LUCIAN
I moved to the shelf first. Checked the back of it. The narrow space between the wood and the wall where the shadows gathered and the light from the chandelier didn't quite reach.
Nothing.
I stepped back and looked around the room again slowly. Every corner. Every possible space a person could fold themselves into if they were small enough and determined enough and had spent fifteen years perfecting the art of disappearing.
Nothing.
No breath. No movement. No warmth lingering in the air the way it did when someone had recently occupied a space.
Nothing at all.
"Where could she be," I muttered under my breath.
It wasn't really a question. It came out more like something that had been sitting in my chest and slipped out before I could stop it.
My wolf stirred immediately beneath my skin with agitation.
I exhaled slowly. "She probably went to use the restroom," I said, more to myself than to him. The words came out with a reluctance I didn't examine too closely.
