“Cor, I can feel her inside me.” My pulse kicked up. “She’s listening, watching…She speaks to me.” God, I sounded nuts. I ran a hand over my face. “You must think I’m insane.”
Cor squeezed my shoulders. “We can figure it all out once you’re out of here.”
Hope bloomed in my chest. “Out?”
“Listen to me very carefully. Tomorrow, there will be a preliminary hearing.”
“I know. Ursula, my jailor, told me. But how does that get me out of here?”
“You enter a plea. You enter not guilty. The judge will ask you whether you wish to be tried as a rogue or as part of a pack. You have to ask for pack sanctuary.”
“What? But I’m not in any pack.”
“You’re not yet. But you will be. You need to ask for pack sanctuary. You need to accept Grayson’s claw.” She shrugged. “It’s a pack term. He will offer his claw, and you take it, okay? If you don’t, then you’ll stay locked up. The guys can’t risk bailing you out.”
“Why not?”
“Because if you’re rogue, then you’ll be fair game to the Loup.”
A shiver rippled down my spine. “Not if I go back to the Underealm.”
She shook her head sadly. “No, Fee. You can’t. Not while the case is active. Not even while you’re part of a pack.”
Shit, shit, shit.
“Hey!” Cor shook me. “Fucking snap out of it, Fee. Shit happened. We man up, and we deal with it.” She frowned. “Look, those hooded figures did something to you. It wasn’t your fault. Lucas wasn’t your fault.”
“I doubt these Magiguard will take my word for it.”
“No, they won’t, but if we can get a witness…”
The penny dropped. “Lucas…He was alive when they started to chant…He would have seen what happened. You need to find his ghost.”
Her expression was grim. “The guys are on it. Trust me. Meanwhile, you need to take sanctuary. You got it? Also—”
Someone is coming.
“Shit, Cora, you have to go. We have company.”
Cora’s eyes widened. She pulled me in for a final hug and then winked out.
I scrambled back onto my cot and closed my eyes, blood pounding in my veins.
Boot falls stopped outside my cell. Voices drifted through metal, muted and muffled until the beast inside tuned in.
“What could you have done?” a male voice said.
“Turned a blind eye.” I recognized Ursula’s voice. “I swear, if I find out who leaked the news to the packs, I’ll strangle them with my bare hands.”
“What do you think will happen tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? I think the wolves are going to come out to play.”
The boot falls receded, my pulse slowed, and a prickle raced over my skin.
Don’t. We don’t cower. We fight.
Go away.
Silence filled my mind for a moment and then, I’m sorry I hurt the human. I wasn’t in control.
I rolled onto my back, surprised by her admission. Up until now, it had been all grrr, and we’re gonna have fun, and stop being a pussy.
But cowering won’t help. If we’re going to catch who did this to us, we need to work together.
You want to take control?
It doesn’t work that way, Fee. This world…it’s new to me. I’ve been asleep for so long, but this body, your body, is ours, and your mind is also mine.
She was a part of me.
Yes.
You need to stop reading my thoughts.
I can’t help it.
So, what happens now.
Now we come to an agreement. We compromise. You let me help you, and I let you help me, and we both get to live.
What choice did I have? Okay.
The chill of fear melted as the beast filled my veins with warmth, and for the first time since meeting the darkest part of myself, I was grateful for her presence.
My cell was bathed in mid-morning sunlight when the door unlocked with a clank and a male Magiguard dressed in their uniform of maroon top and black pants stood on the threshold. He was tall and slender with a slim face and winged brows. No weapons, no cuffs, but then they didn’t need them. These guys had power at their fingertips, and this building was created to mute the abilities of creatures like me.
“Seraphina Dawn, I’m here to escort you to your preliminary hearing. Your outlier council will meet with you first, and then you’ll be escorted into the courtroom by a Magiguard.”
“Counsel?”
“Yes, you’re permitted counsel.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but then pressed his lips together. “Listen. Today you plead guilty or not guilty. If you plead not guilty, you’ll be asked to state your outlier affiliation, and then a date for a trial will be set.”
My affiliation…Whether I was rogue or part of a pack. My stomach trembled, but I stood tall and lifted my chin.
If I was going to get through this, I needed to be strong. “Got it.”
“Follow me.”
He led me down the corridor and passed several metal doors containing other prisoners. Other criminals.
I was a criminal whether by intent or by accident, and this place with its stone walls and metallic-coated cells was designed to hold all kinds of creatures. The smell of magic was in the air; the faint bonfire smell mingled with something sweet and pungent.
The Loup inside me was silent right now. Asleep maybe? Good. I needed to think, and I could do it better without an extra voice in my head. God, that smell was so strong now.
I coughed and rubbed my nose.
“Are you all right?” the Magiguard asked.
I nodded. “Just the smell.”
He frowned.
“Magic.” How was it not bothering him?
“You smell the magic?”
Why was he looking at me like that? “Don’t you?”
“Yes, but I’m a—”
A door ahead of us opened with a beep. “Hurry up, Boyd.” Ursula stood on the threshold. Her gaze flicked to me, and her mouth tightened. “I’ll take it from here.”
Boyd nodded and stepped back to let me pass through the door. The décor beyond was less metal box and more hospital corridor. Beige and cream and bright lights. The door closed behind me with a beep, and then a hiss followed as the hydraulics in the system settled. This place was serious business.
“Did Boyd explain what will happen today?” Ursula asked.
“Yes.”
“Hopefully you won’t be coming back here after your hearing.” She stared at me. “Listen to your counsel.”
My counsel. Whoever that was. She led the way down the clinical corridor, past rooms containing office equipment and monitors, and to a set of double metal doors that looked like a lift, except they were framed by glowing arcane symbols.
“This is a port,” Ursula said. “It’s a similar way of travel to what Conah employs.”
“You know Conah?”
She smiled tightly. “He is a Dominus. The Magiguard have had dealings with the reapers for a long time.”
Of course they had.
She pressed her palm to a panel on the side of the port, and the doors slid open. “Please, step inside.”