I woke too soon, consumed with worry about Mother and the mysterious illness. After the party, I searched all the logs and databases I could think of but found no reference to it anywhere. Surely if our physicians were working on a cure, there’d be evidence.
Knowing there was nothing I could do tonight, I let my thoughts wander to my main obsession—Wylie. If only I could lie beside her, I felt sure I’d be able to sleep.
I wanted to be with her. To be with her every minute of every day. That wasn’t realistic, but soon, I’d have her in my bed every night. Our bed. The thought of her soft curves beneath my hands, her body beneath mine . . .
I rolled over and punched my pillow again, even though I knew it wasn’t the bed that made me so physically uncomfortable.
Dì èr. Dom’s gentle touch on my mind was the equivalent of a whisper, and I might have missed it if it hadn’t come in between my obsessive thoughts. I opened to him, inviting him to speak. An ayah would like to speak with you.
Ayah? Can’t you take care of it?
I could, but I thought you might like to question her yourself.
A tingle of dread had me out of bed and pulling my clothes on before Dom said more.
She is one of Wylie’s.
“Stars and space,” I muttered. I was still pulling my tunic over my head when I entered the living space and saw Dom standing beside a petite Vaishya woman.
She bent low in a formal bow.
“Go ahead,” Dom told her.
“Forgive me, Dì èr, but the preferido’s been gone for a long time, and I’m worried she won’t make it back before Missy arrives for her morning preparations.”
As she spoke, I fought to control my reaction. Father demanded I have mastery over my emotions—but if Wylie was missing, if she was in danger, I wouldn’t care who saw me act like a human being.
I curled my fingers into my palms, tensing them until I felt the bones rub against the tendons. “Is she with Birch?” I meant to ask where she was, but the words were out now.
The ayah shook her head, a thoughtful expression on her face. “No, Dì èr.” She drew out the word no as if unsure. “She did say to tell you she’d gone to Birch’s ledge, though.”
Memory flashed as the dread I felt dropped like stones into my already churning stomach. She’d spoken to me about going there, hadn’t she? I thought it was a dream, but . . . “If she told you to tell me, why are you only doing so now?” I asked through clenched teeth.
The ayah bowed her head. “She said to tell no one unless she’d been gone too long. She didn’t say how long too long was, but I figured she would want to be back before Missy returns.”
I wanted to be angry at this woman, but reason overruled my emotions. “I understand,” I told her. And I did. I knew Wylie well enough and just how well she lived up to her wild name.
Dom—
On it. He turned on his heel and left the apartment while I pulled my boots on over bare feet.
“Did she tell you why now? In the middle of the night?”
I remembered her telling me something about needing to go—hardly a good reason—but talking helped me stay calm.
“No,” the woman said. “She only said that she had to go. No—that she needed to go.”
I stared at her a moment, then scrubbed my face with my hands. “Let’s go, then.” I stood and gestured for her to follow me to the lift.
“Dì èr?”
“If Missy returns to find you there but no Wylie, she’ll be angry with you. If you come with us, we can say you were with the preferido the whole time. What’s your name?”
She smiled and hurried to join me in the lift. “Suzette.”