by Fiona Zedde
And Caressa is the one who’s been helping him. She doesn’t seem pleased with the results of her plotting, though.
“Why did you come here, Ethan?” She stalks back and forth in front of Redstone who’s sitting in an armchair like a king on his throne. The ruffled edges of her blouse flutter with every step. “I told you, it’s not time yet. I’m working on a plan. Some powerful friends of mine are putting the pressure on Mandaia to support you. That’s why we got this far. You weren’t supposed to leave that jail!”
Her usually calm façade is in tatters.
Ethan smooths an invisible wrinkle from the knee of his slacks. “I’m sick of your ‘not yet.’ No way was I going to sit in that hole a second longer waiting for your slow-ass plans to take shape.”
Caressa’s tennis shoes slap the rug in front of Ethan’s chair as she makes another circuit of the small room. “Well, I hope you’re sick of being free, too. What you’ve done just ruined our best chance of getting you completely exonerated. It’s easier to believe you’re innocent and ready to be released if you’re actually in jail, Ethan.” Caressa stops suddenly, her hands clenched at her sides. “Do you think the justiciar will listen to you now that you broke out and ran?”
The leather armchair creaks as Ethan slowly sits back, his gaze glittering. “First of all, that’s not how you talk to me, Caressa.” His growl is menacing enough for the woman to snap her mouth shut. But she also looks a little turned on.
Jesus.
Disgusted, I pull back from the feed of Ethan and his acolyte.
Let’s port up there, grab Ethan and Caressa, then go, I project to the team. After we’re done here, we can bring charges against the family for aiding a Meta murderer.
Good. Caleb unsnaps the holster holding his gun then snaps it again. “We can take him down and get back to our lives. This idiot ruined my night more than enough.”
Wait. Farr’s command sends a warning jolt through all of us. We know to pay attention when she uses that tone. We can all see it, the way her brain is working with the flicker of her eyes. We should see where this is going. Ethan is here and obviously this Caressa chick is part of the plan. But we need to see where the rest of the family stands before we act. If they’re not part of this, the justiciar needs to know. Revenge is not our mission here.
If a mental voice could point a finger, that’s exactly what hers is doing.
You’re right. Let’s be thorough and clear about where they arewith Ethan. As much as I hate the Redstones, I can’t argue against this. Yes, they almost killed me, but for Mai’s sake, I’m willing to see their actions as reactionary instead of malicious. If they didn’t help Ethan escape.
As for the family, it just looks like some good old-fashioned in-fighting going on, Farr projects. They don’t know Ethan is here. Doesn’t even seem like they’re expecting him.
Okay. I shift my attention back to what’s happening with Ethan and Caressa. Farr, you stay here and keep your eye on that situation and let me know when you think I should move on Ethan.” I try to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. And almost succeed.
Pascale laughs at me, because what else would he do? Keep your pants on, boss.
I am the boss. Try to remember that.
As if you’d let us forget. The amusement in Farr’s voice sends an answering ripple through the rest of the team. Jackasses.
Grabbing me and Caleb, Pascale ports us off to where Ethan and Caressa are playing out their little drama. We appear just outside the closed door, but I keep most of my attention on the audio and video feeds coming from inside the room.
“Fine, Ethan. I apologize.” Hands clasped in front of her and with her mouth a vulnerable curve, Caressa looks down at the still seated Ethan. “I stand by what I said even though I should have said it a different way.”
What is it about otherwise intelligent women and assholes?
“It’s all right. We’re both a little stressed right now.” Ethan takes Caressa’s hand in his and brushes his lips over her knuckles, probably her reward for still standing by him through this whole farce. “Let’s go down and tell the family what’s going on. Once they realize all that shit the enforcers said about me was made up, they’ll have no problem going to the tribunal and telling them I’m innocent.”
Denial is a hell of a drug.
