very rarely made doors that didn’t have necessary guards. I guess Cassius and his staff were special enough to warrant the liberty to come and go as they pleased for this.
At the far end of the room were the Tribunal members in attendance, sitting in a long line, perched high up like a row of judges, and in a semi-arc around an empty circular opening, was the floor where criminals normally sat to plead their case. Chairs lined the walls and looked over the pathway to that spot.
There were a few reasons the Tribunal would meet in full—public trials, showcases of Tribunal power, and the force they had, a chance to witness the all mighty rule they claimed to be in the supernatural world. Those were very rare. I could count on one hand how many had happened in the last century, and I had only been to one of them.
Private trials were done under the cloak of secrecy, or more usually, indifference. Standard cases of this or that criminal behavior and a verdict needing to be passed, so the Executioners could go off and do their jobs after the Investigators finished theirs. I went to those. I flew to the closest permanent door to the Tribunal Chambers and sat in while people rambled on until a verdict was passed—capture, kill on sight, or innocent.
Finally, there were meetings like this one. Semi-formal, there would be no judgment passed on one person this day, only a decision made about a troubling situation. They had to mediate different parties to a sound resolution that couldn’t be ignored. Judgment by the Tribunal was always final. It wasn’t always perfect or right, but it was always final.
Which meant I only had one real chance to make my argument heard without pulling out my trump card to win this fight. I had to make a good first impression.
“Executioner Sahni, I’m sorry, but we’re—” Isaiah, the male vampire of the Tribunal, began.
“Sorry, I was told I needed to make a report, so here it is,” I said, walking further into the room. There was a man standing in the center circle, and I licked my lips, playing with my lip ring. Everyone on the Tribunal knew what I was doing. They all made it a point to know as much as they could about every species that agreed to their rule. Standing there was a fae, well dressed and somewhat older looking.
“Are you the CEO of Mygi Pharmaceuticals?” I asked, standing next to him.
“I am. You must be the nagini—”
“Good. You need to contact Mistress Imani of the Phoenix vampire nest some time tonight. Reparations are owed in the death of Carter Wilkenson, vampire of her nest and dear friend of mine. I’ll be doing so as well since his death also comes back on me.”
“Excuse me, do you know—”
“On a scale of one to ten of how important you think you are, I don’t give a fuck if you’re an eleven,” I snapped. “Your incompetence and the incompetence of your company has led to the death of a promising young vampire.”
“I and Mygi had nothing to do with—”
“A board member of your company went rogue and hired a vampire who went by the name of Sinclair. Notoriously dangerous, he stood in front of this Tribunal multiple times and was able to get away with several crimes, including murder. Now, you can bring the board member in front of the Tribunal, and he can answer, or you can just take a small hit to your finances and reputation.”
“Executioner Sahni, must you be like this every time you come into these chambers?” a woman asked, not sounding angry, more exasperated and unsurprised.
I looked up to smile at Alvina.
“How’s my favorite Tribunal member?” I asked sweetly.
“I’ve seen better days. Less busy days. Kaliya, we wrapped up a Trial less than a week ago. How have you found so much trouble in so little time?”
“I’m good at these things,” I said, shrugging nonchalantly.
“Can we get back to—” The Mygi CEO tried to cut in.
“Can someone tell him I’m more important than him?” I asked loudly, waiting for any of the Tribunal to step in.
“Brother,” Alvina purred. “This is Kaliya Sahni, Tribunal Executioner, nagini, and one of the two leaders of her species. When she comes onto the floor, we give her the respect she is due.”
“You like her,” the fae King muttered. I met the gaze of Cassius’s uncle. Alvina was his aunt, but she was nice, and I