Conviction

by Jennifer Blackstream

  I couldn’t afford to waste time. I could see the floor below me, and true to Evelyn’s word, it didn’t look more than ten feet, so I let go of the handles and pushed off, dropping the rest of the way.

  I landed hard, my legs sending the message to the rest of my body that jumping was a young witch’s game, and any further attempts to forget that simple fact would result in broken bones and bed rest.

  “Do my eyes deceive me? Or is that a fallen witch I see before me?”

  Lorelei’s husky voice seared every nerve ending and sent a rush of heat to my face that should have resulted in blisters. I stood on black stones, surrounded by the smell of iron and burning embers. But there was no heat. Only a wet cold that clung to my skin, made the fire in my cheeks feel even hotter by comparison.

  Evelyn had been right about the voices. But it wasn’t bad, not really worse than my usual self-doubts. And even though I did feel guilt for some of the choices I’d made, I didn’t shy away from thinking about them. So the voices, while present, weren’t overwhelming. I pushed them away, gently, and turned until I spotted the cage I needed.

  Lorelei didn’t have the bedraggled look I’d imagined in my nightmares. Her pale brown hair didn’t have the same shine as when she’d been free to shower whenever she liked, use whatever products she liked, but it wasn’t knotted or shorn. The clothes on her body were simple robes, a dark crimson that I assumed had been chosen to please both the demon and her Italian paladin host.

  “Lorelei.” Saying her name was harder than I’d expected—harder because of the temptation to follow it up by flinging a nasty spell. Something that would show the dybbuk in no uncertain terms how I felt about what she’d done to my friend. Not that my magic could touch her down here. Not with the circle melted into the floor around Lorelei’s prison.

  No one built a circle like a paladin.

  The demon made no effort to hide the burn of her red eyes as she curled her lip into a sneer. “And what is it you’ve come for, Mother Renard? Is there something I have left you’d like to take away?”

  “You corrupted Andy.”

  The demon’s eyebrows rose, then her lips spread into a broad grin. “Agent Bradford. I remember him, yes. So much anger.” She licked her lips. “How many has he killed?”

  “Can you undo what you did?” I already knew the answer, but the question escaped me before I could stop it. Even if corruption could be purged, it wouldn’t be anything Lorelei could do. The disease can’t cure itself.

  Lorelei laughed, loud and long, and a bit more enthusiastically than seemed natural. I didn’t doubt she found the question funny, but she was hamming it up for my benefit. Insult to injury.

  She shook her head. “I didn’t add anything to your partner that wasn’t already there. I am but the rain and sun on a plant that your Goddess placed inside him.” She shrugged. “All joking aside, you must have known how close to the edge he was? For pity’s sake, the man made crinkling sounds when he walked, no one should use that much starch. I’ve seen knights in metal armor that had more give than his suit.”

  My hands curled reflexively into fists and I strove to relax them, and my breathing. To remember why I’d come and how little time there was to waste. “Earlier this year, a gambler at Fortuna’s was corrupted.”

  “And you think that’s unusual?” Lorelei asked, not bothering to hide her amusement.

  “Was it you?” I asked bluntly.

  Lorelei threw herself on the small fainting couch that served as her bed, draping her body over it as if she couldn’t help but sexualize every movement, regardless of the situation. “You’re boring me. I get enough reminders of my past exploits from the wretched voices this prison puts inside my head, I don’t need them from you as well. So if that’s all you want to talk about, you can leave now.”

  “I’ll make it worth your while,” I promised.

  The red glow in her eyes brightened. “How?”

  I stepped closer to the bars, careful not to let my foot enter the circle. “I talked to Evelyn. If you agree to tell me what I need to know, she’ll let you have visitors.”

  I didn’t add that Evelyn had taken some convincing, and I’d spent the entire long drive here fighting to get this concession.

  “Visitors?” Lorelei snorted. “Who on earth would I possibly want to visit me? What conceivable joy could I get out of visits that took place in this cursed pit?” She laid her head back so it hung over the arm of the couch, almost upside-down as she let her eyes drift shut. “Go away, Mother Renard. You have nothing to offer me that’s worth suffering through your company.”

