“So walk us through what happened during that period of time you were alone in Theodore’s presence.”
I did, explaining how he divulged his attempts in the past to kill me, and how he tried again that evening but was thwarted when I used glamour on him. While I spoke, I stole a glance at the Elders. Several of them were scenting the air, and I realized they were gaging how anxious I was when I spoke. They wanted to smell whether I told the truth.
“And what happened once you escaped?” the vampire asked once I finished.
“I ran out of the room and down the stairs, and that’s when I saw Andre. Behind me Theodore had pulled out a gun and aimed it at me. When he saw the gun, Andre tackled me. I slammed my head against the staircase, and the impact knocked me out.”
The lawyer’s nostrils flared, and I inwardly cursed. He could smell something. I didn’t dare look at the Elders for fear that they too would scent the lie.
The lawyer took a step closer, an excited spark to his eyes, and I almost jumped at the movement. I was spooking myself, but it didn’t matter. I could feel my cheeks heating up, and I knew that if no one had noticed before that I was lying, now they would.
“The reports filed never mentioned you having a head injury,” the lawyer stated.
I opened my mouth and paused. Panic rose within me. Andre and I hadn’t gone over this. I don’t know the answer. I don’t know the answer.
I took a steadying breath and collected myself once more. I’d always heard that what made a lie believable was staying as close to the truth as possible. “They wouldn’t have since it had already healed.”
“And how fast would you say the injury took to heal?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea. I was a bit distracted that evening.”
“Strange that you were unconscious precisely during the time that Andre killed Theodore—what was that, several minutes? Yet your injury healed so quickly once you woke that it went undocumented—”
Andre’s lawyer jumped to his feet. “Objection! The prosecution is insinuating that the witness is making false claims.”
“Sustained,” and Elder said.
The lawyer still had an excited spark to his eyes, like a shark scenting blood. Or a vampire. He continued to question me for what felt like an eternity but was probably only another twenty or thirty minutes.
I adamantly stuck to the story that Andre had fed me. Thank goodness for that too, since I’d seen some of the audience’s eyes flicker with anger and morbid fascination. I had the distinct impression that they wouldn’t mind me dead, vampire or not. But through it all was the lingering worry that the Elders and the prosecution had literally sniffed out the lies in my story.
Eventually my testimony came to a close, and the trial was adjourned for the rest of the evening due to the bad weather conditions. Imagine that—they had just enough time to get my testimony, but nothing else.
Sneaky didn’t even begin to cover it.
I was led from the stand to where Andre waited for me. The skin around his eyes was tight with tension. He draped an arm around my waist and placed a kiss along my temple. A few eyebrows went up, and I had to suppress a smile. I guess they were surprised that the big bad vampire king would show affection to his little pet.
But the gesture was more than just some casual PDA. Andre was warning his subjects to tread lightly when it came to me since I was a current favorite.
“Gabrielle Fiori,” a voice rang out above the commotion. I turned and met Vicca’s gaze. Her eyes dropped to where Andre’s arm draped around my waist, “stay close for the remainder of the trial. We don’t want to have to detain you again if we need to call you in for further questioning.”
“Further questioning?” I thought this was it.
Her gaze drifted up from Andre’s arm to me, and the smile she flashed was predatory. “Don’t think your role in this is over.”
I didn’t let my guard down until Andre and I sat safely in his car, and the courtroom was far behind us.
“I think they know,” I finally whispered, my voice cracking.
His hands tightened on the wheel. “They can’t prove anything based on the way you smell,” Andre said, staring at the road.
“So you smelled it?”
His mouth thinned, and he gave me a jerky nod.
“That’s what I thought,” I said softly, glancing at the storm raging outside. I raised my eyebrows. “Should we be driving in this weather?”
“No, but I wasn’t going to leave you there at the mercy of the coven.”
I swiveled my head and studied his profile. “Thank you.”
He clenched his jaw. “You should not be thanking me. They kidnapped you, and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.”
The corners of my mouth drew downwards. “Kidnapping doesn’t seem so harsh compared to some of the violence the coven’s used to.” The memory of Andre squeezing Freddy’s throat played out in my mind.
Andre looked over at me, and he squinted his eyes. “I’m not a good person,” he said, reading between the lines. “None of us vampires really are.”
“You’re good to me.” Even I recognized that was a bit of a booby prize. I mean, I was his soulmate. It’d be strange if he didn’t treat me well.
Andre turned to look at me, his features warming, and he gave me a small smile. “You are the light of my existence.”
Ironic that he was finding his humanity at the same time I was losing mine. Or maybe it wasn’t ironic at all.
We road in silence after that, until the car came to a halt in front of a beautiful but unfamiliar building.
“Where are we?” I asked.
Andre turned off the ignition and turned to face me. “My home.”
My brows drew together. “Your home?” I repeated, confused. I didn’t know whether I should feel annoyance that he hadn’t told me we were making a pit stop or excitement to see what was probably Andre’s oldest and dearest home.