I had to turn away from her before she made me cry.
The council members hadn’t glanced at me once. From my viewpoint, you couldn’t tell that three of them were any different than the human council member. The shifter was the only one who stood out. There was some gray in his beard, but he looked like he could bench-press every person in this room at the same time. Silas, the vampire, was paler than the others. He looked regal with his slicked-back hair and perfect posture. He sat next to a female witch, who minus the long white hair, had the fresh-faced skin of a twenty-year-old.
An extra-large, muscular shifter stood, grabbing my attention. He was the bailiff. Shifters regularly occupied those positions because they were strong enough to wrangle back anyone who didn’t want to follow the rules of the court. Not that I planned on making a run for it. “All rise,” said the burly bailiff. “The Council of the Four Rings is now in session. An elected council member from each of the four factions is presiding. Please be seated.”
Silas stared at me with a fierceness that made my stomach churn. “Calling the case of the People versus Mina Van Helsing. Are both sides ready?”
The lanky lawyer on the plaintiff's side, said, “Ready for the People, Your Honors.”
Each of my three lawyers rose from their seats in unison. The woman standing closest to me, replied, “Ready for the defense, Your Honors.”
In a monotone voice, the bailiff said, “Please be seated.”
After we sat, the council members whispered to one another. They appeared to be commenting on a piece of paper held by the witch. I didn’t know what was on it or even if it had to do with me. As far as I knew, it could’ve been an Instapot recipe she found on Pinterest. The thought of that made me smile. It was a brief moment of relief from the constant state of fear I’d been living in for the last few weeks.
“How do you plead?” Silas asked.
“No contest,” my female lawyer stated plainly. “Your Honors.”
A collective gasp filled the courtroom.
No one was expecting me to plea bargain for a lesser sentence. In the supernatural world, my family was legendary. Respected by humans and hated by most supes, but known to all. No one in the Van Helsing family had ever received punishment or sentenced for a crime, and a plea meant I would be the first since the formation of the covenant.
The vampire watched me with a suspicious expression, and an overwhelming sense of unease crept over me. I had a feeling this wasn’t going to go smoothly. If the vampires were intent on a lengthy prison sentence or even death, they might not accept the plea bargain my father arranged. The council had the power to overrule.
Silas stared at me with narrowed eyes. “Are you admitting guilt to all of the charges, Ms. Van Helsing?”
My lawyer stood to make a statement, and Silas held up his hand to silence her before she could get the words out. “I want to hear directly from Ms. Van Helsing.”
“That’s not protocol, Your Honor,” my lawyer argued.
A lanky lawyer on the plaintiff's side rose from his seat. “We agreed to a plea bargain before the start of the trial. We are willing to accept a sentence of one year at the Van Helsing Academy.”
“A plea bargain,” Silas scoffed. “The charges against her include double murder, and you’re willing to settle for a slap on the wrist? How is that justice?”
“Your Honor, the video evidence against our client, is weak at best.” My lawyer argued. “A few seconds on a grainy tape is hardly worth a strict conviction.”
Silas sneered at her with venom in his tone. “We will decide what it’s worth, Madam.”
The witch put her hand on Silas’s forearm, and he quickly pulled away. His reaction made her bristle. “I agree these charges are severe, and I would like to hear from Ms. Van Helsing.” She turned her attention to me. “Tell us what happened, Child. We wish to hear your version of the incident.”
Silas glared at the witch. “A sixteen-year-old who has trained her entire life to kill our kind is hardly a child.”
“Enough with this bickering,” the shifter council member interrupted. “Are we going to hear from Ms. Van Helsing or not?”
I stood. My lawyer tugged on my arm, urging me not to speak, but I didn’t want to hear anything else they had to say. These council members were about to decide if I was going to live or die, and it was clear that Silas had it out for me. I had to make a statement. “Your Honors, I’d be happy to tell you everything I know but have no memory of the incident.”
Silas laughed. “No memory? How convenient.”
“My medical records will confirm that I’ve been in a coma due to serious head trauma.” I took a deep breath. If I got angry, I’d be digging my own grave. Once my nerves calmed, I continued. “The night I went missing, I was on a mission during a full moon, helping locate a missing shifter. The next memory I have, I’m waking up in a hospital bed. Everything in between is blank.”
“Her physician stated on record that the head trauma our client endured could’ve caused the memory loss.” My lawyer added. “You’ll find his statement in the packet of documents we entered.”
“I’ve read all of the documents,” Silas replied. “But his testimony is based on his opinion. The video evidence, however, is factual. We can see her committing a crime.”
“What you see is a small piece of a much larger picture.” My lawyer countered. “We don’t know who instigated the fight, the reason for the vampire's presence at the scene, or what happened to Caroline Dupree. Without that information, there is no way we can say that Ms. Van Helsing is guilty of anything.”
“And yet, you wish to plea bargain,” Silas interjected. “If she’s innocent, why not make that claim here and now?”
My lawyer glanced at me and sighed. “If the choice had been mine, Your Honor, I would’ve pleaded innocent.”