  “Your Acolytes will be allowed to visit you,” I said. “Jack, Stacey, Jerome, Grant, Nina, Kelly…”

  Lorelei didn’t open her eyes, but her stiff posture told me my temptation had found its mark. “Why would I want to see them?”

  “Because you care about them.” I leaned forward. “I saw the way you looked at them. The way you laughed with them. You treated them like a family. They saw you as family. They fought for you, even though they knew they had no chance.”

  “Fools,” she whispered, but there was no venom in it. She raised her head, slowly, meeting my eyes. “How often can they visit me?”

  “Once a week.”

  “That’s not enough.”

  “Prove you can handle it, and I’ll help you argue for more.” I let my shoulders sag and shook my head. “I know it’s not enough,” I admitted quietly. “And in some ways it might be even harder, seeing them once a week instead of all the time, or not at all. But this was the best I could do with the time I had.”

  “What does that mean?” Lorelei demanded. “What limit is placed on your time?” She gestured at her cage. “I’m certainly not going anywhere.”

  I stared back, trying to keep the emotion from my face to hide my mistake.

  It didn’t work.

  “You found out I corrupted Agent Bradford,” Lorelei murmured. “How?”

  If I refused to answer her questions, she’d shut down and refuse to talk to me at all. “He killed a kelpie.”

  Lorelei’s eyes widened. “He killed a kelpie. And you said your time is limited. He’s been convicted, hasn’t he? Siobhan will have her revenge.”

  Now it was my turn to seize on a piece of information. “How did you know Siobhan was involved?”

  The demon waved me off. “It wasn’t difficult to guess. She’s the one who wanted revenge last time, it stands to reason.”

  “It stands to reason that Andy would have killed Siobhan,” I corrected her, trying to keep my voice steady despite my racing pulse. “But you assumed he killed a different kelpie, and Siobhan is still alive, and about to get revenge.”

  Lorelei huffed out a breath and crossed her arms. “How long will my weekly visitations last?”

  “No less than one hour, no more than twenty-four,” I said immediately. “Beyond that, the length of the visit will depend on your behavior and theirs.”

  Lorelei considered that. Finally, she nodded. “Fine. What do you want to know?”

  “Why did you corrupt the gambler at Fortuna’s?” I asked.

  “I corrupted the gambler because Siobhan asked me to,” Lorelei said, revealing the information with a vocal flourish. “She made it sound like a lot of fun. And she was right. It was delicious to watch his downfall.”

  I stepped forward, closing my hands around the bars. She could be lying, telling me what I wanted to hear. “His name?”

  “Gordon Larkin.”

  A thrill ran through me. My hands trembled against the bars. “And why did you corrupt Andy?”

  Lorelei hesitated, then shrugged. “When I thought I was going to be exorcised, I grew sentimental. I wanted one last bit of fun in the paladin’s body. Laurie hated it when I corrupted people, so when Siobhan approached me and asked if I’d like to help her out again, I agreed.” She wrapped her hands around the bars over top of mine. “The anger in him, Shade, you should feel it. It was a crime that he ev
er held back the way he did, and it was my pleasure to set him free.”

  She was taunting me, but it didn’t matter. Not anymore. I turned to Peasblossom with a smile. It all made sense now. I knew what Siobhan had done. And how.

  “Oh, you’ve set him free,” I promised Lorelei. “Just not in the way you think.”

  I turned my back on her, speaking to my familiar as I headed for the exit. “Peasblossom, we need to call the Vanguard. Andy’s innocent.”

  Chapter 26

  The leader of the Vanguard himself had picked up when I called. Mac Tyre was even older than I was, and the first member of the Vanguard, if rumors were to be believed. He had been the one to show up last April when the Vanguard had come to Marilyn’s to settle the matter of an FBI agent—Andy—protesting the contractual enslavement of teenagers.

  Now, as I stood outside the National Acme Building in the freezing October air at six a.m., I clung to the fact that as fearsome as his reputation was, there wasn’t a soul on this plane who would call him unfair.

