Cassius kicked his aunt's cottage door open before Talyn could knock properly.
"Vessa!" Cassius shouted, blade drawn despite everything in him resisting the need for it.
The small house stood empty, a kettle still warm on the stove, a chair pushed back from the table like she'd left in a hurry rather than been taken by force.
"No struggle," Ottilie said, scanning the room quickly. "No forced entry, no signs of a fight."
"She left on her own," Talyn said grimly.
Cassius's jaw tightened, disbelief and hurt both plain on his exhausted face. "That doesn't make sense. She confessed everything. She seemed genuinely horrified by what she'd unknowingly done."
"Seemed," Kane said carefully, having followed them inside. "We need to consider she might have been more involved than her confession
