Chapter 148 A Fresh Trail


    Luke frowned and shook his head. “No… I thought she was with you.”


    I felt my heart sink. Had something horrible happened to Nina, or had she gotten away somehow? If


    Tiffany was dead… What if Nina was dead, too?


    “I have to find her,” I said as I tried to keep my head clear despite my pounding heart. “Sh-She could be


    hurt—”


    Suddenly, Lisa chuckled. “She’s not hurt,” she snarled. I felt my hands curl up into fists as I slowly


    turned to face Lisa, who was still being held by Matt and Bryce, and I stormed up to her and grabbed


    her around the neck.


    “Where is she?” I growled. “What did you do with her?”


    “It’s not necessarily what I did with her,” she said, grinning slyly. “I was just a little helper. Edward, on


    the other hand…”


    My eyes widened. “Edward took her?”


    Lisa nodded slowly. “You’re toote, though. He’s in the werewolf realm. She’s probably with The Sister


    now, anyway.” She looked so pleased with herself it made me want to throttle her, but I didn’t. I


    controlled myself and released my grip around her neck, stepping back and passing a hand over my


    face. I would have to find a way to open a portal, but… I didn’t know how. I’d never done it before.


    “Luke,” I said suddenly, spinning to face him. “Can you open a portal?”


    He stood, pursing his lips. “I can. It’ll sap a lot of my energy, and it’ll probably turn me back into a


    skeleton, but… I’ll do anything for Nina.”


    I watched gratefully as Luke began to open the portal. Meanwhile, I called over my shoulder to the


    others. “Make sure these two don’t go anywhere,” I said. “I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can.”


    “Take all the time you need,” Matt said, holding the wriggling Lisa like she was nothing in his arms.


    “Just bring our Nina back safely.”


    I nodded, managing a weak smile. Luke finished opening the portal, and we stepped through.


    …


    When we came out the other side, we were still standing in the abandoned barn, but only without the


    others here. Luke came with me, closing the portal behind us. When I looked over at him, I saw that he


    had returned to his old skeletal self — which was a shock after getting used to seeing him with flesh


    recently.


    “I’m really sorry,” I said. “I’ll find you another witch.”


    Luke shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Finding Nina is more important.”


    Thankfully, as we walked out of the barn and began to head back to the area where I’dst seen Nina, I


    was able to pick up her faint scent. It was much stronger now, which was strange, but it didn’t matter;


    all that mattered was that I would find her soon, and would hopefully find her before it was toote. I


    needed to find this ‘Sister’ too and be done with whoever she was for good.


    The longer we followed the trail, however, the more I began to realize that there was something slightly


    different about this scent. I couldn’t quite ce my finger on it, but I decided to keep going anyway.


    Soon enough I was bound to find some sort of clue as to Nina’s location. We came to the spot where


    the tunnels normally would have been, then followed the faint scent from there until finally, we came out


    to a road.


    “Shh. Wait.” Luke suddenly stopped in his tracks and put his bony finger to where his lips would


    normally be, then fell silent. I stopped as well, straining my ears…


    And then an all too familiar scent overwhelmed my senses. It wasn’t Nina, but rather… It was Edward.


    He stepped out of the bushes, silent as a wraith, with an evil grin on his face.


    “Long time no see, Mr. Rivers,” he said from a distance. I felt my heart pulsate angrily. My vision blurred


    for a moment as I pictured myself charging at him and killing him for everything horrible he’d done, but I


    restrained myself because he was the only link I had right now to where Nina was.


    “Where is she?” I asked brusquely.


    Edward raised an eyebrow. “Who?”


    “Don’t y stupid with me, asshole,” I growled. “Where’s Nina?”


    “Ah! Her!” Edward replied. His nonchnce made me want to choke him. “She’s gone now. The Sister


    has her. But you’ll never find her, and I certainly won’t let you try.” As he spoke, he began to shift. I took


    a step back, curling my hands into fists as I watched his human form fade away, reced with the big,


    ck wolf form from my nightmares. As he shifted, my mind flickered back to how he’d almost killed


    Nina in the tunnels, but I shook my head to get those images out as he raised his hackles and growled


    menacingly.


    “Go,” Luke murmured, stepping in front of me. “I’ll handle him. Just go and find Nina.”


    “You can’t take him on your own,” I said. “He’ll rip you to shreds.”


    Luke only shook his head. “I said, go. Now!”


    Before I could protest, Edward leaped into the air for me. But Luke was quick and he whispered some


    sort of incantation that pushed Edward back and mmed him to the ground with an invisible force. I


    wanted to stay and fight, but I knew that he was right; I had to find Nina before it was toote. As


    Edward stood and attempted to charge at Luke again, only to be sted backwards once more from


    the force of another spell, I raced away as fast as I could in the direction of Nina’s scent.


    Thest thing I heard as I ran away was a lone howl escaping Edward’s throat.


    I wasn’t sure how long I ran for. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, following the scent all the


    while, until I was certain that I had put enough distance between myself and Edward. I prayed that Luke


    came out victorious, but neither he nor Edward caught up to me. Finally, I slowed down to catch my


    breath and leaned against a tree, feeling my chest heave from the exertion as my lungs struggled to


    take in air.


    As I leaned with my eyes shut, the forest was quiet… Too quiet, in my opinion, but I didn’t have time to


    wonder at it and took onest deep breath before picking up my pace again. The scent was getting


    stronger now — I was sure of it. Soon, I was certain that I would find Nina and take her home safely,


    but I couldn’t deny the horrific images of what might have happened to her that lingered at the back of


    my mind.


    As I began to walk again, however, I was alerted by the first sound I’d heard in a while. It wasn’t the


    sound of wind, or any forest animal.


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    It was the sound of a portal opening behind me.


    I spun around, my eyes wide as I prepared to fight Edward — but it wasn’t him. It was my father.


    “Dad?” I said.


    He only offered a grim look in response that made my stomach drop.


    “Come with me, Enzo.