by Tamara White
I didn’t bother changing back into my dress, because I didn’t want to spend an hour putting it back on again. Instead, Linc lent me a spare t-shirt and my mother provided me with yet another pair of leggings.
I had to wonder why on earth she had spare tights, but not another shirt. Like, did she expect to lose her pants more often?
Finally, we’re on to the last order of business for the night. Dealing with the caged prisoners.
Malcolm takes slow, measured steps up onto the podium with two other men following him. One of them looks vaguely familiar, but the other is completely unknown to me. “Who are those two?” I whisper to Nik, who’s by my side, keeping guard over me.
Once the challenge was over, Nik, Talon, and Dev swarmed me, pushing Linc to the background. Dev was the only one who seemed to be grateful for what Linc had done by stepping up and defending me. While I wish he hadn’t revealed to everyone that I was his mate, since I would have preferred to have had more time to process and talk to the guys about it, I’m grateful for Lincoln too. Because of his actions, the whole encounter was resolved without having to fight anyone.
Yes, stuff was revealed that I hoped could have been avoided, like the fact I killed that wolf, but neither Talon nor Nik have brought it up, so I’m assuming they’re saving it for later.
Nik leans down to whisper, “The wolf following behind Malcolm is Mathias. He’s one of the three Elders in the St. Louis pack.”
Huh. I guess that explains his familiarity. I thought I’d seen him before, and I probably had at some point while I was at the pack. The Elders are known for not staying with just one pack. They have a core pack they always go back to, but they are responsible for traveling to other packs with their Alpha in times of dispute, or when a female is looking for a mate. They are responsible for looking after the females until they find their mate. And if they don’t, they return back to their own pack to mate with a wolf deemed suitable by the Elders and Alpha.
“And that guy behind him is Noah. He’s from the New York coven. The same one Heather came from,” Nik explains. I nod in understanding as he slips his hand into mine.
I watch as Malcolm takes a step to the center of the stage, his green eyes looking around at the assembled crowd. His gaze lingers on me for a moment and I smirk at him. He doesn’t frighten me. If anything, he should be afraid of me, especially if he really is who I think he is.
The wolf stands on Malcolm’s left, his head held high. His amber eyes burn bright as he looks around at everyone, as if daring them to object to his presence. The vampire, Noah, seems to be the mellowest of the three of them. He goes to stand to the left of Malcolm, his expression one of boredom.
I watch in fascination as Malcolm pulls a scroll from his back pocket and unrolls it. Who the hell carries a scroll around?
Malcolm clears his throat, making his voice carry over the crowd. Everyone quiets down as he begins to speak. As he does, his accomplices move to the first cage, pulling the prisoner out and bringing them up to the stage.
“Our last order of business for the night is to deal with the traitors who were caught attacking another supernatural. The treaty between our kinds was put in place to keep us all safe from these senseless attacks, but still they happen. There will always be those who don’t agree with the rules, but everyone must understand that our treaty protects us all from the daily challenges that used to occur and keeps us safe from the humans’ wrath. Our kinds were once hunted, as many of you will remember, and it is not a place we wish to find ourselves in again.”
The sympathy and pain in his voice has me looking around at everyone else to see if his fake words are affecting anyone. To my surprise, a few people seem to have tears in their eyes, my parents being two of them. Maybe he mentioned the past to pull on their heartstrings and make them feel guilty, or maybe there’s more to what happened before the treaty than I’m aware of.
Malcolm clears his throat again, making it seem like he’s holding back tears, but I suspect it’s just another way to manipulate those who are here. As I watch, I realize that the first person to be dragged up onto the stage is the last surviving wolf of the four who attacked me when I first arrived in the city.
“Derek Atwell, you are here today to answer for the crimes you have committed against those of your own kind. You came into a city uninvited, ignored the local Alpha, and proceeded to attack a high ranking supernatural, almost killing her in the process. When questioned, you refused to explain your actions, even under magical influence. The only time you spoke was to admit you attacked the girl, and then you asked to be put to death. If what you say is true, we will have no choice but to execute you here before the assembled packs and covens. Do you understand?”
