Chapter 14
The next few days were spent going over our strategy for my hearing. It would be me, Bastian, Gareth, War, Thane, and Faust heading to Sol City.
Serenity put up a big stink about wanting to come, but August laid down the law and said fuck no. I agreed with him. I wasn't even a prime target here; she was. I was just collateral damage. I was just in the way.
The plan was for Thane to place a temporary shield around me. Something that would make me invulnerable to magic. It wouldn’t last long, and it would take a lot of Thane’s energy to hold it, but it did make me feel a bit better about going into the heart of the city again.
Bastian and I talked about the details of the case, going over his strategy for getting the charges dropped. According to him, we had enough evidence for reasonable doubt, and he fully believed I would walk free.
As we packed our bags for the trip, Bastian pulled me aside. "I know I've said it before, but I want you to know that whatever happens in there, I'm here for you. Serenity’s family is my family; none of us are letting anyone lock you in another cell.”
I smiled softly at him. "I can’t stress enough how much I appreciate this. Seriously. I feel like I’m going to crap my pants and barf at the same time.” His brows went up, and I laughed nervously. “But I definitely feel better knowing you guys will be there.”
”If anyone can get the charges dropped, it’s Bastian,” Serenity said. She was sitting on Faust’s lap while he finger-combed her hair, and she was smiling at her warlock. “He has a way with words, so I’m sure he will weave something magical to convince them all that you were framed.”
”You give me too much credit, my love,” Bastian said smoothly.
I laughed, shaking my head, and I continued packing, setting aside a nice blouse and dress pants for tomorrow’s hearing.
As we all tucked in for the night after hours of card games, calming wildflower tea, and some news channel surfing, I tossed and turned, sandwiched between Thane and War. Gareth slept in wolf form across our feet.
Tomorrow was the day of reckoning, and all I wanted to do was get it over with so I could come back to this refuge that I was growing to think of as my new home away from home.
The drive felt like an eternity as nerves buzzed within us about what was going to happen. When Thane's powerful magic shield surrounded me at last, though, a sense of calm washed over me.
I sat in the front seat while Thane drove. War was on a motorcycle behind us, while Gareth, Bastian, and Faust rode in a car behind him. We wound through the snowy mountains, and I rolled down the window, trying to breathe in as much crisp air as I possibly could before we reached the city.
I knew I was worrying too much, imagining them slapping those cuffs back on me and dragging me away to the jailhouse, kicking and screaming. That wasn’t going to happen. Not again.
We reached the city after about two hours of driving due to the slick roads. The sounds of the city were deafening after two weeks out in the middle of nowhere. I immediately felt my anxiety stirring up and wanted nothing more than to turn back around and run for the hills.
When we got to the courthouse, we pulled up in front, where there was a pathway made with caution tape between a gaggle of reporters. Thane helped me out of the car, and I took his hand gratefully. I wasn’t even sure I could stand up on my own at this point.
The guys immediately circled me, shielding me from prying eyes and cameras.
Faust and War led the way, Faust with his hand on a concealed weapon and War looking like he was seconds away from creating another massacre.
People shied away from them as they passed, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit smug.
As expected, everything was chaotic inside; people were talking loudly into their phones while others rushed around trying to get anything done before the hearing began.
I was a bundle of nerves and excused myself to use the restroom before heading inside the courtroom. The guys didn’t like losing sight of me for even a second, but they agreed to stand outside the bathroom doors and wait.
I stood in front of the fluorescent-lit mirrors, staring at myself, trying to hype myself up to appear calm, confident, and innocent. Instead, my bright-green eyes just looked seconds away from bursting into tears, and my hair chose today of all days to rebel against me.
"Today’s the big day,” came a smooth, sultry voice that echoed around the room.
I went still. Ice coated my insides as I spun around, frantically scanning the empty bathroom. There were ten stalls, but they were all vacant. I went to each one and kicked in the door.
Nothing. Empty.
“Over here, dear,” the voice called out again, and I spun on my heels, feeling my teeth elongate and my nails turn into claws in a partial shift.
With wide eyes, I stared at the mirror in horror. The lights began to flicker and dim. A beautiful woman stood in the reflection, staring back at me. Her skin was smooth and brown, and her hair was a fiery red, with wild curls haloing her heart-shaped face.
Estelle. In the flesh. or in the glass.
I opened my mouth to scream, but she ticked a finger at me, clicking her tongue. “Not a good idea, Beatrix. I have eyes and ears everywhere. You wouldn’t want anything to happen to those strapping men waiting for you, would you?”
I glanced at the door, mentally willing War to tear it down. Surely he could hear her in here, right?
"They can’t hear a thing,” Estelle said, as if reading my mind. “It feels so good to have my magic back. It does have its uses.” She waved a hand with a flourish, and a wave of red magic rippled over the walls of the bathroom. Some kind of shield.
“You can’t hurt me,” I snapped at the witch. “Magic can’t touch me.” Thane’s shield was still in place. I could feel it buzzing along my skin.
She laughed, and the sound was soft and sultry. “I have no intentions of hurting you, little wolf,” she said. I gritted my teeth at the nickname. Only Thane got to call me little wolf and live.