The witch council member met my eyes with a furrowed brow. “Did you choose to plea bargain on your own, or was that decision made for you?”
Sweat pearled the back of my neck. The next words out of my mouth could make or break my case. I had to speak cautiously. “I chose to take responsibility for my actions, Your Honor. I don’t know how or why it happened, but the video shows that I took two lives. If there’s no proof I had merit, the covenant demands repercussions.”
The four council members held their hands over their microphones as they consulted one another. I could tell by his body language that Silas did not agree with whatever the witch was saying, but I didn’t know if it was enough to sway the other two members. I sat back down in my chair and prayed I made the right gamble.
When they finished their conversation, Silas sat back in his chair with his arms crossed in front of him. He didn’t make eye contact with me again. The witch, whose name I still didn’t know, nodded to the other two council members. “Ms. Van Helsing, please rise.” After I stood, she continued. “The charges against you are severe, but we all know this isn’t a clear-cut case. I had gone into this thinking that a prison sentence would be the best choice, but your sense of honor has changed my mind.”
Behind me, there was a growing amount of whispering and papers rustling.
“Ms. Van Helsing, you are hereby sentenced to three years in the Van Helsing Academy rehabilitation center in South Dakota.” As soon as she announced their decision, a riot of reactions exploded all around me. Cries of injustice mixed with claps and cheers. The witch pounded on the gavel several times to calm down the crowd. When the courtroom silenced, she turned to the bailiff. “Escort Ms. Van Helsing to the holding center.”
Reporters rushed forward, while flashes went off. They tried to get a reaction picture for the hundreds of articles they were sure to write. I wanted to turn around, knowing my parents were both there, but I had no choice. A massive arm entwined with mine, tugging me out of the room. Before I could even think about what just happened, I was thrown into a single cell with barely enough room to stretch or stand.
The courtroom door
was closed, but I could still hear the commotion from inside. The gavel had been pounded into the table so many times I lost count. Reporters shouted questions to the council, my lawyers, and parents. Others shouted out the unfairness of the case and their frustrations toward reapers as a whole. I put my hands over my ears, cowering in the corner against the metal bars.
When the shouting ceased, I slowly stood. There was a moment of relief. I wasn’t happy that I might spend three years at a rehabilitation center, but it was better than a supernatural prison or death. But as pleased as I was, I knew this was far from over. I had to find the person responsible for all of this, prove that I was innocent, and give them the justice they deserved.
“Someone’s having a bad day.” A voice jolted me out of my thoughts.
I turned to the cell next to mine, and my mouth fell open. It was the boy from my dream. The beautiful one that I wasn’t sure was real. He smiled with his perfectly aligned teeth, and my memory flashed back to that day. He had used compulsion on me. He was the reason I was here, the reason for my ruined reputation, the reason I nearly died.
I sneered at him through narrowed eyes. “You.”
Chapter Five
The beautiful boy held up his hands in retreat. His blond hair hung in waves over his impressive cheekbones, partially covering his honey-colored eyes. “I know what you’re thinking.”
I chuckled. “If you knew what I thought, you’d be as far away from me as you could physically get. Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused?”
“I’m sorry.” He took a step forward, clutching the metal bars of his cage. Now that he was closer, I could see his torn clothes and the smeared dirt on his cheek. He was a mess, but still, there was an air of elegance about him. A regalness I couldn’t explain. “I never meant to cause you any harm.”
Compulsion was illegal. If I could prove that he was guilty, the sentence was death. “Then why did you do it?”
“I needed your help,” he said, swallowing hard. “I was desperate.”
As stupid as it sounded, part of me wanted to believe him. He wasn’t behaving like the mastermind of a supernatural rebellion. Vampires always carry themselves with endless confidence, but he stared at me with genuine fear in his eyes. I crossed my arms. “You could’ve asked.”
He raised an eyebrow with a smirk on his face.
“What?”
“A reaper helping a vampire,” he snickered. “That statement is so contradictory it’s practically an oxymoron, especially coming from a Van Helsing.”
He was wrong, but I understood his reasoning. My family spent centuries hunting and killing his kind. Before he discovered that supernaturals shared our sense of mortality, my great, great-grandfather was considered the foremost vampire hunter of his time. That made him a legend. Although I would never hurt a creature without reason, I got why they continued to fear us.
“You’re right,” I agreed, speaking in a softer tone. “I’m well aware of my family’s reputation. But, if you’re going to judge me, make your decision based on my actions. I’m not my family.”
He cocked his head to the side as if he was weighing my response. “I have to admit I wasn’t expecting that answer. When it comes to reapers, I also have preconceived notions, and as you’ve pointed out, may not be fair.”
“It seems like we’ve found common ground.” He didn’t disagree, so I continued. “Can you tell me why you were desperate for my help in the first place?”
He sat down on a tiny metal stool, leaning his body against the bars with his arms crossed. “Someone I trust told me about a threat against my life. I’d been on the run for weeks when I saw your team in the forest. I figured I was as good as dead until I saw you separate from your group. I knew you were my best chance of getting out of there alive, so I used compulsion on you.”
