Seeing Red

by Lyra Evans

  Seeing Red

  Lyra Evans

  Copyright © 2019 Lyra Evans

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Twitter: @WriterLyraEvans

  Cover design by designacover

  This book contains scenes of explicit BDSM sexual content, violence, and coarse language. Trigger warnings for discussions of sexual assault, dubious consent, edgeplay/needleplay, discussions of past physical and sexual abuse, and gore. The BDSM interactions are not necessarily healthy, and they are not necessarily meant to illustrate healthy BDSM relationships. No instances of sexual assault are described in detail. This book is not suitable for readers under 18 years of age.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter 1

  It was hot. Sweat beaded at the nape of his neck and streamed narrow paths down his back. It had been hours since the barrage had begun, and it showed no signs of letting up. He honestly wasn’t sure how much he had left in him.

  “Was this before or after, Detective Spruce?”

  Eyes momentarily shut against the harsh artificial light of the courtroom, Niko snapped back to attention at the mention of his name. He met the gaze of the Courtier who’d asked the question. Courtier Keilani Palm was a formidable woman with steel green hair—a colour slowly faded from its youthful leaf green by the decades she’d spent on the bench, he imagined. Her palm-bark brown face was lined like a topographical map of disappointment, and her deep brown eyes cut through Niko every time he looked at her. As though she knew, without him saying a word, that he’d missed the context of her question.

  “Pardon me, Your Honour, but before or after what?” Niko asked, feeling his tongue scraping at the back of his throat. He needed water but refused to reach for his glass again. He kept his face as impassive as possible, but it grew harder with every question.

  “Are the proceedings of this Court boring you, Detective?” another Courtier asked. Courtier Phoebe Linden was a bit younger than Palm, but she wore no less haughtiness in her gaze. Her parchment-white face bore no lines but for the tiniest whispers at the edges of her eyes. Her muted mauve hair was swept back in a clean and tidy twist that placed her diamond earrings on clear display. She had no use for diamonds, of course, being Fae, but they still functioned as status demarcation among non-Witches and non-Wizards.

  “Not at all, Your Honour, my apologies,” he said, forcing the grit in his teeth down. Linden was already determined against Niko’s cause; that much was clear. But disrespectful behaviour in the face of any of the Courtiers would not earn him any friends on the bench.

  “Did you and Mr. Sincloud decide to make use of Mr. Sincloud’s unique ability before or after Inmate Sade Hemlock made his threat of bodily harm to your person?” Palm asked more pointedly. Her sharp eyes were on Niko’s face, and his every instinct was to shift or squirm. He did not.

  “Objection, Your Honour. The use of the title ‘Inmate’ seems prejudicial when referring to my client,” the lawyer across the courtroom said before Niko could answer. Niko shut his eyes again to hide him rolling them.

  “Sade Hemlock is, in fact, an inmate at Sluagh Penitentiary at this time, is he not?” Courtier Siraj Cypress interrupted, staring over his reading spectacles at the lawyer. His tan skin was smooth, speckled only with the shadow of the day’s growth of his beard. His dark orange hair was cut sharply and styled without mercy. Nothing about him seemed yielding, but his eyes did have a syrupy colour that almost drew Niko in.

  “That is the duty of this Court to decide—” the lawyer began, but Cypress waved him off.

  “Oh, spare me the nonsense,” he said. “Was Sade Hemlock an inmate at Sluagh Penitentiary at the time of the alleged incident or not?”

  The lawyer stalled and frowned. “He was,” he said, finally. Niko swallowed his smirk. This was hardly a win for him.

  “Then my descriptor stands,” Courtier Palm said deadpanned, clearly unimpressed with the proceedings. “Detective Spruce, please answer the question. Unless you’ve lost the thread of the discussion again.”

  Niko bit back his frustration. He couldn’t lie to the Court. It didn’t look good, but surely this was a sham of a trial anyway. Surely. “Before, Your Honour.”

  Across the Court, Niko could feel Sade’s venomous gaze on him. Niko’s skin crawled, from the edge of his flexed jaw down to the base of his aching heels. He stood as still as possible, refusing to look over and satisfy Sade’s manipulative hunger. He’d been aching for Niko’s attention from the moment this idiotic hearing began, and Niko was not about to give it to him. But the feeling of Sade’s eyes on him, with these Courtiers and lawyers all taking this so fucking seriously, made Niko want to retch.

  Niko’s union-assigned representative, a lawyer named Photios Plane with seafoam hair and a too-expressive face, was grimacing next to him. Niko didn’t need to look at him to know that. He’d been grimacing uncomfortably since the start.

  “I see,” Courtier Palm said. Linden seemed satisfied, and Cypress appeared pensive.

  “You admit that you conspired with a foreign agent intent on undermining the justice system of Maeve’s Court in order to violate the rights of an incarcerated citizen of this Court,” Linden began, and Niko balled his fists behind the desk. “A citizen, not to mention, to whom you have a personal connection and troubling history?”