  I rested a hand on my waist pouch, where I’d stored the two witness statements I’d just obtained with the two phone calls I’d made after hanging up with Mac Tyre. Julia had faxed me Deacon’s statement at the Ministry’s HQ before Evelyn had taken me home, and Anton had sent Mickey V’s. I could add “receiving a fax from a vampire” to my list of weird accomplishments and cross it off. Twice.

  Scath headbutted my hip to make sure I paid attention to the black SUV pulling up. Mac Tyre got out. “Mother Renard, a pleasure to see you again.” He looked as severe as ever. Every article of his suit was as black as his hair, and his dark eyes were no different.

  “If only we could stop meeting under such unpleasant circumstances,” I said, reaching to take his offered hand.

  The Vanguard elite had a square jaw covered with a neat black beard trimmed close to his face, and he reached up to scratch it now as he surveyed our surroundings. “You chose an interesting locale for this meeting. May I ask what it was about this place that made you choose it?”

  I followed his gaze. The National Acme Building was abandoned, a sprawling factory filled with garbage by a less than scrupulous owner who’d taken over after the factory shut down. It looked better now, in the shadows of the pre-dawn than it did during the day, when there was sunlight to illuminate the shattered windows and rotting shingles. Even the graffiti couldn’t brighten it up.

  “Let’s say that I have my doubts Siobhan can take it as well as she dishes it out.”

  Mac Tyre looked skeptical. “You expect her to be upset by the results of your inquiry.”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “I find that interesting. Especially considering the package she handed me before I left my office.” He removed a small envelope from his pocket.

  I could tell from the small indentations in the paper that it held an SD card. No doubt it was the copy Siobhan had referenced.

  “I look forward to sharing my findings with everyone,” I said.

  And I meant every word.

  The sound of feathered wings beating the air preceded a tall, dark figure landing not five feet away. Oksana beamed at me, her pale eyes looking brighter against the gloom around us. “The alpha has told me that you have good news,” she said, folding her wings against her back before stepping closer. “They were right underneath me all the way here, they should be pulling in soon.”

  On cue, I heard the crunch of tires on gravel and looked up to see Liam’s truck pulling in with Andy in the passenger seat. Liam guided his truck in a circle, coming to park behind me.

  But they weren’t the only ones.

  A van followed close behind them with Rowyn at the wheel and Siobhan beside him. Their vehicle had been blue at one point, but now it was more panels of rust with blue patches here and there. It sat low enough to the ground that I guessed it either had a large number of passengers inside, or a few very large passengers.

  Mostly likely equine passengers. Horses were heavy.

  For a moment Rowyn seemed to be tailing Liam as if he intended to park right upside the truck and crowd Andy as much as possible. But then he kept going, circling around Liam and parking on the opposite side. When Siobhan opened her door the overhead light in the van case eerie shadows over her face. Her smile reached from ear to ear, and even though she had the flat teeth of an equine, there was something sharp in that smile. Something hungry.

  “You’re certain your investigation is complete?” Mac Tyre said in a low voice. “Once Agent Bradford leaves this place, I don’t believe you’ll get a chance for an appeal.”

  “He’s not going anywhere with Siobhan,” I answered. “And she’s the one who will be begging for an appeal.”

  Mac Tyre’s face didn’t betray any emotion, but Oksana’s wings ruffled, and she opened and closed her clawed hands with the anticipation of someone who expected to spill blood soon.

  Siobhan climbed out of the van and was immediately flanked by Rowyn and three of her racers behind her. Puck’s Folly winked at me, and it took a Herculean effort not to grab the nearest debris in the lot and chuck it at his head. Shadow of Death rolled his eyes, but his lips twitched as though amused by Puck’s taunting. Charlotte’s Web ignored both of them, staring at me as if he were certain I was about to do something interesting and was looking forward to the show.

  “Send Bradford over,” Siobhan called out. “Or will you make me take him?”

  “I’d like to see her try,” Peasblossom snarled from her warm spot inside the neck of my coat.