I watch as the wolf, Derek, nods his head and stares forward, his eyes completely blank. I grip Nik’s hand tightly in horror. They’re just going to execute him without trying harder to find out why he attacked me? Or who sent him? Surely there are more things they could try before just killing him?
“I accept death for my crimes,” Derek states, his voice just as bland as his unseeing stare.
“Very well.” Malcolm nods at the vampire Elder who’s standing behind Derek, and a split second later, Derek’s head falls to the ground. It rolls across the floor, spraying blood as it goes.
I watch in disgust, my stomach churning as the wolf Elder stops the head with his foot. Then he picks it up and puts it into a garbage bag someone handed him.
A team of four people dressed in black scrubs walk up. They lay out a body bag on the stage and roll the wolf’s headless corpse into it before picking it up and dragging it away.
I get Nik’s attention and he leans down so I can whisper in his ear. “Is this really just an execution? Don’t they at least get the chance to defend themselves?”
He shakes his head, leaning closer so as to not be overheard. “Yes, essentially this is their execution. A trial is held a few days prior, in which the defendant has a chance to plead their case. They also have the right to ask for an appeal on the night of their execution, although it’s rarely granted. This man did neither. In fact, he wouldn’t speak at all. No one knows why, but it’s been suggested a rogue witch placed a spell on him to prevent him from revealing anything.”
I frown as I watch the male witch who tried to kill me with a fireball get dragged up on the stage. He does the same thing as the first man, accepting punishment for his crimes in a dull, lifeless voice. The witch turns to look at me just before he’s decapitated, and for a second, I fear I’m going to vomit all over the place.
I don’t have much time to dwell on it, though, because the final caged person is brought up onto the stage. I feel my heart race nervously at the sight. While I know Heather is a mega bitch, I’m sure at one point Talon actually did care for her. He would have had to, to stay with her as long as he did. He shouldn’t have to witness this.
The whole thing begins much the same as it did with the other two. I hold my breath when he asks if she understands the punishment for her crime. Heather lifts her gaze, staring at Britt, who is directly opposite the stage. “I was tricked!” Heather shouts. “A witch spelled me into shooting the queen’s daughter!”
Heather starts sobbing and drops to her knees as if she can’t bear the shame. Meanwhile, people around us start to shout obscene things about witches meddling in vampire affairs. My gaze meets Blaine’s, and I can tell by the look in his eyes he suspected something like this might happen.
He hugs Britt close to his side and I see hint of fear in his expression. Meron, Torie, and Kellan all look pretty shocked by the announcement, which leads me to believe that Blaine kept his suspicions from them.
The anger of the crowd continues to grow, the different races all yelling at each other. I shrink into Nik’s side, worried. It’s like a mob mentality has started and witches are the target. Talon presses closer to my other side and I feel Dev behind us, and even Linc has edged closer. My dad looks torn whether to push hi
s way through to us or stick by his brother, so I shake my head and mouth, “Stay,” to him. He gives one sharp nod before turning to offer protection to my parents in case things get out of hand.
“Silence!” Malcolm booms into the night, his voice echoing through the clearing. Now it’s clear why we hold these meetings in abandoned areas.
Once it’s quiet, Malcolm addresses everyone assembled. “As it is a severe betrayal for someone to use magic to hurt another, we will do everything in our power to get to the bottom of this. I will weave a truth spell over our prisoner in order to determine who spelled her into trying to kill young Emerald.” He aims fond eyes my way and I grimace, unsure of his motives. That’s when a thought occurs to me.
If Heather had some kind of trial beforehand, why did she wait until now to speak up about being spelled? If she had of said something about it in her trial, surely they would have looked into it before now.
