Bound By The Bond

|C16| FALLOUT

C 16 | F A L L O U T

I frowned as I stared at the ground, Dianna's sobs becoming white noise as I reached down and placed my palm against the dry earth, my eyes fluttering shut as I drew in a breath. Subtly, I drew on my power and listened to the thrum of the ground, my eyes snapping open as the blades of grass whispered its secrets into my ear.

"When did your son first show signs of Earth magic?" I whispered, my question somehow cutting through the chaos around me. Dianna's immediately stifled her sobs, hiccups interrupting her answer.

"A-around t-three years ago. B-but how did you know?" she blubbered. I unintentionally ignored her as I stood up and turned around, my focus razor sharp as my gaze immediately went to a seemingly insignificant and unnoticed patch of dead grass at least fifty feet away. I stalked over to it and knelt once again, placing my palm against the ground.

Nothing.

"What are you doing? The site is over there. You're not even close," Roman snarled, roughly grabbing my arm before he yanked me up. I calmly looked to him, raising an eyebrow as I held his gaze.

"No," I made sure my voice was heard over the sounds of fervent conversations happening a distance away. I looked to the group with confidence. Xander's attention immediately snapped to mine, his expression hardening when he noticed Roman's fingers wrapped around my bicep.

Roman was quick to let go.

"This is the true abduction site. Any evidence you find there has been planted. They want you to think they took him in there," I explained, pointedly tilting my head to the patch of grass. Xander jogged over to us, curiosity in his eyes as he followed my line of sight, his brows furrowing with confusion.

"It's just a patch of dead grass," Roman snapped, clearly irritated. "We're wasting time."

"When did his shoes go missing?" I called out to Dianna, satisfaction spreading in my chest when her eyes widened in surprise.

"His shoes? I-I thought we lost them w-when we went s-swimming a-a few days ago. W-what about them?" she asked, tearing her arm from her husbands grasp as she walked toward where I stood.

"And the woman you were talking to when he disappeared, did she stick around when you found out he'd been taken?"

"N-now you mention it-" she inspected the multitude of faces around her. "N-no."

I bobbed my head, biting down on my lip as I inspected the dead patch again.

"This was staged. They put the shoes stolen a few days ago on another pup and made it seem like Felix was taken over there. Our feet hold our scent more than any other part of our body..." I trailed off, reaching down to pick up a small, clear plastic object that had been half buried under the dirt - as though it had been stamped into the ground.

A needle cap.

"But the other child would have left their scent too. The only one we can smell is the boy."

I brought the cap to my nose and inhaled deeply, grimacing as the familiar smell overwhelmed my senses. It was one I hadn't smelt in a long time, but I would never forget the blend of smoky, earthy undertones for as long as I lived.