the podium where the judges watch us from their vantage point. While none look especially disturbed, the one in the middle, Lord Marius frowns slightly, his eyes fixed on something in front of him and not on Julian at all.
Victor Hesse paces farther away from Julian, back toward his table. “So, you’re saying, when you and Ms. Pond left the battle, Domnall was still alive?”
“Domnall mentioned celebrating the battle, but I was tired, and there were still a lot of magical items for him to devour in the room. It would have taken him hours to suck the magic out of each one.” Julian lifts his brows. “Maybe the place has security cameras that can show what happened after we left?”
“All the footage for that week was corrupted. Otherwise, we’d already have proof of what happened.” He stops at his table and lifts a folder from his briefcase. “How long did you stay with Ms. Pond after you left the scene of the battle, Mr. Poe?”
Julian hesitates for a moment. “We parted ways directly after.”
Victor Hesse pauses before slowly setting the folder down and turning to Julian. “Where did you go?”
Again, he hesitates. “To a bar on Main Street.”
Turning slowly, Victor Hesse faces Julian. “But didn’t you just say you were too tired to go out and celebrate?”
“I expended a lot of energy and needed to feed.”
“Why not just go to Dreamland?” Victor Hesse presses.
“Feeding in person gives me warm bodies to use as pillows when I’m done and breakfast in the morning.” Julian looks up at the judges. “Is how I feed under question now?”
Lord Marius’s attention shifts back to the room, and he waves a hand. “No, we don’t care so long as you didn’t leave bodies for the human authorities to find.”
“I walked the ladies out the next day and put them in a cab in full view of anyone who cared to see,” Julian assures him before he turns back to Victor Hesse. “And I can assure you, the cameras in front of my condo work just fine, if you would like to fact-check that.”
“No need,” he says in such a way that I glance at the folder he put back, wondering how many photos are in it showing Julian’s location. “Something interesting, though, is that Ms. Pond’s image doesn’t appear on any surveillance footage between the storage facility and her house. Why do you think that is?”
Julian looks bewildered. “I’m not a tech person, so I really can’t say.”
Speculating, Victor Hesse’s dead eyes shift to me. “So you can’t vouch for where Ms. Pond was the rest of that night?”
Julian’s gaze jumps to me as well. “No, though she lives with three demons. I’m sure one of them can confirm she made it home.”
“Three demons who are currently under a contract that stipulated they ensure Ms. Pond stays healthy and alive. No, I don’t think we’ll be calling on them. Implicating her would be a breach of their contract.”
Surprised, I glance at Tobias. When I put that part into the contract, I didn’t consider how it could be used to make a physical shield of my demons. Is that why they so readily join in on dangerous adventures like the Hunters and the Dreamer? Because they’re contractually obligated to make sure I stay alive.
Tobias turns, his dark eyes meeting mine, and I climb my way out of the hole of doubt Victor Hesse’s words dug inside me. No, Tobias would never do anything out of obligation, contract or not. He’d find a loophole that turned the whole thing back on me.
I give him a slight nod to let him know I still believe in him.
“Did you see Domnall MacAteer after the battle with the Hunters?” Victor Hesse asks, drawing my attention back to him.
“No. I called once the next day, but he didn’t return my call, so I assumed he left the city to find more corrupt witches.”
“A rather large assumption on your part.” Malice radiates from the mortifer demon like pepper that makes me want to sneeze. “It didn’t concern you that you were unable to reach him?”
Julian sighs as if he finds the question tedious. “We hadn’t spoken for two-hundred years when he waltzed back into town. Why would I be concerned that he waltzed back out without a goodbye?”
“Do you have any more relevant questions, Mr. Hesse?” Lord Marius asks, sounding bored.
“I’m done for now.” He strides back to his table and takes a seat.
Lord Marius turns to Tobias. “Do you have