Vajra was staring at his computer, trying to get through this chapter so he could send it to his editor, but he couldn’t focus. His brain was divided into the section that was scolding him for his lack of focus and the section that was thinking about what the hell he was going to do about Ardala. He’d heard nothing from Francis about where she was or what she was doing, and he hoped she’d gotten his note about wanting to talk to her.

He clicked his laptop shut, he was ...