"How did this happen?" Caitlyn whispered, her voice hollow.
She had been reeling from the shock of discovering Orion's death. So many questions were bitterly left unresolved. To her, he was one of the few people she could speak to without facing overbearing arrogance or dismissive mockery.
Her thoughts drifted to the first incident, the day her parents were kidnapped, and to when the mystery surrounding Orion first began. Caitlyn couldn't deny she had felt something for Orion but she couldn't understand it.
Caitlyn's gaze drifted up to Greyson, who eyed her sympathetically. "None of this makes sense. Why weren't you informed? Why were the standards so low?"
"Corruption, Caitlyn." Greyson sighed in disappointment and defeat. "We tried to track down the contractors after the riots broke out but all we found were corpses. Whoever did this left no loose ends. All we have is the coroner."
Walking over to the window, Greyson's gaze drifted off into the distance, exhaustion evident on her features after the past few days.
Slowly, she turned back to Cassandra. Cassandra was sitting on the couch with her hands cupped around a teacup, tense as she braced herself mentally for the news.
Greyson's expression hardened. "Connections were made to several noble houses. This is a disaster. How would you like to proceed?"
Cassandra froze, her grip tightening on her cup. Her gaze shifted from Greyson to Caitlyn who met her gaze with the piercing look of a young woman demanding justice. This caused her to falter, lowering her gaze briefly before returning it to Greyson.
"Arrest them. This will tie up the Council and ease them off the Undercity. I'll handle the political fallout."
Her gaze then shifted to a man who had been silently standing against the wall. His gray beard sparkled against the fireplace's light before his cane sharply struck the floor.
"Such a tragic ending," he said in a low tone but with a strange, unsympathetic inflection that made everyone's heads tilt. For Caitlyn, it was as if he was saying it because he felt obligated to, not because he believed it.
Another sharp strike of his cane echoed through the room, snapping Caitlyn's attention back to him as he took a step forward. His hazel eyes, heavy with age and tiredness, coldly glanced toward her in a manner that made her shiver before they shifted back to Greyson.
"I have no business with you anymore," he said.
"Just like that?" Greyson asked with a cocked eyebrow. "I thought this was a family matter."
Caitlyn's ears perked up and she straightened her back despite the sadness still gripping her.
"It was," he answered, but said no more as he began to walk toward the exit.
Leaning toward Cassandra, Caitlyn whispered, "Family matter?"
"Don't mind him, Caitlyn," Cassandra shook her head. She paused, pursing her lips before saying, "It's the past now. We must move forward."