Chapter Twenty-One
“Doctor Channon.” The lead enforcer held up the tablet. “I’ll need you to authenticate the photographs before transfer.”
“And you accessed this safe…”
“After legally destroying the estate’s unlawful lockdown wards, which were being used to prevent my departure and facilitate my murder.” Ant’s voice remained completely devoid of emotion. “Claudius explicitly stated his intention to kill me while forcing my mate to watch.”
The enforcer’s jaw tightened. “Noted. We’ll need a full statement, but…”
More footsteps thundered up the main staircase. Viktor moved instantly, positioning himself between Ant and the doorway until he caught a familiar scent.
Bridget.
Ant’s head snapped up just as his sister appeared in the hallway, flanked by two additional mages in Justiciary tactical gear. Robert followed close behind, his eyes wide.
“Ant!” Bridget shoved past the enforcer. Her eyes swept over him, cataloging the dried blood on his face, the way he gripped the desk for support. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s minor.” Ant straightened, though his legs protested. “Bridget, what…”
“What am I doing here? Is that what you were going to ask?” Her voice went sharp. “You went radio silent at an estate run by a paranoid ancient vampire. What the hell did you think I was going to do?”
“I…” Ant blinked. He’d called the Justiciary eleven minutes ago, and they’d arrived almost instantly. That response time implied… “You were already en route?”
“Damn right I was.” Bridget crossed the study in three strides, her hands hovering above his shoulders, although she didn’t touch him the way she clearly wanted to. “Damn it, I wish I could hug you right now, but I can see you’re already overloaded.”
“You could hug Viktor,” Ant suggested. “He’d probably appreciate it. I just, I can’t…”
“Of course, you can’t because you’ve overdone it, you damn fool.” Bridget swung around and caught a clearly surprised Viktor around the waist, hugging him close. “I thought you’d been eaten.”
“It…er…it was suggested,” Viktor said, patting Bridget’s shoulder, clearly at a loss for what to do. “But as you can see we’re both fine.”
“Your definition of fine and mine are clearly two completely different things.” Bridget sniffed, but she did let go of Viktor. “The moment I couldn’t respond to your single solitary text, I knew something was wrong. You always check in.”
“I intended to,” Ant said. “However, Claudius activated a lockdown ward that included magical dampeners across most of the property. We barely managed to get a text out at all, and could only do that by standing at the far boundary.”
“Which is illegal detention of a Justiciary investigator.” Robert stepped into the study, his gaze moving to the open safe.
“Ms. Channon compiled emergency warrants based on your initial text about shell corporations. When you failed to report by your scheduled time, we escalated the situation to an immediate intervention.”
Viktor’s eyes narrowed. “How long were you planning this?”
“Since yesterday afternoon.” Bridget gave Able a quick stroke over his head and stayed close. “When Ant sent me details about Ronald Finch being a forensic accountant. I did what I do best - I followed the money.”
“The shell corporations,” Ant murmured. “You traced them.”
“All the way back to Claudius’s legal team.
” Bridget pulled out her courtroom smile.
“It took me six hours and Robert’s help with the magical components, but I had enough for preliminary warrants by midnight.
When you went dark, I walked into Justiciary headquarters with a file thick enough to choke a dragon and demanded immediate extraction. ”
The lead enforcer cleared his throat. “Ms. Channon was… extremely persuasive.”
“I told them if my brother was dead, I’d sue the Justiciary for negligent failure to protect an active investigator, his fated mate, and his service animal and then plaster every newspaper in the state with the story.” Bridget’s eyes flashed. “They mobilized pretty quickly after that.”
Of course she did. Ant felt something tight in his chest loosen. His sister had been building a parallel case the entire time, constructing a safety net he hadn’t even known he needed.
“Thank you,” he said quietly.
Bridget’s expression softened. “You’re my baby brother. You think I’d let some pompous vampire kill you without burning his entire operation to the ground?”
“The thought did occur to me.” Ant managed a small smile. “Though I believe Viktor had similar plans.”
“Damn right I did,” Viktor muttered.
Robert approached the desk, peering into the safe. “Those documents were heavily warded. The magical signature suggests they’ve been protected for decades.”
“Claudius documented every victim,” Ant said. “Right down to the names, dates, and amounts stolen through coerced asset transfers. The journal contains a written confession to murdering Ronald Finch on October fifteenth after discovering Mr. Finch had photographed these same documents.”
