She pulled a small mirror from her bag, spelled for communication, keyed specifically to Elena.
Victoria activated it and waited.
Elena's face appeared in the glass almost immediately. She looked exhausted and worried.
"Victoria," Elena said. "Did you find her?"
"No," Victoria said, and the word tasted like failure. "She was here but she's gone. I think she set up decoy locations. Left her magical signature to make trackers think she's somewhere she's not."
Elena's expression was grim. "That's smart. And frustrating."
"I don't have time for this," Victoria said, and she could hear the desperation in her own voice. "I need to find her. Need to get to the Underworld. Need to...." She stopped and took a breath. "How long has it been? Since Lilith died?"
"Six hours," Elena said quietly.
Six hours.
Out of seven days.
Victoria felt the timeline pressing down on her.
