laughed bitterly. “Ah yes, that’s good, show me how we’re alike. Perhaps that will earn you my sympathy, hmm?” Her twisted smile straightened into a hard, unforgiving line. “We are nothing alike, you and I.”
“My mother was half human. Is,” he corrected himself.
The senator’s eyes darkened with pain and anger. “Mentioning your mother won’t help your case, either. All that serves to do is remind me that her son is still alive.” She raised a single finger. “But that is something I have the power to change.”
He snorted and shook his head, the reality of his impending death loosening his tongue. “If you think she cares for a second what happens to me, you’re wrong. She’s probably one of your biggest supporters. Not that anyone outside the fae world knows what you really intend to accomplish with all those shell corporations and private interests.”
A spark lit in Pellimento’s gaze. He’d piqued her curiosity but with what? Knowing about her shell corporations? “Is that so? Your mother, who is half fae, isn’t your greatest fan?”
His mother. He almost laughed. His least favorite subject. But since he’d finally found a topic that got Pellimento off the matter of her dead son, he decided to answer. “No, she’s not. She hates my fae side. Put me on the streets when I was thirteen because she couldn’t deal with how fae I am. After that, I’d certainly have a reason to hate humans, but I don’t. When I took the job of Guardian, I knew it meant protecting all the citizens of this city, not just the fae. Not just the varcolai. All the citizens. Humans included.”
“And yet you continually blame the witches for my son’s death.”
Back to the topic he’d been trying to steer her away from. “Because they’re guilty. Giselle Vincent killed her own father.” He shook his head. “If you think I killed your son, who do you think is responsible for the other victims found floating in the witches’ pond?”
She smiled. “I would imagine you killed them as well.”
“What’s my motivation for all these killings?”
“They were all human.” She shrugged. “My people have worked it out.” She planted her elbow on the arm of the chair and pointed lazily to the camera over her shoulder. “Like I said, we’ve written your confession for you. You simply have to read it and all this will be over.”
“Except it won’t be over for me.”
“No, obviously not. I can’t let a killer free just because he confessed.” She laughed like that was the craziest idea she’d ever heard. “You’ll be executed. Publicly, of course. After the atrocities you’ve committed, I think the people deserve that, don’t you?”
His bones prickled with heat again and anger filled his body with the kind of heady need to act that left him almost mute. That need mixed with the recklessness he’d already been feeling and gave him his tongue again. He spoke slowly and distinctly, but schooled the anger out of his expression, instead pretending to be defeated by the inevitable. “Turn your camera on.”
Surprise and delight dancing over her features, Pellimento snapped her fingers. “Nguyen, you heard him.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The merc fussed with a few buttons, repositioning the camera slightly. “Good to go.”
She held her hand out. “The floor is yours, Mr. Robelais.”
He stared directly into the lens. “Senator Pellimento is a vile bigot and should be impeached before this city pays the price for her lunacy. Furthermore—”
“Sutter!” She shot to her feet, knocking her chair over. “You shut your mouth, fae.” She charged forward and slapped Augustine across the face.
He almost laughed at her feeble attempt to inflict pain. If he died here, which seemed more and more likely, maybe they’d find that footage. Or maybe they wouldn’t. Either way, he’d gotten to say what he’d felt. Almost. In case the camera was still rolling, he shouted, “Harlow, I love you.”
Pellimento slapped him again. “You dirty fae bastard.” She turned to Nguyen. “Did you get what I needed?”
He nodded. “I think so. You might want to review it.”
Sutter charged in.
She pointed at Augustine, lip trembling with barely controlled rage, and simply said, “Again.”
Harlow appeared in the hallway of the Pelcrum, exactly on the spot she’d left from. She ran into the war room. All the lieutenants were there plus three new fae. One of them, Nekai, she recognized. “Hey, Nekai. I was afraid the rest of you would be gone.” The other two she’d never seen before but guessed they were the pair Fenton had