Ani’s smile was a bit sad. “I guess I should have seen this coming. I’m happy for you, but I’ll miss you.”
“Hey, we haven’t talked yet.”
“It’s only a question of time, though, and you know it.”
“I can shimmer to the mansion any time you need me, and I’m sure you’ll be welcome in Morin’s house.”
“I know. It just won’t be the same thing.”
Nysys understood what his friend was saying, but there was nothing he could do. “We’re... growing up, I guess. It’s time I leave the nest.”
“What are you going to do with your tribe?”
Nysys frowned before realizing Ani was talking about his friends, not his birth tribe. “I never really was the leader, you know that. They’ll be fine with you. Maybe you could become the leader.”
“Please, no. I already have more than enough authority to deal with being the alpha mate. I don’t want any more of it.”
Nysys wasn’t about to tell his friend he was thinking of stepping down from his council seat. He knew Ani might have to take his place, even if he obviously didn’t want it. Nysys just couldn’t think of anyone else, though, except maybe Finn.
Finn had become so much stronger since Nysys had met him, and not only physically. He trained with the enforcers and was fiercely protective of his friends and his family. He wouldn’t be a bad choice, either. Nysys had to deal with Morin’s situation first, though, and he couldn’t wait for it to be over. “Hey, did you guys find anything about the killer?”
“We think so, but Dominic wants to wait until after the trial to tell you. Too many people around right now.”
Nysys nodded. An arm slid around his waist and Ani rested his head against his shoulder. “I’m sorry you’re moving.”
Nysys smiled and kissed his friend’s temple. “Me too, but I need to do it.”
“I know.”
“Should we be jealous?” a voice asked from behind them. Nysys smiled because he recognized Dominic, and that meant Morin had to be there, too. He gently dislodged Ani and turned.
“Nope. We’re just friends, and we haven’t seen each other for a month. That’s all.” Nysys searched Morin’s face for clues as to what happened with his father. It wasn’t hard to guess, actually, but he didn’t like to assume.
He stepped forward and hugged his mate. “How’d it go?”
“About as well as I thought it would.”
“Which means bad?”
“Pretty much. My father really wasn’t happy about me selling the company.”
“You knew that would happen.”
“Yes. It doesn’t make it easier, though.”
“I know. I’m so sorry.”
Morin sighed heavily and tightened the hold he had on Nysys. “Thank you. You’re making it a bit easier.”
“I do what I can.”
“Are you ready to start?” Dominic asked from their side. As much as Nysys wanted to say no and shimmer his mate far away, he did the opposite.
“Yeah. Waiting won’t make it easier.”
“All right.” Dominic clasped his hand on Morin’s shoulder and squeezed before letting go. “Good morning everyone. If you could please take a seat, I think we’re ready to begin.”
Everyone started to shuffle toward the huge table in the middle of the room. One side of the table held only one chair, making obvious they had to sit on the other side of it. Nysys made sure he found two seats not in front of the lone chair, but rather to its left, and tugged Morin to sit down. He smiled at Ani when the man passed by him to sit in a chair against the wall behind the table. He wasn’t officially part of the council, even if he was present.
Keenan waved at Nysys from the other side of the table and Nysys waved back before taking Morin’s hand under the table.
Jared walked around the table and handed everyone a folder filled with pictures and documents before sitting next to his mate. Nysys didn’t have to look in the folder. He already knew what was in there, he’d already seen it, and he didn’t want to see it again. He still had nightmares about some of the stuff Morin’s father had done
“You all know why we’re here, and you all have already seen this,” Dominic said as he pressed a hand on top of his folder. “For those who don’t know him, Morin Glass is here to witness his father’s trial. He’s firmly on our side.”
Everyone looked their way and Nysys wanted to hide under the desk. He watched as Morin held his head high and nodded. “I already told Dominic about what I found when I took over after my father. I’m still working on taking apart the illegal part of the company, but I’m having problems dealing with the board of directors. I’m still planning on selling the company once that part is gone, though, and I’ve put funds aside to help the survivors. Some of them have already received the money. I... I just want to add that I’m very sorry for what my father did. I didn’t know about it.”
“You can ask all the questions you want to Morin once this is over and done with. Keep in mind that it’s his father we’re putting on trial, not him,” Dominic added.
Most people at the table nodded and some smiled their way.
“Is everyone ready to begin?”
Nysys nodded along with everyone else and Dominic gave Keenan one nod. Keenan nodded back and got to the door. He stuck his head outside and talked to someone before going back to his seat.
Everyone looked at the door and waited.
* * * *
Morin’s gaze was fixed on the door as he waited for it to open and for his father to walk through it. Nysys was still holding his hand, and Morin briefly wondered how he’d have felt if he hadn’t found the incredible man who was by his side. Would he have been even more nervous, more anxious about what was about to happen?
It didn’t matter. He’d found Nysys, or rather Nysys had found him, and he wasn’t letting go.
