Page 75 of I Am the Wild
Shit. "No, the phone broke," I say.
"How convenient. One final question, Miss Oliver. Isn't it true you're making this up to help your new bosses with their case? That my brother actually broke up with you, and this is your attempt to get revenge for a broken heart?"
"No, that is not true at all," I say, my rage simmering. "Jerry abused his position as my therapist and abused me before I finally broke up with him just before my brother died. Then he continued to stalk me."
I'm shaking. Tears are streaming down my face. I can't breathe as I'm excused from the witness stand and rejoin the Nights at their table.
Sebastian takes my hand the moment I sit, squeezing it reassuringly. His face is hard, his jaw locked as he glares at Jerry and the other Van Helsings.
Derek now presents our case.
We debated about having Dracula testify, but decided against the idea. It could too easily turn against us. Or the count could have another outburst. Instead, Derek calls Liam to testify that he wasn't having an affair with Mary but was actually the doctor helping with her delivery. He calls Elal, the coroner, to testify that it might not have been a vampire who killed her. He calls Leonard to testify that the Dracules had a good marriage, that Dracula was excited about his baby and in love with Mary.
And then he pulls the arguments together. He talks about how this crime was too messy to have been orchestrated by the great Vlad Dracule. How the Van Helsings hold a grudge against the count going back centuries.
He is both persuasive and powerful in his presentation, but the jury doesn't look swayed. In fact, they seem to sneer at Dracula more and more. When the time comes to make a verdict, I suspect they will be driven by emotion rather than logic.
Derek wraps up his speech, and we receive a short five-minute break before closing arguments begin. Each side is allocated thirty minutes. Finally, the end is in sight. Though I dread it more and more. If we lose, and I don’t see how we won’t, Dracula and the Night brothers will suffer for all eternity.
The prosecution goes first. Moira summarizes the facts of the case, reaffirms Dracula’s cruel reputation, and replays the memory from the cat. She fast forwards to the relevant part of Liam’s shoes, and as she does, something catches my eye. Something I hadn’t notice before. As the feline scrambles up an ancient stone gargoyle, I see a speck in the distance, a crop of twigs in the abandoned cathedral opposite of Dracula’s manor. The image lasts less than a second, and the picture is a muddy blur, but I’m sure of what I saw. Someone else was nearby that day. Someone may have seen what happened.
“I need to check on something,” I say quickly, getting to my feet.
“Is something wrong?” Sebastian asks.
“No. It’s about the case. It might be nothing. Or it might help us.”
“I’ll come with you.” He starts to stand, but I gesture for him to stop.
“Stay here.” I look at all three brothers and Lily. “Work together on the closing argument. And…buy me time. Make a commotion if you need to. Liam will come with me.”
They each nod in unison, though they don’t look too happy as they return to their notes.
I rush out of the courtroom, in the most polite-yet-quick walk I can manage, and find Liam pacing by the fireplace. “What’s happened?” he asks, red-hair disheveled, as if he’s been running his hand through it over and over again. “Is the trial over?”
“Not yet.” I grab his hand and pull him toward the exit. “Come on.”
* * *
I've losttrack of how long it's been since the trial began. Since I was last outside. Since I had any sleep. At least a few days. And when I step out onto the stone square of the courthouse, a storm greets me. Winter has come in earnest, it seems, and brought with it all the pent-up energy of waiting for fall to end. The wind lashes at my face, causing my eyes to tear. Ice, thin and sharp, falls from the sky, beating across my skin. I wrap my arms around myself, shaking, my breath a fog before my eyes. Liam yanks off his cloak and throws it over my head like a hood, then pulls me close, shielding me with his figure. An unnatural warmth radiates from his body and the chill inside me fades away. Liam is so close, his scent overtakes me. Charcoal and wood and the feeling of coming home to a roaring fire. Other feelings begin to rise in me as well, but we don’t have time for those right now.
“Quickly,” I yell over the wind. “To the carriage. We need to get to the Broken Cathedral.”
Liam nods, leading me to a grand stable, fit for fifty horses, opposite the courthouse. Over the last three days, Lily took breaks from the trial to feed her steeds and take them out for rides. There are stable hands in service to the court who do that as well, she told me, but she prefers to do it herself.
Once in the stable, we’re offered some respite from the cold, but it doesn't last long. The smell of straw and manure fill my nose as Liam quickly finds our carriage and opens the door for me. I shake my head, pointing to the driver’s seat. “We need to be able to talk.”
He nods, and together we take Lily’s usual place behind the horses. A part of me wishes I had asked her to come with me, so I could sit cozy in the back with Liam, but when it comes to delaying the court with a distraction, I have more faith in Lily than anyone else. She’s not a lawyer. She doesn’t have as much to lose due to bad behavior. And from what I’ve heard, she’s good at mayhem.
I just hope all of this is worth it.
Liam yanks on the reins and we’re off, rushing down the cobbled streets of the Otherworld, the harsh winds piercing even the warm protection the fire Druid provides.
“What’s going on?” asks Liam. “What happened?”
“I…saw…something,” I say, teeth chattering, making my words stilted and broken. “In the memory. There…might be another witness. Someone who saw the truth. But I’ll need your help. I’ll need you…to catch them.”
* * *