Page 64 of Innocent Until Proven Witch

The officer folds his arms. "You'd be wise to stay out of this."

Finn laughs. The sound carries no humor whatsoever. "I'd be wise?"

The officer takes a step forward. The crowd watches eagerly, waiting, expecting. Finn's gaze never leaves the shackles. "Remove them."

"No." The answer arrives immediately.

Wrong answer. I see the shift happen. The dangerous calm disappears. Finn takes another step forward. The crowd retreats instinctively.

"Make me move.”

The officer blinks. "What?"

Finn smiles with an eerie aura. The expression is somehow more threatening than a growl. "Go ahead." His voice lowers. "Make me."

I immediately recognize that smile. Trouble. The serious kind. "Finn."

He doesn't even look at me. The officer laughs, several guards laughing with him. The confidence doesn't last. Not when Finn's claws slide from his fingertips. The sound alone silences the crowd— sharp. Several guards visibly stiffen. The laughter dies instantly.

Finn glances between them, still smiling. "Try it."

Nobody moves, because everyone already knows. Three guards against Finn would be difficult. Three guards against Finn and Reina? Impossible.

The officer finally exhales sharply. "Remove them." The order arrives through clenched teeth.

“But sir —”

A fierce gaze from his superior seizes his tongue. The guard immediately unlocks the shackles. The moment the metal falls away, relief floods through me.

Finn's claws disappear. The smile remains. Unfortunately.

The crowd continues watching, whispering, judging. Finn turns toward them, his expression hardening. .

"I'm tired of this."

The murmuring quiets. He gestures toward the evidence box. "The cloak." His voice rises. "The magical signature and whatever you think you found, every piece of evidence appears exactly when someone needs it."

Several people exchange uncertain looks.

Finn continues. "You don't find that strange?"

Nobody answers, because they do. The problem is they've been too frightened to ask.

He steps forward, his voice carrying across the crowd. "I grew up here." The statement lands heavily. People listen, because it's true, because they know him, because unlike Reina, he belongs to them.

"I know this town." His gaze sweeps across familiar faces. "And I know her."

The silence deepens. Finn points toward me. "Reina has spent years protecting Moonhaven."

A fisherman looks away. A woman lowers her eyes. "Who repaired your wards?" He continues.. "Who guided ships home? Who risked her life pulling people from the sea?"

The questions strike harder than accusations, because everyone knows the answers.

Finn's jaw tightens. "The evidence is too convenient." The words hang in the air. Raw. Honest. True. A murmur spreads through the crowd.

The officer folds his arms. "You're letting emotion cloud your judgment."

Finn turns toward him. A smile appears.