I glare up at Malcolm suspiciously as he waves his hands over Heather, who is still on her knees. I focus on his aura, noticing the green hasn’t changed once. When any of the witches I’ve seen use magic, their auras flare brighter, but his remains the same bland green. Weird...
“Who spelled you, Heather?” Malcolm inquires as he looks down at her. If I wasn’t watching for it, I would have missed the flash of purple in his eyes.
She visibly flinches, and to the rest of people around her, it probably looks like nothing more than a reaction to her being forced to tell the truth, but I think it’s because she’s seen those purple eyes before.
Heather looks out at everyone before turning her gaze to Britt. “She did. Brittany, the princess’ best friend.”
Everything is so silent for a moment that you could hear a pin drop, that is until Britt starts screaming as she’s ripped away from her husbands. Half a dozen people dressed in some kind of black tactical gear secure her with a pair of handcuffs that are much heavier looking than any of others I’ve seen.
They drag her up to the stage where Malcolm is standing with a solemn look on his face and disappointment in his gaze. I growl, hating him in this moment. I have no idea what his endgame is, but he messed with the wrong person.
Britt’s eyes search out mine and she calls across the area. “I didn’t do anything, I swear it, Mer. I would never hurt you.”
As corny as it sounds, I believe her. I know she would die before hurting me, which is what I’ve been trying to tell my guys, but I imagine this doesn’t look good to them.
I let go of Nik’s hand and try to take a step away from him, but more than one pair of arms hold me back. I turn to look at Talon and Nik, because Dev is the only one who didn’t try grab me. “Please, I’m begging you to trust me. Britt would never do this.”
Talon searches my eyes, as if looking for something, before sighing loudly. “I trust you. Just please, be careful.”
I nod and he lets go of me, and Nik does the same a moment later. I can tell it kills them to let me go, but it feels like this is my battle. For some reason, I think this is a test from the guardians.
As I stride up to the podium, people move out of my way, clearly sensing my anger and not wanting to incite my wrath. I eye Malcolm from the floor below, and he looks way too pleased with himself. “Let her go now!” I demand, my voice shaking with anger.
I never thought I could be this furious, but right now anger is overwhelming everything. My beast wants nothing more than to rip free and feast on his heart.
Malcolm looks down at me sympathetically. “I know you think she was your friend, Emerald, but she tried to kill you. We can’t let a crime like that go unanswered.”
I go over all the options in my mind, unsure what step to take, when a thought pops into my head. I remember reading in one the books my grandmother gave me about how witches always carry potions on them in case for some reason a spell wouldn’t work or their energy was depleted. That means more than likely someone here might have some kind of potion that would help get the truth. But that can be Plan B. Plan A is to get Macy to perform the spell, but if that doesn’t work, we’ll go to plan B. Hopefully it won’t come to that though.
“If I can prove that Britt didn’t do it, will you let her go?”
He smiles, humoring me. “Why, but of course. We wouldn’t dare hold someone who was innocent.”
I smirk, enjoying the small bit of doubt I see in his eyes. “Excellent. Then you won’t mind if I get someone else up here to do another truth spell? Or maybe someone here has a truth potion, either way.”
Malcolm laughs, quick to wave away my suggestion. “I can perform the spell again if it will ease your worries.”
I shake my head halfway through his sentence. “No, not you. Anyone who has been to one of these things before would know you would be the one to perform such a task. What if they planned it like that, so your magic was as effective on Heather as it was on the wolf, Derek?” At my words, there’s a murmuring of agreement from the crowd of people behind me. Although Malcolm looks ready to strangle me for what I just said, I’m proud I was able to phrase that diplomatically, rather than just screaming at him like I really wanted to.
“Very well. Who would you suggest?” he queries, trying to gain control of the situation once more.
“Someone else from your coven, perhaps? Maybe another Elder?” I look over to where Britt’s aunt stands. “Macy, you’re one of the Elders for your coven, right? How about you perform the spell?”
Macy steps forward from the crowd, a hard expression on her face as she looks at Malcolm. It makes me wonder if she, too, has started to suspect him.