She smiled brightly at me, her eyes shining with glowing red power. She really was breathtaking, evilness aside. It wasn’t hard to imagine why people might fall all over themselves to support her.
“What I want is for you and your little posse to join my cause,” she said with all the confidence in the world. “You think I’m the bad guy, but you have it all wrong.”
It was my turn to laugh. “You’re fucking delusional.”
”Am I?” she asked, feigning hurt. “Or am I simply doing the work necessary to free our kind from the shackles humanity has placed on us?”
”By kidnapping Darklings and experimenting on them against their will? Yeah, you’re such a savior.”
She shook her head. “You’re looking at it all wrong.
That’s the problem with young ones like yourself.
You think you know it all. You think you’ve got the moral high ground because you refuse to shed a bit of blood.
” She stepped closer, as if looking in through the other side of a window.
“But you will lose if you go against me, Beatrix. You and Serenity, and your harem of men that you managed to wrangle to your side, will lose.”
”I don’t think so,” I said, taking a step closer to her despite the fact that I wanted to pee my pants.
“I think you’re a crazy, old witch who got bored.
I think you’re power-hungry and ruthless.
You use people, manipulate them, and torture your own kind.
What kind of self-righteous psychopath can do all of that and call themselves the good guy? ”
“You’re thinking like a child. It’s a pity. You and Serenity could do great things if only you knew how to choose your friends a little wiser.”
I gritted my teeth, clenching my fists tightly. I could feel the anger boiling inside of me, like lava ready to erupt. But I needed to control it if I wanted to leave this bathroom alive.
"How do you justify it all?" I asked her calmly. “How can you look at yourself in the mirror knowing that you’ve tortured and killed your own kind? No matter what way you look at it, you’re fucking evil.”
She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head slightly, as if considering my question carefully. "Morality is subjective," she finally said with a shrug of her shoulders. "What's right or wrong depends on one's perspective."
"That doesn't make sense," I retorted incredulously.
"It does," she replied curtly. “When you’ve been alive as long as I have, the lines between what’s truly right and wrong start to blur. I’ve suffered unimaginable horrors at the hands of the humans you love so much.
Most of us have. Your uncle was one of us, and even he treated Darklings as if we were abominations.
It’s time you learned that justice won’t always come peacefully.
Sometimes, you have to reach out and take it. ”
“Are you going to kill me or just keep running your mouth?” I spat. “I’m done listening to you try to justify yourself.”
”You just don’t want to admit that there’s a small part of you that knows I’m right.”
”Fuck you, witch.”
She laughed. “Have fun at your little hearing, dear. I’m sure Sebastian will have no issues saving your neck.”
”So, it was you,” I said, stepping closer, curling my hands on the sink, and leaning toward the glass. “You glamored yourself and killed Savannah Blood Moon. You framed me.”
”It was the most fun I’ve had in decades, too. She put up a good fight.”
"You’re sick.”
”And you're young,” she snapped back. “I’ll see you again real soon, Beatrix. You can count on that. Sooner or later, you’ll realize that I’m not your enemy.”
”Doubt that,” I retorted.
She was gone with a wave of her fingers. The lights in the bathroom turned back on, and the red shield around the bathroom lifted.
I stared at the mirror, breathing heavily as the door to the bathroom slammed open, crashing into the wall and breaking the tile. The guys rushed in, weapons drawn, kicking open stalls.
Thane ran to me, taking my face in his hands. “We couldn’t get inside, and War couldn’t hear a thing. What the fuck happened?”
Seeing that there was no threat present, I was surrounded, all of them on edge. Faust made his way toward the door and barked orders at bystanders to clear the area.
I explained what happened, and the more I talked, the darker the rage on their faces became.
Gareth grabbed me, pulling me into his arms and squeezing me tight as he petted my hair. “We could have fucking lost you.” His voice was choked, and his arms shook. “I’m going to rip her in half,” he growled.
A loud bang echoed around the room as War punched one of the stall doors before spinning to face us. “She was so close. We could have...”
”You could have nothing,” I said to him, pulling back. “She wasn't really here; it was some kind of projection. She was messing with us. Proving a point that no matter where we are, she can get to us."
Thane nodded, his hand firmly gripping my shoulder, a surge of protective magic connecting us with just a touch. “We should have anticipated this. The fact that she got so close is unacceptable.”
”We’ll beef up security,” Faust promised, pulling out his phone and making a call before heading out of the bathroom.
War paced back and forth as the others began to file out of the bathroom on Faust’s heels. I held back for him.
"I’m sorry,” I said quietly to him as he passed me by on another turn around the room.
He stopped abruptly in front of me, his gaze intense as he took hold of both my arms with rough hands. "Don’t be sorry for something you couldn’t avoid.”
His eyes held mine captive before moving down toward my lips hungrily. I felt myself get sucked into a trance when suddenly, Thane cleared his throat loudly, causing us both to snap back from our momentary daze.
”Wrong place, wrong time, love.” He winked, defusing a little bit of the tension.
Faust peeked back in, waving us to follow. “Let's move. Time's ticking."
As we made our way to the courtroom, I knew War was still thinking about what almost happened, but now seemed like it wasn't the right time to talk about it more.
I knew he was going to beat himself up over this, and I wasn’t looking forward to the fallout of that.