"There will be silence in the court," the little woman screeches to a stunned audience.
Dracula stands, dusting himself off, and nods to her, showing a deference I've never seen in him. He stands quietly, holding his rage tightly around him like a cloak against the winter winds.
Liam climbs to his feet, backing away from Dracula, a sneer on his face. "I wasn't having an affair with Mary."
"Silence!" the woman screams. "Court is adjourned for fifteen minutes. Counselors, the judge will see you in his chambers. Only one from each side."
Moira follows the gnome towards the dragon, and Derek steps forward, telling us all to behave until he's back. His jaw is locked in anger.
Elijah has retreated to his book, Liam looks ready to murder everyone, and so it is left to me to reprimand Dracula himself. I stand and face him, eye to eye. "You need to chill your shit immediately. If this case wasn't already damned by their testimony, your outburst was surely the nail in the coffin. Unless you want to spend the rest of eternity underground, calm the hell down now."
His teeth elongate, and he eyes my neck like it will be his dinner, but I don't back away. “Calm. The. Hell. Down.”
Finally, Dracula nods. "You are right. This display has not helped us. I will save my anger for later.” And with a flourish of his cape, Dracula strides out of the courtroom without another word.
We follow him into the main hall and find a few benches tucked away in a corner, hoping for smidgen of privacy. Liam, Elijah, Sebastian, Lily and I sit on one bench. Dracula alone on the other.
“Let Liam explain,” I say to the Count, then glance at the red-haired vampire. For once, he almost looks grateful.
"I was her healer," Liam says calmly. "She was worried about the baby and didn't want to worry you, so she asked for my help. We were not having an affair, and I had no idea the baby wasn't yours."
The rage on Dracula's face evaporates into grief so deeply profound and heartrending I have to look away. The sobs shake his body as all the pain of this loss consumes him.
It's too much. No one moves to offer him comfort, so I do.
I take a seat by his side and put an arm around his broad shoulders. With a soft, soothing voice, I give him what solace I can. "The grief will destroy you if you let it," I say. "I know how hard this is, and I'm truly sorry for the loss you bear."
I ignore the brothers. I even ignore my own wariness about this man—this vampire. Instead, I connect with the part of him that is in all of us. The heart and soul, the pain and sorrow. In this we are the same.
In this, Dracula and I share the same unsealing wound.
When he looks up and into my eyes, there is new understanding there. We are now kindred, bound by pain, through pain. Bound in the darkness of grief.
Bound.
“Thank you,” he says softly.
I nod and step back, giving him space, and take a seat between Sebastian and Liam to discuss strategy. “That crystal looked awfully familiar,” I say.
Sebastian nods. “Indeed.” He motions to Lily. “Return to the castle. Check the safe.”
She nods and sprints away, disappearing down the hallway.
I lower my voice. “You don’t think the prosecution stole it, do you?”
Sebastian grits his teeth. “We shall see. But in my experience, the Van Helsings will do almost anything to punish Dracula. He caused much pain to their family, back in the days when we were not governed by laws.”
I look to the Count, but he says nothing, his eyes fixed on a fireplace crackling amongst the gray stone.
"If the baby wasn't Dracula's, then who was Mary involved with?" I ask aloud, though no one answers.
Dracula just clenches his fist.
Liam looks ready to set the building on fire.
Elijah and Sebastian have no more answers than I do.
Derek steps around the corner, looking drained of all life—even for the undead. "It's not good," he says, speaking to all of us. "If another outburst occurs, we will each be fined. Heavily. And…” he pauses, looking uneasy.
“And?” asks Sebastian. “Spit it out, brother.”
Derek takes a deep breath. “And for the remainder of the trial, due to his entanglement in the case, Liam isn’t allowed in the courtroom.”
“What?” roars the fire Druid. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Be that as it may,” says Derek coolly, “the judge believes things will proceed more…smoothly…if you are not present.”
Liam leaps to his feet, pacing next to the fireplace and sparking the flames with his fingers. “Fine. Go and protect this monster,” he says, gesturing to Dracula. “I took this case for Mary. And we don’t even know who actually killed her yet. So go. Go play lawyer. And while you do, I’ll be here focusing on what really matters. Finding the truth!”
He clenches his jaw, and the fire roars at his back, casting him in crimson light. Steam mixes with his breath.
“Perhaps,” Elijah says plainly, “if you had been honest with us from the start, we could have avoided this problem.”
“It wasn’t that simple,” hisses Liam.
“Listen,” I say, looking at everyone calmly. "We could argue all day, but that’s exactly what the prosecution wants. Dracula’s outburst set us back profoundly, as did the paternity test. We need a new plan. We need…” I swallow, this next part hard for me to say. "We need to discredit their expert witness. I have to take the stand, to testify to what Jerry did to me."
My words have the intended effect, and all their fury at each other seems forgotten.
"No!" Sebastian says roughly. "We aren't putting you through that.”
"We can find another way," Derek says.
Elijah shrugs. "If she's willing, I say we let her."
"You would say that," Liam spits. "All head and no heart."
