Love Charms (76 page)

I turned away, not wanting to
look at the white-hot pain in her muddy eyes. Most of the humans in the Great
House were runaways and homeless…people who wouldn’t be missed. They were
slaves, treated like little more than cattle and walking blood banks and meat
for the supernatural that resided within the walls.

When Ana finally pulled away,
the woman staggered then scrambled back to the corner, holding a hand over the
gaping hole in her neck. It was a futile gesture because blood just oozed
through her fingers, creating a dark river on her pallid skin.

Our vampire host bared her
fangs, extending a hand to the woman. “Come with me, child. I’ll make it all
better.”

Ana pulled a handkerchief
from her sleeve and wiped her blood-soaked mouth.

We all just stood in front of
the table, trying to ignore the woman’s screams as she pleaded for her life. I
closed my eyes and attempted to steel myself, reminding myself that they were
doing her a favor. No slave brought to the Great House was granted freedom.
Their only escape was death.

“Eat, Accused,” Ana said
icily, presenting the table.

I jutted out my lip. “I don’t
have much of an appetite.”

Ana stroked her chin. “Are
you afraid, Accused? Terrified that your actions will cost your life?”

“No,” I shot angrily. “I just
have a problem with a monster judging me.”

In a blur of movement,
everything in the room changed. Her companion held Riley in one corner and a
cyclops held my mother. Ana had wrapped her claws around my neck, lifting me
from the ground. I saw nothing but stars – I felt nothing but pain
reverberating from the core of me.

“I could just end you now,”
Ana snarled. “You’d die with more dignity instead of in the Great Hall with my
brothers and sisters waiting with bated breath for your demise.”

I grimaced, scrambling for
oxygen as she tightened her grip. “What on earth does my Jacques see in you, necro?”
Her eyes glittered with hunger. “Maybe I should taste you and find out.”

“I wonder what The Watchers
would think if they knew their Prosecutor was harassing the Accused.”

The lack of oxygen to my
brain must have made me hallucinate…the voice was so warily familiar. It was a
voice I knew well. But he hated me. He wouldn’t come. Not for me.

Ana released her hold on my
neck and I fell to the floor, coughing and wheezing. When I looked up, I saw
him. It was Jack.

He stepped into the light,
his fangs bared as he gave Ana a look of sheer contempt. “Athanasia.”

“Jacques,” she said brightly.
“How nice of you to-”

“Save it,” he growled, his
muscular body rippling beneath his dark suit. “If you ever lay a finger on my
girlfriend again, I’ll stake you myself.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

He Loves Me

I followed Jack back into the
hallway, still touching my neck gingerly and reeling from the surprise of his
arrival. “What are you doing here?”

“I-” He tucked a midnight
strand behind my ear as he shook his head. “I love you, Jade. You drive me
insane and you can be quite insufferable. And we won’t even talk about how you
still reek of that damn were.” His lips curled into a reluctant smile. “But not
even the sun could keep me from your side tonight.”

I felt my heart flutter in my
chest as he brought his lips to mine, melting into me. For a moment, I wasn’t
in a tower in the Great House. There was nothing but that kiss and our love.

“Ahem,” Riley cleared his
throat.

Jack whirled around, his
shaggy golden hair framing a really pissed off expression. “Can I help you,
werewolf?”

“This is all sweet and what
not, but we have to go down to the Hall.” He flashed me an apologetic shrug.
“Sorry.”

“No, you’re not,” I said with
an eye roll.

Mom breezed from the dining
room, her face brightening when she saw Jack. “Lovely to see you, honey!”

He inclined his head then
turned to me, extending his hand. “I’ll be right beside you. Every step of the
way.”

I took his hand and followed
him down the winding stairs. I tried to ignore the dread that built in my
stomach, like some wild animal scratching for freedom.

I didn’t think Jack could
look past the Riley mistake to stand by me, but he’d proven me wrong. Now that
he was here, I realized that there’d been a spark of hope that he’d show up. In
spite of myself, I found that seed of hope blooming into optimism for the Trial
as well. Maybe everything would turn out alright after all.

We got out of the stone
tower, weaving through the crowd of spectators all gathering around the
entrance of the Great Hall where the trial would take place. I scanned the
multitude in awe. “There are hundreds of people. I’ve only seen the Great Hall
once before, but there’s no way all these people are going to fit in the
audience, right?”

