Emerald stepped closer, her eyes narrowing as she took in the bloodied form chained to the ground.
His head lolled to one side, mouth twitching with mumbled pleas. One eye was completely swollen shut, and his lips were cracked and bleeding.
She knew that face. "Wait a second…" she muttered. "That's Octavian."
Nessa gave a curt nod. "One of the lower council members. He mostly handles distribution between border sectors."
"He's not even a high Lord," Emerald murmured. "What the hell is he doing here? What happened?"
Nessa crossed her arms tightly. "One of the medics was doing routine rounds when he heard some noise in the morgue. According to him, it sounded like metal clattering, like a tray being dropped.
"He went in to check, and that's when he found our guy here, trying to pull Quince's body out of storage."
"Was he armed?" Emerald asked.
