Killure couldn't find her anywhere.

She always had such a distinctive scent—peaches and roses—which made it incredibly easy to know where she was. But now, however, his nose was failing him.

He slowly creeped closer to the much too large mansion that the vain Designers lived in, full of its mazes and anomalies and hidden secrets.

In a burst of impossibly fast movement, Killure had used his large wings to leap impossibly high into the air, and land silently on the roof. The dark shingles, having absorbed sun for days on end, were nearly scalding to the touch. He gritted his teeth in annoyance, quickly and silently dropping to the ledge of her window. He rolled in with a graceful dive, stopping in a defensive crouch as he took in his surroundings.

She wasn't here.

In fact, he could tell simply by inhaling the air that she hadn't been in her room in days.

Cautiously, Killure walked to the doorway and glanced out into the hallway. Other than a single servant meandering through the hallway, there was no one to be seen. He waited until the man had disappeared from view, and then took off in the opposite direction.

He wasn't confident that he'd be welcomed if he were to be spotted. Levi and Fahrem would probably jump at the opportunity to disassemble his body parts now that she wasn't here to prevent them from doing so.

Not that he needed protected from anything, anyway, now that his bonding with the chip was severed. He could easily snap the necks of anyone who stood in his way. In fact, he'd do so quite gladly.

It was almost too easy to flit through the air, down the winding hallways and the grand staircase, through the large, open foyer and it's plush furniture and decoration—and into the kitchen.

The kitchen staff immediately became aware of his presence. Most stopped what they were doing, as if frozen. Their eyes reflected their fear and terror. Killure smirked, delighted.

No one protested when their head cook—the young, blonde Conda whom his master liked so much—ordered them to leave the kitchen at once. They scurried out without complaint, many leaving dishes on the stove or in the oven without regard.

The blonde Conda raced around to quickly turn off the stoves and set aside the dishes of food so they wouldn't burn on the still-hot burner or go to waste.

Finally, she turned to face him, arms crossed.

He couldn't remember her name.

Oh well, it didn't matter to him anyway.

"And what, pray tell, are you doing back here?" she asked almost accusingly, her narrowed gaze piercing him like knives.

He held back a snicker.

"Where is she?" he asked calmly, forcing his face into a mask of blankness. It wasn't overly hard, for he'd been doing it all his life.

"Remi?" the Conda asked in surprise. "What do you want with her?"

Remi. He hadn't allowed himself to call her by name before. Hesitant, in case his freedom wasn't really real.

It was almost amusing how hostile the blonde Conda was being. Until now, Killure had only ever seen the bubbly, dim-witted side of her.

"To find out where she is, as I've already stated," Killure stated with raised brows. He picked the dirt and caked blood from beneath his nails, donning an expression of boredom.

"Not sure why you care, after that note you left her and all," the blonde girl muttered. "But she's not here. Hardly anyone has been here for days. Lord Fahrem and Lord Levi have been holed up in their study, and haven't been out in days. Not even little Kareem has been visiting me in the kitchens."

"They aren't who I'm asking about."

She gave him a look of irritation. "Last I heard, Rem caught a ride on a boat heading to Vertice. No idea why—you'd have to ask her."

Vertice? That was two days journey by boat, at least. Why had she gone there?

Killure spun around on his heels and walked out of the large, lavish kitchen and it's delicious, savoury smells. The Conda had no more information to give him, so there was no point in suffering through her intolerable presence any longer.

"You're welcome!" she called out behind him sarcastically. "Be sure to direct back in the cooks you so callously scared off!"

He ignored her, of course.

What an unpleasant creature.

Killure was about to leave the mansion when an idea came to mind.

He paused a moment, with his hand on the ancient knob of one of the double doors.

Without allowing himself any time to back out of what he was about to do, Killure leapt up the stairs in one leap and silently made his way through the maze of hallways, stairs, and doors, allowing his nose to track the scents of Levi and Fahrem Goldridge.

He found himself just outside the set of polished, thin, wooden double doors. They were shut and probably locked, and most likely would have been enough to block out any whisperings if Killure had been a mere human.

However, a human he was not.

Their hushed voices were as clear as day to him.

He listened closely as they spoke.

"Surely there's another option, brother!" a voice that clearly belonged to Levi Goldridge's whined.

"There's only one. This is the only way we can unite with our brethren at the Dome and claim what is rightfully ours," Fahrem Goldridge replied sternly.

"But to kill them all . . . and never bring them back . . . aren't we depleting our forces?"

"Oh brother, we won't kill them all. Just the select few who won't go along with our plans. Your daughter, for instance."

"Don't you touch her."

Fahrem let out a deep sigh. "She's a deviant, that one. Too kind, too gentle, too sympathetic and forgiving. She'll never agree to our plans, and will most likely oppose us. We can't let her live."

"I can't let her die," Levi growled out. "She's my daughter."

"Then we'll freeze her," Fahrem proposed. "And revive her when she won't be able to stop us. That will go for the others, too. We'll kill the useless Designers, and freeze the ones who may be of use to us in the future, or whom we simply can't part with."

A long pause followed.

Finally, Levi said, "Okay. But I hope you know what you're doing, brother."

"Rest assures, I know precisely what I'm doing. Everything is planned, down to the smallest detail."

Killure backed away when he heard footsteps fast approaching the double doors. He quickly disappeared, leaving a gust of cool air in his wake.

———

Finally done her duties for the day, Safire decided she'd retire to her rooms and relax for a while.

The kitchen staff were busy cleaning up after supper, and would most likely be able to manage everything over there. She wasn't overly worried.

With a skip in her step, Safire bounded down the hallways to the servants' quarters, and made her way into her room.

Although the only bed that greeted her was an old, worn cot that was falling apart at every seam and joint, the sight of it brought joy to Safire.

She sashayed to the small cot and laid down atop the thin, flimsy sheet. It was far too hot to go under the blanket with how suffocating the humid was, but she was happy just to lay down and close her eyes.

She soon fell asleep.

Some time later, the sound of the door to her room abruptly slamming shut awoke her from her slumber. She quickly sat up, ignoring the way her vision seemed to swim and blur and head seemed to pound.

A rush of air blew into Safire's face. She frowned slightly, and looked around. There was no one in her room.

As she swung her legs over the side of the cot and rushed for the door, hoping to see whoever had been in her room running down the hallway, Safire almost missed the small paper note resting by her feet.

Gingerly, she picked it up between her fingers.

Whoever you deem worth saving, you'd better save them quickly.

The warning was crystal clear.

Safire has been under the impression that something was not right for a couple weeks now, but hadn't any proof. Now, she had all she needed.

Something terrible was about to happen, and she didn't want herself or anyone she cared about to get caught in the crossfire.

Safire began packing her few belongings, and then headed off to find the people she cared about and get them out, before it was too late.

———

A/N: Remember the Dome? It was mentioned early on as the place where they get the slave's chips and other bits of technology from. You'll hear more about it near the end of the book.

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