“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Do you still have the map with the search areas marked on it?”

“Yes. Why?” He shifted, wary again.

“I need it.”

“But Ryne—”

“I don’t care what he said. I’m not giving up until I have proof. Can you get it for me, please?”

His shoulders drooped, but he shuffled off to fetch it. I consulted the Lily map and located the cluster the Death Lily had pointed out last night.

Loren returned with the map and Ryne.

I glared at Loren before snatching the map. Ignoring Ryne, I scanned the search grids.

“Avry, you’re needed here,” Ryne said.

“No, I’m not. My patients are doing fine.”

“What if more casualties arrive?”

“I’ll be back by nightfall.” I folded the maps and tucked them under my arm.

Ryne trailed me to my cavern and watched as I organized my pack, removing Kerrick’s boots. Debating about my cloak, I left it behind and strode for the cave’s exit.

“I can order you to stay here,” Ryne said, hurrying to catch up.

“You can.” I kept moving.

He huffed. “I can order the guards to stop you.”

“You can.”

By this time Loren, Quain, and Flea had joined Ryne.

“Avry, you’re not going to find Kerrick. He’s gone,” Ryne said.

I stopped and turned. Suppressing the desire to punch Ryne in the mouth, I asked, “Who said I was going to search for Kerrick?”

They all blinked at me in surprise.

“You need more toxin sacks, right?” I asked. “Or did Wynn lie about that, too?”

“We do need more, but—”

“So what’s the problem? I’m going out to collect them. Unless you know someone else who can harvest them from the Death Lilys?” I waited.

“Uh...” Ryne rubbed a hand over the stubble on his cheeks. “All right, you can go, as long as you take the monkeys with you.”

“I’m going, too,” Flea said, shooting us all a stern look that dared us to argue with him. At least he had more color in his face today.

“Fine. But hurry up, we’re burning daylight.”

They scrambled to get their weapons and packs.

Ryne stared at me. “Don’t go too far. There are still enemy patrols to the south and west.”

“And we can easily avoid them. They all sound like a herd of drunken deer.”

“But for how long? Wynn is working for Cellina now. She learned how to be quiet in the woods and it won’t be long before she’s teaching Cellina’s soldiers.”

Good point. And she’d learned that skill from me. Another ramification of her betrayal. However... “It’s only been a couple days.”

“Still worth considering. In fact, now that Cellina’s in charge, it’s even more dangerous to be out there. We’ve no idea what she’s planning.”

“And you knew Tohon’s plans?”

“Yes. He wanted to conquer all the realms and be king. Not hard to figure out his next move. Cellina, on the other hand, is more of a mystery. Plus she has Wynn’s information. We’ll have to relocate the infirmary and my headquarters as soon as possible. And until I get intelligence on her movements, it’s best for everyone to lie low.”