Alleged. That was such a hurtful word to someone telling the truth.
I reached out to touch her hand, at the same time that I turned and faced Sawyer.
The left wall of the dome we were in lit up like a movie screen and there was fifteen-year-old me and Raven getting out of a car and laughing as we walked up to Vicon’s house, where music could be heard inside.
Wow.
Her abilities were … incredible. She’d pulled my memory from my brain and then projected it on the wall with sound and color and everything.
“Hello, beautiful ladies.” Vicon opened the door with a bottle of beer and a handsome smile. This was my memory, and I felt that my wolf was about to take over and show hers. Flicking my eyes from the screen, I looked into the deep blue eyes of my mate. He was staring at my face and not making an effort to look at the screen beside him.
‘I love you,’I said as Vicon’s pick-up lines played out in the background.
‘I love you so much more.’Sawyer reached up, shielding my peripheral vision with his hands.‘Everything about you. Even this.’
I whimpered at his words, and then my fifteen-year-old scream cut through the space.
Fifteen-year-old me said no. I said nofourfucking times, but Vicon kept going, his friend’s voices joining him, egging him on. There were grunts, moans, shrieks, but I blocked them all out and just looked into my future, letting my past go up in flames. I didn’t live there anymore. I refused to.
‘Each day gazing into her blue eyes is like looking into the ocean. You come to learn there is endless depth,’Sawyer said.
I couldn’t help but give him a weak smile as we blocked out the growling and the noise of fists smacking bone. The witch gasped and so did some of the Paladins behind the bubble, but I just focused on my mate. The one who believed me when I’d said what Vicon did and demanded justice for it.
‘Who wrote it?’ I asked. He was always spouting poetry to me. It was one of the ways he wooed me at our time in Sterling Hill.
Sawyer stroked my cheek.‘I did.’
My fifteen-year-old wolf’s howl cut into the bubble from the screen and the witch clapped her hands. “I think we’ve seen enough.” Her voice shook with emotion.
I had to take a few deep breaths to calm myself, keeping my eyes on Sawyer and just feeling the sorrow from my wolf before I could pull away and finally face the council.
Each and every one of them stared at their feet, all except the witch. She boldly met my gaze.
“She was telling the truth.” Her voice held pride and I had to swallow hard to keep from crying.
“Doesn’t change the fact that she broke out five high-value prisoners,” the vampire mumbled, head still down.
The witch looked absolutely stricken. “Of course it does! She’s the mate and wife of the alpha! When Vicon Drake stole her virginity, he soiled her for the future alpha, violating Section 5A of the Magical Creature Code. Sawyer Hudson was well within his right to kill him and seek redemption for his future mate’s purity. Which means Sawyer was wrongly imprisoned. And also means Demi was within her right to free her mate when justice failed them both.”
Holy shit. I mean, I didn’t love the wordsoiledorpurity, but she was kind of a badass with all that section 5A stuff. This woman should be a lawyer.
“I vote to absolve both of them of their crimes and get back to our day!” the witch called out. “All in favor, say—”
“Hang on a minute,” the dark fey sneered. “I agree she was well within her right to free her mate, but what of the other four felons? They were not to be freed, and she should be held accountable for that!”
My eyes flicked to the outside bubble, where Walsh and Sage stood anxiously, peering in at us.‘Tell Walsh to run,’I told Sage calmly. The dark fey had a point, and I wasn’t sure what was going to go down now. Sage nodded slowly, grabbing Walsh by the arm and yanking him into the crowd.
The dark fey followed my gaze, but they’d gotten away in time. I glared at him, about to speak in my defense, when the witch opened her mouth. “You saw the security footage. They all jumped on the dragon and escaped themselves, she didn’tforcethem. As far as I am concerned, they are still fugitives, and when we find them we will prosecute them to the full extent of the law. Demi and Sawyer Hudson are innocent. All in favor, say aye!”
Sawyer reached out and took my hand.
‘If this goes badly, I’ll charge them, and you break out of the bubble and run. Go to Dark Woods and take Creek. You will be safe there.’
‘No,’I told him.
‘Goddammit, Demi! Can’t you just do what I say for once in your life?’
Nope.