“Okay, good. That’s the whole reason you came here anyway.” Caressa nods like she’s about to run and tell the rest of the family to accept Ethan because he’s sorry, cross his heart and hope Mai dies.
I want to shake her until her empty head falls off.
With Caleb and Pascale by my side, I wait, the three of us paying attention to the feed from the digital devices in the room as well as the real world around us. I feel my power coming back, at least some of it with my Tia’s help. I push, gently, just to test it. But that part of me remains dormant. I can’t teleport yet.
My body’s betraying weakness makes me want to break something.
“They have to accept what I saw, especially since it’s obvious I was set up,” Ethan says, still holding Caressa’s hand.
“You’re right, Ethan,” Caressa eagerly agrees. “If it comes down to it, I’ll make sure they accept the truth.”
Because they can’t see me, I roll my eyes.
Calmer than he was before, Caleb huffs out a silent laugh.
In the room, Caressa takes a deep breath and gives Ethan a reassuring smile. The idiot. “Okay, let’s go.”
Then he takes her hand and ports away.
They just ported out, I tell Farr. Heading your way.
Pascale winks out in a rush of cold. They’re here, Pascale says a moment later. Right outside the room with the family.
Farr laughs without amusement. They’re actually about to knock like polite murderers.
Let’s just let this play out like you said, I tell Farr. See what this family is up to.
A good strategy, Farr agrees to her own plan with a laugh.
Such a comedian. I’m on my way down there.
Pascale appears. Want a lift?
These guys I work with are so funny. It just kills me.
We appear at the same level as the family meeting, and through the eyes of a nearby security camera, I can see what Farr said about Ethan. He lifts a confident hand and knocks on the door as the team and I watch.
The voices inside the room rise and fall with confusion.
“Who’s that?”
“I told you I heard something.”
“What’s going on?”
After a few seconds of hesitation, Cayman opens the door. “It’s Ethan,” he says in an overly loud voice, and everyone in the room behind him falls silent.
“What’s going on?” Through the cell camera, I see Abi stand and try to look past her brother.
Cayman gives a brief shake of his head and steps aside for Ethan to walk in.
Stand by, team. My hand tightens on my holstered weapon.
Standing by, they each echo.
In the room, Mai’s family is tense and watchful as Ethan saunters in with Caressa just behind him, like a good lackey. No one speaks. The door closes.
“You need to leave here. Now.” Abi stands in front of Mai with her arms crossed.
Her mother extends a gentling hand in Abi’s direction. “What’s going on here, Ethan?” Mandaia’s gaze is neutral as she leans back in the sofa, but the cameras pick up the slight tension in her arms. The leg she so casually crossed before is now uncrossed and firmly on the ground. “Why aren’t you still in prison?”
In her chair, Mai tenses up, the muscles bared in her tank top bunching and releasing. Abi stands in front of her still, a fierce, if cute, guard dog.
“Didn’t Caressa tell you?” Ethan’s smile is confident as he approaches his powerful aunt. “I’m innocent.”
A
bi makes a disgusted noise. “I sincerely hope you don’t really believe that, Ethan.”
“I’m not the Absolution Killer,” Ethan says. “I’ve been trying to tell you since they dragged me off to that hell hole.”
“Caressa told us Xóchitl was really the one who killed Uncle Stephen and tried to frame you.” The tone of Abi’s voice is…interesting.
“What, you don’t believe Caressa or me?” He lifts his head to stare down at Abi.
“I tend not to believe assholes who try to kill my sister.”
“Aunt Mandaia and everyone else believed Caressa enough at the time to kill that murdering bitch, Xóchitl.”
A sharp breath leaves Mai’s bared teeth. If looks could kill, Ethan would be a slab of cooling meat right now.
“Or at least they tried to kill her.” Abi’s words are a quiet whisper, but everyone else heard her anyway.
“What do you mean ‘tried’?” Caressa jumps in.
“There’s no proof she’s really dead,” Abi says. “And when you ran down to where you’d supposedly tossed her body, there was nothing there.”
