Evening fell, but there was still no trace of Eilika. She had vanished as if she had never existed at all. Damian returned, his expression stripped of all emotion, a terrifying numbness settling over his features.
Louis and Sylvian waited in the foyer, their tension palpable. They had been dreading his return; Roman had been searching for his mother all day, and they had run out of lies to tell the boy.
As Damian crossed the threshold, Louis, Sylvian, and the Dowager Duchess all stood, their eyes locked on him in desperate anticipation.
"Where is she, Damian?" Georgia asked, her voice trembling. "Where is Eilika?"
Damian stopped, his gaze unfocused and distant. "I don't know," he replied. "She's not in the city. She is nowhere to be found."
Maurice stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the floor. "We tracked the path she took, Your Grace, but we could not reach her. She had already vanished into the wilderness."
