. He was standing on a ledge, but it wasn’t wide enough to sit down. Worse still, the hole that the light had come through was clearly too small for him to crawl out, even if he’d had the strength to pull himself those last few metres. He had to stand there until daylight came again, and then figure out if he could break through.

He wasn’t sure he could stay upright for that long.

Was this it, then? All that effort only to fail now? One last try. He yelled, “Help!” as loudly as he could, three times, then he exhaled. Climbing back down was his only option. He’d been thrown in, so he could get out the same way. He just had to find the hole at the place where he’d regained consciousness and not fall into that void.

When Drum heard a snuffling sound, he thought for a moment that it was him. Then there was a howl and he realised it was a dog. Oh God. A dog would have someone with them. He yelled for help again and then someone said, “I hear you.”

Drum pressed himself to the rock as he shook. Oh my God. Oh God.