I can see the wound his words create in Elijah, though I suspect no one else can. It's covered up so quickly.
"Then what do you suggest?" Elijah asks Liam, who has no response other than to glare and turn away.
"It's the only way," I say. "If you want to win. And…I can do this. I need to do this. And not just for the case."
One by one they seem to understand what I'm not saying. That this is my way of fighting what he did to me. This is my way of standing up for myself.
Each of them nods at me in turn.
Then Lily returns, breathless, her suit stained with sweat around the collar, pink hair disheveled. “The crystal wasn’t there,” she says between heavy gasps. “It’s gone.”
“Shit,” curses Sebastian. “How did they get past our security?”
“Perhaps they didn’t,” says Dracula, his voice defeated. “Perhaps the Van Helsings aren’t the only ones who wish to see me imprisoned.”
Liam’s eyes narrow at Elijah. “You,” says the fire Druid. “You gave them the crystal.” He sounds more shocked than angry.
“Why would I do such a thing?” Elijah asks, his voice cold and calculating. “What would be the reason?”
"Because you are no longer committed to our oath," Liam says. "You would rather see us lose, see us forever bound to Dracula, than find us released from our compulsion."
Elijah looks at me worriedly, then back at Liam. "It’s true that I have reservations about a plan we made so very long ago, under wildly different circumstances." He clenches his hands and frowns. "But I would never betray our firm. You must know that. It wasn't me."
Liam scoffs. “I’ve read your journals. Your misgivings.”
“Those were private—”
“You betray our oath.”
“Never.”
This isn't the first time I've heard them talk of oaths, and it makes my stomach cramp at what I suspect is their intention. But I need to know for sure. "What oath?" I ask through trembling lips.
Elijah looks to me, compassion in his eyes. "When we were cursed—"
"Shut the hell up, Elijah," Sebastian says, with a warning.
&nbs
p; "She deserves to know. Isn't this why she was hired? To help with the last piece?" Elijah casts a challenging gaze at each of his brothers, and an understanding passes between them. The passion in their eyes drifts away, replaced by a quiet resignation.
He looks back at me, his voice thin and morose. "When we were cursed, the power consumed us. Made us crazy. We lost ourselves in the excess of our gifts, in the excess of each element. It turned us cruel. Monstrous.”
Elijah looks away, gazing at the fire, his words far away. "There are many sins laid at our feet from those days. We set fire to homes, villages, cities. I cannot even count the innocents we killed.
"We couldn't contain our power. Earthquakes erupted wherever we went, uprooting trees that had lived thousands of years. Ravaging towns and collapsing mountains.
"We were the apocalypse incarnate. Flooding followed us, drowning anyone and anything in our path. Destroying livestock and farms. Killing wildlife and humans without discrimination."
Elijah nods in remembrance, his words full of sorrow. "And we brought the winds. They howled and shook the earth, blowing away homes and destroying whatever might be left. We tried to separate, as our collective power was too great, but we just spread our destruction farther. We tried living alone, as far from anyone as we could, but it was no use. We were too strong. Too out of control.”
"And so we made an oath," Derek says, cutting in. "A suicide pact. If we could not control the powers we had been cursed with, we would end our lives and spare those around us. But we are not easy to kill. Only a great power can kill one such as us. We had to create a perfect storm, using all the elements, to end our lives."
"And it almost worked," Sebastian says bitterly.
"But Dracula found you," I whisper.
They nod.
“I gave you control,” says the count. “I gave you life.”
Liam frowns. "You sucked our power away, leaving us shells of our former selves.” He holds his palm out and a single flame ignites on it, glowing. "This is all that's left of who I was."
I shake my head, confused. "But then… if vampirism solved your problem, why do you still want to end your lives?"
Sebastian looks over to me, his eyes heavy with too many lifetimes of grief.
They say nothing. But I think I understand.
Some sins are too much for anyone to bear. Some crimes too heinous to forget.
I understand.
But I don’t agree.
"So you plan to die when this trial is over?" I ask, my voice cracking. "And I'm supposed to help you somehow?"
“You’re supposed to help us win this case," Derek says, not making eye contact with me. “That is why Matilda’s magic chose you. Perhaps because of your relationship with Jerome, or perhaps because of some yet unknown reason, you are critical to the outcome of these proceedings. You will help us win. Then Dracula will free us from the sire bond, and we will handle the rest."
“The rest? As in killing yourselves?”
They stay quiet, avoiding my gaze.
"I won't do it," I say, standing up, my entire body shaking with fear and anger and sadness. “I won’t help you. If you lose this case, Dracula won't release you, and you won't be able to cause any harm to yourselves.”
Derek shakes his head, finally meeting my eyes with his own. "If we lose, Dracula will be tortured for all time. The sire bond will remain, and we will feel his pain as our own. We will go mad from an eternity of torment. No. Whatever your wishes, it will be done by midwinter.”
I look to the count, my eyes pleading.
“They are not wrong,” says Dracula.
“Please,” I beg. “Please. Even if we lose, don’t make them suffer.”
