“Would you please tell us why you were found walking on the side of the road with no shoes, means of transportation, or a way to contact anyone?”
I tilt my head to the side as I stare blankly at Elder Balfour and process why he’s asking this question. My eyes flit to Enoch of their own accord, and I conclude that he or his coven are the source of these insignificant details. Enoch suspiciously avoids looking at me.
“I had a couple of flat tires and only one spare. I didn’t have my phone, so I was walking back to get some help.”
“And how is it that you found yourself driving around with no shoes and no phone?” Elder Balfour asks, leaning forward a little too eagerly in his chair.
“I’m sorry, is that illegal here?” I ask, confused, my eyes bouncing from one elder to the next. “Who cares why I didn’t have a phone or shoes? What would any of that have to do with you, or what happened with the lamia?”
“Vinna, we’ve been made aware that your current living situation may not be safe for you. What Elder Balfour is asking will help us determine whether that is the case or not.” Elder Nypan calmly informs me.
His smile is kind, and he folds his hands patiently in front of him while I contemplate what he just said. I look at Lachlan. I’m not sure why it matters, but I want to see just what he thinks about this line of questioning and the accusation that now hangs heavy around his coven’s necks. His posture is stiff, and his focus never wavers from the elders. A mask is in place, hiding any emotion, but I can sense the anger rolling off of him in waves.
He has to feel my eyes on him, but he doesn’t turn to meet them. I don’t know why for the briefest of seconds I thought he would. Maybe it was the glimpse of compassion I saw in him in the back of the death-soaked SUV. The way he looked at me that night, with empathy and brutal understanding, it’s been fucking with theunredeemablecategory I have him in.
“Two days ago, did you contact a Lucy Barton, and request her assistance in finding and purchasing a property?”
My head snaps to Elder Cleary at his question. How the hell does he know that? I sense the shifting bodies behind me, and I’d bet the guys are wondering the exact same thing.
“Yes,” I answer, offering no additional information.
Aydin shoots up out of his chair. “Vinna, please, you have to hear us out!”
“Quiet!” Elder Balfour bellows across the room.
Aydin looks pained and beseeching, but he sits back down and does what he’s told. The look on his face stings. The hurt that I see there calls to me, but I try to ignore it as I brick up my defenses even more. No matter how I look at things, analyze them, hold them up to the light hoping there’s more that I’m just not seeing… The truth is, I can’t trust them, and without that, there’s no hope to remedy anything.
His pleading eyes look for cracks in my armor. What right does he have to look at me that way? Like I’m the one inflicting injury. Fuck him. Fuck them.
“You are underage Vinna, and until you’ve had your awakening, you are not allowed to be on your own,” Elder Nypan politely tells me, pulling me from my thoughts.
Fucking hell, not this again! I’m twenty-two, an adult in the eyes of the country we live in, shouldn’t that be enough?
“I’ve been on my own for a long time now; I can take care of myself. I have the means and ability to do it, and I don’t see what the problem is. The situation with Lachlan and his coven has become… complicated.” I look at each of the elders imploringly. “No matter what you say, I’m not planning to stay there much longer.”
The room goes silent with my declaration. The elders look over to Lachlan. “Will you rescind your claim on her?”
As soon as they ask Lachlan that question, my hope that the elders just might see things my way crumbles into nothing. Lachlan growls out a resounding “No,” and it’s punctuated by the frustrated sigh that escapes me. Why can’t he just let me go?
2
“We challenge Lachlan Aylin’s claim on Vinna Aylin, and ask to submit our own.”
Valen’s smooth voice fills the room from behind me. I look back at him over my shoulder, and a small smile sneaks across my lips at his declaration. I track Valen as he steps up to my side, his new proximity causing warmth and comfort to wash over me. It’s like lying in a pile of clean clothes fresh out of the dryer.
“My coven and I would like to submit a Bond Claim. We know the council likes to wait until all parties have achieved their awakening, but exceptions have been made in the past, and we request an exception be made today.”
Valen briefly looks at Silva and takes in a deep fortifying breath before continuing.
“My coven and I agree that living with Lachlan and his coven is not a good place for Vinna to be.”
Valen barely finishes that sentence before Silva, Lachlan, and the rest of them are on their feet shouting at him. The guys answer the attacking indignation with their own, and aggression floods the room. I watch my guys defend me and shout out the coven’s offenses against me. I’m grateful that they have my back, but I also feel shitty that this is what it’s come to.
I can’t grasp why Valen’s statement bothers them so much. Lachlan and the others are delusional if they think they haven’t earned this. Yeah, thisFamily Courtscenario with the elders is extreme, but how did any of the paladin think I would stay and keep putting up with their shit?
Shouts reverberate through the room, and Elder Belfour’s demands forquietaren’t having any effect. Other paladin have rushed into the room, in an attempt to reclaim some semblance of order, but their sudden presence is adding to the chaos.
The large Polynesian-looking elder, whose name I still don’t know, stands up and snakes out a hand towards the upheaval. A white rope of magic shoots out of his palm toward Lachlan and his coven, and it wraps itself tightly around each of their necks. They immediately fall silent. The elder lifts his other hand and sends out another rope of magic, this one moving quickly towards my guys.
