The Hunt (The Wilds Book Two) by Augustine Donna

Author:Augustine, Donna [Augustine, Donna]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Publisher: Strong Hold Publishing, LLC
Published: 2015-12-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Dax hadn’t come back and Fudge was still on the couch when the morning came, although she’d finally drifted off around three or so. Tank had been in and out, charting maps of the area and trying to think of the best routes and locations for the search parties to go as soon as the sun came up.

Bookie was analyzing the list of people that should go in each group, who could track and what assets they had. I was on the floor, my back against the arm of the sofa, appearing to do nothing, while in truth I was trying to get my magic up and running so I could be more useful. I only took the occasional break to imagine the worst, becoming alarmingly close to what someone might call a pessimist.

I was on a pessimism break when Dax walked in the house. Fudge immediately sprang into a sitting position, which showed she hadn’t been sleeping at all. I heard a small sound escape her lips that I knew was the unintended consequence of him walking in alone. We didn’t need to ask, but he shook his head anyway. Our best hope of finding her, a man/beast with the nose of a bloodhound and eyes of a hawk, had come up empty.

Tank came in seconds later, having surely seen Dax come back.

“Any leads?” Tank asked, before he shut the door.

“No.”

“Dax.” It was Rocky’s voice, and we all turned to see him now in the doorway, a piece of leather gripped in his hand.

Rocky looked at Dax and then around the room.

I wasn’t sure if anyone else realized, but Rocky was asking Dax if it was okay to speak freely. I must have missed a signal to go ahead, because Rocky held the hide in his hand out to Dax.

“This was tied around a rock. It must have been thrown over the wall yesterday. The gate guard said he’d noticed it last night but hadn’t thought anything of it. When he got off this morning, he walked past it again and stopped to check it out.”

Dax nodded as he looked at the sheet. When he didn’t speak quickly enough for my liking, I jumped to my feet and read it over his arm.

“‘Give us the Plaguer and we’ll give you back the little girl. Leave your response in the stump,’” I read aloud, knowing Bookie, Fudge, and Tank were waiting to hear.

There was no signature but a weird mark at the bottom that looked like poorly drawn crossbones.

“What is this? Who left this?” I asked, looking to see if any of them recognized the symbol.

Dax spoke as the rest of them remained quiet: “Skinners.”

“Skinners?”

Fudge gasped. I turned just in time to see the little hope she’d been clinging to drain from her. Her hand went over her mouth and she scrambled from the room without saying anything.

“What’s a Skinner?” I asked.

“After the Bloody Death, a group of people in the Wilds went crazy. They started hunting other humans and skinning the flesh from their bodies.

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