“Excuse me, Elder Hoffman. If I might make a request?”
Hoffman looked as if he’d swallowed a lemon. He turned his head slowly to the left. “Mr. Randolph?”
“I’m sure my mate was mistaken about her allegations. She’s just overwrought.”
I gritted my teeth and refrained from shouting at him, at least until I figured out his angle. Then I’d show him what overwrought looked like.
“No need to defend her—”
“But,” Rand interrupted, “I would be interested in hearing at least one other account before we decide the prisoners’ fates. These are serious charges, particularly against Jonas Adamson. I’d like the chance to question him using elven methodology, if I might.”
Jonas raised his head for the first time, staring at Rand in horror. Mace leaned back in his chair and looked thoughtfully from Hoffman to Rand to Jonas. If I was right, and the First Elder was conspiring against the elves and the vampires were playing both sides, Mace would want to know.
So, apparently, would Elder Zrakovi, who spoke for the first time. “Geoffrey, I think Mr. Randolph’s suggestion is a good one. It’s the most expedient way for us to conclude this matter and move on. Perhaps we should let the council vote on it.”
Sabine reached a wrinkled hand to her microphone stand and slid it toward her. When she spoke, her voice was husky and made my skin crawl. English was not her first language. I definitely needed to do some faery research. “The entire delegation from Faery agrees with the elf. Let the necromancer speak.”
“I see no reason for it.” Vampire Vice-Regent Garrett Melnick’s blue eyes turned frosty, and he flashed fang. “We have the sentinel’s testimony against her fellow wizard. What more do we need?”
“I agree.” Hoffman gave Zrakovi a thunderous look.
“You’re right. He knew.”
Silence fell as everyone looked for the source of the voice, breathless and a bit squeaky. Jonas Adamson stood, his fists clenched at his sides.
“You will sit down!” The First Elder looked like a water balloon on the verge of a big, wet explosion, but on either side of him, Mace Banyan and Jean Lafitte jumped to their feet. Hoffman settled back and took a deep breath. I held mine.
“Fine, Mr. Adamson.” Hoffman put his glasses back on. “Have your say.”
Was it my imagination, or did Big Daddy Hoffman look nervous?
I leaned forward to get a better look at Adrian. He’d been stone-faced through the entire proceedings, but now he stared at his father with wide eyes. Initially, I’d thought Adrian and his father might be coconspirators, but that look told me he was a victim, too.
One of the wizard guards released the magical shackles, and Jonas made his shaky way toward the witness table. I dropped all my mental barricades to gauge his mood. He was scared and depressed. No kidding.
Rand edged around the table and walked from the dais to stand in front of Jonas. He looked over Jonas’s shoulder at me. Ideas?
If Jonas felt doomed, the thing that would get him to open up without force was the possibility of survival. Reassure him. Make him calm. Make him think that if he talks, we can save him. Don’t dig the memories out of him unless you have to. I hated what Jonas had done. I had no respect for him as a wizard, and little sympathy for the chaos he’d created. But I didn’t wish that kind of suffering on anyone. Having elves dig in your mind and memories was painful, something I knew from hard experience.
Rand pulled a chair next to Jonas and sat down, reaching out his right hand and placing it on Jonas’s arm. Within seconds, the wizard’s posture relaxed, his shoulders dipped, his rapid breathing slowed. Even from one row back, I sensed the tension diminishing around his aura. Rand’s happy vibes were working.
“Jonas, was Drusilla Jaco’s account of the last two weeks of November accurate?”
Jonas nodded his head. “Yes.”
I wished I could see his expression, but I’d have to be satisfied with gauging Rand’s reactions.
Rand kept his voice low and calm. “Are there other things you can tell us that Ms. Jaco left out or was unaware of?”
I held my breath, grasping the strap of my messenger bag in both hands. I think half the people in the room held their breath. I prayed Jonas would talk and not make Rand pull the information from him by force.
“DJ only knew part of it, and Lily only knew part of it.” Jonas’s voice was surprisingly forceful. “The First Elder was in on it from the start, working with the vampires to join forces against the elves. If Lily got rid of DJ, he guaranteed the wizards would break the elven truce by blaming them for DJ’s death. If she survived, the First Elder agreed to have Adrian turned vampire so the wizards would feel obligated to side with the vampires against the elves anyway.”