Chapter 3
Sarah
Jordan's clinic smelled like antiseptic and lavender—an odd combination that somehow worked.
The lavender came from the diffuser on the corner table, a concession to the fact that Orcs had better noses than humans and found hospital smells overwhelming.
The antiseptic was unavoidable. This was still a medical facility, even if it was tucked into the heart of the Orc village.
I pushed through the door just after three in the afternoon, my briefcase heavy with legal pads and case files I hadn't had time to review.
The clinic was quiet, the usual bustle of patients absent.
Jordan had cleared her schedule for this meeting—a fact that made my stomach twist with guilt.
Argon and Tori had just gotten married yesterday.
They should be on their honeymoon, not huddled in a medical clinic planning legal strategy.
"Sarah!" Tori's voice was bright but strained as she rose from one of the waiting room chairs.
She looked exhausted, dark circles under her eyes that even her careful makeup couldn't hide.
Argon stood beside her, one massive arm resting protectively around her shoulders.
His green skin looked paler than usual, his amber eyes shadowed with worry.
Ruka was leaning against the desk, arms crossed over his broad chest. Jordan emerged from the back hallway, wiping her hands on a towel.
"How is he?" Argon's voice was rough, desperate. "Is Kael—did they hurt him? Is he—"
"He's fine," I said quickly, setting my briefcase down and crossing to him.
I put my hand on his arm, feeling the tension vibrating through his muscles.
"I saw him this morning. He was snoring so loud the deputies were complaining about it.
And he spent twenty minutes bitching about the breakfast they served him.
Said the eggs were rubbery and the coffee tasted like tar. "
A strangled laugh escaped Argon's throat, somewhere between relief and hysteria. "That sounds like Kael."
"He's okay," I repeated, squeezing his arm. "I promise. Dawson didn't touch him. I made sure of that."
Argon's shoulders sagged, and Tori wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face against his chest. He held her like she was the only thing keeping him upright.
"Come on," Jordan said, gesturing toward the back. "Let's talk in my office. More privacy."
We filed down the hallway, past examination rooms and a small surgery suite, into Jordan's office at the end.
It was larger than one would expect, with a massive desk, several comfortable chairs, and a couch against one wall.
Medical texts lined the bookshelves, interspersed with framed photos of the Orc community—weddings, festivals, children playing.
I took one of the chairs, pulling out my legal pad and pen. The others settled around me—Argon and Tori on the couch, Ruka in the chair beside me, Jordan perched on the arm of his chair.
I clicked my pen, forcing myself into lawyer mode. "Okay. I need you to walk me through exactly what happened with Stephen. Every detail, no matter how small. Start from the beginning."
Argon's jaw tightened. He looked at Tori, then back at me. "Sarah, I don't want you to—"
"Argon." I met his eyes, kept my voice firm. "I'm your lawyer. Well, technically I'm Kael's lawyer, but I'm also your friend, and I need to know exactly what we're dealing with." I leaned forward, pen poised. "So tell me. In detail. What happened with Stephen Bentley?"
The air in the room seemed to thicken. I knew the broad strokes—Argon had killed Stephen when he found him strangling Tori.
Ruka and Kael had disposed of the body. At the time, I hadn't wanted to know more.
Plausible deniability, I'd told myself. The less I knew about the specifics, the better I could represent them without becoming complicit.
But that luxury was gone now. Dawson was circling, looking for any angle to destroy them. If I was going to build a defense—if I was going to protect not just Kael but all of them—I needed the truth. All of it. The ugly, brutal, legally-complicated truth.
"I know you killed him," I said quietly, meeting Argon's eyes. "I know Ruka and Kael helped with... afterward. But I need the details now. Where it happened. How it happened." I swallowed hard. "Everything."
Argon's expression shuttered, but I saw the flash of pain beneath it—the memory of what he'd witnessed, what he'd had to do.
The silence stretched. Argon's hand found Tori's and gripped it tight, his knuckles going white. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and controlled, but I heard the rage simmering underneath.
"He took her." Argon's free hand curled into a fist against his thigh. "Stephen used Randall and Dot to lure Tori out of the village, and he just... grabbed her and dragged her into the woods."
My pen stilled on the paper. "What happened?"
Tori's hand trembled in Argon's grip, and I hated myself for what I was about to do.
