Page 73 of Save a Wish

An instinct to pulverize anyone who harmed her surged inside me, despite the fact that Sadie had lied to me about who she was.

“It’s good that you’re going to talk to her,” Logan said. “Go directly to the source. Confront it straight on. Don’t make assumptions.”

I blew past Hartley’s Nest’s gates, navigated the dirt roads, and sped along toward Slater’s Pond. Logan did his best to keep me calm, and I appreciated the hell out of his big-brother energy. He could be a ruthless teaser, but with him being the brother closest in age to me, he also got me better than our older brothers. His presence right now was doing wonders to keep me from becoming completely unglued.

We arrived at Hank’s cabin where the man’s pickup truck was parked beside the car he’d let Sadie borrow. A shop vac was near the car, but it was off and I didn’t see Sadie near the vehicle.

Logan and I got out of my SUV and I marched up to the front door, which was open a bit.

“Sadie?” I called.

When no answer came back, Logan said, “Princess Aislinn of Verdalach?”

This time Hank appeared, a rag in one hand and a filter in his other. “What are you two hollering about up here?”

“We’re looking for Sadie, Hank,” I said. “Where is she?”

“Don’t know.” Hank shrugged. “She was washing the car when I left for the hardware store to pick up a rubber gasket.” He wiggled the rag and filter. “I’m doing some winterizing. When I came back she wasn’t here. Figured she went for a walk or maybe you’d come to pick her up.” He pointed to me. “Because the car is still out there.”

“She’s not with me,” I said.

“I’ll take a walk around the woods and see if she’s out there.” Logan gave my back a pat then left the cabin.

“You look concerned.” Hank put his rag down on the kitchen island and set the filter atop it. “What’s going on?”

I pulled out my phone, brought up the picture of Princess Aislinn, and handed it to Hank. At first the man’s brows furrowed as if what he was seeing didn’t compute. I knew the feeling.

“She’s a princess? From Verdalach?” He met my gaze. “What is she doing hiding in the woods of Greenridge and opening a mindfulness business?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, Hank.” I scratched at my bearded jaw. “That’s why I’m here. To ask these questions and a million more. To get some answers.”

“Okay. Well, we just have to find her first,” Hank said. “Have you tried calling her?”

Duh. “No, I haven’t.” Because my brain wasn’t working apparently. I tapped her contact and a buzzing sounded over in the cabin’s living room. Hank and I both made our way over there to find Sadie’s phone on the coffee table.

“Okay. So a call or text isn’t going to locate her,” Hank said. “Last I saw her, she was over by the car. Let’s go out there and look around.”

I followed Hank outside, grateful to have someone more clear-headed than me take charge.

As we circled around the car, Logan joined us.

“I didn’t see her on that path to the pond,” he said.

“I tried calling, but her phone is here at the cabin,” I said. “If she’d taken a walk, she probably would have brought her phone along.”

I joined Hank on the driver’s side of the car where the shop vac hose was halfway inside the back seat. The upholstery was clean, but it was as if Sadie had stopped abruptly and had just let the hose drop back there.

The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. “Something’s not right.”

In all the time I’d known Sadie—or the woman Princess Aislinn had pretended to be—she’d never dropped off the radar. If an appointment had run long and she was going to be late to meet me, she’d texted. If she’d been in the middle of doing some business planning and needed more time to finish up, she’d let me know. Never had she failed to show up. Never had she disappeared.

“What’s all this?” Hank crouched to indicate a collection of paper scraps on the driveway near the shop vac. He turned them all over to reveal printing on one side.

Logan and I lowered to either side of Hank as he moved the papers around, fitting them in place like puzzle pieces. Some pieces were missing, no doubt blown away by a breeze, but the top right corner included something I definitely recognized.

I pulled up the picture of Sadie’s cloak and held it next to the same crest on the paper corner. “This paper is something official from Verdalach.”

“And if she ripped it up, it wasn’t something she wanted to see,” Logan offered.