Mai’s body jerks hard in the chair. The air around her crackles with dangerous energy I can feel even from the other side of the door. “You didn’t tell me that!”
Still keeping a wary eye on Ethan, Abi steps back to rest a hand on Mai’s shoulder. “I don’t need to. That…that connection you and she have? If she’s alive, you know it. From the way you’ve been sitting there and acting like you’re helpless, it’s obvious you’re playing games with Mom and Cayman, trying to figure out if they know where Xóchitl is.” Abi’s hand clenches on Mai’s shoulder. “You can’t afford to wait anymore. You have to do something!”
All eyes in the room jump to Mai.
“She’s not strong enough to get out of those binds,” Cayman mutters with a laugh.
“What do you know about any of this, Abi?” Mandaia demands at the same time.
“Nothing. Only that Mai loves this woman and you…you take Caressa’s word and her sketchy recording as fact for something none of us really have any proof of and you tried to kill Xóchitl. The enforcers are going to rip you apart for that, by the way.”
“We’re going to explain to them what happened,” Caressa says gently. She links her fingers in front of her, looking at everyone in the room, her lips curved up in a benign half-smile. Her power. She’s working them, influencing them. “They can’t fault us for taking our own justice after theirs goes wrong.”
“But how could you do that to Mai?” Abi blinks and rubs at her forehead, like she’s only half-aware of what she’s doing, fighting off Caressa’s influence. Her eyes narrow and she throws an accusing look at her mother. “How could you turn against your own daughter like that? Am I next?”
Mandaia ignores Abi. “I repeat, Ethan. You should not be here. The family did what we were…strongly encouraged to. We spoke at your trial.” She exchanges a quick look with her husband who gives her a small nod of support.
What the Twilight Zone is going on here?
“Now go wait for whatever judgment the justiciars will mete out,” Mandaia finishes.
“I will not!” Ethan’s voice rises to a shout. Hands shoved in his pockets, he leans forward, his chin a sharp aggression. “Waiting for them to deliver the same so-called justice is just stupid. Family sticks together and that’s what I want you to do for me now.”
“Absolutely not.” For the first time, Quinn Redstone speaks. “You’re not in a position to make demands, Ethan. Not one. If it wasn’t for you and your father, this family wouldn’t be in this position.”
When did he finally start feeling his balls?
Everything happened to his daughter under his watch, and not once did he lift a finger to help her. What suddenly changed?
“Get out of here, Ethan,” Mai’s father continues, his voice low and deep and scathing. “And even if they do find you not guilty, you’re not welcome back in this house.”
Both Ethan and Caressa wear identical expressions of shock, as if they just watched the statues at Mount Rushmore peel away from the rocks and start doing the moonwalk. I probably have the same look on my face.
“I think my husband has made the family’s position perfectly clear, Ethan.” Mandaia looks supremely unbothered by her nephew’s outburst. The flowering plants hanging from the ceiling don’t seem so relaxed, though. They quiver with a palpable energy as if they’re just waiting to strangle someone with their snaking vines.
After a quick look at his father, then Mandaia, Cayman stands with his arms crossed, eyeing Ethan and Caressa like all he needs is a flimsy excuse of a reason to throw them out. Bouncer-come-lately.
“Ethan, please leave,” Abi says again. “If Mom and Dad don’t call the enforcers, I will.”
“No.” Ethan softens his expression, but his hands have turned into fists inside his pants pockets. He’s not stupid enough to walk close to his Aunt Mandaia, though. “I came here to prove my innocence and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Caressa convinced you to speak at my trial. Come and do it again, and bring more of your high-powered friends this time. I’m a Redstone. That means something.”
Quinn Redstone makes a rough noise. “Yes, it means that one of the most powerful families on the continent has a tumor growing inside it that needs to be cut out. It means you’re a weakness we can’t afford.”
