Shewaslosing her edge.
Her left leg screamed in protest as she rounded the last corner and flung herself toward the council chamber. The double doors were already open. The room was empty.
Just as Lord Tiberius said.
Her fingers trembled as she scrabbled for her flask again.No!She needed to focus, to think. Reluctantly, she left the flask clipped to her belt and scoured the room for any detail, for any hint of what might have happened here.
But there was nothing. No blood, at least. Thank the Lady.
She started back to the door and nearly crashed into Sir Dacre and Rogue on her way out.
“Nothing,” she snapped, answering the question before Dacre could even ask it.
The knight blanched.
She looked past him to where the Umberlys, Sir Arkwright, and Lord Tiberius were hurrying down the hall. Her eyes fixed on Tiberius. “How long ago was this?”
The baron grimaced. “Like I said, a few minutes—”
Olivia cut him off. “So she and Wellane can’t be far.” But no sooner had the words departed her lips than a thought bubbled up through the haze making her mind fuzzy.
A terrible thought.
Ol’ Percy slammed his cane against the floor. “Arkwright, find the guards who were supposed to be with her. Have them checkthe library. Check the chapel. Check everywhere. Then have them flogged for letting her out of their sight.”
Through numb lips, Olivia mumbled, “Should probably check the dungeon, too.”
Coreto. They needed to make sure Coreto was where he needed to be.
Percy stared at her for the span of a single heartbeat before he nodded and growled, “Check the dungeon, too. Go!”
Sir Arkwright took off at a run.
Duchess Edith sucked in a breath and toyed with the signet ring on her right hand. “At least Alyx is with her,” she whispered, as if that were any consolation.
Lord Tiberius cleared his throat. “Well, actually…”Guilt.The man stank of guilt.
Olivia slowly swiveled toward him. “What did you do?”
The moment she limped into the Roost, with Sir Dacre hot on her heels, a cacophony of smells and sounds assaulted her senses. The stink of raw meat mingled with the scents of ink and parchment to create a strange perfume.
But then again, usuri were strange creatures.
Usually, the winged beasts were content to curl in their cages atop their sunstones, warming their bellies. But not today. Today, their high-pitched screeches echoed off the walls and ceiling, growing louder with each cage she passed.
Wincing, she forged deeper, hunting for the Keeper of the Roost. Or a clerk.
She finally found the latter huddled in the back on the lower floor, perched on a stool with his fingers stuffed in his ears. “You! Boy! Where is the queen’s usuru?”
The young man leapt to his feet, looking miserable. “You mean the one who started all this racket? She’s just this way…” He tried to lead her to Alyx’s cage, but he didn’t move quickly or urgently enough.
She hurried on ahead without him and soon located the beast.
Iridescent wings surging, Alyx slammed herself against the door of her cage again and again, shrieking madly, jaws snapping at the iron bars. She didn’t stay still for a moment, not even when Olivia approached the cage.
Nor when she grabbed the key off a nearby hook.
“Seraphina’s missing,” she informed the usuru, as if the creature could understand her. Sir Dacre’s eyes burned against her profile. No doubt he thought her mad.
