We entered the room and approached the body. The old lady's hair was painted red as it rested in tangles inside the pool of blood beneath her. I dipped my pinky into the puddle and rubbed it between my fingers.

"Still warm. I don't smell anything other than blood, either. See any wounds?" I said.

She pressed her fingers into her neck but shook her head and flipped her over. Blood splattered the room, and I could hear shuffling from behind us.

"There," she said as she pointed out the large gash along the throat. "Effective, couldn't scream for help."

I traced the wound; it was a surprisingly clean slice, but some sections had deeper tearing than the rest. As my fingers met the end, I stopped, pulled back the skin, and noticed a nearly impossible-to-see puncture mark.

Blood had dried, and it looked like the crone must have rubbed at her neck and smeared it against her skin.

"What about this? Bug bite, maybe? Like a mosquito?"

"Mosquito? What kind of insect is that?"

I shook my head. "Never mind. Maybe it's nothing."

More commotion behind us, and I turned around to see one of the guards bash himself against the wall. He silently screamed with his jaw dangling open and his weapon clutched against his chest.

But I smelled him before he appeared. Fabric flapped, and his red cloak appeared first before Devon's crimson eyes came into view.

I waved and poked Alice's arm. "See. Told you."

She glared and acknowledged Devon. "You're back."

Devon stepped into the room and stared at the corpse I was still prodding with a raised brow. "I am. Large bloodbeast. Pulled me down a chute before I dispatched it and punched through a maze."

"Bloodbeast? Maze?"

"Ignore it for now. Did you kill her?" he grunted.

"No. Found her dead before we could interrogate her. Figured you'd find your way to us at some point, and here was better a place than any," I said while poking Alice again.

She grabbed my fingers and crushed them, but I smiled and accepted the message.

Told you so.

Devon bent down and inspected the wound, but he turned back to the hall where the guard was scrambling to stand up and salute to somebody. Again, I smelled him before he entered, and when Garrett stepped into the room, I nodded and returned to the corpse.

"So obvious death is her throat, but what about this? Do you think this is anything? I asked as I showed Devon the puncture wound.

Devon inspected and shrugged. "Possibly. Looks fresh."

"What the hell did you guys do?" Garret demanded.

I nearly tossed a fireball at his face. His voice grated, and I frankly didn't feel like hearing dumb accusations.

A hand squeezed my shoulder, and I blinked and turned to see Alice shaking her head. She pointed to her eyes, and I finally noticed what she meant. The room was brighter than before.

I retracted my mana and squeezed it back, forcing it to settle. Devon watched me from the side, but he didn't comment.

"We didn't do anything. We came here to find out why she led us into a trap and found her dead before we entered. According to the guards, she never left the room," Alice explained.

He stomped closer and crossed his arms. "I'll have to tell the king and set up an emergency meeting. The other nobles might finally cut the bullshit and cooperate now that one of their own is dead."

"Assuming they weren't the ones to kill her," Devon cut in.

I frowned and looked around the room. If the old lady didn't leave the room, and the guards didn't let anyone enter, somebody must have gotten in somehow. But the giant windows near the table were full glass, without openings.

The others turned and watched me stand up, but I ignored whatever Garret muttered and moved to the wall where I smelled tea. A cabinet hung there, and I opened it, revealing several cartons filled with different tea blends and other grounds. But I ignored that and bent down. On the table built into the wall rested a metal plate. I didn't understand what it was, but it looked like a burner, so it was probably something to heat water for the tea.

As I stared at the table, I reached for the glass plane behind it, letting in the mid-day light. As I touched it, it pushed open.

Click.

The glass plane locked into position, and a fresh breeze wafted through. Something else was there, something recognizable, but it was too faint, and the blood mixed with the fresh grass made it impossible to lock down.

But it smelled sweet.

Alice had already stood up and stopped beside me.

"Small, but big enough for a person if they were thin enough," she commented.

"This has to be how they got in here. I don't see any other exits."

"At least you're good for something. You guys want to explain why the bakery collapsed? And why do you both smell weird," Garret asked.

I sighed and remembered the scent of corruption—decay and rot mixed with the beasts. My mana flared, eager to burn, but I quelled it and stared at the hunter.

"There was another murder. The Baathans tried to hide it, but we found the dead body inside their freezer along with ritual lines. Apparently, only one of Baathan's blood can activate the enchantments to open the door. We came here, interrogated her, got a map, and entered a bakery where a hidden tunnel existed. From there, Devon got kidnapped by a monster, and we tried to escape," I rattled off.

