Page 68 of Exiled Heir

“Slaves.” I nodded. “It’s not like that. There was no one selling me. Cade and I just came up with an agreement for compensation.” I winked, allowing a smirk to curve my lips. “And trust me, the compensation isn’t all monetary.”

Nia huffed out a laugh. At least there was one person on my side.

“Are you going to tell anyone?” Cade asked.

“Well, it’s not like you did anything illegal, and if it helped you find someone you can actually trust.” Isaac went silent, and I searched for his face, but the light was still blinding me. He was nothing more than a blobby dark outline.

“I trust him,” Cade repeated. “Do you know how refreshing it is to know exactly what someone wants? To believe that…”

Cade turned away. He cleared his throat.

“Stay back. I’m going to cast.”

I moved with him, watching as he brushed a hand over his arm and across his chest.

This time, rather than small circles with his wrist, he swept his arm up into the air like he was tossing paint onto a blank canvas. Despite Isaac’s light, the room was enveloped in darkness.

Then it began to glow.

ChapterTwenty-Three

“Magic?” I asked.

Cade turned in a slow circle. “It should lead to the caster.”

“Could someone hide their location from you?” I asked.

Nodding, Cade continued to turn, then crouched down in front of the body, examining it. Now that my eyes had adjusted, I could see the entire body wasn’t glowing. Instead, pieces of it rippled, like the scales of a fish in a deep, dark lake.

Everywhere that the flesh was torn open gleamed.

“Isaac? A little help?” Cade’s voice was quick, sharp, a command.

The bright orange of Isaac’s magic slammed forward, hitting the body. Isaac grunted, and Jay was immediately there, slipping his hand into Isaac’s, wrapping his other palm around Isaac’s forearm.

Isaac exhaled in relief. When he opened his eyes, they were bright orange, devoid of any other color.

“No. I don’t see anything either,” he said.

The light in his eyes flickered, shuttering off like an old-fashioned movie projector running out of film.

“How could someone have hidden their location from you?” I said.

“If they were powerful enough, they could hide themselves.” Cade reached forward again, brushing his fingers through the blood. “There are ways to activate magic from a distance. Some users can put a spell on a token and activate it at a certain time or when some criteria was met.”

“Would it tell them what happened?” I looked between Cade and Isaac. “Do they already know Keith is dead?”

Isaac and Cade exchanged a look.

“They might,” Isaac said. “But it would depend on the type of spell. If it was something Keith could activate himself, they might not, otherwise they’d be aware of it.”

Standing, Cade said, “Is there anything else you need from the scene?”

I shook my head. “Not right now, although I’d like—”

Cade raised his hand, and thick bands of black tattoo seethed off his body, swallowing the room. The sharp scent of burning hair and flesh coated the inside of my nostrils, and I turned away, almost gagging.

Heavy iron chains clanked against the floor.