“No, I keep telling you. It’s not that.” Caressa’s voice is a soft and convincing murmur. She must be off her game and nervous if she’s being so obvious about using her influence. “If you keep it quiet that Ethan has been accused of doing…things, then none of the other families will ever know. We’ll get to keep the reputation we have, and Ethan will be safe.”
“To keep on killing and violating people he thinks are weaker than him, just like this father.” Mai speaks up for the first time. “Yes, I’m sure the other families will respect us so much for that. The weak in need of protection will just rush to join us.”
An animal-like rumble leaves Ethan’s throat. “The weak have no place in this family!”
“You have no place in this family!” Wicked blades erupt along Mai’s arms and all down the side of her body, ripping into the chair’s soft fabric. The blades effortlessly slash through the thick vines holding her captive, and she jumps up from what’s left of her chair. It clatters against the floor, sounding like a gunshot.
Her sudden freedom is like a dash of ice water on the room. Her sister leaps away from her with a sharp cry while her parents jerk to their feet, eyeing her with caution.
Ethan, though, has never been the brightest crayon in the pack. Growling low, he launches himself across the room at Mai.
Chapter 25
We’ve heard enough. I slip from my hiding place in the room next to the salon. Take Redstone down now.
My foot slams against the salon door, and the woods cracks hard, the door flying inward with a crash. The thud under my boot is satisfying after listening helplessly while the Redstones talk over their damn issues.
For precious seconds, the family freezes in place.
“Ethan Redstone, you’re under arrest,” I say. “If you choose to come with me of your own free will, it’ll be much better for you than if I have to drag your ass out of here by your hair.”
Farr instantly slips into the salon, her gun drawn and pointed at Ethan.
“So, we’re going in now, then?” Sarcasm twists her lips.
I ignore her. Caleb and Pascale rush in behind me just as Ethan’s porting tell flashes in my mind. Before he can shift out, I grab him and blanket him with my own porting power.
My hold isn’t gentle. Fingers digging into him hard enough to creak the leather of my gloves. The fury rides me hot and hard, and a red haze wavers in front of my eyes as I slam him into the floor. My breath heaves. My heart gallops hard in my ribc
age.
“Leave him alone!” Caressa’s shout threatens to blast out my eardrums.
“Mai!” Abi cries out, but I don’t waste valuable seconds looking for them.
With Ethan contained, Caleb and Pascale crowd the Redstones on one side of the room, while Farr grabs Caressa with gloved hands. I’m vaguely aware of Mandaia and Cayman being handcuffed and shoved to safety behind pieces of furniture.
Ethan’s little minion is talking, something in that annoyingly soothing voice of hers that’s intended to trick. Not all of us are immune.
“Gag her!” I shout.
Under me, Ethan twists over onto his back and tries to port out again. My hold on him falters moments before he growls in triumph. A kick slams into my stomach, and I nearly scream from the agony.
“Stay still!” I want to break him, but the trembling in my arms and back warns me that this thought is only a dream. My body is weaker than it’s ever been, and the strength of my will doesn’t make up for it.
The power my tia lent me isn’t as strong as my own, and I feel its failings with every punch Ethan lands on my body.
“Not as strong as you think, are you?” Before I can recover, he jabs me in the kidney. I double over, the bile rushing up in my throat in a hot and bitter flood.
Suddenly, he’s off me and Mai is there, her grip stronger than mine, but I know she won’t be able to keep him. He’s still trying to phase out, and my power alone is too weak to keep him here. I exchange the grip on one arm for the other, hard and fast while Mai slams her arm into his throat.
“Don’t kill him,” I growl at her only to have her look at me like I’m crazy.
Mai smiles widely, all teeth and shimmering eyes. I can’t believe you’re here. She slides the thought into my mind as smooth as honey even while she still pants and grapples with Ethan. My whole being melts, but I won’t risk paying any attention to her now. I’ve never been any good at multitasking.
