Page 60 of A Requiem of Fire and Ice

I take that as he didn’t open the fridge. When searching for something, Pandora carelessly left it open and didn’t notice when she left.

My fingertips brush the dust settling across the dresser before my focus snaps to the clean spot with no lingering residue. There was something small there, and she had taken it.

I step away when my boot presses into something slimy. Thick lotion adheres to the shirt and floorboards as I raise it and toss it aside. There’s a lotion bottle hidden underneath. I flip it in my hand and grimace. Out of everything Pandora wanted to take with her, the signs pointed to her grabbing the lotion, but it dropped, and she accidentally stepped on it.

Why would she want it? It seems unnecessary and invaluable.

I leave the lotion on the dresser, open the drawers, and notice the missing clothes. When I open the other drawer, my finger hooks around the strap of a raunchy pink bra. There are many colourful bras and frisky panties, which is odd. Not even a single pair of panties would cover her arse.

A twitch of a smile crosses my face, and I huff a breath. She’s smart. Pandora took all the underwear she could use for comfort, rather than something sexy. I bet she’s wearing a fucking sports bra and boyleg underwear because it’s easier to run in them.

Then my focus settles on the pile of clothes beside the tallboy, ruffled up and moved around as if Pandora shuffled through them before leaving. She has her bed pressed against the wall that overlooks the window I watched from outside. Gripping the sheets, I flip them over when my lip curls at the packet of fucking chips.

She’s a disgusting slob of an unawakened brat. It won’t be hard to fucking find her. Follow the trail of breadcrumbs, and it will lead me straight to her.

I flip the mattress over when I notice a slit sewn together with tape and fishing wire. When I open the cut, I arch a brow at the Glock hidden inside. So, she’s competent enough to leave a gun behind.

Entering the bathroom, it’s by far the cleanest part of her apartment. Her toothbrush leans against the plastic cup, and her vanity holds a box of unopened tampons and black elastic bands. I take the hairbrush for analysis, but I doubt anything would come back if she had lived her entire life in the Kingdom of Crystal.

Upon further inspection of her vanity, I found eye drops and creams.

Come to think of it, Pandora had brown eyes, and when she dressed as a water and earth element, she wore the correct contact lenses.

This means she may not look as she perceives herself and, instead, will appear entirely different.

This makes it somewhat challenging to find her.

But as long as I have a sliver of knowledge, it will lead me in her general direction.

She will slip up.

They always do.

“Anything?” Astin says from the doorway.

As I leave her apartment, I hand him the brush. “Get Alad to take this to any forensics place in Oceanview Harbour. Tell him he has two hours before we’re on the move again.”

“And what do you want me to do?”

“Watch over him while he does it.”

He shifts his gaze away and then back. “What are you going to do?”

I lean against the doorframe. My focus settles on the door next to her apartment. “Pandora left her home with a sense of abruptness. I will search the Old Wolf’s home before heading to the pier.”

“You think she went by ship?”

“Likely. Old Wolf would have had allies like those in the Kingdom of Flesh. Someone loyal to her would house the girl and hide her from me.”

Astin inclines his head and leaves without another word.

I enter the Old Wolf’s apartment. My frown deepens before I close the door and approach the body riddled with poisonous flowers. The flowers wilt and burn across the petals until it’s an ashen corpse underneath. The stench of burning flesh suffocates the room, giving me a sense of elation at the delight.

I shuffle through the documents on the rickety old desk pressed against the windowsill. Compared to Pandora’s room, the Old Wolf’s room seems…strange. For one, there isn’t a proper bed; only the fold-out couch overlooks a boxed television on the nightstand beside the desk.

I enter the door to the left. When I turn the light on, her bathroom illuminates with a flickering golden hue. I tap the globe. The flickering stops. Interested, I tilt my head to the side and glare at the light as I notice a dark speck inside the glass. When I take the globe off, I twist it around in my hands. Something rattles inside. I apply heat to the glass until it glows orange and the globe shatters. Through the shards of glass, a key hooks onto my fingertips.

Back in the main room, I scanned every corner, wondering where she would hide something of value. When I searched it again, nothing was on or around the desk. I was hoping there would be a false bottom. After I shuffled through long woollen jackets, the closet also had nothing. I even kicked at the walls in case she had patched up a part of the wall because she only needed it for emergencies.