Jack lifts his head, searching the trees for me as I swing off the branch and drop to my feet. I run to him, taking his face in my hands. He holds his body tense, reluctant to turn toward me. The wound isn’t bad under all the blood, just a deep scratch, and my held breath shakes when it finally slips free.

His eyes are cold as they slide to my ear. “You turned your transmitter off.”

“Just for a few minutes.”

“I had no idea where you were.”

“I was right here.”

“Why?” he snaps, drawing the attention of an elderly couple on the path.

“Because,” I say in a low voice, “I didn’t want you to see I left class. I knew you would worry.”

“And you didn’t think I’d worry that your signal just disappeared?”

I grin tightly at the couple, hoping they’ll keep walking the other way. “I didn’t disappear. I was right down the street, Jack. It was only a few minutes, and I was coming to find you anyway.”

“Because you knew exactly where I was, right?” The sharpness of his tone catches me off guard. “You know exactly how to find me. And all it takes is one sniff, one thought . . . one snap of your magic fingers and the whole jungle is at your disposal to save me. Well, guess what? It’s not the same for me anymore. The minute you slipped off that screen, I was lost!” His voice cracks, and something inside me breaks. “I can’t hunt you anymore. I can’t find you, can’t save you if you’re not wearing it!”

“I know. And I’m sorry. It was only for a few minutes—”

“Anything can happen in a few minutes.”

“It’s only a tracker. A communicator,” I argue. Without a connection to a ley line, the transmitter can’t pull me back to the Observatory. “It’s not like it’s connected to anything.”

“Maybe it should be!” Jack swipes at the blood on his neck and looks away, guilt and anger warring on his face as I take an uncertain step back from him.

“What are you saying?”

He frowns at his bloody fingers. “Maybe we should think about going back.”

“What do you mean, back? Have you forgotten why we left? We fought and risked our lives for this,” I say, gesturing wildly to the open sky around me. “Woody gave his life for this. For us. You gave up your magic. You gave a piece of your soul, Jack—” My breath catches at the flash of pain in his eyes. I knew he missed it. I knew the absence of his magic must feel like a gaping hole inside him. A hole I’d hoped would heal with time, like his scars. “Is that what this is about? Is that why you want to go back? For your smaze?”

A muscle tics in his jaw.