Page 19 of Flock This

People whispered that the Justices were something else. Not humans, but not Spirits, either. They were protectors of humanity, creatures made to stand against the infiltrating influence of the Spirits, the gods who had come to our realm so long ago.

How much was true and how much legend—that was always the real question. I knew Justices were created from humans, that the process to make them was brutal, but what it made them into?

That I didn’t know, and I wasn’t sure if the Justices themselves knew. In the end, truth always rested heavily on the stories people told each other, and as years went by, it was so hard to sort it out.

I swallowed, then turned away from the crystal, trying to forget those moments of my life when I’d had to recognize just how alone I really was.

“I was summoned.” I lifted my arm and tapped the glowing information with the time and place of the meeting.

Ruben glanced at my arm but only made a soft noise to let me know he’d heard me. “You are quite the topic of conversation right now,” he said, his gaze following me as I moved away.

He didn’t go on, waiting as if to let me stew and out myself.

And the worst part was the bastard was almost intimidating enough for the ploy to work. Somehow, I kept my mouth shut and just smiled in return.

“You lack any clan to speak for you. As a Justice, even I can’t. The Graves will bring a petition to officially charge you within the week. I expect Galen will prolong that process, but even he can’t buy you much time. Once they ask for a warrant and trial date, without any opposition, I’ll have no choice but to give them what they ask for.”

I pushed my hair back, unsure why his words frustrated me so much. It wasn’t like I’d expected anything else. I hadn’t thought he’d step in and fix it all—why would he? He didn’t owe me anything, after all, and hadn’t ever shown a spec of care beyond giving me that first job.

“Well, thank you for so clearly explaining why I’m fucked. Very helpful.”

Ruben didn’t react by showing any sort of annoyance. He always did that, though. Even when I got hauled in for petty pranks, he never even lifted an eyebrow at my antics.

“You need to understand where you are and what’ll happen. Remaining ignorant does you no good.”

“You’re a tough-love type, huh? That doesn’t shock me.”

Ruben still didn’t move. He stood there, his arms crossed, his expression unchanging. He appeared much older than most of the Spirit creatures around. Where Galen appeared in his early twenties, and Kelvin in his thirties, Ruben appeared to be nearing that fifty mark.

The most frustrating part of that was that he looked damn good at that age. He had that hot-older-man thing going on, the sort of feeling that made me uncomfortable because I liked it but knew it was hella-weird.

“Why are you staring at me?” He narrowed his eyes just a bit, the action making the green of his eyes brighter.

“You know, if you played your cards right, you’ve got that ‘Yes, Daddy’ vibe.” The words flew from my mouth before I could think about it, before that tiny part of my brain that controlled my actions, that told me when things should stay in my head could stop me. Sadly, that part was totally useless and never did its job.

“If you want to call me that, feel free,” he said, not rising to the occasion as if I hadn’t just uttered something so stupid. “You might actually survive if you had someone to force you to behave.”

A rush of strange pleasure surged through me, one that wasn’t entirely good. It made my crow spirit shake and snap, as though afraid to be made to bow, yet another part of me rather enjoyed the promise in his words.

The idea of anyone caring about what I did enough to want to change it was different, and his words took me entirely by surprise.

Except he didn’t press, didn’t make a move—and how fucked up was I that his lack of attempt disappointed me? Instead, he went on as though he hadn’t just dropped that sort of statement. “If information about your innocence were to come to me, I would have no choice but to take notice of it.”

“How can you be so sure I’m innocent?” I closed my mouth as soon as I uttered that because what the fuck? It was not exactly a helpful statement to make when I actually was innocent.

He didn’t answer my question—big surprise there—and spoke again as if I hadn’t said a word. “I am not allowed to investigate, and only clan heads are permitted to speak at a trial to officially offer a defense. However, if evidence were to reach me before the trial, if I received proof that another was guilty, I would have the ability to cancel the trial. Once the day of trial arrives, however, I have no such options.”

I pressed my lips together as I made sense of his meaning. “So you’re saying that even if I don’t have anyone to speak for me, if I get you evidence, you can use it?”

“We do not have investigators here, because that is not our role. We are arbitrators and enforcers, not investigators. Instead, we work with others to present such information when needed. Kelvin worked for a time in such a capacity.”

“He does get around,” I muttered, not shocked to hear Kelvin had his fingers in the Justice Department just like everything else.

He didn’t respond, but I didn’t need him to. He was offering me a path to survival, one that didn’t include endangering anyone else or living on the run.

Of course, that path did involve me having to figure out who had framed me, find the person actually able to murder an extremely strong vampire, and somehow avoid all the people wanting to kill me as I did so.

Not easy, but doable, right?

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