“Why not?” he says, staring at his own hands, his long sharp nails. “Have I not suffered? Have I not lost all I hold dear?” He closes his eyes, a single tear falling down his cheek. “Even so, it does not matter. If the sire bond remains, they will feel what I feel. And if I free them, then they will carry out their oath. As you can see, Miss Oliver, the Night Brothers have chosen their fate.”
There’s only one way then. We have to win the case. But before we do, I must convince the Night brothers to abandon their plan.
“It’s time we return to the courtroom,” I say simply, checking the giant copper clock at the end of the hall. I take the lead, my stride quick as the others lag behind. Someone walks up beside me, and I’m surprised to see Matilda, dressed in a green gown, beads in her hair, keeping pace with me. “I thought you were staying at the castle?” I ask.
She nods. “I was.”
“Then what changed?”
“I was needed here,” she says, a kindly smile on her face. Then her features turn grim. “You understand now, what my boys intend to do.”
"We have to stop them. You have to stop them. They'll listen to you," I say, firm determination in my voice.
"I have talked to them, and in most things, they do listen. But not in this. Their pain has been too great. Their losses too deep. They cannot fathom a life of eternal darkness. They've yet to see how light can still live within them, even if they cannot live within the light."
"In lumen et lumen," I whisper.
Matilda nods. "You are their light. You are the only person who can change their hearts in this matter. That's why the spell called to you above all others."
“Wait a second.” I raise an eyebrow. “Derek said the ad chose me to help win the case.”
The old woman waves her hand dismissively. “Oh, that is what they all think, yes. That is what I told them. But they are wrong, Eve Oliver. I made a spell to find the one who can save the Night brothers. The one who can remind them of who they truly are.” She winks mischievously and steps back, chatting with Lily.
Somehow, the woman’s words always manage to cheer me up, and I walk a bit straighter then. As I near the door to the courtroom, a man cuts me off, his brown trench coat old and rugged. Jerry. He wears a wolfish grin.
“How nice to see you again, Eve,” he says smoothly, as if we were old friends. “How have you been?”
His easy manner makes me boil with rage, but I keep my anger below the surface. “Better and better since I stopped going to therapy,” I say, crossing my arms,
“Glad I could help.”
I nod, my voice sincere. “You were a prime example of what not to do.”
A hint of a frown on his lips. Quickly gone. He gestures behind me. “I see the Night brothers have roped you into their little game. No doubt to tell lies about me. Come now, Eve, I thought you had more integrity than that. Tell me, what did they promise you?”
I shrug. “I don’t have to tell you anything.” And with that, I walk past him and into the courtroom.
The Wild
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
~ Maya Angelou
We all return to our seats, with the exception of Liam, who remains out in the hall. The other Night brothers crowd around me protectively.
“Are you alright?” Derek asks gently. His eyes shift to Jerry for a moment, then back at me. “I heard what he said.”
“I’m fine,” I say, though my gut is buzzing like angry bees. “And I don’t care about what he said.”
“He will never harm you again,” Derek says, sincerely.
“He will die if he tries,” adds Sebastian.
I can’t help but smile at their determination to keep me safe. “I’ll be okay. Don’t go losing your law license over me.”
“Our actions would be of a noble nature,” says Elijah. “Besides, it’s not as if we don’t know any lawyers to bail us out.”
We all chuckle lightly.
“I can sneak into Jerry’s house if you’d like,” whispers Lily. “Summon moths to eat through his clothing. Cause his garden to wither. Make his food go rotten.”
“Wouldn’
t that be nice,” I say, sarcastically.
She grins devilishly.
“Wait,” I add. “You know I was joking, right?”
“Right.” She winks.
Before I can say anything else, the judge returns, and the prosecution resumes their case.
They spend what feels like a thousand years parading witness after witness to talk about all the bad things Dracula has ever done.
It's…a lot.
And makes me sick to my stomach.
But just because he did all those things, doesn't mean he killed Mary and the baby.
The baby that wasn’t his.
Considering his outburst, I doubt he even knew the true paternity at the time of the murder.
When the prosecution finally closes their case, my palms are sweating and I'm close to having a panic attack.
I'll be the first witness Derek calls.
I will have to tell everyone in this courtroom the details of my abuse at Jerry's hands.
And pray it will be enough to discredit him.
When Derek makes his opening statement, he is mesmerizing. He owns the courtroom with his confidence and charisma, and I am pulled into his powerful presence.
To take my mind off what's to come, I pull out my sketchbook and begin to draw him in his element. Talking to the jury, making his case, explaining how this crime is too sloppy for the likes of Vlad Dracule.
I draw his eyes, full of intelligence and cunning, and the strong slope of his nose and jawline. The dimpled chin that deepens when he smiles. With shading I create the solidness of his body, the way he fills a space.
He says something funny and the jury laughs. They are putty in his hands. So am I.
And then it comes time for me to testify.
I take the stand with wobbly legs.
Jerry stays in the courtroom, watching. Studying me.
It's unnerving, and Derek lays a hand on mine as I pass him. "Just keep your eyes on me," he says.
I nod, swallowing through a dry mouth.
I Am the Wild (The Night Firm Book 1) Page 18