  “Your Honour,” Plane said, getting to his feet to finally do his job. “I hardly think it a fair assessment to characterize the abuse suffered by Detective Spruce at the hands of Mr. Hemlock to be a ‘troubling history.’ The inmate in question both physically and sexually assaulted Detective Spruce on numerous occasions, then, to top it off, he attempted to murder Detective Spruce when he was faced with arrest for his actions.”

  “The issues of the case for which Mr. Hemlock was incarcerated are not in question here,” Palm said. “We are only here to determine whether or not Detective Spruce and Mr. Sincloud knowingly operated outside of the law and intentionally violated the Crown-given rights of the inmate.”

  “I think that much is clear,” Linden said, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. The black robe she wore to mark her position on the bench seemed not to make her the least bit uncomfortable in the stifling heat of the courtroom. Niko rolled his neck slightly, wishing he could fan himself.

  “I’m not sure I agree,” Palm said. “Though the admission that they intended to use Mr. Sincloud’s ability on Inmate Hemlock from the beginning is, indeed, troubling.”

  “Troubling?” Linden snapped. “Spruce intentionally denied Mr. Hemlock his free will and bodily autonomy by use of magic. He also knowingly allowed a foreign agent with untold abilities to abuse a fellow Fae with the assumed approval of the po
lice department and, therefore, the Court itself. If that is not a violation of rights, I can’t imagine what is.”

  “There is no law prohibiting a consulting agent from another Court from utilizing their own natural abilities to aid in an investigation,” Cypress admitted, thinking it over.

  “The provision allowing non-Fae parties to apply magical abilities to support the investigation of a cooperating Maeve’s Court Police Department only extends to non-lethal circumstances, excluding circumstances that would cause severe bodily harm to the suspects in question,” Linden argued.

  “As Inmate Hemlock is still with us,” Palm said, gesturing to Sade sitting behind his table, his hands and feet still chained, “I think it safe to say it was a non-lethal circumstance. And as for severe bodily harm—”

  “Denying any individual the ability to control their own body and forcing it to cooperate physically with whatever the agent says—” Plane raised his hand to object, but Linden waved him off without stopping more than a moment. “Oh, forgive me, sings to them sounds absolutely detrimental to me. I can’t imagine you’d enjoy a Selkie waltzing out of the ocean one day and singing you to kill your neighbour, would you?”

  Palm rolled her eyes. “That is hardly comparable in this case.”

  “Isn’t it?” Cypress interjected, tapping a finger to his chin. “Mr. Hemlock signed a legally binding agreement that would provide him with something specific in return for his specific information. He was denied his side of the deal, but the information was extricated from him anyway. In a sense, one could argue Mr. Hemlock was forced to deny himself a chance at improving his circumstances and living conditions.”

  Niko thought his heart was going to burst straight out of his chest. Blood rushed to his ears. What was he hearing? What was going on here?

  “Law enforcement use deceptive techniques every day to coax testimony and confessions from suspects in order to solve cases. Those techniques are allowed under the law,” Plane supplied, rifling through his papers.

  “Taking control of someone’s body without their consent doesn’t really seem like appropriate or acceptable deception to me,” Linden snapped. “It is a frankly shocking abuse of authority and power on the part of a member of law enforcement. Imagine what other horrible abuses Spruce and Sincloud could have perpetrated on Hemlock—or anyone else for that matter—should they have deemed it necessary to the investigation? They could have ordered Hemlock to kill himself or someone else. They could have even ordered him to attack Spruce in the first place, thus voiding the legal agreement. For all we know, Sincloud could have ordered Vermillion Oak to attack him and Spruce, thus providing a compelling evidentiary claim for self-defense in his killing of—”

  “The facts of the Auction Case are not at issue here today,” Palm interrupted. “Both Detective Spruce and Mr. Sincloud have presented themselves before a full Court, presided over by the Queen herself, in order to defend their actions on that case, and they were found not guilty. We will not re-try that here.”

  “And how do we know Sincloud didn’t manage to control the entire Court to get himself off?” Linden asked.

  “Because Selkies can’t control more than one person at a time,” Niko snapped. “And they can’t make you do anything you don’t actually kind of already want to do.”

  “Mr. Plane,” Linden shot, ignoring Niko, “You will keep your client under control, or he will be spending the night in a cell for contempt of the Court.”

  “Yes, of course, Your Honour,” Plane said, a hand on Niko’s arm to urge him to control himself. Niko was ready to explode.

  “We still do not understand the full range of a Selkie’s ability,” Cypress said. “Though Detective Spruce claims to have witnessed and experienced some of the limits firsthand, we do not have any corroborating evidence to examine, I’m afraid. Unless you can produce Mr. Sincloud for a demonstration?”

  His gaze was pointed, his eyebrows arched high as though hopeful Niko would pull Cobalt out of his pocket at any moment as a surprise witness. Niko balled his fists more tightly, his nails digging shallow graves into his palms. Bile rose in his throat.

  “No,” Niko said through gritted teeth.

  “Do the MCPD even have a clue as to Mr. Sincloud’s current whereabouts?” Linden asked, smugness edging at her words.

  Niko swallowed his fury, a searing, scraping pain tearing at his chest. “We do not,” he answered.

