“No.”
Which didn’t mean she was still there. Not given the stunt she’d pulled in Tenterra. “I need to get inside to talk to her. What’s the procedure?”
“You were given all-hours access. Everyone else has to be cleared through Lord Kiro.”
“Ah. Good.”
Ava opened the door and I stepped through. Once it was closed again, I paused and scanned the suite. Nothing appeared to have changed since I was last here, although the force of the wind coming in through the open patio doors was strong enough that the curtains were flying like flags. The air in the room was also bitterly cold, suggesting the doors had been open for a while.
“Abee?” I had to raise my voice to be heard against the howl of the wind. “Are you here?”
There was no response, either from Saska’s maidservant or from the two Nightwatch who were supposed to be stationed outside the patio doors. Maybe they simply couldn’t hear me over all the noise. I walked across to the doors, caught the end of one of the violently flapping curtains, and pushed it further aside before stepping through the door. The wind skirted around me rather than hit me full force, but I nevertheless felt the anger within it. I scanned the balcony, but other than a few upended chairs, there didn’t appear to be anyone out here.
Where the hell were the Nightwatch officers? They wouldn’t have abandoned their posts—not without good reason, and certainly not without telling anyone. Even if they did have reason to leave, Ava and Ranel would have been informed.
I stepped farther out into the balcony. The wind continued to move around me but the urgency beating through it was growing stronger. I did a full circuit of the patio, my unease growing with each step. There was no one here and no indication of any sort of disturbance or fight. Both the Nightwatch and Saska had disappeared and while the latter’s absence didn’t really surprise me, the former filled me with growing trepidation.
I walked back into Saska’s suite and looked around. Again, there was little sign of any sort of disturbance, but I found Abee in small butler’s pantry next to the bathroom, unconscious on the floor and bleeding from a long gash on the side of her head. I swore and quickly felt for a pulse. It was rapid and faint, but it was at least there. She wasn’t dead.
But I feared the same would not be said of the Nightwatch officers.
I thrust up and ran back to the front door. Both Ava and Ranel swung around as I flung it open. “Are either of you in direct contact with Lord Kiro?”
“He’s in direct control of all the seconded Nightwatch, and our earwigs have been retuned to a communicator that accompanies him,” Ava said. “Why?”
“I need you to tell him that he, Commander Trey, and a healer are to get here ASAP. Saska’s maid is unconscious, and Saska and the two Nightwatch officers are missing.”
Ranel swore and immediately pressed his earwig. As he began relaying information, I added, “Roughly what time did the wind get really strong?”
Ava hesitated. “It would have been about five and a half hours ago.”
Which was roughly the time Trey and I had left Blacklake. I had a bad feeling it wasn’t a coincidence. “And there was no indication from either Gen or Luc that there was anything untoward happening?”
“Gen was bitching about how fierce and cold the wind was, but was bluntly told to keep off the line—that we were only to contact each other if there was something wrong.”
“So there’s been no word from either of them since then?”
“No. And we’re not due for a shift change until nine.”
“How long are the shifts?”
“Twelve, as usual.”
“Lord Kiro is on his way,” Ranel said. “He wants you to wait for him.”
“Tell him I can’t. Tell him I’m going after Saska.”
Ranel nodded and began to relay the information. Ava’s expression became troubled. “I suspect I know how you intend to find her, but be wary. The source of your information cannot be trusted when you’re using it as a means to track down a powerful air witch.”
“I know.”
I squeezed her arm and then spun and ran back to the patio. The wind’s violence had not abated and the voices within her were mute. But the concern remained, and it was growing stronger. Whatever Saska was up to, whatever she’d done or was doing, the wind did not approve.
It was also interesting to note she was more vocal—and more willing to help me—beyond Winterborne. Obviously, the binding of three that was preventing her from either speaking to me or helping me more greatly wasn’t so restricting once we’d moved into Tenterra.
My skirt flew every which way as I stepped onto the patio again but this time, the wind wasn’t avoiding me. Instead, she urged me on, toward the outer edge. Darkness was gathering along the horizon and the sea far below was as violent as the wind, casting foamy fingers high enough up the sheer cliff face that I could not only see it, but also taste the salt of it. Yet there was far more to be seen than heaving seas if the wind was to be believed.
I gripped the nearby capstone with one hand and carefully leaned over the edge. On the rocks far below, held in place against the violence of the seas by the thin fingers of rocks that had skewered their bodies, were the missing Nightwatch officers.
Saska—and the wind—had murdered them.
Anger stormed through me as I raised my face to the skies and the wind. “Damn it, why didn’t you stop her?”
The rule of three means we have to abide by orders given whilst one is still alive. We had no choice but to do this foul deed.
I swore and pushed away from the edge. “Can you tell me where Saska currently is?”
We have been forbidden to tell you. But we can show you, if you trust.
Trepidation stirred through me. The last time I’d been asked to trust the air, they’d told me to leap off a wall. I had a bad feeling that’s exactly what they intended now. “Why can’t you simply guide me through the halls of this place?”
Because that will not be fast enough. She teeters on the edge.
I took a deep breath and released it slowly. It didn’t do much to calm the inner butterflies. The wind had admitted it could not go against direct orders—what if one of them had been to kill me?
If that had been so, we could have simply tossed you down the cliff or even drawn the air from your lungs until you suffocated.
Both of which was not only true, but would also be a very nasty way to go. “What do you want me to do?”
Move to the far side of the patio and stand upon the wall. We will lift you, as we lifted you both in Tenterra.
That lift had left Saska shaking with weakness, and would undoubtedly do the same to me. But it wasn’t like I had a lot of choice—the urgency beating around me suggested there was very little time left.
I climbed on the wall, holding my arms out to balance as the wind’s fierceness grew. Icy fingers began to wrap around me, growing ever stronger with each heartbeat, until I was once again concealed within the confines of a smoky cloud. It thrust me several yards into the air and ripped me sideways, the force of it so great it tore a gasp from my throat. Wherever Saska was, it was not anywhere here in the Rossi household. We flew over the top of it, the night a blur around me. But we didn’t go far. As the gossamer cloud began to unravel, it became obvious we were heading for the stone and metal water tower that soared above much of the Upper Reaches. Though it was still used as a storage facility, it now stood marooned on the edge of a thick finger of rock that thrust out toward the sea—a lasting reminder of how much more land Winterborne had once claimed.