The woman is honestly terrifying. Her brown hair is slicked back in a neat bun, and she wears thick red cat-eye glasses. Anavy power-suit and heels show off an intimidating form, and there’s a tattoo peeking out at her wrist. I have no idea what to make of her, or how to handle myself in her presence, other than to gulp and hope for the best.
“I… tell you?” I practically squeak the words and my face burns. I wish I had something to fidget with, but I don’t dare call on my flames, and they took all my rings and bracelets. I clear my throat, then straighten. Lor said she was good, and I trust Lor, so I need to trust this woman too.
“Do you know a Ms. Alorra Seren?”
“Lor? Yeah, did she contact you?”
“And what is your relationship to Ms. Seren?”
My mind whirls as I try to figure out where this is going. I should probably be honest, right?
“She’s, well, it’s a bit complicated?—”
The woman interrupts the start of my nervous ramble with a huff. She takes a folder out of her briefcase, flips it open, and slides it across the desk to me.
“Ms. Seren called my office, insisting to talk to your legal team. She stated she had evidence that will exonerate you. Sheclaimsyou were with her all night, and therefore could not possibly have started the warehouse fire.”
She pauses to tap a blood red, coffin-manicured fingernail on the papers in front of me. My own nails are abysmal, chipped flecks of purple remaining on only a few. I blink the printed words into focus as the message trickles into my brain.
Lor said I was with her? I wasn’t, and I’m pretty sure my scary attorney knows it. But Lor’s statement is right here. I look up at her, half expecting this to be some sort of joke or trick.
“She said she’d be willing to testify for you. I have no doubt we’ll have to take her up on it if this is to be our plan of defense. Luckily for you, no one was injured, so the worst we’re dealing with is property damage. I’ll give you a minute to read this over.”
Her words are crisp, and she continues to stare, dissecting the innermost parts of me like she can see all my secrets. I blink back down at the papers in front of me, taking in Lor’s words.
She’slyingfor me. My heart thumps as my eyes flit back and forth over the first page, then the next. None of this is true, and I don’t know if it will work, but would it give me a chance? Thank goodness I didn’t share much of anything with my attorney earlier. Most of what we did was sign paperwork, and she instructed me in no uncertain terms not to speak to anyone but her.
“Now,” the attorney says, leaning back in her chair and crossing one leg over the other. Her suit pant pulls up enough for me to hope she never comes near me with those pointy as fuck, sky-high heels. “Let’s try this for the second time today. Would you care to share your side of the story with me?”
I’m backin my holding cell, pacing the small space as my mind turns in circles. Half of me thinks I did the right thing, and half of me wishes I had done the opposite. I only ever wanted to protect Lor, but I don’t know if that’s what I’m doing anymore.
Flames tingle beneath my skin, and my fingers itch to snatch something.
“No more fires. No more stealing. No killing,” I mutter the words under my breath, hopefully too soft for anyone or anything to pick up.
The mantra repeats in my head, and I time the words with my steps, but it’s not helping as it used to. I need Lor. I think I protected her, and I hope it’ll stick, but then another thought pops into my head.
My parents will be so disappointed.
I drop onto the bench bolted to the wall as the energy leaves my limbs. They wanted better for me than this, and Lor won’t be happy I protected her at the sacrifice of myself. This is so much more complicated than it was supposed to be.
I hunch over, hiding one hand behind the other as I let a spark of flame out. I twist it between my fingers, the tiny concession easing my demon urges enough to keep the rest in check.
It’s a long night, and the following days don’t get much better.
Between arraignment and my court date for trial, I’m held in custody. Apparently, they’ve deemed me too great a risk to public safety to be released pretrial, so I’m stuck in the county jail for the next two weeks. My attorney contacts me whenever she needs additional information or to clarify something, but otherwise I assume she’s coordinating with Lor, since I signed a release for them to speak.
I spend every day debating with myself. Lying to a courtroom is definitely not the definition of “good person” behavior, and all I’ve wanted my entire life is to be good. But if I don’t, and Lor has already put in her statement as evidence, would that getherin trouble for lying and trying to cover for me? Could she then be charged as a co-conspirator or something?
For once my demon likes the idea of lying, mostly because it means protecting Lor, but also because if it works, it means I get to be with her again. I don’t know what to do. I wish someone would come tell me so I didn’t have to make this decision myself.
The worst part of this entire situation isn’t the food, or the cold cell, or the lack of freedom. It’s that I haven’t been able to talk to Lor.
My demon is losing it. I’m not able to sleep, I can hardly keep food down, and my mind is filled with thoughts of her. The only thing that helps is the visit from my therapist, but even she can’tsave my mind this time. All I can do is remind myself to stick to the plan, and that it’s all worth it for my Starfire.
23
WHY CAN’T ATTORNEYS JUST TALK NORMAL?