  “And how long since you have lost contact with Mr. Sincloud?” Palm asked.

  Niko’s mouth pulled down at the edges, his eyes focusing on nothing at all in front of him. “Three months.”

  There was silence for a few moments; only the sound of pens scratching on paper punctured the stillness. The hollowness Niko had come to know well ached in him again. There was a space in his chest that simply would not feel full.

  “That is problematic,” Palm said. “And when was the last time anyone had contact with Mr. Sincloud?”

  Niko couldn’t answer that one. He couldn’t keep reliving those moments, now seeming all too brief, as he’d stood in the surf with Cobalt.

  “Uh, it appears the last Detective Spruce had contact with Mr. Sincloud was the day of his hearing before the full Court,” Plane answered, scanning his papers. “Just after Mr. Sincloud was absolved of guilt for the deaths of Mr. Vermillion Oak and Ms. Amber Frakes.”

  “So he got his freedom and skipped town,” Linden said. “And despite the efforts of the Court, Mr. Sincloud has not responded to any subpoenas for his presence here. That certainly seems suspicious, does it not?”

  Niko watched only Palm as she considered the evidence before her. “I’m afraid it does not look good,” she admitted, and Niko’s stomach dropped. “Detective Spruce, can you list any compelling reasons to uphold Mr. Hemlock’s imprisonment?”

  The sheer insanity of the question stymied Niko for a moment. Then, once his brain collected itself, time sped up. “Yes,” he said quickly, realizing he’d stood mute for too long. “Sade Hemlock is a violent and deviant offender. He is in prison for running a massive sex trafficking ring in which he’d abduct young people from the streets, have them raped and beaten—if he didn’t see to that himself—and then sell them to the highest bidder. When one of his victims became disobedient or too worn out, he would sell them to be murdered. He abused me personally, again and again, and attempted to kill me.”

  Linden nodded. “These are all crimes relating to the case that convicted him in the first place. But should the Court decide his rights were violated intentionally and considering his bodily autonomy was denied him, the argument has been made that he has been punished for those crimes in a cruel and unusual way. Is there any reason related to the incident in question today that should stop him being released?”

  Niko gaped. He could hear Sade laughing in his head, feel the heat of his breath on Niko’s neck. The scars that littered Niko’s body suddenly felt fresh and raw, throbbing with memories he thought he’d overcome.

  “He threatened me,” Niko said, his mind drawing at straws.

  “When?” Cypress asked.

  “That day,” Niko said, wracking his brain. “He said he’d be seeing me again. Promised me. Said he’d get back at me for it.”

  Sade’s lawyer was on his feet immediately. “The promise to see someone again hardly constitutes a threat, Your Honours. And I would argue that Detective Spruce being present today, literally seeing my client, is enough to satisfy that point. Further, any promise of retaliation for what was done to my client is moot. The fact that the Detective violated Mr. Hemlock’s rights in order to prompt the ‘threat’ means that it cannot be held against him in regards to a decision regarding the violation of his rights in the first place. If one had not occurred, neither would the other.”

  “Sit down, Mr. Elm, we can divine the effectiveness of the claim on our own, thank you,” Palm said.

  “If that’s the best argument you have, Detective, I think the Court is ready to adjourn t
o chambers to discuss this matter,” Linden said. The haughtiness of her position covered her face again, as though Niko was nothing more than a worm threatening the pristine bottom of her designer shoe.

  “He’s a fucking monster,” Niko snapped, unable to stop himself. “You let him out, he’ll go right back to what he was doing. You have to know that.”

  The three Courtiers seemed taken aback by Niko’s outburst, and Plane was on his feet, trying to urge Niko back toward the door of the courtroom. But Niko stared Linden down, then Palm, then Cypress in turn.

  “We do not, actually, know that,” Cypress said. “It is impossible to know what Mr. Hemlock might do should that be our decision.”

  Niko snorted and spat to the side, disgust overwhelming him. Plane managed to shove him backward, and Sade’s silent laughter filled Niko’s head.

  “Oh, it’s not impossible. Sade Hemlock doesn’t know anything but mutilation, abuse, and murder,” Niko said. “You let him out, and bodies will fall. And it’ll be on your hands.”

  ***

  Slamming the door behind him, Niko threw his keys toward the kitchen counter and stood heaving with fury in his apartment. The drive back to his place from the Court had done little to quell the torrent of anger, disbelief, and panic raging inside him. He just did not understand how this was happening. That the Courtiers were even considering Sade’s case was inconceivable to him, let alone that they seemed to genuinely be swayed by his ridiculous arguments. The sheer absurdity of the idea that Niko could have violated Sade, in any way at all, made Niko want to laugh and vomit at once.

  “Rough day?”

  Niko spun, his hand reaching for his weapon on instinct. His brain caught up with what was going on a split second before he pulled his gun on Starla. Heartbeat racing, Niko stared with what he was certain were crazed eyes at the former prostitute sitting on his couch. He hadn’t noticed her when he walked in, which was a testament to just how angry he’d been. Distracted.