Alice gently nudged me. "The threads were back, two hidden runes in the hall that nearly trapped us. We escaped, but the exit was locked, and another trapped activated. We fell through and discovered a lab."

I tasted ash and bile, but I kept it to myself and let Alice explain the rest. As I tuned them out, I watched Devon's reactions, the minute twitches in his fingers as he listened.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

He caught me staring and growled. "I'm sorry. I should have detected the traps."

That's surprising.

"Thanks," I grunted.

His eyes narrowed but I already turned away. I was too riled up, and Garret wasn't helping.

"What now?"

Garrett tapped his fingers along his arms. "Now, I go tell the king and get the nobles to do something. Pressure them until they squeal. What about the tunnels? Do we need to send people?"

Alice shook her head. "There were some vats, but the place was barren, and there wasn't much else. We did grab the journals, including the one filled with rituals. It also showed a drawing of what we saw back in Preltervale."

"Show me," Devon ordered.

I walked over to where we set the books down and grabbed the correct journal. I tossed it over, and he skimmed through it before stopping at a specific page. His emotions were impossible to read, but a dull red flashed across his irises. He closed the book and handed it to Garret, who silently read through it. After five minutes, he finally closed it. The sneering quality was absent from Garret's voice, and he sighed.

"Idiots. Playing with things they'll never understand." He looked up and met our eyes one by one. "I'm off. The faster this is completed, the better."

He left, leaving the three of us alone with the dead body.

I walked over to her table, retrieved the chair that had been knocked over, and grabbed the small blanket near the window sill. They watched me cover her body with the cloth before nodding.

"Where too now?" I asked.

"Back to the Ashtons. Rest and food, then prepare for tomorrow or later tonight. Either the enemy ramps up their actions or go into hiding," Devon answered.

"The former more than the latter?" Alice asked.

"Correct."

Devon stopped near the guards, who stared with weary eyes. "Watch the room. If anyone suspicious approaches, inform the royal guards."

"Yes, sir!" they saluted.

We exited the estate and hopped into the waiting carriage. Once Devon gave the instructions, I finally relaxed against the plush bench cushion and closed my eyes.

"Cain," Devon muttered.

Really? Now?

"Yes?" I answered without opening my eyes.

"Do you… Need to talk."

The sheer strangeness of the situation and how awkward he sounded caused me to chuckle. It was bitter and lacked mirth, but it settled more of the anger seething underneath.

"Not right now. Thank you, though."

I didn't open my eyes. I didn't want to see Devon's expression. It was probably stormy, or blank. Neither of which would have helped.

We made it through the ride in peace and Odenn of all people greeted us by the door.

"There is food ready for you, if you so desire," she bowed.

I examined her. She was clean and had a healthy tone to her cheeks. She still sounded muted and depressed, but she looked much better than when we first found her.

"Thank you, Odenn. Will anyone else be joining us?" Alice asked.

She stayed bowing. "Yes. Sir Volk and Jezra are visiting. Along with miss Yadalee and the Ashtons."

After shutting the door behind us, she led us to the dining hall, where conversation could be heard. Volk was boisterous and easily recognizable, but surprisingly, I even heard Jezra talking with Krenlow.

As we walked in, Volk stood up. "Ah, you're here! I was hoping to catch you."

Devon shook the man's hand. "What for?"

"Merely a formal goodbye. My men and I will be heading west to explore some of the farther villages. We'll be leaving tomorrow."

Alice slipped away and intercepted Haldeena's barrage of questions. There was some food out, but I smelled more cooking.

Huh. Yadalee isn't here.

Her scent was easy to pick up and I didn't feel like talking a lot at the moment so I followed the smell. Almost unsurprisingly it took me to the library and I paused before the door. I didn't really have an excuse for stalking someone and the more I thought about it, the more awkward I felt. But before I could retreat, the door slid open and a stack of books slammed into my chest.

"H-huh? What? Oh, Cain! My apologies!" Yadalee stammered.

She quickly grabbed the books and I saw her wince but she had already stepped aside for me to enter. As I moved into the room she motioned to the table where she placed the stack down and grabbed the blue tome off the top.

"How goes the investigation?"

"Rough," I admitted. "We got ambushed and discovered some unfortunate things."

She opened the book and unfolded a map tucked away in another. As she turned she studied my face and wilted. "I'm sorry."

I shrugged. "Not you're fault."

She paused as if ready to say something but instead shook her head and pointed to the map. "Well I've done some digging, and I may have found something interesting."

"Oh? What did you find?"

