“She killed a soul that belonged to me, which kept me from collecting the agreed upon terms,” Botis states bored, and rage fires through me.
“That is a lie,” I yell, suddenly afraid they’ll believe anything and everything this monster says. “I never killed Jamie, he did. And the agreed upon terms was magic that didn’t belong to either of them. You can’t have a contract with someone promising you magic that they don’t own,” I argue, hoping like hell I’m right.
Out of nowhere, Botis charges his glass cage. “Don’t you dare speak over me,” he snarls, and I scramble back, too afraid to even scream. Thank fuck the glass holds as he slams into it. His sharp-tipped teeth gnash as though he’s wishing he was chewing on my bones right now, and his orange eyes are filled with unhinged rage as they track my every move.
“It would have been my fucking magic if you hadn’t gotten involved. You fucked up what should have been mine, and I’ll take it from you one way or another,” he bellows, the force of his words escaping his enclosure and blowing curls out of my face. I feel like I’m seconds away from being torn apart.
“Silence,” Dyad shouts, and even though I can still see Botis ranting inside the glass enclosure, I can’t hear him anymore.
“Is what the witch said true? You were using a human to kill Osteomancers in order to take their magic?” Cozen demands, and I notice that she conjures a glass orb that looks like it has some kind of vapor trapped inside and sets it in front of her.
Botis eyes the orb and then sneers at her. “Yes,” he admits, almost begrudgingly, and the orb glows white.
“Then the witch is correct, you can’t have a contract promising magic that doesn’t belong to you or the person the contract’s with,” Gremory declares, and suddenly there’s a gavel in his hand. “Trying to steal what never belonged to you or the being you’re in contract with is a violation of our laws.”
I hold my breath, too stunned to believe that this could actually be it. Did I pull it off? Did I prove my case?
Gremory holds up the gavel. “As the High Demon Council presiding over this trial, we find you—”
“Wait!” Botis screams so loudly that I swear the glass around him rattles. “I’m not done,” he growls more quietly, now that Gremory is silent. “The contract I’m talking about wasn’t with the human. It was with the High Council.”
A loud whooshing sound fills the room, and dread pools inside of me as Botis’s declaration rings around the room, and other people suddenly appear. I turn around slowly, and my eyes meet a kelly-green stare framed by dark lashes and a beautiful oval face. Long pitch black hair falls past her shoulders, and the white streak at the front looks elegant as always. She’s in a pant suit that matches her eyes, and there’s a gold pentagram broach that’s pinned to the lapel.
Just like the first time I met Rogan’s mother, Sorrel Adair, the High Priestess of Witches, stands behind her husband the High Priest, and her Council member, Bordow, the Contegomancer who murdered Marx.
Sirens blare in my brain, and it’s all I can do not to scream.
I knew it. I fucking knew it. I didn’t know how or why Sorrel Adair would be messing with demons, but I felt in my bones that her hand was in this somehow. I thought it was Jamie who could possibly be working with the High Council, but it was the demon. Botis is the connection, not her.
Fuck my life and fuck Sorrel Adair.
I want to rage and scream and wipe her evil presence from the face of all realms, but I need to keep control. I need to figure out how to beat this bitch at her own game.
“What the hell is going on? You have not been summoned here,” Dyad growls, and the High Priestess fixes him with a smile so saccharine it makes my skin crawl.
“Oh,” she chirps in faux surprise. “It seems you started without us. Shame really, you know the Accords allow for a mancer representative to be present at all trials,” she declares sweetly.
“Mancer representatives never attend these trials because they can’t be bothered, and you know it,” Gremory states irritably.
“Well, then it’s your lucky day, because we’ll be sitting in on this one,” Sorrel declares as though somehow she’s running the show.
My gut twists, and I realize she probably has been. Maybe I didn’t see it up close and personal, but she’s been pulling strings and forcing our hand the entire time. Anger battles with the overwhelming desire to puke, but I press them both back and level Gremory with a frustrated look.
I don’t know what the hell is going on right now, but shit just went from bad to fucking catastrophic real quick, and I’m getting the very distinct impression I am fucked.
“Do all demons bow so easily to the High Council?” I challenge, hoping somehow it will focus the High Demon’s anger on Sorrel and not me for calling him out. “One demon says he has a contract with them, and now you’re pretending like she’s simply sitting in on a trial and not the reason why we’re having one?” I accuse, both pissed and terrified in equal measure.
How the hell does this bitch have so much power?She just saunters in like she owns this place and they all let her. Fuck, maybe she does own this place. What the hell do I even know anymore?
My brain whirs as I try to figure out all the angles of what the fuck is going down right now. I know I’ve walked into a trap, that’s obvious, but I have no idea how wide the net is. I don’t know how she’s going to do it, but I have no doubt in my mind that this is all about getting to her sons, and what’s worse is I don’t know if I can stop it.
I reach for the tether instinctively, wanting to call Rogan and warn him, but my heart plummets through my chest when I feel that it’s still closed.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
The High Priestess just showed her hand, and I can’t even warn Rogan and Elon that she’s coming for them. I can feel her stare on the back of my head like hot lasers, but I ignore it as I try to see a way out of this mess.
“Is that true, Adair? Do you confirm that you have a contract with Botis?” Cozen asks, and I swear the white demon suddenly looks ashen.
