Kira forced herself to meet his stare head on. “I know—but not with her life.”
Even with everything Elise had done, she was still precious to Kira. Punishment might be necessary, but Kira wouldn’t let them kill her.
Solal’s stance eased. “You have your own situation to worry about.”
Kira nodded as Jarek, flanked by a contingent of oshota stalked up the stairs. “I expected as much.”
There’d be no more hiding. No more lying.
She supposed it had always been inevitable she and Jin would face a reckoning. From the moment her marking tying her to House Luatha and the Tuann was exposed, they’d been barreling toward this point.
At least after this she’d know for sure.
The Tuann would either accept the price their children had paid for survival, or they’d turn from them.
Kira straightened her shoulders, readying herself for the upcoming battle.
If Jarek felt a sense of victory at the turn of events, Kira couldn’t see it in his face. There was none of the antagonism Kira expected as he stopped to take in Graydon’s prone body and Aeron where he held Elise.
“You’re under arrest for harboring a soul bound and your possible role in its creation,” Jarek informed her.
Kira lifted her chin. “His name is Jin, and he’s the reason Devon isn’t dead.”
If nothing else, that should have earned him a bit of goodwill with any reasonable group of people. Unfortunately, the Tuann were far from that, veering toward hysterical when anything having to do with the words “soul” and “bound” were linked together.
“You may be right, but there is a reason the Tuann outlawed his kind. If found guilty of his making, you will face punishment.” To the oshota beside him, “Take her.”
Before they could move, Roake’s oshota flooded the landing where they stood, surrounding the emperor’s inquisitor and the rest.
Harlow stepped out of their midst. Wren appeared from behind him, his gaze landing on Kira as if to assure him she was still in one piece.
She knew the instant he spotted Elise, his body going utterly still as shock coated his face.
A pained sound left him as he took a step toward her. “My child.”
He lifted a hand to touch her face, stilling as she shied away from him slightly. A mask dropped over his expression as he let his hand fall to his waist.
He didn’t try to touch Elise again, but neither did he retreat from her side. His stance signifying his silent support.
“You will not touch Kira,” Harlow declared. “As a daughter of Roake, she will remain in our custody until her trial as is our custom.”
Jarek inclined his head. “That is acceptable as long as she receives the same treatment any Tuann facing such charges would.”
Harlow’s tawny golden eyes found Kira’s, emotion moving in them before he looked away. His jaw flexed as he nodded at Makon.
The Marshal stepped forward, taking a black band from one of Graydon’s oshota.
“Forgive me, heir,” Makon said, stopping in front of Kira.
There was a hint of apology in his eyes as he held up the two-inch wide band of metal. It was a collar for her neck, Kira saw. Once on, there would be no removing it.
Kira was betting it contained a tracker. Not to mention some means to knock her unconscious or kill her if her jailers decided it necessary.
Worse was the nasty feeling it projected. A sense of wrongness that felt like it was trying to latch onto Kira’s ki and leech it away.
And she hadn’t even touched it yet. Oh joy.
If she let them put that collar on her, she’d be defenseless in a way she hadn’t been in a long time. Her chances of escaping later almost nonexistent.
