“And then tried to set my mistresses miniature collection on fire out of jealousy and spite,” Vazul said, his voice thick with anger and contempt.
He extended a hand towards me, and I went to him without hesitation. He drew me possessively against his side, and I instantly melted, feeling safe and protected, despite the messed-up situation we were in.
“That’s a lie!” Angelique shouted. “Coralinvitedme and set me up. I should have known there was something fishy going on. We had an argument yesterday after I confronted her about stealing my Liderc. She knew I wasn’t going to just take such a crime lying down. I warn her that I would bring up her theft to the Council. So she went on the offensive to stop me with the fiendish trap!”
I stared at her, flabbergasted by such audacity. The mostshocking part was the ease with which she spewed those lies. She did it so effortlessly and so convincingly that I would have fallen for it had I not been on the receiving end of such slander.
“That’s completely false!” I exclaimed, finding my voice at last. “I did no such thing. In fact, Vazul warned her to stay away from us. She did come here yesterday demanding that I hand him over to her. But she has no ground to reclaim what was never hers. Not only did Angelique discarded his egg, but he never hatched for her.”
“You stole it before I could!” Angelique interrupted in a self-righteous tone. “If not—”
“SILENCE!” Mrs. Hopkins shouted.
Her voice resounded like thunderclap. I felt myself shrinking. Even my demon appeared impressed, not to say intimidated. The contemptuous look she gave Angelique had her withering in her shoes. As much as I despise her, I couldn’t help but almost feel sorry—not to say worried—for her. That look could incinerate anyone right where they stood.
“Coral stole nothing,” Mrs. Hopkins said in a frosty tone. “It wasIwho gave her the egg that you abandoned. I warned you multiple times to come fetch what you had left behind. Youchoseto forsake your belongings, knowing that if they weren’t retrieved by that date, they would be disposed of. And still, you failed to do anything about it, until she came to do it.”
“She came to retrieve them forme!” Angelique hissed.
“She came to retrieve them to avoid paying the cleaning penalty,” Mrs. Hopkins countered. “Your repeated failure to reclaim those items made them fair game to be taken, given, or otherwise disposed of, including that egg. What Coral did with them after you showed such disregard was entirely up to her. But even then, you still wouldn’t have any claim over the Liderc. He didn’t hatch for you.”
“That’s unfair!” Angelique shouted. “I paid for it!”
“Then you shouldn’t have abandoned it. That matter issettled,” Mrs. Hopkins said dismissively before glancing around the room. “Moving on, what are you doing here? What is the purpose of your presence? And why was there a fire upon our arrival?”
“She tried to burn my Mistress’ collection to harm her. She disposed all of these inflammable objects by the fireplace to make it look like an accident,” Vazul said in a stern voice.
“That’s a lie! It is an abject set up, a trap to ensure my downfall because I threatened to bring her theft before the Council! She invited me here under the false pretense of discussing the situation so that we could reach some sort of amicable agreement. Why else would I come here? My entire coven and other friends were at my house but a couple of days ago and saw what a magnificent collection I possess. This is no threat to me.Sheis no threat to me. I have no reason to want to destroy this. I just want what is rightfully mine,” Angelique argued in an impassioned tone.
Once again, had I not been the target of her lies, I might have been fooled by her acting.
“If I truly invited you, why did you enter my house with a glamour spell to impersonate me?” I challenged. “If you were expected, you would have simply walked in with your normal appearance.”
“I did no such thing!”
“You most certainly did!” I countered, while whipping out my phone. “My door cam captured you when you walked up. That’s why I called the Council, because I knew you were up to no good.”
“And that’s not the only recording of you,” Vazul said with malicious glee before gesturing towards the shelf in the corner of the workshop. “I set up Coral’s camera moments before you entered. Everything you have done—and said—is right here for all to see.”
“You fucking rock!” I whispered, staring at my demon with awe.
“You mortals and your technology certainly make things far more interesting than back in ancient days,” Vazul said in an amused tone.
I kissed his cheek and ran to my laptop to call up the camera feed. In the few seconds it took, Angelique spewed all kinds of excuses and half-baked explanations as to what actually happened. But no one was listening to her anymore.
We watched the footage in complete disbelief. No words could describe the depth of the anger that surged within me. In that instant, I almost regretted that the High Witch Examiner had intervened when she did. Only a few seconds more, and I didn’t doubt Vazul would have reduced that conniving bitch into a pile of ashes. Normally, I wouldn’t advocate for violence. But she deserved all of it and more.
That would have been too short and swift of punishment.
It certainly would have been. Angie deserved to live just so that she could suffer the consequences of her actions. And by the look Mrs. Hopkins was giving her, my sweet little nemesis would definitely not be getting off easy.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Angie stammered, her face chalky she’d grown so pale. “It’s—”
“Enough, you foolish girl,” Mrs. Hopkins interrupted sternly. “The minute the Liderc hatched, I knew you would do something stupid. We felt his entrance into this world. We stood back and watched, knowing how your greed and sense of entitlement would push you to break the rules. Why do you think we were so quick to arrive?”
Angelique cast a betrayed look at her Head Priestess. Myrtil averted her eyes, countless conflicting emotions fleeting over her features. Although it had never been proven, rumor had it that they were related. That would have explained why she allowed Angie to get away with so many things that would have otherwisegotten her kicked out of the coven. However, blood ties are not, Myrtil couldn’t cross the Council to protect her relative. She would have been sworn to secrecy the moment she became aware of the investigation. Had she warned Angie, the Head Priestess would be facing a shit storm of her own right now.
“Our job is to anticipate risks that will expose us,” Mrs. Hopkins continued mercilessly. “Your ego and your greed threatened to do exactly that. We also have very strict rules against abusing our powers to harm other members of our community. You broke those rules. Therefore, you will stand before the Council to answer for your crimes.”