The door opened and a guard entered, immediately followed by Morin’s father. The man managed to look regal even in his prison uniform. He held his head high, his back was ramrod straight, and he looked at everyone as if they were inferior. Morin saw his father’s gaze flick over him, but he didn’t give any clue he felt anything about Morin’s presence.
“Mr. Glass, you can sit down,” Dominic said, and where his father acted as if he was superior, it took only Dominic’s voice for him to really be so. It held a power no one could deny, not even Rayford Glass.
The door closed and was locked from the outside. Morin’s father sat in front of them without giving any indications he was intimidated or even scared for his future.
“Mr. Glass, you know why you’re here.”
“I know you expect me to believe this is actually going to be a fair trial.” Morin’s father snorted. “I’m not even sure I can call this a trial. You’re not human, none of you are. You don’t have the authority to put me on trial.”
“We do. You might not recognize our authority to do that, but we have it. We represent every paranormal species. Some of them are not present here today, but we do represent them.”
“And what about the human species? I don’t see my own race represented here.”
“I’m as human as you are, dad,” Morin pointed out.
His father’s eyes blazed when he looked his way. “You’re not a good example of human if you’re doing nothing to help me out of this. You’re placing my future and my company into the hands of animals.”
Morin heard someone round the table growl, but he couldn’t pinpoint where the sound came from. Not that he cared. He just hoped he wouldn’t see his father die in front of his eyes, ripped apart by an angry shifter. “How can you even say you’re more human than them after what you did?”
Morin freed his hand from Nysys’ hold and opened the folder in front of him. He took one photograph out at a time and threw it to his father. “You had this man’s legs amputated. This woman got pregnant because you wanted to see if she could with someo
ne who wasn’t her mate. She was raped. This—” Morin choked at the sight of the picture, “This boy will have to live with scars for his entire life. He was only five when you took him. Who’s the animal here, dad?”
Morin’s father didn’t even look at the pictures on the table. His eyes were on Morin instead, looking at him critically. When he opened his mouth, there were no words of sorrow or even only penance for what he’d done. “Someone needed to do it. I used animals to help the human race. We found a way to help heal cancer thanks to shifters cells. It’s not perfect yet, but we did it. What are you going to do with that knowledge, Morin? Are you going to throw everything away?”
“No. The council is going to use it to help people, humans and shifters alike. You might have thought you were doing the right thing, but you weren’t, not at the cost of all those lives.”
“They’re not human. Why should I care?”
Morin wanted to punch the sneer right off his father’s face. “What about the humans you used? What do you have to say about that? About them? You ruined more than one human life.”
“It was necessary.”
“It wasn’t! You used them because you needed to create some kind of super soldier to sell and make money. You can hide yourself behind all the fake noble motives you want, dad, but we both know you did all this for one reason, only one. You wanted money and power. They’re never enough for you, and you don’t care who you have to hurt and trample to obtain them.”
“How would you know about power? You’ve never had it.”
“I don’t need it, especially not at the price you paid for it. Neither do I want it.”
“Are you so sure of that? Why are you on this council, then?”
“He’s here to represent the human race. He doesn’t get power for doing that, just responsibilities,” one of the council members said. Morin didn’t remember the man’s name, and he didn’t care. They were counting on the fact that he would accept the lie for now, and he would. Until his father paid for what he’d done. Then he’d go back to New York and hide in his apartment for a while.
Morin’s father scoffed. “Please. You can’t tell me this doesn’t bring any of you power.”
“Even if it did,” a blonde with an accent said, “this is not why we’re here.”
Morin honestly didn’t remember the name of most of the people around the table, and at the moment he didn’t care. He wanted this to be over with as soon as possible.
“All right. Mr. Glass, do you have anything to say to defend yourself?” Dominic asked.
Morin’s father raised his chin even higher and looked around the table with superiority. “Only that animals shouldn’t be allowed to try humans and decide their futures.”
Morin sighed. He’d hoped his father would realize what he was going against and have at least enough self-preservation to keep his opinions to himself. Not that he thought his father’s opinions would influence the results—he’d done too much anyway.
The next two hours were spent listening to Jared, the pride’s doctor, as he told them about the follow-ups he’d done with the survivors. Morin didn’t want to believe his father had really done everything he was accused of, but he’d seen the proof. He’d found the notes, the documents, the results. Everything. He couldn’t deny his father was an evil man, not anymore.
“Mr. Glass, the guard will accompany you back to your cell. You’ll come back here to hear what we have to say about your sentence.”
The room was silent until the door closed behind Morin’s father. As soon as it had, noise exploded and everyone started talking at once. Morin wanted to disappear, but since he couldn’t, he did the next best thing—he turned to Nysys and hauled him over the armrests of both their chairs and into his lap. Once Nysys was there, Morin buried his face into the crook of his neck and breathed deeply.
“Are you okay?” Nysys asked in a whisper.