I hated that I had to make her relive the incident that had left her bruised and battered.
That I had to pick at wounds that were still raw and bleeding.
But there was no other way. If I was going to keep Kael out of prison—if I was going to protect Argon and the entire Orc community from what Dawson was planning—I needed to know everything.
Every horrible, traumatic detail.
I set down my pen and leaned forward. "Tori. I know this is hard. But I need you to tell me what Stephen did. What he said. I need to understand exactly what kind of threat he posed."
She looked at me with those wide, haunted eyes, and for a moment I thought she might refuse. I wouldn't have blamed her if she did. But then she straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin, and I saw the steel underneath the trauma.
Her hands twisted in her lap. "He was waiting in the woods. Todd drove me to the edge of the forest near the winery, and Stephen just... appeared." She swallowed hard. "He had a gun. He told Todd to leave, said if he told anyone, he'd come back and finish what he started with Dot."
The image flashed through my mind—Dot's scar, a thin white line running from temple to jaw like a permanent reminder of Stephen's cruelty.
Stephen hadn't just threatened Tori. He'd weaponized her employees, turned them into accomplices through fear and violence. He'd kidnapped Dot to make her husband compliant, then cut her to prove he meant.
It was exactly the kind of calculated cruelty that made Stephen Bentley dangerous. Exactly the kind of threat that justified what Argon had done.
I picked up my pen again, forcing myself to write even though my hand wanted to shake. "Did Todd leave?"
Tori nodded. "Once Todd was gone, Stephen grabbed me. He tied me up and dragged me deeper into the woods, away from the road."
I waited, giving her space. I'd seen this before—the moment when a victim has to speak the unspeakable out loud.
"Stephen used to beat me." The words came out flat, distant, like she was reading from a script. "When we were together. Before Viola was born."
The room went still. Even Argon, who I suspected already knew, seemed to hold his breath.
I kept my pen moving, my face neutral, even though my chest tightened with familiar rage. I knew exactly how hard it was for her to admit this—to say the words out loud, to make it real. As her friend, I knew about her past, as her attorney, I had to ask, "How often?"
"Often enough." Her voice was flat now, distant. "He'd apologize after. Say he loved me. That I made him do it." She looked up at me, her eyes haunted. "When I found out I was pregnant with Viola, I left. Stephen never wanted kids, and I knew I had to protect her."
I hated this part. But if Kael's case went to trial, if I couldn't get the charges dropped, every detail would matter. The prosecution would paint Stephen as the victim, and we'd need to show exactly who he really was.
"What happened after he tied you up?" I kept my voice steady and professional even as my stomach churned.
Tori's hands clenched in her lap. "He started dragging me toward his campsite. I tried to fight back, but he—" Her voice cracked. "He zip-tied my hands behind my back, and whenever I'd stumble, he'd slap me."
"What happened when you got to the campsite?" I knew. I'd seen the bruises on her throat.
Tori's eyes went distant, reliving it. "That's when he started talking.
He was so calm suddenly, like he'd won and didn't have to worry anymore.
" She drew in a shaky breath. "He told me about the winery—how he'd been sabotaging it for weeks.
The fire, the burst barrels, all of it. He was proud of himself. "
My pen stilled. "He admitted to the sabotage?"
"Bragged about it." The bitterness in her voice was sharp enough to cut. "And he told me about Pickles."
"Viola's goat?"
Tori nodded, tears finally spilling over.
She swiped at them with the back of her hand.
"He admitted to killing it. Said he did it just to watch Viola cry.
" Viola was Tori's four-year-old daughter by Stephen, who thankfully had never had the displeasure of meeting her father. She called Argon daddy now.
"What else did he confess to?" I kept my voice steady. I knew most of it already, but I needed it fresh, documented properly for Kael's case.
Tori took a shaky breath. "He told me he was working for a company called Blackstream. A private military contractor. He was sent here to kill the Watkins brothers—Junior and Frank. He said they'd led a hunting expedition for one of his clients. Some rich guy from out of state."
Some rich guy we were all pretty sure had shot young Ardin, Ruka's nephew.
Tori's face paled as she continued. "Stephen said when Nadine got arrested for sending smallpox-tainted blankets to the Orc village, they worried about Junior and Frank getting cold feet... so Stephen killed them."
"Jesus," I muttered.