Chapter 31 #2
Taryn, sitting in the emerald chair of Taurus, her dainty bull horns gleaming in the torchlight, rolls her eyes. “You know the rules, Leonora. No violence in the Council chambers.” The Taurus goddess flicks her gaze to me. “And no outside interference during the trial.”
Trial? My eyes find Amri smiling at a suspended Leonora, whose eyes still burn with the fire of her rage, but after a few breaths, she sheathes her claws and releases the tension from her shoulders.
After another second, she floats down to the floor and brushes off her clothes, turning her back to Amri with a haughty tilt of her chin.
Justice leans forward in his lavender chair, eyes on my mate. “You have something in your possession that you shouldn’t.”
Amri doesn’t stammer or beg ignorance; she simply reaches into her pocket and pulls out a stone. The stone. Whispers float around the room, but I doubt many of them know what my mate holds in her hand.
As Justice raises a single finger, sending the stone floating out of Amri’s hand over to his waiting palm, the male deity of the Scorpios curls his hand around the arm of his navy chair. “How did you come to possess that, Enforcer?”
Amri’s voice is calm and even a little sarcastic, which might not be the best move right now. “I didn’t steal it, if that’s what you’re asking.”
The need to be down there with her is so strong, my toes dig at the barrier, sending ripples of gold magic up from the floor. Leeu leans over, whispering at me, “Stop that or they’ll kick you out.”
I growl but pull my foot back.
Justice hands the stone to a female with white fox ears standing behind him—I assume she’s the Libra’s Council representative—then sits back and crosses his legs. “Then who gave it to you?”
Amri doesn’t move a muscle, giving nothing away.
Leonora’s voice cuts through the silence.
“It doesn’t matter. You can weed out the other guilty parties later.
But the facts are that this enforcer did have the stone and she used it to infiltrate my realm, my palace!
And she used the stone—a piece of magic that shouldn’t have been out of this useless Council’s possession—to do this!
” She grabs the hem of her shirt and whips it over her head, spinning in a slow circle.
Even with her beautiful body on display, all I see are the scars I inflicted on her side and shoulder.
Bodi’s voice slides into my mind. “Nice work, brother.”
I smile at him, and as Leonora turns, she reveals a new ragged, circular scar where Amri stabbed her.
The goddess of Aquarius gasps, her hands worrying like an otter. “What manner of weapon did that?”
My beast nudges me. “Aries.”
When I look at the god, it’s to find him looking at me.
No. He’s looking at Alexandros, and the way the mountain lion shifter takes a small step towards Bodi makes me think the god just mind-spoke with his son.
But then with a flicker of flame, Aries leans back in his chair, crossing his ankle over his knee.
There’s a chuckle in his voice that conveys nonchalance as he smiles at the Aquarius goddess.
“Come now, Sophia, we all have at least one weakness out there, be it a weapon, a person, a spell … and obviously this en forcer found Leonora’s.
Still, if it were me, I wouldn’t want that information blabbed to all of you and this entire room. ”
Whispers get louder from the shifters here in the observation area, and most of the other deities shift uneasily in their seats, but the god of the Scorpios shakes his head. “The damage is done, and at least a few people in this room know what that weapon is. We need to know as well.”
Leonora spins on him. “Why? So you can have something to hold over me? We agreed long ago never to even speak of this.”
The god’s scorpion tail rises up behind him as he smirks. “ You brought it up, Leonora.”
She points a flexed arm at Amri. “To show you what she did! She’s the one on trial here! That enforcer broke your precious rules.”
From his bronze seat in the Virgo section, Virgil looks at Amri. “Were you acting on someone’s orders?”
I know she was … or at least working with someone in the Council—probably Mara, who, to give her credit, doesn’t appear to be the least bit nervous.
But it seems my loyal mate isn’t going to throw anyone under the bus today as she says, “I did everything Leonora said.” Amri turns her full gaze on Leonora with the fierce look of a warrior in her eyes. “And I’d do it again.”