Mom gestured at the fountains
scattered around the courtyard. “The water is enchanted,” she explained. “Those
who can’t afford the hefty price of an audience ticket can watch the
proceedings out here. For a modest fee, of course.”

“They sold tickets for my
trial?” I asked incredulously, weaving around two young fairies licking ice
cream cones.

“300 a seat,” Jack answered
glumly.

“Kids get a discount,” Riley
offered.

I shook my head with disgust.
“And to watch in the fountain?”

“Twenty bucks!” A chunky
creature with razor sharp teeth answered, all smiles. His skin was a purplish
gray with three sets of eyes regarding our party with interest. “You lovely
folks looking for a ticket?”

“No, we are not, troll,” Mom
snapped, ushering us away.

The troll said something in a
foreign tongue then hobbled off to sell more tickets.

We stopped at the entrance to
the Great Hall where a vampire was standing guard. “Tickets, please.”

“I’m the Accused,” I said
quietly. “And these three are my support.”

His violet eyes sparkled.
“May the gods be with you, love.”

There was something in his
voice that told me he was hoping for anything but.

Jack squeezed my hand as we
pushed our way inside. The first thing that popped into my mind was a cathedral
I’d gone to as a child. Stained glass windows covered the ceiling to the floor.
But instead of etchings of biblical figures, it told the story of The Watchers.
Each of the master races had a representative – a vampire, a werewolf, a
fairy, a troll, a demon, an angel, and a witch. Each race had a stained glass
window that represented their story.

The vampires’ window was
stained with blood and corpses. The werewolves’ window was defined by the
luminescent moon. The fairies’ was dominated by nature, and so on and so forth.

Human slaves stood at each
pew, ushering audience members to their seats. Our vampire host from earlier
breezed down the aisle, her face flushed, probably full of that poor woman’s
blood. “Follow me.”

As we walked down the aisle,
all eyes turned to face us.

“Just ignore them,” Jack said
firmly. “They don’t matter.”

“Right,” I said
unconvincingly. The pews were lined with row after row of creatures that were
hoping for a guilty verdict. The closer I got to the bench before the Great
Table, I found myself wondering, wasn’t I guilty? The lawyer met his end because
I came to see him to warn him about the ghost. The woman was found after I did
a summoning for her. Wouldn’t they both be alive if we’d never crossed paths?
Would I even be here if I minded my own business?

Don’t do this to yourself,
Jack thought at me. You’re a good person.

“Yeah,” I said aloud. “And my
goodness has landed me here.”

When we reached the front, I
glanced up at the Great Table, the Great Judges lined up like the last supper.
They all wore the same fine, ancient ceremonial robes, and they all had the
same pinched, annoyed look on their faces.

Our host eyed Jack, Mom, and
Riley. “The Accused’s support can be seated on the right, on the benches
provided. Only the Accused will sit before the Great Judges.”

Mom wrapped me in a bear hug,
squeezing me tight. When she pulled back, the tears she’d been holding back
broke free, streaming down her face. “It’ll be okay, baby. I promise.”

Riley was next. He came in
for a hug, but Jack snarled. He jutted out his hand instead. “I’m rooting for
you.”

“Thanks,” I said with a
reluctant smile. “Really.”

Jack was last and brought me
into his strong chest. I breathed him in – all his earthy undertones
mixed with aftershave. I wanted to brand his scent on my heart in case I never
smelled it again.

He took my face in his hands.
“You’ll be alright, Jade. I know it.”

My lips twitched. “I love
you, Jack.”

When he leaned in for a kiss,
our host let out a hiss of disgust. He planted a kiss as soft as a whisper then
nuzzled my cheek. “I love you too, Jade.”

I watched him slide onto the
bench beside my mother then turned to face The Watchers.

Athanasia sat demurely to my
left, flashing me a look that said she wanted to eat me alive. I didn’t have
time to shoot a look of my own because the Great Judge hobbled to the front.

Everyone rose to their feet
in a show of respect. The Great Judge was an old sage, as old as time itself.
Magic kept her looking like she was 90 or so, her body gnarled and wrinkled.
Her white hair hung in a single braid.

