“And you recall me and several others telling younotto proceed?”
I clench my fists in my lap, my gut twisting in frustration. “There wasn’t time to discuss it!”
“And did you kill Freddie Madsen with a sword from one of the Alchemy rooms?”
“Yes, but—”
“There you have it,” Fiona says to the jury.
“I freed the magic for everyone’s benefit,” I say, my voice coming out too loud. “And Freddie was—”
Fiona looks down at me over her nose. “Who told you it was for everyone’s benefit? I expect you consulted a Director when you made this important decision?”
I take a breath, trying not to let her interruptions and leading questions bait me into losing my temper. “I made the decision myself.”
“Well, I vividly recall asking you to stop, and instead, you sent Natalie Zacharias and several others to fight me while you kept doing whatyoudeemed necessary.”
I clutch the wooden seat, fighting to keep my composure. “The Madsens were about to break into the room and steal the magic, and you know it!”
Fiona leans forward, her eyes flashing dangerously. “We had it under control.”
“You didn’t,” I snap back. “Agnes had just blurted out the location of the room, our defenses had crumbled along with the entire goddamned building, and somehow, Sophia Madsen’s powers were better than several of you combined. You didnothave it under control, and if you would put your inflated ego aside for half a second, you might actually see that!”
A deeper hush falls over the room. Fiona’s expression turns stony. Agnes’s scrunched face reddens until she looks like she’s ready to pop.
I clench my jaw. Dammit. I need to keep my head and remember the research I did last night.
“Clause 6a of the coven’s oath states that we must protect magic from those who would misuse it,” I say into the tense silence. “The Madsens were moments away from stealing magic for nefarious purposes. By releasing it, I was upholding my oath.”
There’s a pause. The room is very still other than the shivering torchlight.
“And Clause 8b, as the Shadows know, states that the use of force against a non-witch is permitted in acts of self-defense.”
In the jury, Amir leans forward with his brow furrowed. Agnes sits with her arms crossed, as sour as ever. Fiona’s posture stiffens with each word.
That’s right, Fiona. I’m not about to get dragged through this without a fight.
“Further,” I add, my voice steadier by the second. “According to Article 17 of the coven’s charter, I have the right to a full defense.”
“Ah, who would you like to present as your witness?” Fiona asks in a mocking tone. “Yourgirlfriend, with whom you had a relationship that was explicitly forbidden? Or maybe Sebastian and Millie?”
At their names, the temperature in the room seems to plummet.
“Oh yes, they disappeared after they helped you,” Fiona adds in a low voice. “We are searching for them, and trust me that when we find them, their role in this mess will not go unpunished.”
The door bursts open, and my heart leaps as Natalie barges into the room, out of breath. She’s wearing a dark gray suit, her hair pulled back in a sleek bun that accentuates her perfect jawline. She looks like my hired lawyer, and more importantly, my salvation. That familiar warmth floods through me in her presence, filling the cold void. It’s like some part of me was incomplete until she walked in.
The sight of her floods me with hope—the confidence in her long strides, and the flash of reassurance as she briefly catches my eye.
“I have evidence,” Natalie says, “that Katie’s decision was necessary.”
I straighten my spine. I have zero idea what she’s talking about, but a spark of optimism ignites inside me.
Fiona opens her mouth, probably to tell Natalie off, but stays quiet as the jury looks on with interest.
Natalie pulls her phone out of her back pocket and holds it up. “A map analyzing the locations of all chimeras since the incident. If you look at the data, you’ll see that anomalies in close proximity are the most severe, which means keeping chimeras trapped here wasincrediblyrisky. It’s safer dispersed.”
I stare at her as she drags her finger over the screen. Maps, data, analysis? This sounds like something Hazel would make.