My claws slide from my fingers, expecting Leonora to do something horrific, but she just grins, lifting her arms out. “Guilty by her own admission.”
One by one, each of the deities nod, and my beast starts pacing. Justice stands, his cape of swan feathers flaring out behind him. “The accused has admitted guilt and shall be?—”
I slam my fist against the barrier, shattering it like crystalline sugar. I blink at the broken magic for a second, stunned.
My beast huffs. “You forgot we have the power of a god, didn’t you?”
I roll my lips between my teeth to keep from laughing, because, yes, I did.
I step down to the floor, immeasurably pleased when Leonora practically cowers as she shuffles out of my way.
But I don’t spare her a look as I head towards Amri, coming to a stop between her and Justice.
I turn to face the god, raising a brow. “You’re going to hand down judgement without even finding out why?
You certainly aren’t living up to your name. ”
Justice narrows his eyes at me. “Don’t get cocky, boy. You’re not the first demi-god to think they can go up against us, and you won’t be the last. You are here by our invitation to observe the Council in action. That is all. Please step off the floor.”
My beast growls, and my body expands, growing wider and taller with my half-shift. “No.”
Taryn tilts her head, her bull horns glinting. “Who is this enforcer to you?”
“I’m her mate.” The words come easily, claiming myself as hers.
Leonora tsks , but I still don’t look at her as she says, “You keep saying that, but there are no threads. You can’t wish a bond into place, my pet. That’s not how the Fates work. You just want what your brothers have, but you know you do not deserve it.”
I jerk, knowing better than to put any stock into what Leonora says or does, but still … the barb strikes.
Amri moves, but Virgil clears his throat. “We are off topic. This enforcer has admitted guilt to breaking the rules of the Council. She will now be sentenced, and this meeting will adjourn.”
My muscles tense, but before I can say anything in Amri’s defense, she places her warm hand on my back as her voice slips into my mind. “It’s okay, Malik. Really. Of course I was hoping I wouldn’t get caught, but here we are. And I meant it. It was all worth it, and I’d do it again.”
I relax into her touch. “I’ve been such a fool.”
Justice’s swan feathers flair with a dramatic swish of power. “For her crimes, Amri will be stripped of her enforcer title and privileges. Additionally, her magic will be drained and given to Leonora as the wronged party.”
Amri jerks with a gasp of distress. Leonora aims a smug smile at us as roars of outrage erupt from all around the chamber.
My mind spins with the impossibility of Justice’s words.
Drain Amri? Take her magic? Her beast? The representatives turn to attempt to quiet the crowd, but next to me, Amri trembles, her eyes filled with fear as she stares at the floor, her head shaking slowly.
“No. No. They can’t give it to her. Not after we worked so hard. Not after …”
My mate’s despondent murmurs fade as rage fills me. Even now, faced with the death of her beast, she’s worried about my clan. My panther prowls, pushing, insisting we do something.
Ramesh’s voice pushes into my mind, deep and insistent. “Remember. Stand with her, Alpha.”
A growl builds in my chest and rumbles up my throat. With a blinding flash of golden light, I shift, using my giant beast form to shield as much of my mate as I can. But this fucking room is a circle, and we’re surrounded by gods.
Warmth. Support. Love.
My brothers leap to the floor, Alexandros and Askari on their heels, all in their beast forms so now three black panthers, a mountain lion, and an Asiatic lion surround my mate, muscles bunched, fangs bared, tails whipping, haunches raised.
Askari pushes into my mind. “We’re with you, Alpha.” A chorus of assent comes from my brothers and Alexandros.
I roar through the mind-speak of the Zodiac for all to hear. “This goes too far. We will not allow you to murder Amri’s beast, and we certainly won’t allow you to put power back into the hands of the female that nearly killed the entire Leo clan!”
The room goes silent.
Leonora, haughty in her confidence, rolls her eyes, but Fisk leans forward in their chair. “Explain.”