When she strutted past me, a chill
echoed across my skin like all the light had been ripped from the world.

Our host offered the Judge
her elbow and she took it, stepping up onto a stone podium. She rammed her
walking stick into the ground three times – one…two…three. After the
third tap, candles lining The Watchers’ table lit up and all the talking died
down.

“Year 2011, the fifth day of
the eight month,” the Judge crooned, her voice like sandpaper. “The Watchers
have convened to try Jade Catherine Murray, 21, a witch and necromancer, for
the crime of exposing the supernatural world through the unnatural death of two
humans.” She gazed at me. “How do you plead, Miss Murray?”

“N-not guilty.”

The Judge closed her eyes.
“Let it be known that the Accused has entered the plea not guilty.” She turned
to The Watchers’ table. “What say you for punishment if the witch is
convicted?”

The vampire, a sultry looking
man straight out of a Hollywood fantasy, licked his lush lips. “Antonio de
Laurentis. I say if the witch is guilty, she should be burned.”

A scruffy looking woman that
was built like a linebacker flipped her long, fiery red hair over her shoulder.
“Cassandra Renee Blake. Behead her, if she’s guilty.”

The fairy was next. She had
short, pixie cut hair and wide set violet eyes that narrowed when she scanned
me. “Delilah Rose Fallizc III. It would be a shame to turn such a beauty into
ash. Behead her.”

The troll pulled out a
handkerchief and sneezed, his grotesque face bored. “Igor Vallagrant. Fire.”

The demon and angel looked
normal enough. The demon’s features were aristocratic and attractive as his
lips curled into a smile. “Lucian DeMalfour. The knife.”

The angel’s dark skin was
almost translucent as she shook her head, like she thought the whole process
was brutal and archaic. “Caliope Mulvayne. If the girl is found guilty, death
by blade would be swift and more humane.”

The pagan picked at her
nails. She didn’t look a day over sixteen. “Qarth. Behead her. Whatever.”

My body quaked as the Judge
turned back to the front. “Five for death by beheading. Two for death by fire.
So it is done. If you are found guilty, Accused, your punishment is to be
carried out by beheading.”

A couple of whoops of delight
echoed around the room, but one look from the Judge silenced them.

“Let the trial begin,” she
thundered.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The Trial

The hall was silent except
for the click of Ana’s stilettos.

“Tell us about your paid
summonings that supposedly started all of this.”

I swallowed. “I was contacted
by Melissa Brooks. She contacted NACA because her husband’s will was scant and
she believed he left money to a mistress.”

Ana crossed her arms. “And
during the summoning, how did you learn the location of the money?”

I cast a glance to my right.
B stood there, his face as expressionless as stone.

“I just asked him some
questions. Standard procedure.”

Ana glanced over at B, then
back to me. “If I call a witness and they contradict what you just said-“

“I may have told him his
lawyer stole his money.”

The Judge’s eyes narrowed.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, Brontes, but aren’t necromancers forbidden from using
humans to control the dead?”

“That’s right, Judge.” B said
gravely. “But I don’t believe Jade was trying to-”

“That’s quite enough,
Brontes,” Ana said icily.

She turned back to me. “So
you involved a human in supernatural affairs.”

I raised an eyebrow. “We put
a commercial tantamount to the ‘Psychic Friends Network’ on broadcast
television. How is that not involving humans in supernatural affairs?”

Murmurs of agreement erupted
from behind me.

“Answer the question,
Accused.”

“Yes,” I sighed. “I involved
his lawyer by bringing him up during the summoning.”

“And then?”

I licked my chapped lips. “I
went to the lawyer to give him a NACA card.”

“And then you set a spell on
him, didn’t you?” Ana shot. “You wanted to shut him up and cover your tracks so
you put a Mark on the human…which led to his demise.”

“That’s not true!” I
insisted. “I only went to his office to help him.”

“And he ended up with a
wallet down his throat.”

I glanced back at the crowd,
reading the delight on their faces.

“And the woman?” Ana
continued.

I nodded. “Amy…she wanted a
summoning to communicate with her lover. I found out that she’d been murdered a
few days later.”

“Well, there you have it,”
Athanasia said plainly. “Two humans supernaturally murdered after crossing
paths with Miss Murray. I think it’s obvious. Her gifts have corrupted her mind
and she poses an insurmountable risk to the supernatural world.”

