I walked along like a zombie. I hardly even cared anymore what they were going to do to me. Death would actually be a relief now. There was nothing worse they could do. I’d already lost everything I had, been betrayed by someone I thought I could love, and had my future crushed.
Bring it on, council.
The Black Cloak took me all the way outside. The sun was shining and it was warm. Had I really missed winter by being in the cell? Had it truly been that long?
My eyes had almost fully adjusted to the brightness so I could enjoy the sun’s rays as they hit me. The fresh air filled my lungs in ways I didn’t know they could. It felt like I’d barely breathed since the day I was locked away.
I enjoyed every single second of being outside. Right up until the Black Cloak pushed me through the automatic doors of yet another council building.
This one was big and had much tighter security. I was taken through a door marked ‘Prisoners’. From there it was a long boring corridor until I was pushed through another door.
I stepped into a court room.
This was apparently my judgment day.
Chapter 18
The court consisted of five judges—all dressed in their respective faction’s finery.
The vampire judge wore a deep maroon velvet cloak. The shapeshifter judge was wearing a beautiful cloak made from iridescent feathers. The werewolf judge had the skin of an animal draped around his shoulders, the seer’s were the most normal in a long white cloak made from silk.
But it was the witch judge that wore full black that caught my attention. I’d seen her face before in a photograph. She was older now, but still essentially looked the same. I didn’t even need to think about it.
She was one of the Nightshade Coven witches.
I already knew what the outcome of my trial was going to be. With her sitting on the panel and deciding my fate, I wasn’t going to go back to my cell afterwards. I would probably be dead by nightfall.
At least I got to feel the sun one last time.
I was told to sit and when I didn’t do it fast enough, the Black Cloak kicked the back of my knees until I fell into the chair. I landed with a thud, feeling the impact in my now-brittle bones.
The court spokesperson addressed the room first. “Welcome to the trial of Eden Musgrave. She has been accused of breaching the Supernatural Secrecies Act in the first degree. She has also been accused of withholding information on her status as a non-supernatural.”
There were a few gasps from the audience. Apparently they let people in to watch the spectacle take place. I didn’t recognize any of the two dozen people seated at first. I scanned through the rows twice before I caught a familiar face.
Liam.
He was seated in the middle of all the strangers. He looked different somehow, maybe really weary or tired. Perhaps he grew a conscience and was now feeling bad about putting me in this courtroom.
Or maybe he had just come to gloat. He could revel in the fact that he had successfully tricked me in believing he cared about me. All those lies and he was just acting the whole time. It only made the entire thing worse knowing he was watching it all play out.
I guessed my family didn’t care enough to come. It would have been nice to see at least one face that didn’t hate me.
I made a point of not looking at Liam again. I didn’t want to give him the pleasure of seeing me so hurt and devastated. Plus, I was as dirty as the pits of hell. I didn’t want anyone seeing me like that.
The speaker continued as he turned in my direction. “Eden Musgrave, how do you plead?”
“Not guilty,” I said. My voice was husky from my throat being so dry all the time. I barely recognized my own voice. I sounded like a heavy smoker.
“That is your right to plead non-guilty. The trial will commence now,” the speaker finished.
As if my rights had been respected at all. I didn’t have any rights, they’d all been taken away from me the moment the council knew about my existence.
Apparently my rights didn’t extend to giving me a lawyer either. The whole trial went on around me with everyone else speaking. I wasn’t asked anything and not able to defend myself at any point.
It seemed the trial was really just for show. It was supposed to make it seem like there was due process and justice. But all it really could be described as was a joke.
There was no evidence.
There were no witnesses.
There was no proof of any kind.
There was an assumption of guilt right from the start.
I sat there for as long as I could before my blood boiled and my foot started to tap. This was my life I was fighting for now and they wouldn’t even let me speak?
Before I could even think about it, I stood up and started yelling. “I am not a non-supernatural. I have been cursed by the Nightshade Coven. They have bound my powers and I have not told a single human of the supernatural world. I am innocent!”
I managed to get most of it out before the Black Cloak clamped an arm around my throat and held me in a headlock.
He pressed so hard on my windpipe that I started coughing. All the remaining words were stuck in my throat. I desperately wanted to continue yelling for my life but breathing was quickly an issue.
I used my filthy fingernails to claw at his arm. All I could think about was getting free and if I needed to hurt him to do it, then I would. I would tear him limb from limb if it meant I could be heard.
The court spokesman banged his gavel down hard on his desk. “Order! Order! Everyone stop!”
As he said those words, every person in the courtroom froze. Nothing and nobody moved. He must have had a spell in place that gave him powers to issue literal orders.
He then pointed his gavel at the judges. “Continue.”
The judges moved but nobody else did. I tried to squirm away from the Black Cloak but couldn’t. We were definitely stopped and frozen. The only part of me that could move were my eyeballs.
“She clearly has no respect for the court,” the witch judge said. “I move we start with our findings immediately. She cannot disrupt us again.”
“I second that motion,” the vampire judge added, he sounded bored.
Before I knew it, all five of the judges were nodding their heads with consent.
The spokesman had no choice except to issue a decision. “You may proceed with your judgment.”
This was it, the moment I had been waiting for since that day back at Shadow Academy when they had hauled me out of there.
Goddess, it felt like a world away now.
The judges placed a spell of silence around them so we couldn’t hear what they were saying to one another. All I could do was watch their mouths move and their facial expressions change.
At least they were discussing my fate. Perhaps one of them would feel sorry for me and actually consider what I’d yelled. Although, it was probably wishful thinking.
It was only a few minutes before they all sat back down again and the silence spell dissolved. The magic no longer tingled in the air.
We were all still frozen when the verdict was read.
Out of all the judges to tell us their decision, it was, of course, the witch from the Nightshade Coven. “We find the defendant Eden Musgrave guilty as charged. She will be executed within the next three days.”
If I could have moved, I would have screamed.
I had three days left to live.
OUT NOW
Witch Marked
HER LIFE IS ABOUT TO BE OVER, CAN EDEN FIND A WAY TO AVOID HER EXECUTION?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Jamie Campbell grew up in the New South Wales town of Port Macquarie as the youngest of six children. She now resides on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
Writing since she could hold a pencil,
Jamie’s passion for storytelling and wild imagination were often a cause for concern with her school teachers. Now that imagination is used for good instead of mischief.
Visit www.jamiecampbell.com.au now for exclusive website only content and free downloads.
Jamie loves hearing from her readers, send her an email at [email protected]
Also by the Author:
A Hairy Tail
Another Hairy Tail
All The Pretty Ghosts
Ashes to Ashes
A World Without Angels
Fairy Tales Retold
Fashion Fraud
Gifted
Dark Eyes: Cursed
Perfectly Timed
Reclaimed
Songbird
Tainted Magic
Ten Thousand Wishes
The Project Integrate Series
The Starkissed series
Trouble
Two Beating Hearts
Copyright © 2019 Jamie Campbell
Jamie Campbell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.
Magic Bound (Shadow Academy Book 2) Page 12
