CHAPTER 34
Inside the Black Orchid, it was dark. The drapes in the lobby had been ripped away, the desk upturned. Rory walked quietly through, hiding behind what remained of the ragged fabric and peeking into the main room.
It was now a room of black and gold tatters. The silk of the ceiling had been torn to ribbons, the furniture had been upturned and broken, and the glasses had been smashed to shards. Two alchemical chandeliers lay marooned among the c*****e. Only one chandelier remained lit, diffusing a soft light on the wreckage.
A quick look around confirmed there was no one in the room, and Rory quickly padded over to the remains of the drapes she had slipped under when she had first come to the Black Orchid.
No sooner had she slipped through it than she heard a noise like a thum
