Chapter 2 #2
The commute to Klineville was supposed to take roughly an hour and a half. She could’ve driven, but until her status with the Vampire Court was settled, Thaddeus insisted on shadow walking her there, which meant Liam was coming along for the ride.
Overprotective? Not in the slightest, and short of nuking the Court, Ophelia didn’t see anything ever being settled. Thaddeus, however, seemed confident. That probably should’ve been concerning, but she didn’t have the bandwidth for it, and if he wanted to play taxi, she wasn’t gonna complain.
Like about anything to him, ever. To say his person was threatening would be grossly misleading.
She’d never been considered short, but Thaddeus was close to seven feet tall.
Even stooped in the hallway and with her in heels, she barely came up to his shoulder.
He was wrapped in a dark, fur-lined cloak that made her anxiety roil just looking at it, and his fine, snow white hair brushed its collar.
Whatever his tatuaj had originally been, the virus had advanced to the point where they were now indistinguishable, blackening his eye sockets and dripping down his cheeks.
Ophelia had never seen anything like them.
Not even Vesper’s were that muddled, and the vampire queen was old.
Ophelia had no idea what tribe he’d been part of before coming here and wasn’t about to ask.
She’d definitely never read about him in the Citadel’s hall of records, and she’d read a lot.
But there had been whispers about an ancient, deposed king, and he sure as fuck fit the brief. Including the part about him being crazy. Ophelia hadn’t figured out if that was like a fox or certifiable, though she suspected in his case neither was mutually exclusive.
She stepped close to him and Liam, her palms clammy. Thaddaeus threw his cloak around them, and she bit back a scream, panic clawing at her throat. Her stomach lurched as she tried to focus on reality wavering and not the sudden, suffocating press of textiles around her.
Shoes, look at your shoes. There was light. There was air. The concrete hallway beneath her pumps dissolved, and the nasty asphalt of an alley strewn with rock salt formed in its place.
Thaddeus dropped his cloak to his sides, and she slapped a hand over her mouth, her nostrils flaring with breath as she staggered. A hand settled on her lower back, and she jumped.
“Easy,” Liam murmured, his eyes full of concern. “Breathe in through your mouth. Flex and release, stomach, fingertips, toes, then breathe out through your nose.”
“Don’t fucking touch me,” she snapped, stepping away. Like she needed his fucking sympathy. Ophelia looked around, avoiding his gaze. Yep. They were in an alley. The one beside the courthouse, if those columns were any indication.
“I’ll be near,” Thaddeus chuckled, inclining his head at them as he dissolved back into the shadows, his irises much paler than they’d been a moment before.
And if that chuckle was any indication, he was slipping into batshit mode.
Great. Ophelia rubbed her arms, pretty positive he’d need to top off with somebody before then to rectify the situation.
Man, shadow walking might be a hell of a lot quicker than the commute, but it was a creepy way to travel.
She glanced over at Liam, still staring at her through that stupid fall of hair always in his eyes.
“You ready?” she snapped, pulling out her flask for a quick swig of coagulating courage.
He shrugged. “I was waiting on you.”
“Don’t.” Ophelia pushed past him and marched toward what’d better fucking be the front of the building.
The early afternoon sky was overcast, but thankfully, the frozen hell scheduled to descend wasn’t due to start until this evening.
Fingers crossed she’d be long gone by then with a poke bowl for later.
She hurried up the wide granite steps and through security, collecting the badge waiting for her at reception and signing Liam in. More than one person looked like they were about to come over and say hi to him, but she hadn’t perfected her resting bitch face for nothing.
“I take it you’ve been here before?” she asked him as they got into the elevator and the doors closed on the vaulted, marble lobby.
He pressed the button for the fifth floor, then fiddled with his collar. “Yeah, I interned here beneath Judge Carey.”
Ophelia’s brow quirked. “Isn’t he presiding over this case?”
“He is, but my history’s not going to give you an edge, and don’t let him lull you into getting too comfortable before we begin. Man is sharp, and he won’t let anything slide. Fingers crossed he’s too busy trying to figure out what Sperry’s trying to pull to focus on us.”
“He dirty?” Ophelia hadn’t been able to find much on the opposing counsel, aside from his court filings being immaculate. Records had him actively practicing law for a little over a decade, but the quality of his arguments suggested he’d been doing it for far longer.
“No, he’s just really fucking good.”
