He slept in late, feeling hung over from her spell, and he might not have noticed Lily’s absence until the afternoon if one of the maids hadn’t gone in to fetch her for breakfast. The staff were mostly leftovers from Iris’s reign as Lady of the house, and they cared too much for Lily. Scelestus had tried firing them all on several occasions, but the Lord was far too loyal.

Still, Scelestus knew she should be grateful for the time she had. Based on what Valefor had said and Lux’s appearance, Lux seemed to be the right man for the job. He had to have Lily out of the Lord’s range by now. Really, anything on the other side of the Necrosilvam was beyond his grasp anymore, and that was only a few hours’ ride.

Scelestus no longer shared a bed chamber with her husband and hadn’t since their first year of marriage. She could hardly stand being in the same room as him anymore, but it would look strange if she stayed away during a crisis like this.

After a maid nervously came into Scelestus’s room, telling her of the events, she had thrown on her dressing gown and rushed to the Lord’s chambers. She smeared her makeup first to look like she had been crying. It’d be impossible for her to muster real tears over that infernal child.

On the other hand, her husband was beside himself. His room had been torn apart, as if stripping the linens from his four-poster bed would bring his daughter back. His bedroom windows were cracked, letting the cool morning air seep in, but they had been that way for a while. The whole palace had fallen into a state of disrepair, but of course, he didn’t notice that.

He spent the entire morning dispatching men to search for Lily and trying to contact anyone who had been at the ball. Nobody remembered seeing her or Lux, but nobody could seem to remember anything except the spectacular dancing.

Scelestus felt some pride in knowing that she still had it. When Lux lumbered across the dance floor like a drunken idiot, she thought for sure he’d leave an imprint, but her spell was even more powerful than she’d thought.

When the Lord had sent the last of his men away, leaving the two of them alone in his bed chamber, Scelestus realized sourly that she’d have to do something. He sat on the edge of his bed, his silk robe tattered around the edges. His graying hair stood up in manic tufts, and he looked older than ever before.

Scelestus stood by a window, staring out at the fog rolling in, and trying to make herself look as sad and concerned as the situation called for.

“Did I do something?” he asked wearily.

“Whatever do you mean, darling?” Her voice sounded syrupy, and she hoped it had just the right amount of concern in it. She pulled herself away from the window and walked over to where her husband sat on the bed.

“Did I do something bad to be cursed like this?” His red-lined eyes stared up her, filled with despair. “First my wife, then my daughter. Why is everyone I care about taken from me?”

“You still have me, Gabriel.” Scelestus smiled thinly at him and placed her hand over his. He didn’t pull it away, but she was beginning to suspect that he felt almost the same about her as she did about him. Their marriage hadn’t been a sham from the start, at least not on his part, but her spells eventually wore off. She wasn’t all powerful. Yet.

“I am glad for that.” He squeezed her hand once, then pulled his away.

“Besides that, I’m sure Lily wasn’t ‘taken’ from you.” She looked away from him, finding it too difficult to look sad when she felt so thrilled. Inside, she was as giddy as a school girl. Everything she had ever wanted was about to come true, thanks to that dreadful child.

“What do you mean?” Lord Gabriel looked up at her hopefully, but she had her back to him, walking slowly around the room. She could pass off worried pacing more easily than she could worried conversation.

“I’ve said it before. ‘Taken’ sounds so dramatic, but you’ve always had a flair for the dramatics.” Scelestus waved her hands, trying to downplay his fears. “Lily is of an age now where she wants to explore the world for herself. She can’t live in this palace forever.” Every time she said the word palace, she had to swallow the bitter taste it left in her mouth. As if this place could even laughingly be referred to as a palace anymore.

“Why not?” He turned, his eyes following Scelestus. “I never moved out of here.”

“Of course not, my Lord, but you’re a man.” She smiled at him, the way one might smile at a small, feeble-minded child. “This is your land that you were going to rule over. You had no need to leave.”

“She’s going to rule here,” he pointed out. “I have no other heirs. This is her kingdom.” Scelestus coughed to cover up her automatic scoff at the word kingdom. A few acres of uninhabited land did not count as a kingdom.

“No, her husband will rule,” Scelestus clarified. “For a woman to have any power, she must have a husband.” The painful truth of that stung too close to home, and for once, her face held legitimate sadness. “Lily hasn’t had any suitors yet.”

“She’s never shown any interest!” Gabriel blustered, defending his daughter’s innocence.

“Not to you. Not to her father.” Scelestus smiled at him. “And I may not be her mother, but I see things. She confides in me. She knows what society requires of a Lady, and she also knows what her heart yearns for.”

“You think she left to find a boy?” He raised an eyebrow, looking shocked, worried, and hurt all at once.

“I’m merely saying that she hasn’t found a boy here.” She gestured to the palace around them. “Perhaps she thought it best if she explores her options elsewhere.”

“I would’ve brought suitors here, if I had known she was looking for one.” His shoulders slacked, and he looked away, feeling as if he’d failed his daughter.

“I know, darling.” Scelestus walked over and rubbed his back, hoping he found the gesture comforting. “You’re a good father. But she’s young, impetuous. She needs to make her own way in the world.”

“I hope you’re right,” he said sullenly.

“When will you learn, Gabriel?” Scelestus asked. “I always am.”

He acquiesced easier than anticipated. She had a few potions brewing in her room to calm him if this failed, and to be honest, Scelestus was surprised how quickly he’d been willing to think his daughter ran away. Scelestus had been trying to banish that little brat to boarding school for years, but Lily would never do anything wrong. She’d never so much as lied to her father, but when she disappears, he believes she’d been scheming to escape.