“For now,” Jaxan said, and his pale lips twitched like he knew something. “The Council will meet to decide your fate shortly. After you give your statement about your search for the Aspirants leading you to Rye Cackrin and the Allwitch temple, and how you were held hostage by him there.”
“Rye Cackrin held me hostage in thecatacombs,” I said angrily, because I suspected Jaxan sent me there, knowing full well I wouldn’t find Leland, as much as he knew I would never fight my way out. Then it dawned on me. That had been his plan. He wanted me to frame Rye for being the Shadowrealm, soHelen wouldn’t get in trouble for it.
“You want me to frame him,” I said, about to tell him I wouldn’t when a Shadowcurrent dove into my mouth.
My lips stretched painfully wide to accommodate the brutal width of black shadows stuffing my throat, my mouth unable to move as it was tightly packed with what felt like a hefty bundle of dried, stiff cloths. I coughed from the back of my throat to try to push the shadows out, but Jaxan forced them back down. He knew the truth of what happened in the temple. I knew he did, because of Leland’s Death Bond, his oath to report to him. But it was clear the story Jaxan wanted me to tell was a different one.
“You see,” he explained, “your mother bought you eight months in the human realm by trading me her votes. That makes her seat on the Council useful to me. I intend to keep her there until her usefulness ceases.”
I tried to breathe calmly through my nose, but as time passed, panic increased. His shadows barricaded the passage to my lungs, causing a tight feeling in my face. I was sure I was turning purple.
“Yes, I know,” he drawled. “You want justice. Justice for how Helen’s treated you. Justice for the Aspirants. But justice was meted when her beloved partner was killed, was it not? Could any other justice possibly be more of a lesson to her?”
The uncomfortable sensation of blood vessels bursting in my eyes prevented me from answering.
“You were taken hostage in the Allwitch temple by Rye Cackrin’s coven of Dark Witches,” he continued, adding as an aside. “It might surprise you to know they were in on it — Helen contracted them for Shadowcover.”
I endured a pain that felt like I was going to explode as Jaxan cruelly admired the way my face broke out in sweat.
“You found everyone in the temple and used your gift to get them out.”
He reeled in his shadows like he was hauling in a heavy rope, tugging them out of my open mouth, tendril by tendril. My chapped lips collapsed like a stretched rubber band.
I rushed to wrap my hands around the column of my throat as I recovered, gasping.
“Cackrin. Temple. Gift. Understand?”
Saliva flooded back to my mouth, and after letting it accumulate, I spat a dollop’s worth on the polished diamond pattern floor, narrowly missing his well-polished shoes.
“No,” I said voicelessly, then paused to swallow. I wiped the corner of my mouth and waited for my voice to return.
A reserve of shadows flickered from the dark undersides of Jaxan’s long fingernails as he readied to suffocate me again, and though I wasn’t sure I’d recovered enough to survive a second round of his Shadowcurrent, my face set into a cool expression. I was in no rush to give Jaxan obedience, not unless he offered me something. And I’d been holding something in mind that I wanted.
“The story you want me to tell hurts Dark Witches,” I said. “You said you were tired of them being Everden’s punching bag, and so am I. I won’t be part of it. I get nothing out of lying. The reputation of everyDark Witch would suffer if I did. And it would be a risk. There were witnesses.”
“Oh?” Jaxan said, but it wasn’t a question. “You think the witnesses remember? Leland does as I say. Helen’s mind was emptied. So were the Aspirants’. Youwilltell the story I have laid out. It makes no difference to me if you lie willingly or if I make Helen Compel you.”
My eyes seethed at the sickening crease of his smile. There was nothing I could do about being Compelled.
This wasn’t over. I wasn’t okay with letting the Echelons’ corruption persist. But I knew who won if I tried to fight him on everything today. Jaxan.
“Fine,” I said, folding my arms tightly. “But you’re not just asking me to lie. You’re asking me to sellit. And I will, with something small in return. And if you think I’m bluffing” — I was bluffing — “let me remind you I went into the Allwitch temple fully prepared to not come out, and I could just as easily stand on trial and act guilty, just to watch you suffer. I’m only cooperating if you give me something.”
Jaxan’s brows pitched with intrigue. “You’re asking for a Deal?”
“Withouta Death Bond,” I specified.
“Go on.”
By the time I left his office, Jaxan and I had a Dark Deal. I would deliver his lie. Rye Cackrin’s Dark Witch coven was the Shadowrealm. In return, Jaxan would remove the Death Bond that bound Leland to protect me. I didn’t want to push it by asking for more, but at least Leland would be free of the Death Bond he hated most, and I felt fine — happy, even — to lie for it.
* * *
I headed up the grand stairway, on my way to what I hoped would be my final time at the accused’s table. Stately doors swung open and closed, revealing a small but lively audience spread throughout the long rows of benches in the audience gallery. White walls beamed under glaring spotlights, and at the end of the long aisle, the stern figures of the Council hovered over their high bench. In Dashell Eldridge’s place sat his replacement, Sam Arefin. Leland sat in the Truth-Teller’s designated seat at the end.
The lazy chatter and casual postures of those in the audience had a calming effect on me, even as my face heated from the attention. They wouldn’t be here if it was still illegal to associate with the half witch. At least I hoped not.
Aurora’s cold voice rang across the room, and I jerked my headup, realizing I was still standing by the doors. “Take your seat at the accused’s table.”
