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Before escaping to the hallway, I located my necklace in the front pocket and put it on. Adjusting the pendant under my T-shirt, I paused, drawing on the forgotten memories that had flashed through my brain before we’d landed in bed.

Mordecai jerking back. A cry of pain.

What was that about? Why did it feel significant? Why couldn’t I remember more? And why had he insisted I remove it?

My brain was too muddled to make hide nor hair of the broken memory, so I packed the mystery away to examine later. My bladder screamed to be emptied.

In the hallway, I aimed the beam along the walls, seeking a switch, but it was the same as in the bedroom. If memory served, the ceiling fixtures on the second floor were limited to the bathroom and the chandelier over the mezzanine.

The obsidian void swallowed the light as I advanced. I could see only a short distance. No sounds reached my ears except my own thready inhales and exhales and the odd creak of ancient floorboards underfoot. No matter how hard I strained, I couldn’t hear evidence of Mordecai downstairs. Where did he go?

I found the bathroom and switched on the light. The overhead fixture flickered then glowed a steady soft yellow. The single dim bulb sported a film of dust. I scanned. The area was mostly unchanged. Tidier and with a few personal effects lying about. Mordecai was a minimalist, it seemed.

My gaze caught on a peculiar sight. The mirror above the vanity was missing. The mirror that was at the root of my initial discomfort with the mansion. The mirror that had unsettled me for reasons I couldn’t explain or understand because I didn’t believe in ghosts, but something strange had happened in this very room. Something unnatural I had yet to name.

A rusty nail and a distinctly brighter spot on the wallpaper were the only evidence that the mirror had existed at all and I wasn’t losing my mind.

Instead of puzzling over its absence, I used the toilet and washed my hands before making another discovery. The window—and yes, there was a window—was covered in dark paper. No curtain. No means of letting in the light. I filed it away with the rest of the things I couldn’t explain.

I didn’t bother with the chandelier and hustled down the creaky and dangerously soggy staircase, avoiding the banister since its wobble only elevated my nerves. Shot through with adrenaline and warding off a childish panic, I aimed for the kitchen, where we’d spent time earlier.

No Mordecai.

My abandoned water bottle remained. Struck with a thought, I crossed the room and opened the antique fridge. It was bare and warm. The light didn’t come on. It wasn’t even plugged in. I checked the cupboards, peeking in one after another, but found no food.

Fearing he would discover me snooping, I continued the search for Mordecai.

I left the light on in the kitchen, for comfort, and followed a maze of hallways on the main level, calling his name.

He wasn’t in the parlor, or any of the other rooms, but considering most were empty, I assumed he didn’t live in those parts of the house.

“Where the fuck did you go?”

Already unnerved, our conversation about his uncle came back to me. His fucking kidnapped uncle. Christ, was this real? An important man in a position of authority. Royalty? Armed guards? Correction. Civilian armed guards. It sounds dangerous, I’d said.

Mordecai hadn’t denied my claim.

His words came back to me. I’ll investigate after sundown.

“Shit.”

I peered at the drape-covered window in the parlor, knowing what it would reveal before I pulled it aside. Late October meant the sun went down early. I’d crashed after what was quite possibly the most intense sexual experience of my life.

For hours.

It was after nine.

“Goddammit, Mordecai.”

He’d left.

“Tell me you didn’t go alone.”

I drew aside the drapes but saw only my reflection. The world beyond the windowpane, this far outside the city limits and with no streetlight for miles, was too dark to see. I cupped a hand to the glass, squinting. My Jeep remained parked beside the dying fountain, guarded by a crippled angel and surrounded by spindly trees and silence. The rain had stopped, but if there was a moon above, it must have been covered by clouds.

Mill Dam.

Mordecai had gone to Mill Dam to investigate. Alone.