“And I’m standing in the way
of you and Jack’s living happily ever after,” I said under my breath.

Ana’s back went rigid, but it
was the Judge’s eyes that flashed.

“What did you say, Accused?”

“Nothing,” I said hoarsely.
“Nothing important.”

“You will repeat yourself,
child,” the Judge rumbled.

I glanced over at Jack, who
flashed me a supportive smile.

“Athanasia and I?” I said
slowly, raising my eyes to The Watchers. “We have a history.”

Murmurs flitted around the
room at my confession.

The Judge’s ire turned to
Ana. “Does she speak the truth?”

Ana pulled at her robe like
it was suddenly hot and uncomfortable. “I think ‘history’ is a slight
exaggeration.”

“That’s a lie!” I erupted.
“When you found out Jack and I were serious, you tried to lure me away from him
with Riley. And just a few hours ago, you were threatening to do The Watchers a
solid and end me.”

I got a measure of comfort
seeing The Watchers turn their attention to Ana. None of them looked enthused
that she’d tried to rob them of their rights as enforcers.

“The Accused is just trying
to use smoke and mirrors to distract you from the truth,” Ana said, her eyes
wild.

But the Judge was still
looking at Ana like she was something stuck on the bottom of her walking stick.
“Do you have a history with the Accused – yes or no?”

We were all riveted, watching
as the sleek vampire, usually the picture of poise and grace, was reduced to
two feet tall.

“Y-yes, but-”

“You are relieved, madam,”
the Judge commanded.

Ana’s mouth snapped shut as
she bowed then turned to the exit. She flashed me a look of hate then stomped
down the aisle, casting frigid glances at the audience.

The judge let out a weary
sigh that rattled my bones.

“We’ll postpone the trial
until the next full moon to give The Watchers time to find a suitable
replacement for Athanasia.”

The crowd erupted with
displeasure and I found that even I was booing. Now that I was here and
realized all it took to get me to build up the courage to come in the first
place, I couldn’t imagine going through all this again.

The Judge looked at me
curiously. “The accused does not wish to postpone judgment?”

I shook my head.

“Even though such
postponement would give you the opportunity to have a Measurer that holds no
bias toward you?”

I bit my lip as the room
quieted, the audience hoping I’d say yes.

I didn’t disappoint. “Yes,
Judge. I just…” The words caught in my throat. “I can’t do this again. If
you’re going to kill me for something I didn’t do, I’d rather you just get on
with it.”

The Judge recoiled like I’d
hit her. Mom always said my mouth would get me in trouble one day. But instead
of screeching, ‘Off with her head!’, she turned to The Watchers. “Are you
prepared to pass judgment on the guilt or innocence of Jade Catherine Murray?”

The Watchers exchanged
glances, then in unison said, “Aye.”

“How do you rule?”

The vampire gave me a smile
that made my blood run cold. “Guilty.”

The werewolf stretched her
arms above her head. “Not guilty.”

I did a silent fist pump.

The fairy ruffled her short,
spiky hair. “Guilty.” She looked me up and down like she wanted to eat me up.
“Sorry, beautiful.”

The troll crossed his arms,
his grotesque eyes rolling. “Not guilty.”

The angel flashed me a
supportive smile. “Not guilty.”

The demon let out a bitter
chuckle. “Guilty. Of course.”

The room was dead silent as
all eyes turned to the pagan goddess. She held my life in her tiny hands.

I closed my eyes and said one
last prayer. The goddess raked her fingers through her hair. “The necromancer
made some seriously bad judgment calls.” She narrowed her pitch black eyes.
“Involving a human in a necromancy and dating a vampire – questionable,
no doubt.” Her pause dragged on as she glanced around the room, making sure
everyone was hanging on every word. “But I know killers. Hell, I am a killer.”
She shrugged her thin shoulders. “Jade is no killer. A blind man could see
that.” She glanced at me and inclined her head. “Not guilty.”

The room erupted as the
audience leapt to their feet. I knew most of the yelps were ones of anger and
disappointment, but I didn’t care. I added my sobs of triumph to the chorus,
sinking to my knees.

“Not guilty!” I screamed as
Jack, Mom, and Riley rushed toward me. “Not guilty!”