The address resonates within your mind and suddenly your vision is flooded with memories of a scene you vaguely recall from years ago—when Arundel took a personal interest in your training. "The villa," you mumble. "Arundel's villa. He took me there for private instruction."
"I thought he might have," Qui says. "He always had a special interest in you but he never told me why. He only ever took me to the villa once; he treated it like a sacred place, somewhere he could go to get away from the politics and death for a night every month or so. I gave it a once-over a week after he disappeared, but I might have missed something. If we can find Arundel, Corliss won't be able to take praxis without directly challenging him—and if she had enough power to do that, she'd have done it years ago."
You shake your head. "Why do you think it would make a difference looking there with me after you've already checked it out?"
"Just a hunch," Qui says. "I could be wrong, but I feel like Arundel might have left something hidden in your mind—a trigger in case something went wrong. It's the kind of thing he'd do. I thought we'd have more time, but Corliss is moving faster than I thought she would. Like she can feel the jaws of the trap ready to spring. We won't be able to present my evidence at the Council meeting if we search the villa, but there's no guarantee we could stop her ascension either way. I wish we had another night, but we don't. You should also keep in mind that if I can't convince the court that Corliss is guilty, I'll most likely be ordered to destroy you. I can't make promises, but I'll do everything in my power to make sure it doesn't come to that."