Tallu grabbed Asil as they Teleported to the first address; they entered the building and promptly crossed it off their list, then the next, and once again the next; it was a goose search, but they had nothing else they could do right about now. Their Teleports were one after another. Tallu was sure they would have needed weeks to complete this, even with more people if it hadn't been for Teleportation.
But nothing special happened when they shifted from one place to another; nothing was noticeable, and by the point they were finished with their half of the list, only one spot was left. Agent Baker, looking more tired than ever, and Alistair had ended up at the same place as they did. Baker took out the paper.

"Old Basement apartment, abandoned for twenty years, not exactly above ground but not underneath it either, one window. Gods, I need a drink." She complained. "If it isn't this one, we must wait for the proper list and probably start finding something else to scour. Meanwhile, at least we don't need to search the canalization."

Tallu agreed with the canalization, too. They would have never been able to finish. They rang the doorbell since this was an apartment building. The door remained closed. Alistair growled and stepped forward. A spell later, they were inside. Baker behind them huffed, mumbling something along the lines. "If anybody ever finds out how many laws I have broken today, I will end up in an electric chair."
Luckily, no one did know then. They entered the apartment shortly later. There was nothing there, just another empty room, but Tallus's gut told her there had to be something. Tapping her wristband, she took out a potion, gasping when she noted the now considerable drain on her energy for that simple action. Her sight went blurry for a second, but at least she didn't need magic to activate it. That was easier. She threw it into the room, and a fog rose from the shattered bottle. Agent Baker started coughing.

"What is that?" She growled when sudden marks appeared all over the walls. They were painted on, and Tallu smirked. Even if their murderer was no longer here, he had been here at least. The walls were full of nordic runes, and now that the magic that covered it and the scent of blood mage was gone, it was in full display.
Tallu sneezed; it stank of decomposing bodies all over here.

"I think I am going to call the Forensics in." Agent Baker said and took out a piece of fabric from her pocket. "It stinks like dead in here."
"Wait a moment before you do that," Tallu asked and went forward. "I have a scent. I don't need forensics tipsing here before more scents are added."

She ignored the stink of dead bodies alongside the damp metallic taste of blood and followed her nose. Urging it to smell other things more than what it is now. She stopped in the bathroom. The scent of water was not fresh water but salt water....no just salt. "Say, Asil, do you smell the salt water as well?" she asked, and he stepped forward. "Yes."

"Normally, when I think about blood magic and salt in one sentence, I note that salt can at least partially impact blood magic or hinder it from fulfilling its intended purpose. Alistair, how well does your daughter know about the nonhuman part of her heritage?" Tallu asked the Fae Lord.

"I have made certain she knew how to defend herself from most things; some...you cannot defend from. She knew her way around the nonhuman well enough not to end up a victim," Alistair stated after a bit of hesitation, and Tallu smiled.

"Now, if I were your daughter and knew a blood mage I could not escape had me captive, I would do whatever it takes to spite them. Make sure to screw up their magic as bad as possible."

"That would be stupid." Agent Baker pointed out. "Cooperative victims often survive longer. Statistically, it would open up a chance for escape."

Tallu gazed at Agent Baker. "Statistically, and if we were talking about human kidnappings you are right. But this is not about humans. We are not humans. It is as good as impossible for a mostly human half-fae to escape when the opponent is a blood mage. Believe me, the next best thing you do is spite them, defy them, and fight every goddamn step of the way. If you don't, then you go from victim to prey, and as prey, you get eaten alive because that means you have lost the will to fight." Her voice dropped with every word.

Baker shut her mouth and then went to the bathroom, looking around. "You mean she got her hands on salt and rubbed it into the runes or what."

"It would screw the spell up pretty badly," Asil answered and then took Tallu, dragging her into the Kitchen, or what was once a Kitchen. "At least she would have had access to salt here."

"I can imagine my daughter doing that, but where is she now," Alistair asked the million-dollar question.

"No longer here, but now we have the mages' scent," Tallu said. "I wouldn't walk past that person without recognizing them anymore."