Chapter 23 After The Crowd

• The auction finally wound down, the last bids called and the last glasses clinking as the room started to settle. Guests were talking quietly, moving toward the exit or lingering near the paintings they’d bought.
• But when I looked around, I couldn’t spot Arzhel anywhere. He wasn’t in the crowd. He wasn’t near the refreshments. He wasn’t by me.
• A tight knot formed in my chest. He had come, he had smiled, he had even bid—but now he was gone.