  “Ignore her. She won’t be smiling long.” I raised my voice so Siobhan would hear me. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to present my case first with regards to Raichel’s murder.” Thankfully word had already spread that Andy was off the hook for killing Deacon when he’d been Siobhan’s property, so I only had one case to present. “I trust you’re not in a hurry?”

  It wasn’t really a question. Siobhan couldn’t take Andy until the Vanguard’s arbiter for the proceedings bestowed formal permission. And I hadn’t presented my case yet.

  But Siobhan was nothing if not a showwoman, so she grinned and gave me a shallow bow. “I look forward to hearing it.”

  “Wonderful.”

  The sound of car doors opening and closing behind me made me glance back. Liam rounded the truck on the driver’s side, meeting Andy in front before escorting him to my side.

  “What’s happening now?” Andy asked me.

  His voice was tight, and his hand twitched toward his shoulder, as if resisting the urge to draw a gun he didn’t have.

  “This is Mac Tyre,” I said, introducing the Vanguard elite. “He’s the Archon of the Vanguard, basically their principal civil and judicial officer. He’s the one I have to hand over my report to, the results of my investigation. He’ll make the decision whether or not to convict you of the murder charge and hand you over to Siobhan—which will not happen,” I added.

  “Don’t be cruel, Mother Renard,” Siobhan chastised me. “It’s too late to get his hopes up.”

  Andy took a step forward. I put out a hand to stop him, then hissed when my fingers landed on his stomach and I felt him burning up through the thin material of his shirt. I glanced at him and was relieved to find his eyes were still brown. He wasn’t losing control yet.

  “Some of us haven’t been to bed yet, Mother Renard,” Siobhan said impatiently. “If we could get on with it?”

  Scath bared her teeth, letting out a low growl. Siobhan didn’t step back, but she did shut her mouth. Small favors.

  I looked to Mac Tyre. “I assume you’ve seen what’s on that SD card?” I asked, pointing to the envelope in his hand.

  “I have.”

  “I took a copy of it to Anton Winters. Do you know his son, Dimitri?”

  Mac Tyre’s face didn’t change, but I thought I caught a muffled sigh. “I do, yes.”

  “Well, Dimitri confirmed for me that everything on that SD card is true.”

  Siobhan
grinned, an expression that was mirrored by Rowyn and Puck’s Folly. Shadow of Death looked satisfied, but in a more muted fashion. And Charlotte’s Web just watched with the same considering look he’d worn since I’d met him.

  I gestured at the kelpie leader. “Siobhan has claimed that Agent Andrew Bradford is a murderer. She claims he shot a kelpie named Raichel in cold blood. That he killed her because he thought he was shooting Siobhan herself, the kelpie who once kidnapped him. Who almost killed him. The kelpie who has sworn vengeance on him for the death of her brother Bradan.”

  I expected Siobhan to speak up. This would be the point where she would argue that Andy had murdered her brother, that Raichel wasn’t the first of her kind he had slain.

  But she didn’t. She just stood there, smiling, shaking her head. Still so confident. She didn’t need to plead a case for her brother. Not when she was so certain she had Andy for Raichel.

  “But Andy isn’t the murderer.” I glared at his accuser. “Siobhan is.”

  Siobhan barked out a laugh. “Everyone knows I have an airtight alibi. So unless you’re suggesting I hired Andy to kill Raichel, I’m afraid—”

  “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.” I held up a finger. “In a manner of speaking.”

  Siobhan’s smile never slipped but I didn’t miss the tension that crawled up her spine, the way she held her shoulders a little stiffer than before. None of the other waterhorses reacted.

  Interesting.

  “Five months ago,” I continued, “the equines that make up the racing team were led by a backahast called Gloria. From what I understand, Gloria was a strong leader. She organized races at Fortuna’s Stables, kept a good relationship with the centaurs and other land equines, and made every effort to ensure the success of the racino, which many of you relied on to fund your lives out of the water. Then she was murdered.”

  Siobhan wasn’t smiling anymore, but as attention turned to her, she forced her shoulders to relax. “And you’re going to accuse me of her murder too?” she asked, keeping her voice light.