“A written confession.” Robert’s eyebrows rose. “That’s… remarkably incriminating.”
“Claudius was arrogant.” Ant pulled up the journal photographs on his phone. “He believed his wards made the safe impenetrable, and therefore saw no risk in maintaining detailed records.”
The lead enforcer moved closer. “Doctor Channon, I’m going to need you to formally place the coven leader under arrest - seeing as this is ultimately your case.”
Ant straightened, ignoring his body’s protests. “On what charges?”
“All of them.” The enforcer’s expression was grim. “Murder, illegal use of vampiric thrall for financial exploitation, attempted murder of a Justiciary investigator, unlawful imprisonment…”
“And conspiracy,” Bridget added. “You might as well throw that in. I’m sure some of the vampires still wobbling around here were part of all this, too.”
“Correct.” Ant managed a nod. “I witnessed Edmund acting as lookout while Claudius used vampiric trance to paralyze Mr. Finch before draining him. It’s my belief that Nathaniel participated in the subsequent cover-up by removing evidence from the crime scene.
There was a third vampire at the murder scene, noted in Claudius’s diary as Tory, although I haven’t seen him again since we’ve been here.
But it shouldn’t be difficult for the Justiciary to find out who that was. ”
“Then we’ll need formal charges against all four.” The enforcer gestured to his tablet. “Your scene reading testimony…”
“Will likely be challenged as circumstantial,” Ant interrupted. “Defense lawyers will argue the ward-trap compromised my observations.”
“But the photographs won’t be,” Bridget said smugly. “Physical evidence from the safe, taken after you legally destroyed unlawful restraints. The chain of custody is maintained through encrypted transfer to Justiciary servers.”
Robert nodded. “The combination of scene reading and documentary evidence creates an airtight case.”
“Then let’s make it official.” The lead enforcer opened a recording app on his tablet. “Doctor Anthony Channon, as lead investigator for the Mage Justiciary, do you formally charge Claudius Raven with the murder of Ronald Finch?”
“I do.” Ant’s voice was steady. “Based on direct observation through scene reading and corroborating physical evidence, including Claudius’s personal journal, I witnessed Claudius Raven use illegal vampiric trance to paralyze Ronald Finch on October fifteenth at approximately 1:23 a.m., then drain him of blood until death occurred.
This was premeditated murder committed to prevent Mr. Finch from exposing Claudius’s decades-long financial exploitation scheme. ”
“Do you charge him with illegal use of vampiric trance?”
“Yes. The safe documents show systematic use of vampiric trance on at least two hundred and forty-three human victims over a span of one hundred and seventy-six years, resulting in coerced asset transfers totaling approximately six hundred million dollars.”
The enforcer’s expression went carefully blank. “Six hundred million.”
“Conservatively estimated.” Ant pulled up a ledger photograph. “Claudius maintained detailed financial records. Each entry includes victim names, dates, amounts stolen, and shell corporation transfers.”
“Jesus Christ,” someone muttered from the hallway.
“Do you charge him with attempted murder of a Justiciary investigator?”
“Definitely yes.” Ant’s jaw tightened. “After I completed the scene reading and Claudius learned I’d witnessed his crimes, he explicitly stated his intention to kill me while forcing my mate to watch.
He activated estate-wide lockdown wards to prevent our departure and ordered his guards to attack us. ”
“And unlawful imprisonment?”
“Yes. The lockdown wards were used to illegally detain myself, my mate Viktor, and my service dog Able despite our clearly stated intention to leave the property.”
The enforcer saved the recording. “That’s everything we need for the arraignment. Ms. Channon, your supplementary evidence?”
Bridget produced her own tablet. “Financial forensics tracing the shell corporations back to Claudius’s legal team, records of suspicious transactions, and preliminary victim identification based on missing persons reports cross-referenced with property transfer dates.”
“Outstanding work.” The enforcer accepted her tablet, scrolling through the files. “This level of coordination…”
“Is what happens when you threaten my brother,” Bridget said coolly.
Robert cleared his throat. “I also have a magical analysis of the estate’s ward structure.
Doctor Channon’s destruction of the keystone was legally justified self-defense, and the ward matrix itself was violating at least seven Justiciary regulations regarding appropriate defensive magic on private property. ”
“Seven?” Viktor asked.