Garden of Dreams and Desires - Kristen Painter Page 0,87

slip of paper in the pocket of Robert Pellimento’s shorts. It had this address on it.”

Augustine’s hand tightened on her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes at Grantham. “That means nothing. His mother could have given him that.”

Grantham’s brows quirked up. “Why would she have given him this address?”

“As a place to avoid?” But it sounded thin even as it left her mouth. “What about the fact that he died in that pond? That’s proof Augustine didn’t have anything to do with it. The water in Pellimento’s lungs is all the evidence you need.”

Grantham sighed. “That’s part of the problem. There is no water in his lungs. There’s no water in any of the victims’ lungs. It’s like they died somewhere else and were tossed into the pond postmortem.”

A chill sucked all remaining hope out of her. Augustine was going to be taken away from her and there was nothing she could do. She shook her head. “The spell killed them, not the pond. They didn’t drown in the water. Their souls were ripped from them by magic.”

Lally crossed herself and sank down on one of the couches. She looked up at Fenton. “Mr. Welch, there’s got to be something you can do.”

Fenton approached Grantham. “Surely we can work together on this. You know as well as I that these poor souls are dead because of the witches. Augustine had nothing to do with this. You were at Zara’s house. You saw the aftermath of that chaos spell with your own eyes.”

Grantham shook his head. “We may know the truth, but the senator doesn’t care. She’s pushing this hard. If I don’t take Augustine in, they’ll call SWAT to do it.” He sighed, his eyes heavy-lidded. “They’ll tear this house up. You don’t want that.”

“No, we don’t.” Augustine stepped forward. “I understand. You’re just doing your job.”

Fenton shoved his glasses back on his nose. “We’ll post bail immediately.”

Harlow’s heart ached like it was being clawed apart. “What? We’re just going to let him go like that?”

Fenton’s eyes held anger and pain. “We have no choice. This may be a Haven city but we are still ultimately subject to human law.” He turned back to Grantham. “Where are you taking him?”

“Orleans Parish Prison. Bail could take up to seventy-two hours.” He shrugged. “With the senator involved, it could move a lot faster. She’ll want him charged immediately.” He exhaled like the weight of the world pressed down on him. He shifted to look at Augustine. “You ready?”

“Can I have a minute?”

“Sure, but clock’s ticking. I’ll be in the foyer.”

Augustine didn’t wait until Grantham had left to pull Harlow into his arms and kiss her. “This is going to be all right. The man’s just doing his job. In the meantime, I need you”—he looked at Lally and Fenton, too—“all of you, to work on a solid defense.”

Fenton nodded. “We have a criminal defense attorney on retainer. I’ll get him there immediately.”

Augustine took Harlow’s shoulders and bent to look her in the eyes. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Human jail is a cakewalk. It’s not like I haven’t been there before, although it’s been a few years.”

“Just because you spent time in juvie doesn’t make this all right.” She clenched her hands so tightly they throbbed. “I will find a way to prove your innocence and take the senator down.”

“I know you will.” He kissed her forehead. “Sun’s up in a few hours. You should get a little sleep.”

She snorted. “I’m not about to sleep while you’re locked up.”

“Try. You’re going to need it.” He shrugged one shoulder. “As soon as I’m processed, that’s what I’ll be doing.”

Lally sniffed and wiped at her eyes. “I don’t like this one bit.” She stood and walked over to Augustine. “Imagine if Olivia knew.”

Augustine slanted his eyes at her. “Under no circumstances is she to know about this. You got it?”

Lally frowned but nodded. “I got it.”

Augustine hugged her. “I’ll be home soon. I promise. Right after Fenton bails me out.” He let her go and strode to the door like he was about to go meet a friend, not be booked for murder. He slid the library’s pocket doors back, gave them a little salute, then walked toward Grantham, hands out in front of him.

Harlow turned away. “I can’t watch this. It makes me want to kill someone.”

Fenton stood beside her, stiff with obvious anger. “In light of the current circumstances, perhaps another choice of words would be in order. But I know