Page 65 of Exiled Heir

“Wait. Tell me again what happened.” I turned to Jay. “You and Nia dragged him through the forest, bringing him here. You threw him inside. Did you tie him up?”

Jay nodded. “There are iron chains inside.”

I raised my eyebrows at the specificity. Chains would hold a lot of creatures, but iron was only used to stop one magical being—mages. They had designed these three little cottages as prisons for mages.

“You chained him. Then you left to get Isaac. You locked the door behind you?”

“No.” Jay looked at Nia. “Nia was here, so I left the door unlocked.”

“You waited outside?” I asked Nia.

She nodded, the expression on her face guarded.

“I would have too. Chained in a cold little prison cell… It’s a lot scarier to be sitting alone in the dark.” I tilted my head, leaning over to nudge her arm with mine. “The CIA would be proud.”

She shook her head, but I saw a hint of a smile in the corner of her mouth, like she was amused. I looked around, sniffing the air, squinting into the darkness.

“Can you put out the light?” I asked Isaac.

He closed his hand, and the light disappeared. It still took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Under the tall trees, moonlight was scarce, but without the glow of his light casting odd shadows, I could see more clearly.

Scuff marks against the wall of the cabin indicated where Nia had been standing. I could see the disturbed leaves and twigs where two sets of footprints had dragged someone inside. The area around the cabin was undisturbed, surrounded by overgrown brush and detritus from the trees above us.

“When was the last time someone was put in here?” I asked.

“A few years ago,” Isaac said immediately. “There was a mage who…”

He shook his head, eyes squinted as he searched the darkness for Cade.

“Who what?” I asked sharply.

“It’s not something we speak of in public.” Cade’s words were firm. “What do you notice?”

“Nothing. Either they knew how to get here without disturbing anything, or they were never here at all. Who cleans around the cabins?” The area was covered in fallen leaves and twigs, but not as many as I would have expected if it had remained unused for years. The brush was overgrown, but it hadn’t completely consumed the cabins.

“Jesaiah,” Cade said, realization clear in his voice. “You think he had something to do with it?”

I walked toward the closest brush, examining it, then kneeling and sweeping aside leaves on the ground. I shook my head, the theory collapsing under the evidence. “No. He hasn’t been here for months.”

“Can I turn the light back on?” Isaac asked.

I glanced over at him and Cade. They were blinking owlishly in the darkness, clearly uncomfortable. I smirked over at Jay and Nia. Jay was standing directly beside Isaac, his hand resting on his mage’s shoulder. Nia gave me an exasperated look.

“Yeah, go ahead.” I stood up, dusting off my pants. “I’m sorry to say the only Sherlock Holmes details I have here are ones that clear Jesaiah. Unless he planned this about six months ago, he hasn’t been here in a while.”

I sniffed the air, but no scents stood out. No perfumes or colognes, no trace of someone else’s sweat lingering on a leaf they’d brushed by.

The light flared, and I winced away from it. Nia held up her hand, glaring at Isaac.

I walked back to the group, my eyes sweeping the ground, making sure I hadn’t missed anything, and came up with nothing. No evidence that would suggest anyone had been here before Nia and Jay dragged a scared servant into the woods.

Had he known about these cabins? Did he know what they were for? Or did he have the same thought I had before this all started? That House Bartlett had hundreds of miles of forest where it was easy to bury a body.

“So, you chained him, shut the door, and waited.” I frowned at the closed door of the cabin. “Was he a mage?”

“No,” Isaac answered. He sounded uncertain, and I glanced at Cade.

“His family has served ours for generations, but they have no magic,” Cade said.