But rather than chide him as I expect, she turns her angry gaze to me instead. “Why ask me perform the spell when Malcolm is the strongest of us? If that vampire claims my niece performed the spell, then why would I question that? She’s under a truth spell, after all. She couldn’t lie even if she wanted to.”
I stare at her in shock, absolutely floored by her words. Why would she not defend her niece, someone she claimed to love? Who she helped raise?
I shake my head angrily and take a step toward her. “Fine! If you don’t trust your niece, then piss off.” She splutters and tries to retort, but I ignore her, turning to face the crowd. “Is there any witch here that happens to have a truth potion or two on them?”
I wait with bated breath, anxiously hoping what I read in that book was accurate. Thankfully, after a moment a teenage girl steps forward with her hand raised. “I do, princess.”
I blanch at being called princess, but quickly school my features, trying to remain cool and collected.
“Chloe, what are you doing?” Macy hisses angrily. I turn my glare on Macy, furious she would try to intervene.
“Did you not hear me, Macy? Walk away, before I make you,” I growl, my voice low and threateningly. She scurries away, but not before shooting Malcolm a brief look. My mind begins working overtime, wondering if Macy might have something to do with this as well. Why else would she refuse to do the spell? And why would she look at Malcolm with such adoration when he’s the reason her niece is in this position to begin with.
“Thank you, Chloe. I appreciate your honesty and admire your strength for coming forward.”
“You’re welcome, Your Majesty.”
Seriously, if I ever become Queen, the first order of business will be to ban people from calling me Your Majesty, Your Highness, or any other form of royal honorific. I repress a shudder and smile at Chloe reassuringly. She reaches into her pockets and pulls out two vials filled with blue liquid.
“You just happened to have two vials of truth potion on you?” For some reason, I feel the question needs to be asked. I don’t know why I think that, but I’m just letting my instincts guide me right now.
She blushes, tucking her dark hair behind her ear before meeting my eyes. Her own are so close to amber that I would assume she was a wolf if it weren’t for the fact I didn’t feel wolf magic on her.
“Uh, well, you see, princess, I�
�m part Seer. I knew you would need them, and that you would need two of them, but not what they would be used for. I also saw that I shouldn’t add my own blood because yours would be more potent,” she explains calmly, as if she didn’t reveal she was part Seer. Isn’t a Seer someone who can see the future? That seems like a pretty big deal to me.
Malcolm chuckles from the stage. “That’s complete nonsense, Chloe. Emerald’s blood, while different from a pure werewolf or vampire—” He pauses to let the barb of being impure strike home.
I brush off the insult, already well aware that I’m not fully one or the other. After confronting my grandmother about exactly that, the thought no longer bothers me.
After a moment, Malcolm continues, “Her blood will not be potent enough for such a potion, so you might as well use mine.”
A few murmured agreements rise up from some of the assembled witches, Macy included. I growl, having had enough of this bullshit.
If I’m really so weak, Malcolm, then why don’t you come down and prove it, huh? He blanches at the whispered words in his mind. You have no fucking idea who you’re messing with. If you only screwed with me, I may have let it slide. But you started fucking with the people I love, and that is something I can’t allow. I add one final threat, showing I know who he truly is. That is if Dastian hasn’t already used your soul and spit it out.
After that, I turn my focus back to Chloe, who stands before me. She opens both of the corked vials and my fangs descend in my mouth. I prick my finger and hold it over the vessels, letting only a single drop of blood fall into each one. Then I suck my finger into my mouth, my saliva sealing the wound.
Chloe recorks both vials, and begins shaking them as she whispers under her breath, “Reveal the truth for all to see. Don’t let them be blinded by what they believe.”
The blue liquid turns darker and takes on a glittery sheen—a sign of my unique blood. Chloe hands me the vials and I smile at her gratefully. “Thank you for what you have done here today. It will not go unrewarded.”