Sweat beaded her upper lip. Ghandi help her if he was a vamp. Though, that would explain why she hadn’t been able to track down a photo of him. No. Not this close to Havers. Thaddeus had claimed the entire county as his territory, and she was the only other vampire inside its borders.
The elevator’s doors slid open, and they exited into the dark-paneled hall. She kept pace with Liam, following him to Judge Carey’s chambers. He blew out a breath before he knocked on the heavy oak door, then went in.
They were the first people there, which was exactly how Ophelia liked it.
She dropped her purse on a chair facing the door and opened the box waiting for her on the polished mahogany conference table.
She rooted around until she found a copy of Havers’s response to the lawsuit and tossed it in front of Liam.
If he hadn’t read it yet, now was the time.
“Trust me, I’ve been following along.” He frowned, pushing it to the side.
“Happy fucking day,” she muttered, glad they weren’t totally on the back foot.
The door opened, and she glanced up. A rotund balding man in a baby blue sweater vest came in with a large folio and a mousy woman with a laptop. That had to be Judge Carey and the court reporter. She scurried to the end of the table and set herself up.
“Well, I’ll be. Liam Montgomery, it is you. I heard the chatter downstairs, but didn’t believe it.” He rounded the table with a wide grin to shake Liam’s hand. “Especially not after that turn of events out west. Nasty business.”
Ophelia’s brow cocked as she flicked through the case particulars. That certainly sounded like a juicy morsel, and given Liam’s abruptly high color, not one he wanted to discuss.
“Ah, yeah. Thankfully, that’s all behind me.”
The judge hummed sagely. “Good, because if you pull the same stunt here, I’ll have you disbarred.” He turned to her as Liam blanched. “And you must be Ms. Diamond?”
“Diamondé, Your Honor,” she said, pausing before she shook the man’s proffered hand. Her mouth went dry at the innocent touch, and she fought the urge to wipe her palm against her skirt.
“Diamondé. How very continental. You’ve Frankish ancestry?”
“Jewish, actually, but yes, that’s the area they settled in,” she said, trying to recover her equilibrium.
“Ah. You’ll have to forgive me, I’m what my wife calls a ‘genealogy geek.’ It drives her crazy, but I find it fascinating.” He took a seat and set his folio to one side.
“Of course.” Ophelia smiled at him, taking a seat as well. Note to self, play up Jena’s hereditary role as the node’s guardian.
“I’ll also admit I’m intrigued as to what brought you to our neck of the woods. Hale and Davis isn’t a law firm many leave to set out on their own. That must’ve been quite the pay cut.”
“Money isn’t everything,” she said, praying the trite expression would suffice.
“Indeed, but why did you decide to practice law again? Twelve years is quite a hiatus.”
Shit. Thaddeus had done his best to bury her association with the tribes, but she hadn’t settled on anything to fill in the gap and regale anyone with some bullshit life story. Ophelia forced a smile. “This case called to me.”
Judge Carey grunted like he was open to the possibility, but didn’t totally buy it. “I’m sure Liam’s given you the inside scoop, but even with him on board, you’re not in for an easy time of it. Sperry’s one of the best prosecuting attorneys in the county. I’d suggest you bring your A game.”
Ophelia forced her smile wider. “That’s the only one I play.”
He chuckled. “Well, then I’m looking forward to seeing the match up. Ah.” He turned as the doorknob rattled. “Time for round one. Here he is.”
Gideon frowned down at his phone, the barrage of texts from Monica beyond the pale. He flicked a thumb across the screen, blocking her. If she’d just left when he’d asked her to instead of acting like a child, all of this could’ve been avoided.
“Mr. Sperry, so nice of you to join us,” Judge Carey said, the man’s perpetual good mood grating on Gideon more than usual.
He tucked his phone into his pocket with a shake of his head and looked up. “My apologies, I was detained by a personal—”
Phe.
Gideon froze. She sat at the far side of the table. Her makeup was heavier than he remembered, but she was still stunning, exactly the same as the morning she’d walked out on him. And by her sudden pallor, he was the last person she’d expected to see.
So why did it feel like she had the upper hand?
Judge Carey looked between them and cleared his throat.
“Ah, a personal matter. It won’t happen again,” Gideon recovered, his mind racing with his pulse as she looked away.
He unbuttoned his suit jacket and ripped back a chair to sit, running a hand over his face.
His jaw tensed, beyond irritated she was still able to affect him like this.
The fact that she was sitting next to Liam Montgomery only served to further incense him. Were they together?