Morin didn’t know how to answer that question, so he ignored it and hoped Nysys would understand. “They’re not going to make me decide with them, are they?”
“No, and I won’t be deciding, either.”
“Why not?” a voice asked from their side. Nysys nearly completely turned around in Morin’s lap and faced a smallish man.
“Because Morin is my mate, and I can’t play a part in his father’s sentence.”
“You’re taking the easy way out.”
Morin’s hold on Nysys’ waist tightened, but Nysys put a calming hand on his arm.
Ignore him. He’s an idiot.
Morin’s eyes widened. “What the fuck?”
Half the room turned to look at him, but he kept his eyes on Nysys. “Did you forget to tell me something?”
Nysys gave him a sheepish glance. “Ah, maybe?”
“Is it normal, at least?”
“Yeah, for Nix and their mates it is, don’t worry.”
“Are you ignoring me?” the guy who’d basically accused Nysys of not caring asked.
Nysys turned to him again. “Yeah, I am. As you can see I have more important things to deal with at the moment than your inflated ego. Why don’t you go bug someone else?”
The man rose from his chair and Morin got ready to defend Nysys, but a hand on the guy’s shoulder stopped him. “Now, Quincy, I know we’re all on edge, but you shouldn’t take your frustration at one man out on his son or on Nysys. He’s right, he can’t be considered objective about this, and he shouldn’t be. We’re talking about his mate’s father.”
The man called Quincy grimaced, but he sat back down without complaining. He did shoot Morin and Nysys a hard glance, but Morin couldn’t have cared less.
“Thanks, Kam.”
“Don’t worry about it. Congrats for your mating, although I’m sorry about this.”
“It’s okay. We understand the need for it.”
Morin let Nysys talk for him. He didn’t think he had the strength to say anything more than what he’d already said, so he sat back in his chair and waited for the people around him to decide what would happen to his father.
Chapter Six
Nysys was exhausted, yet he was still there in the council’s jail, waiting for the other members to make a decision. He wanted to take Morin away because no one deserved to hear how their father should be killed or tortured. Some of the members had a chip on their shoulders, and while Nysys could understand why, it didn’t mean he approved of what they thought should be the penalty for what Rayford Glass had done.
He stayed quiet, his hand around Morin’s, at least until he heard someone describe just how they would torture Rayford Glass with precise details. That was the last straw as far as he was concerned. He smiled at his now pale mate and gently disentangled their hands, then he stood up. No one noticed.
“Shut up!”
The noise continued just like before. The only people who had noticed him were Dominic, Ani and Keenan, and Dominic nodded at Nysys before standing too.
“Everyone shut their mouths, right now!”
The last part of the sentence sounded more like a growl than words, but it had the desired effect. Silence fell on the room and everyone looked at Dominic. The lion shifter was obviously angered, and no one wanted to have to deal with an angry lion alpha. Dominic sat back down and Nysys followed his example.
“We all know Rayford Glass has to be punished, but we have to do this the right way, not like the animals he thinks we are. We can’t go the eye for an eye way—it would make us little better than him and his scientists.”
“Oh, so we should let him go?” Quincy snarled from Nysys’ side. Nysys wanted to punch the man so much he actually fisted his hand, even though he kept it in his lap. The eagle shifter wasn’t usually so biased, but this trial was having a bad effect on all of them. He just showed it more than the others.
“I didn’t say that,” Dominic said in a calm voice. “We have to punish him, and while he’d probably be sentenced to death by the human l
aws, I feel we shouldn’t do that. We’re trying to build a united paranormal world, and it shouldn’t be built on killing.”
“What do you propose?” Celina asked.
“Life sentence. He’ll stay here until he dies.”
“Right. Let’s give him food and a roof over his head after he tortured and killed hundreds of people,” Quincy spat. “We’re shifters. We don’t mind dealing with death.”
“Don’t you think that’s one of the problems we’re trying to solve? That no one should have the right to choose if another living being should live or die?”
Quincy hesitated. He obviously wanted to push for the death of Morin’s father. “How is having him here punishment?”
“He won’t ever step outside this building ever again.”
“That’s not enough.”
“It is for human justice.”
“No. They kill serial killers like Glass.”
“This is becoming a debate on the death sentence, and I don’t think anyone wants to go there,” the demon council member pointed out. Several people around the table nodded as she continued, “We should put it to vote.”
“Let’s do it,” Dominic said. “Who’s in favor of the death sentence?”
Nysys held his breath and counted the hands that had risen. Quincy was one of them, of course, but he was surprised to see that Neil Andrews agreed with Quincy, as did Celina. Still, their hands were only three, and Nysys could do the math.
“Who’s in favor of a life sentence here?”
The three hands fell and others rose. Nysys kept out of it, but he counted seven hands up. He wasn’t sure whether he felt relieved at the thought that his mate wouldn’t completely lose his father or bitter that Rayford Glass wasn’t getting a hard enough punishment. That was the reason he hadn’t voted, and he didn’t regret that decision.
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