But when Ant ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket, Viktor’s hopes of an immediate evacuation died. Ant held up one hand, forestalling Viktor’s planned argument.
“We need to gather the physical evidence,” Ant said quietly. “I’m concerned that with a case of this size my testimony won’t be enough to put Claudius away for life.”
Viktor’s grip on Claudius tightened. “I could just kill him. I know that’s not what you prefer. But what the fuck? Your site readings are the most accurate anywhere, and your word is respected…”
“I know, but Claudius’s defense team will argue that the ward-trap I encountered during the scene reading proves the magical environment was compromised.” Ant’s gray eyes were steady, clearly already thinking three steps ahead. “They could claim the vision was corrupted, and therefore I can’t be certain of what I witnessed because I was trapped in a magical construct designed to disorient and harm.”
“That’s bullshit,” Viktor snarled. “You saw what happened. I saw what happened, damn it.”
“I know that. You know that.” Ant gestured toward Claudius, who was starting to regain some focus despite Viktor’s hold on him. “But his lawyers will introduce reasonable doubt. The Justiciary has strict evidentiary standards precisely because there are some situations where magic can be manipulated.Without corroborating physical evidence, my testimony becomes circumstantial.”
Viktor was open to debating that at length if necessary, but he’d spent enough time in courtrooms - first as Tony’s enforcer, then beside Ant during their cases - to know his mate wasn’t wrong. Defense attorneys loved to tear apart magical testimony by claiming contamination or bias. And Claudius would hire the best lawyers his stolen money could buy.
“You want the documents,” Viktor said slowly, pieces falling into place. “The ones Ronald photographed.”
“Yes.” Ant’s attention shifted to the manor. “Ronald Finch broke into Claudius’s study and photographed ledgers documenting the shell corporations, bank transfers, and a journal detailing which humans were enthralled and when. That evidence exists in physical form in Claudius’s safe.”
“Which you can’t get into without me,” Viktor finished, stomach sinking.
“Well, I could, but it would take longer, and I could be intercepted.” Ant met his eyes. “The Justiciary will arrive in approximately eleven minutes now. Claudius and his guards will begin recovering from the magical backlash in less than that - I’d estimate six to eight minutes before they regain full mobility, given their age and power levels.”
Of course he’d calculated the recovery time.Viktor glanced around the garden. Claudius was still dazed in his grip, his breathing shallow. Edmund lay face down where Viktor had kicked him, groaning pitifully. Nathaniel had stopped struggling and was simply trying to breathe. The younger guards scattered across the lawn were barely conscious, likely overwhelmed by the ward collapse.
But Claudius was as old as Viktor, and there was a good chance that he’d shake off the magical backlash faster than the others. And once he recovered enough to think clearly, he’d destroy that evidence himself rather than let it fall into Justiciary hands.
“You want to break into his study,” Viktor said. “Right now. While everyone’s down.”
“Yes.”
Viktor looked at his mate, still pale, exhausted, swaying slightly on his feet but still standing with Able pressed against his leg. Ant hadn’t had a full meal since that dinner with Claudius, and that felt like a lifetime ago, and while Viktor hadn’t eaten either, he could take a sip of Ant’s blood and keep going for another week. But with his magical energies maxed out, and the lack of food and decent sleep… Ant had gone through so fucking much in less than forty-eight hours, but, apparently, in his mind, it wasn’t enough. Now he wanted to walk back into the manor where Claudius had tried to kill him and rob the bastard blind.
Gods, I love him.
“You’re out of your fucking mind,” Viktor said, but there wasn’t any heat in it.
“I prefer the term ‘thorough.’” Ant tilted his head. “We have a narrow operational window. I recognize this isn’t ideal, but…”
“Not ideal?” Viktor laughed, sharp and incredulous. “Babe, you just took down an entire estate’s defensive network. You’re exhausted. And you want to go back inside while Claudius and his guards are waking up?”
“The alternative is allowing a murderer to destroy evidence and potentially evade justice through legal technicalities.” Ant’s expression didn’t change, but Viktor felt the steel beneath the words through their bond. “That’s unacceptable.”
Yeah. It really fucking was. Viktor looked down at Claudius, who was blinking now, awareness creeping back into those cold gray eyes. The ancient vampire’s mouth opened - probably to threaten or bargain or do whatever manipulative shit he thought might work. Not in the mood to listen to anything coming out of that bastard’s mouth, Viktor slammed Claudius face-first into the ground.
“Don’t,” he advised pleasantly, then twisted both of Claudius’s arms behind his back at an angle that made the vampire hiss in pain. “You lost, asshole. Accept it.”
He grabbed Nathaniel next, who’d recovered enough to look resentful, and efficiently bent him into a pretzel beside Claudius. Edmund tried to crawl away. Viktor stepped on his spine, pinning him.
“Able,” Ant said quietly.
The German shepherd immediately moved to stand guard over the three restrained vampires, lips pulled back to show teeth. Able wouldn’t attack unless ordered, but his presence alone was usually deterrent enough.
Viktor straightened and moved to Ant’s side, scanning his mate for injuries. “You need to rest. You’re running on empty.”
“I’m functional.” Ant touched Viktor’s wrist. Through their bond, Viktor felt the truth. Antwasexhausted, but he’d pushed through worse during particularly difficult scene readings. “I can maintain consciousness and motor function for at least another hour.”
“That’s a real low bar, precious.”
“It’s sufficient for our purposes.” Ant’s gray eyes were steady. “We retrieve the documents and return here to wait for the Justiciary. Total estimated time - four to five minutes.”
