I Am the Wild (The Night Firm #1)- Karpov Kinrade Page 0,70

been vetted for impartiality. The lawyers are stuck with who they get, unless there are no jurors from the defendant's race.

The courtroom is packed already with bystanders who want to see Dracula. It's more of a celebrity spotting than a court of law. The judge's seat is a huge stone platform big enough for a dragon. There is no ceiling, and yet the snow that is starting to fall more heavily outside doesn't enter the chamber. There's some kind of magical field that keeps out the weather but allows a view of the sky and the swirling colors of the Dragon's Breath. We take our place at stone tables and super uncomfortable stone benches. Derek explained to me that court cases here are different than in the mundane world. Here, there are breaks, but court isn't dismissed until the case is complete. Which means we could be here for days. And the accommodations are less than comfortable.

And I'm a human who actually needs a reasonable amount of sleep.

I glance at the prosecution and see two women and a man conferring with each other, their backs to me. One of them is familiar. She came to the house offering the plea. The Van Helsings.

I glance at the jury box and study the thirteen chosen to hear the case. Elijah explains that the three dwarvish-looking fellows with the craggy faces and long beards are druegar, from the diamond mines in the far north. The naga has the upper body of a woman – and a beautiful one at that – but the lower body of a monstrous python, and next to her, in a special tank to accommodate their aquatic nature, are a pair of selkies that the average person would have a hard time differentiating from a couple of seals. I ignore the others and ask the question that's been on my mind since entering the room. "How many vampires do we have?" I ask.

Derek glances over. "Three. That could be to our favor, or not. Dracula has a mixed reputation amongst our kind."

Speak of the devil, Dracula enters the courtroom and everyone falls silent as he makes his way to us, his black cape flowing behind him like a macabre wedding train.

"Cutting it rather close, aren't you?" Liam hisses, as Dracula takes a seat at our table.

"I am here. That is what matters."

"Where have you been? We could have used your help in preparing your defense," Sebastian says.

Dracula glares at the Night brother. "I had business to attend. I trust you made do in my absence."

A very tiny woman comes out of what looks like a hole in one of the walls. She's so small she could fit in the palm of my hand. She must use some kind of magic to amplify her voice, because when she talks, it fills the whole room.

"Hear ye, hear ye. Judge Dath’Racul residing. Court is in session in the matter of the Otherworld vs. Vlad Dracule on two counts of murder, two counts of unlawful draining of blood, and two counts of violating the Non-Violent Vampire Act."

With that, there is a great whooshing sound and the air around us is whipped into a frenzy as a huge red dragon descends from the sky and into the chamber, wings spanning the length of the space as he lands upon the platform, his giant claws digging into the stone as he does.

I gasp and clutch at Sebastian's arm. It's one thing to imagine a dragon, it's quite another to see one up close and in person. His scales shimmer like gemstones and his large ebony eyes scan the courtroom.

"Rise," the dragon says with a deep, thunderous voice, a puff of fire spurting from his nose.

We rise, my legs still wobbly from being in the presence of an actual freaking dragon!

"Who stands for the defendant?" the dragon asks.

"The Night Firm," Derek says.

The judge nods his giant head. "And who stands for the Otherworld?"

"The Van Helsings," one of the women says. "Moira, Anna and Able."

"Very well, begin with your opening arguments."

The Van Helsing woman steps forward, and the tiny woman who is now seated at the side of the dragon waves her hand and an iridescent cloud appears above us. When the prosecutor speaks, her voice is also amplified.

"Your Greatness, we intend to show that Vlad Dracule, also known as Dracula, has a history of violent and bloody crimes against others. That he was abusive to his wife, and when he found out she was having an