She first pointed out the area I had shown her before regarding the murders. She then tapped her finger where the Baathan estate lied. "It wasn't much, but I wanted to check if there were records regarding the noble houses from a few decades back. And through that, I found an old journal mentioning funding. From there I discovered the an entry from one of Mr. Ashton's late father's aide."

That's a mouthful.

"No offense, that sounds interesting and all, but what are you leading up to? Because I'm a little lost."

She blushed and rubbed her hand. "Sorry. What I'm trying to say is, that the old orphanage was actually funded by the Baathan house. It was originally created to hide away the undersired bastards of the matriarch. The late lord Ashton had alot, to uhm, say about that."

I scratched my chin and studied the map as well as the journal entry Yadalee mentioned. She had summed it up rather well. Whatever Krenlow's father was as a man, he had a colorful vocabulary.

But focusing on what she found. The baathan orphanage and angry bastard children...

"I think that might explain why all the murders are happening in the Baathan's district. But if that means anything, I don't know. The orphanage was shut down decades ago right?"

"Correct. But you mentioned that there were suspects. At least two of them? What about the court sorceror, Rennen?"

"Renner... And according to Devon he wouldn't couldn't have done it. He's bound to the castle."

"Oh," Yadalee deflated a little, but she managed a smile. "Well, I tried. I'm sorry Cain. I just wanted to help. Preltervale... I hope you catch them soon. Cain?"

I nodded but I cocked my head and tapped the map.

Three... Three frames, three people. Two people to bind the giant, two more to destroy the village. But not three.

As I stared at the map, I mentally recounted how long it took us to get back to the Baathan estate. I slowly traced my finger across the street and past the old map showing the orphanage and to a side street just a few blocks down.

"There's an abandoned house here. Empty, old and dusty. But it hid the entrance to the secret lab and there was three picture frames." I squeezed the desk but stopped as the wood started to bend. "There's something connected but I don't know what."

I shook my head and sighed. Turning to Yadalee, I stopped and watched her wince as she squeezed a drop of blood from her thumb. But it wasn't the smell of blood that caught my interest, instead it was the white handkerchief in her other hand. I caught the whiff of something familiar. It was too faint, but recognizable.

"Cain?" she said. "Is something wrong?"

I waved her off. "Nah. Sorry, was thinking. But hey, what happened to your hand?"

"Oh, this? I was fixing a hole in my shirt and poked myself. Miss Nareid came over and handed me some new clothes and helped teach me a new stitching method. Just me being clumsy is all."

She lifted the cloth, and I paused. I grabbed her hand and brought her fingers closer while tearing the fabric away.

"C-Cain! What's wrong?"

Her puncture in her thumb; It looked amazingly similar. But the cloth. I inhaled deeply and a wave of recognition burned through me. Mana rushed and my nails extended but as the world turned brighter and my vision sharpened, I saw the faint golden glow laced inside the stitch.

"Cain?" Yadalee asked again.

My voice came out gravelly, rough as if a second voice rumbled underneath. "Is this cloth yours?"

She shook her head and I released her hand. "No. It's miss Nareid's. It has the new stitching method and she let me keep it to practice. Wh-why?"

"Where is she? Where did she go?!"

"I-I think she said something about lady Baathan? And then she had an appointment with the Queen. She's very busy, but Cain? What's going on?"

No time!

I grabbed her arm and pulled her with me, dragging her into the dining room. Devon and Alice stood up and Volk joined them a second slower. They looked at my claws and then at my eyes.

"Danger?" Devon asked.

I held up Yadalee's arm, wincing as she yelped. "Look at her finger. Look familiar?"

Alice narrowed her eyes. "Yes?"

"And this." I tossed the cloth at Devon, who caught it. He held it up, and his eyes widened. "Smell it. That scent. I kept recognizing it, but I wasn't sure why. Its the same damn scent! Sweet, kinda bitter. I smelled it, too, when we were in the garden. It's perfume. Nareid's perfume!"

Alice growled. "Golden thread?"

Volk and Jezra shot to their feet while the Ashtons looked confused. But Krenlow stood up and he shouted at Odenn.

"Get a carriage! Fast."

"Where is she?" Alice asked, looking at Yadalee.

"I. Uhm, she said she mentioned lady Baathan and then the Queen. She's probably with her Majesty. I-"

Bones snapped, and everyone turned to see Devon shift into his werewolf form.

"No time. Cain, Alice. Come here," he ordered.

I did and swallowed a yelp as he hooked one arm around my waist and another around Alice's. Before I could ask what was happening, he jumped and crashed through the window.