I Am the Wild (The Night Firm #1)- Karpov Kinrade Page 0,71

affair, he killed her and her child in a most brutal fashion."

Derek stiffens and the brothers look at each other.

Dracula's eyes narrow. His nails scrape at the stone bench, leaving grooves in their wake.

I lean in toward the Count, speaking softly. "They’ll need proof of an affair. Otherwise, it’s just speculation.”

He nods. His hands clenched.

Moira calls her first witness. "We call Lilith to the stand," she says.

The courtroom door opens and Lilith walks in like a celebrity on the red carpet. Her dress is white silk and has a long train that trails behind her. She looks like a bride, innocent and virginal. Dracula stiffens, his eyes glued to her.

Liam hisses. "I thought she wasn’t going to testify for them?"

Lilith catches my gaze and winks, and I put a steadying hand on Liam's arm. "I don't think she is," I whisper.

Lilith takes the stand and the tiny woman next to the dragon brings a giant book for Lilith to swear on.

"Who is that woman, and what is that book?" I whisper to Sebastian.

"She is a gnome and is the right hand of Judge Dath’Racul. And the book is an ancient book of magic that is said to hold the secrets of the dead. Everyone swears on it when testifying."

"What is your relationship to the defendant?" Moira asks Lilith.

"I am his sire, and he was my husband for several hundred years," she says, with a bell-like voice that carries through the courtroom.

"And how would you describe your relationship to Dracula when you were married?" Moira asks.

Our entire table holds our collective breath as we wait to see what her answer will be.

"We were as close as two people could be. It was the happiest time of my existence." There's a sad melancholy to her voice and I know this is her truth.

Moira frowns. "Would you describe Mr. Dracule as violent?"

"Objection, Your Honor," Derek says, standing. "Leading the witness."

"Ms. Van Helsing, you know better," the judge says.

"I'll rephrase," she says, turning back to Lilith. "How many people has Vlad killed?"

"I couldn't say. You'd have to ask him."

Moira looks frustrated. "How many did he kill while you were married?"

Lilith's lips twitch. "Again, I couldn't say. I wasn't his keeper. We were equals. Partners."

"How would you describe his temperament?" Moira asks.

"Intriguing, brilliant, thoughtful," she says.

Moira sighs and looks to the judge. "Your Honor, permission to treat Lilith as a hostile witness."

"Granted," the dragon says.

Moira looks back to Lilith, her eyes hard. "Isn't it true that you've claimed Vlad was abusive and volatile?"

"He was never abusive," Lilith says. "And I found him more calculating than volatile. Vlad never let his temper get the best of him."

The rest of her testimony is more of the same. She paints her ex in the best possible light, explaining that they only separated so Dracula could fulfill his desire to have a child.

When Derek stands to cross-examine Lilith, he asks only one question. "Based on what you know of Vlad, do you think he's capable of killing his wife and child?"

"Not in the least," Lilith says. "He wanted a child more than anything. He would never have harmed Mary or their baby."

The testimony went better for us than expected and the prosecution doesn't look happy.

Moira looks through her notes, then speaks. "We call Jerome Van Helsing to the stand."

Derek stands. "Objection, your honor, this witness is not on the list provided to us."

"Your honor, new evidence only recently came to light. Jerome is being called as an expert witness to testify to the defendant's frame of mind surrounding this new information."

"I will allow it," the dragon says.

The courtroom doors open and I turn, studying the man called Jerome Van Helsing.

My blood runs cold.

My hands tremble.

My breathing becomes rapid. My vision blurs with the burning of tears.

I'm sitting between Sebastian and Derek, and both of them notice my body tense and shake.

"What is it?" Sebastian asks, his lip glancing against my ear.

“It’s him,” I say. “It’s Jerry. My ex.”

The Pain

Submit to you—

is that what you advise?

The way the ripples do

whenever ill winds arise?

~ Ono no Komachi, loose translation by Michael R. Burch

“How?” asks Derek, eyes wide.

I shake my head, a rising panic flooding my senses. “I don’t know. But that’s Jerry.”

I would know him anywhere. The dark eyes and black hair that's always perfectly coifed. The long, brown coat he always wears. The cruel glint in his eyes.

Sebastian curses under his breath. “I heard he had a practice in the mundane world, but I never imagined the two of you