As he spoke, I could see the picture clearly in my mind. Then I remembered I wasn’t alone. “Did you hurt the girl who was with me? The other reaper.”
“No,” he replied emphatically. “I didn’t hurt anyone.”
I wanted to believe him, but I could tell he wasn’t telling me everything. “But you do know what happened to Caroline, don’t you?”
“After I compelled you, we found her as we were leaving. She didn’t have any bite marks on her, which makes me think it wasn’t a vampire, but I can’t say for sure.” He shrugged. “Do you remember that you used her comm to alert your team to her location?”
I closed my eyes. Each time I tried to reach for the memory, the dull ache in my head roared. “No, but you can help me remember. You can remove the block in my mind.”
He shook his head. “Compulsion doesn’t work that way. It fades over time. You should already have some pieces of memory that have returned, right?”
The fragments that came to me like a dream. “Yes, but most of them don’t make sense.”
“Give it time.”
“I don’t have time.” I pointed to the door that led to the courtroom. “I don’t know if you heard what was going on in there, but I received a three-year sentence at the Van Helsing Academy. They convicted me of double murder. That’s why I need you to go in there and explain what happened.”
His eyes widened. “If I tell them I compelled you, they’ll kill me.”
“Tell them what you told me,” I said, trying to put him at ease. “I’ll go with you, and we’ll explain the situation.”
“You don’t understand the severity of my circumstances,” he pleaded. “If I get sent to prison, I’ll be dead on my first day. There’s a billion-dollar bounty on my head.”
“A billion dollars.” I raised my eyebrows. “Seriously? Why would anyone be willing to pay that kind of money for one death?”
“I’m not just any random vampire.” He stood in a regal pose. “I am Cassius, the second son of Declan Stoica, the vampire king.”
Now I was beginning to understand. Declan Stoica was the leader of the most powerful vampire clan in the world. His family was just as famous as mine. Every vampire council member in the last two centuries had come from his family bloodline. “That doesn’t explain why anyone would want to kill you.”
“My father has been sick for decades and wishes to step down as king. My brother, his first son, is to be his successor,” he explained as he closed the distance between us. “But our father has always favored me, which makes some believe he will place the crown on my head.”
His life sounded like a modern-day Shakespearian tragedy. “Does that mean your brother is the one that wants you dead?”
“Now you understand why I need your help,” he explained, appearing as if he was relieved to tell his story. “I don’t know who I can trust among my clan, my blood.”
My eyes roamed the row of holding cells. “How did you end up here?”
He stared at me as if I was supposed to know the answer already. “This was your plan. You said you could protect me better if we were in a secured location. You chose the Van Helsing Academy because you grew up around here and knew the area.”
His words startled me. “I got you arrested?”
“You told me to wait for your trial,” he whispered. “Once you got here, I was supposed to commit a petty crime that would get me sentenced to the rehab center. You said you could keep me safe until you could prove that my brother was trying to have me killed.”
Stunned didn’t begin to explain how I felt at that moment.
Nothing he was saying sounded familiar, but it did make a lot of sense. Out in the open, he was vulnerable to attack. The academy had spells that kept unwanted supernaturals out and prevented the ones inside from escaping. From a logical standpoint, it was a good plan. I did know this area better than any other, and my family built the academy.
Cassius had to be telling the truth. “Did I happen to mention how I planned to prove any of this?”
“You mentioned the video footage.” We heard footsteps, and we both repositioned ourselves inside our cages. A guard appeared
a moment later. Neither one of us spoke as he made his way past the row of cells. Once he was gone, Cassius continued. “Assassins came for me while we were in the woods, and you killed two of them near the academy.” That explained the dead vampires. “You said they have a high tech surveillance system, and once you were inside, you could access their files.”
I sat on the small stoop in my cell and tried to make sense of everything I’d learned. I couldn’t believe I had come up with the exact plan my father designed but remembered none of it. The compulsion he used must’ve been strong. I knew that royal family members had significant abilities compared to the average vampire. They had increased strength, agility, and acute senses. That must be true for compulsion, as well. “This is a lot to take in.”
“Does that mean you’ll help me?” he asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.
It sounded like there was a chance this uprising was all a rouse to hide his brother’s attempt at a forceful takeover. It could be that simple. With the additional video evidence, we could arrest his brother on attempted murder charges, clear the reapers of any wrongdoing against the supernatural factions, and eradicate the damage done to my name.
“Yes, I’ll help you.”
Chapter Six
The ride to the academy was somber.
My parent’s received permission from the court to take me themselves. Dad hired a transport service. He pretended like it was for me, but he preferred to be driven everywhere in a luxury vehicle. Mom was on the phone with the academy, making sure they prepared for our arrival. She didn’t say it, but I could tell she had safety concerns. The press was ruthless. Each article after the trial depicted me as a spoiled rich girl that got away with a brutal murder.
After reading what they wrote, I’d be sleeping with a weapon under my pillow.
Van Helsing Academy Page 3
