“Fuck.” She lowered her head, shut her eyes, and felt Rutger slip his hand from hers.
The crowd around her was getting louder.
“Quiet!” Rutger yelled. “Quiet. Please.”
The judges were talking among themselves.
“Nothing, yes?”
“Nothing that helps her, no.”
“I agree, unfortunately.” That last one was Willow. “I was actually hoping…”
The crowd noise had lessened, and she heard Vargr begin to speak. Oh great. This would not be good. She was going to lose everything after escaping from the Top, escaping from the Ghoul Lords, after killing one. This ignorant goddamned bunch of?—
Vargr’s words finally reached her. The bastard was being all matter of fact. “Replay that last minute. I saw something.”
He had? With her fingers twined tightly in Rutger’s, she raised her head to watch. The last minute of the vid played, and she thought she knew what he’d seen. A glimpse of a trail leading across the floor. A bloody trail left by the Thing.
Hope rose from the ashes.
“Uhhh. You see that, Cyn?” Rutger asked. “That cannot be human?”
She nodded, straightened. “Yes, I did.”
“Did you see it at the time?”
“No, I don’t think I did, but he was falling apart as I fought him.”
“What is that?” Mads spoke up. “Blood? Just means he was bleeding.”
“No!” She’d found her voice again. “It’s more than that! Mo, can you zoom in on that trail he left on the floor?”
“Yes, Cyn.”
The vid rewound, froze then refocused on the bloody path, stopping and freezing at various resolutions. It was clear this was not only blood. It was pieces of flesh. Then Mo zoomed in on a small piece to the side and a toe came into focus. A toe in a spatter of black blood: old blood—not fresh and red.
“I told you so,” she said quietly, then louder, “I told you! He was falling apart. He was not a normal human, but a thing filled up with Ghoul Lord. You were all affected by the Lure!”
The curses this time were interspersed with cries of dismay and even a few sobs. The grim faces of those near her would look from the video frame showing above, then to her, then they’d recheck the image as if disbelieving what their own eyes showed.
“Now they get it,” Rutger muttered. “Judges?”
When the people quietened, Mads Thresher was the judge who stood to address them. He raised his arms, lowered them, pushing downward with his palms. Silence fell.
“Thank you.” He drew a breath, grimacing, and looked from one side of the crowd to the other, pausing at Cyn. “I think that proves we were deceived, and that what Cyn killed was a Ghoul Lord, as she seems the expert on this?—”
“Unless she made us all see that!” someone pointed out.
“You’re pushing it there, Stu!” Mads stared at the speaker. “If she was that good at messing with us, why is she even sitting in that chair?” He pointed at her. “No. We agree the Lure was affecting us, most of us. A Ghoul Lord, or a creature taken over by one was here, walking among us. We owe Cyn an apology. We thank you for killing it and for averting what might’ve been a great massacre. You can take off her cuffs.”
A guard moved forward with a key and bent to unlock them at Cyn’s back.
“Thanks,” she said, and she massaged her wrists as she stood.
“However.” The judge lifted a hand to still the crowd, for they’d begun to call out. “We are also agreed that your behavior is worrying to us, Cyn. Witnesses said they saw you aim straight through Tom and Carl. Why did you have to kill them? Was it merely an accident? Can you tell us your reasons? The wings on you that some saw, your differentaspects, the mystery as to what you are becoming… All of this is still a concern, when taken together.”
Wings?Half the beasters had them and hers were gone.
