Lissa, Christian, and Tasha sat down opposite the guardians. "Guardian Petrov," said Lissa, ignoring Hans's disapproval. "What are you doing here?"
Alberta gave Lissa a small smile but otherwise kept in professional guardian mode. "I was here for the funeral, and Guardian Croft decided he'd like an outside opinion for the investigation."
"As well as someone familiar with Hathaway and her, uh, associates," added Hans.
Hans was the kind of guy who got straight to the point. Usually, his attitude bothered me—that was my normal reaction to most authority figures—but I did respect the way he ran operations here. "This meeting was intended just for you, princess."
"We won't say a word," said Christian.
Lissa nodded and kept her face smooth and polite, even though there was a trembling in her voice. "I want to help . . . I"ve been so, I don't know. I'm so stunned about everything that's happened."
"I'm sure," said Hans, voice dry. "Where were you when the statues exploded?"
"With the funeral procession," she said. "I was part of the escort."
Steele had a pile of papers in front of him. "That's true. There are plenty of witnesses."
"Very convenient. What about afterward?" asked Hans. "Where did you go when the crowd panicked?"
"Back to the Council's building. That's where all the others were meeting up, and I thought it'd be safest." I couldn't see her face but could feel her trying to look cowed. "I was afraid when things started going crazy."
"We also have witnesses to support that," said Steele.
Hans drummed his fingers on the table. "Did you have any prior knowledge about any of this? The explosions? Hathaway's breakout?"
Lissa shook her head. "No! I had no clue. I didn't even know it was possible to get out of the cells. I thought there was too much security."
Hans ignored the dig on his operations. "You"ve got that bond thing, right? You didn't pick up anything through that?"
"I don't read her," explained Lissa. "She sees my thoughts but not the other way around."
"That," said Alberta, speaking up at last, "is true."
Hans didn't contradict her but still wasn't buying my friends" innocence. "You realize, if you"re caught concealing information—or aiding her—you'll face consequences almost as serious as hers. All of you. Royalty doesn't exempt you from treason."
Lissa lowered her gaze, as though his threat had frightened her. "I just can't believe . . . I just can't believe she'd do this. She was my friend. I thought I knew her. I didn't think she could do any of these things . . . I never thought she'd murder anyone." If not for the feelings in the bond, I might have taken offense. I knew the truth, though. She was acting, trying to distance herself from me. It was smart.
"Really? Because not long ago, you were swearing up and down that she was innocent," pointed out Hans.
Lissa looked back up and widened her eyes. "I thought she was! But then . . . then I heard about what she did to those guardians in the escape . . ." Her distress wasn't entirely faked this time. She still needed to act like she thought I was guilty, but the news of Meredith's condition had reached her—which truly had shocked her. That made two of us, but at least I now knew Meredith was okay.
Hans still looked skeptical at Lissa's change of heart but let it go. "What about Belikov? You swore he wasn't a Strigoi anymore, but obviously something went wrong there as well."
Christian stirred beside Lissa. As an advocate for Dimitri, Christian grew as irritated as us at the suspicions and accusations. Lissa spoke before Christian could say anything.
"He's not Strigoi!" Lissa's remorse over me vanished, her old, fierce defense of Dimitri kicking in. She hadn't expected this line of questioning about him. She'd been preparing herself to defend me and her alibi. Hans seemed pleased at the reaction and watched her closely.
"Then how do you explain his involvement?"
"It wasn't because he was Strigoi," said Lissa, forcing her control back. Her heart was pounding rapidly. "He changed back. There's no Strigoi left."
"But he attacked a number of guardians—on more than one occasion."
It looked like Tasha wanted to interrupt now and defend Dimitri as well, but she visibly bit her lip. It was remarkable. The Ozeras liked to speak their minds, not always tactfully.
"It wasn't because he was Strigoi," Lissa repeated. "And he didn't kill any of those guardians. Not one. Rose did what she did . . . well, I don't know why. She hated Tatiana, I guess. Everyone knew that. But Dimitri . . . I'm telling you, being Strigoi had nothing to do with this. He helped her because he used to be her teacher. He thought she was in trouble."
"That was pretty extreme for a teacher, particularly one who—before turning Strigoi—