I stopped in my tracks, shocked to realize that her words had instilled even the slightest bit of doubt in me about my son.

If even his own mother can’t have complete conviction in his innocence, where does that leave The Shade’s prince?

I shook the thought away, trying to dismiss all doubt that it could have been my son. I had almost reached the Residences when Patricia appeared out of thin air in front of me.

“We’ve found the killer.”

My mouth dropped open. “Who?”

“The ogre.”

Chapter 23: Sofia

“Brett?” I gasped, staring at Patricia in disbelief. “How would he even fit in those small human houses? He’s far too big. It would have been imposs—”

“The evidence is quite conclusive,” she said, looking at me sternly. “Just come with me.”

She touched my shoulder and we vanished. We reappeared a few seconds later, standing on a flat boulder directly outside Brett’s cave.

I was shocked to see that there was already a crowd of humans surrounding the area. How they had gotten wind of this before even I had was bewildering. The last thing I wanted was people to start doubting Brett before I’d even seen the evidence.

“Why are there so many people here already?” I demanded.

Patricia looked around at the crowd before turning back to me.

“The humans haven’t been content with leaving the search to the witches. We were in the process of scouring the sea within the borders of the island when a group of humans called our attention to this…”

Gripping my arm, she pulled me over toward a gap in the rocks, about ten feet away. I looked down to see a mess of mangled limbs.

“Four bodies, all piled up and squashed into the same place,” Patricia said, grimacing as she looked over the corpses.

“They were found in this spot exactly?”

“Yes,” she said, looking back at Brett’s cave. “Less than ten feet away from the ogre’s home. The humans rolled a boulder away from them to gain a better view of them, but other than that they have not been touched. Assuming the humans aren’t lying, of course. But I doubt that. It’s more in their interest than ours to find the killer.”

My insides writhed to see how slashed and squished the corpses were. They were unrecognizable. I could barely make out the start of one body and the end of the next. I covered my nose with the sleeve of my blouse, trying to block out the rotting stench.

“And where is Brett now?” I asked, casting my eyes toward the dark entrance of the cave.

“Sleeping.”

I looked at the humans surrounding us again. They were all staring at us expectantly. From the looks on their faces, I was sure that they felt like storming the ogre’s home with pitchforks already.

“Patricia,” I said, turning my back on them to face her again, “you said you had conclusive evidence. Where is it?”

She raised a brow and nodded down toward the bodies.

I exhaled impatiently. “This is not conclusive evidence. Someone could have framed Brett, for all we know. Besides, you still haven’t answered how he could have even gotten to those humans in the first place.”

She heaved a sigh and bit her lip, shrugging. “Well, it’s the most conclusive we’ve found so far.”

I brushed past her and looked down once again at the mangled bodies.

“At least we’ve found the corpses now,” I muttered. “We have to hope that they are not too mashed up for us to examine. But in the meantime, nobody is to lay a hand on Brett. Not unless you or someone else can explain how he could have fit that elephantine body of his into those small homes—”

Barely had I spoken the words when a groan emanated from the cave. I whirled around and stared in horror as humans clambered up the rocks and began rushing inside.

I raced after them and, as I neared the back of the cave, gasped to see three humans already circling Brett, brandishing daggers. The ogre was slumped in a corner of his straw bed, grumbling and burying his head in his hands.

This sight alone should have been enough to convince anyone that Brett was not a killer. He could have smashed their skulls against the wall of the cave with a knock of his fist, but instead, he chose to cower in a corner.

The humans lowered their weapons as I stood in front of the ogre and glowered at them, but they still didn’t put them away entirely.

“On what authority have you disturbed Brett?” I demanded.

“What authority do we need, Sofia?” one of the men spat. “Didn’t you just see those bodies outside his cave? He has more than enough strength to mangle them into such a pulp.”

“You need my or my husband’s authority to lay a hand on any resident on this island, however guilty you may deem them to be,” I shot back. “You all know the laws of The Shade, and if you don’t, I suggest you lock yourselves indoors for a day and study them again to refresh your memory.”

“Sofia, our lives are in danger—”

“Yes, but chasing down the wrong person isn’t going to relieve that danger. Those bodies outside his cave prove nothing until we’ve examined them.”

The crowd parted as a werewolf bounded into the cave. Saira. Her eyes blazed as she reached me and turned to face off the humans alongside me.

“Back off, people,” she growled. “Brett has an alibi. Me. I’ve been visiting every night for the past two weeks for bonfires on the beach.”