Page 166 of The Bond That Burns

“I don’t know,” Visha admitted, looking frustrated. “I can’t find her anywhere. I thought maybe she’d slipped out for some air, but she’s not on the terrace either.”

I looked around the room, scanning for the dwarven girl Visha had stuck close to all night. “Kage is gone, too.”

“Kage?” Theo echoed.

I tried to shrug lightly. “It doesn’t matter. I just didn’t see him leave, that’s all.” The other House Leaders were still there though. Lysander Orphos was sitting morosely at a table alone. I caught Catherine Mortis moving towards the door, a group of House Mortis students trailing behind her. She’d been without her thralls this evening.

“I’m going to find Lace,” Visha declared.

Theo shoved his hands into his pockets. “Vaughn has an Orphos party after this. I’m not invited.” He shrugged. “I’ll come with you.”

“So will I.” I couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong. “I want to find Medra. I think I’ll check the Dragon Court once we’ve found Lace. Let’s go.”

We walked through the corridors. At this time of the night, everything was unnervingly quiet.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Theo tried to reassure Visha. “She probably drank too much and went back to her room to be sick.” He gave a half-hearted laugh. “Like you did last year, remember?”

“She wouldn’t have left without telling me.” Visha sounded on edge, her voice brittle. “We were supposed to leave together.” She snuck a quick glance at me. “You know how some of these fucking highblood students get on Solstice, Theo. I want to find her.”

Theo nodded. “All right. Fair point. Well, we’ll find her soon. Don’t worry about it. And then I’ll walk Florence back to her room myself.”

“Lace is House Avari,” I said, speaking up for the first time since we’d left the ball. “Let’s check there. We might save ourselves a lot of trouble if she went back to her room.”

When we reached the entrance to the Avari tower, I went into the common room alone, leaving Theo and Visha waiting outside. I was mindful of the late hour. Most students had been drinking all evening. I didn’t think bringing two Drakharrows in with me was a great idea, even if it was for a good cause.

A few minutes later, I slipped out of the tower, breathless and feeling a little more worried. “No one has seen Lace. I found out where her room was and checked there, too. No answer. I had a Warden unlock the door for me, but it was empty.”

Visha was silent.

“Maybe she went for a walk outside?” Theo suggested.

I frowned. “In the cold?”

“Lace isn’t exactly delicate,” he pointed out. “If she was feeling sick, well, she might have thought the cold air would be bracing.”

“I was going to check the Dragon Court anyway to see if Medra was still there,” I said slowly. “I suppose we could look together.” I glanced at Visha.

She nodded tightly. “Fine. Let’s walk that way. Then we can check the grounds if we haven’t found her yet.”

I thought of the rocky cliffs and the treacherous sea surrounding us on all sides. Not exactly somewhere I’d want a friend to walk if they’d had too much to drink. “That sounds like a good idea.”

We walked through the school, following the quickest route to the Dragon Court.

As we turned down a corridor, I froze.

“What is it?” Visha asked, already tense.

I pointed to the floor. A dark, smeared streak marred the stones.

I wasn’t sure, but I thought it looked like...blood.

Visha swore and darted ahead. “Lace!”

“Visha, wait!” Theo shouted, but she was already disappearing around the next bend.

The sound that came next made my stomach twist. A wail of misery, piercing and raw.

Theo and I looked at one another, then broke into a run.

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