After we left the Palace, Abelard and I returned to the Archduchy. The weight of last night's torment pressed upon me—never a wink of sleep had granted my weary body respite, and the memory of drowning my sorrow in endless drinks left me blurred and numb.
At first, I had suspected Samael and Lyle of taking Laura and keeping her hidden from my reach. Their whispered tones and evasive glances had fueled my distrust, and for a moment the dark possibility had flickered in my mind.
But when I spoke with them, their measured words revealed that neither man bore any part of the deed—at least, not in the way I had feared. Still, the notion lingered, an insidious seed of doubt.
I found myself wandering through my thoughts, my mind conjuring countless scenarios of her abductor and pondering the secret places in which she might be concealed.
