Oath Sworn - K.N. Banet Page 0,105

hadn’t been so bad. The Tribunal put a call out for supernatural creatures to speak on my behalf. They didn’t need anyone to speak against me because my crimes were clear. They were looking for people who might help make my punishment more lenient.

Not like they really wanted to do that, but they were required to try. There were no executions without exhausting all other options.

Lani showed up to speak for me as fast as she could, arriving on day two. Heath and the pack spoke on my behalf every day, filling up entire days with recounts of my actions and behavior through the entire event.

Brin showed up, and strangely enough, the fae were hushed for him, letting him speak about my time at his motel. That had been nice. His family showed up as well, including his human wife—unheard of. No one stopped him, though.

But it was now the last day. It was my day to speak for myself.

I washed my face, staring at my reflection. The bruises were gone and most of my stitches were removed already. I was healing better, which was a blessing. My body had taken a beating, but I wouldn’t be limping into the chamber for the last day. My eyes were finally my human hazel again, too. I was finally able to pull back the werecat a couple of days after turning myself over to Harrison.

I got dressed, putting on the set outfit they left for me. There was a dress code for appearing in front of the Tribunal. My clothing was supplied to me before they showed up. It was a severe black suit, much like a lawyer would wear, but instead of pants, like any decent person would wear, they gave me a pencil skirt today.

How nice of them.

My guard was waiting for me in the little kitchenette of the hotel room, a sword strapped to his back. He was a vampire, one of the few I had met—all of them in the last week. “Time to go,” he said, gesturing to the door. “Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said softly, swallowing. Heath had promised me on day one that he wouldn’t let Carey come to this, but on day six, I had asked him to bring her on the last day. Just so I could see her and say goodbye. Tell her that meeting her and helping her family made me feel like a hero for a minute. A good person. She made my world a little less lonely. She deserved to know that.

It was a trip to get to the Tribunal. They were in the hotel, but not in the hotel. They rented out a room, then made a pocket dimension in it, the cheaters. It was a fae trick. The Tribunal’s meeting ground stood in the space between worlds, which was why the Tribunal members were willing to travel. They could have their special little room anywhere.

The vampire had to get a fae and a witch to open the door. I followed him in and was led to the front, to sit down where everyone could see me, like every day before. I sniffed the air, getting an idea for the crowd around me. There were a lot of species in attendance that I had never met before, but Hasan had taught me about. I was surprised to smell a naga, another rare species. Many of the smaller species didn’t hold positions on the Tribunal, but they agreed with the Laws over the centuries, knowing they were only meant to keep the peace between all of them. The Laws were the very things that kept nagas and kitsunes alive, both hunted down in their home lands nearly to extinction, much like werecats once were.

I sat down, sitting stiffly in front of the Tribunal. The room was too quiet, so I stared at the men and women in front of me without greeting them. I didn’t want to break the silence and draw any more attention than I already had.

The Tribunal itself was an amalgamation of the five species that grouped together to stop the war between werecats and werewolves. Two fae, two werewolves, two witches, two vampires…and there were supposed to be two werecats.

I knew there wouldn’t be. One of those seats belonged to Hasan. He claimed the other seat was the one for his missing mate, and none of the werecats around wanted to step up and take it. So the seats remained