Page 57 of Flock This

The vampire had the good sense to gulp and soften his tone. “You are in charge here, but that does not change the rules, does it? Unless you intend to ignore the rules when it suits you?”

Ruben didn’t respond right away, as though obligation ripped the words from him. “Of course not. You have made a request, and we will follow the rules to the letter. You claim to have cause against Grey Keystone and are accusing her of the murder of William Garrison. Normally, this would then be defended by her clan. However, without one, she has no one to speak in her defense. Because of that, no vote need be held to grant your warrant and set a trial date.”

“Why bother with a trial?” the vampire asked. “What is the point in that if she’ll have no one to speak for her? Just hand her over to us.”

“We’ll do that because it is the rule,” Ruben said in response. “She is owed her trial whether or not there is a person to speak for her.”

“So you’ll pick her up in the meantime?”

“A warrant will be issued to produce her at the trial which will occur at the next full moon.”

The vampire slammed his hands against the top of the table, causing the box to rattle. “So you’ll allow her to run around freely until then? That is unacceptable!”

“It is the law. Usually a suspect in this case would be held by their own clan, but since she doesn’t have one, she will be held by the Justice Department.”

“Let us hold her,” the vampire demanded.

“If I did that, I have little faith she would make it to her trial at all. She will be picked up by the Justice Department prior to trial.”

“How can we be sure?”

“Do you doubt the Justice Department’s ability to follow through with what we say?” Ruben asked the question with little feeling behind the words, but that didn’t matter.

The vampire heard exactly what was meant by that. Justices were not to be fucked with, and once they made a decision, nothing could stand against it or them. Ruben used the words to remind the vampire not to push, that while he might be able to throw his weight around in his own little clan, that was not the case here. They were in Ruben’s territory, and this was not a place to make demands.

The vampire’s words came back slow and careful, as though trying his hardest to keep from disrespecting Ruben no matter how badly he wanted to. “Then I will leave it in your capable hands. On the night of the full moon, at midnight, we will hold the trial and I expect the girl will be here at that time. If you wish to go through this silly charade, then we will do it. It will change nothing, in the end.” The vampire rose at that point, then left the room without another word.

A long sigh echoed, one I knew well, and came a moment before Galen spoke up. “The Graves are getting out of hand.”

“Can you blame them?” another voice asked, one that took me by surprise. I twisted enough to look the opposite way and sure enough, I recognized the man who spoke. It was the same model-handsome guy I’d seen at Ignis’ office that day, the rude one who had lectured me about my stolen candy. “They lost someone important in their hierarchy. Any other clan would react the same way, wouldn’t they?”

“They think they can dictate what everyone else does,” Galen answered. “They’re always pushing further, edging their way into other’s territories, taking more liberties. The Graves are nothing but toddlers seeing how far they get before getting into trouble.”

“And if they push too far, we will handle it as we have many times before,” Ruben assured them. “That is the job of the Justice Department, to ensure that no clan has too much power, that no clan poses a risk to the natural creatures of this realm. We’ve kept the peace for over a thousand years—this will not change anything.”

“We’ll need a Nature for the actual trial,” the man who sat at the Mind seat said. “I know he rarely chooses to come, but we can’t hold a trial without him.”

“He’ll be here,” Ruben assured him. “Trust me, he wouldn’t miss it.” The words held meaning, but I didn’t understand the backstory to it.

“This is bull,” Galen snapped, then stood, knocking his chair backward. The slam of his chair against the floor made me jump, my body strung too tight.

The empath turned his gaze on the box, the knowledge in his eyes obvious. He knew something was here, even if he didn’t know what.

Just great. If Galen had discovered me, I’d be okay. Even Ruben might have let me go. But that asshole? He’d probably turn me in just because of the candy, the damn snitch.

Except, he didn’t. He blinked slowly, tilting his head as though deep in thought.

“You should go,” he said simply without tearing his gaze from my hiding spot.

Is he talking to me?

Just as I thought it, he turned his gaze to Galen. “I’ve reached the end of my ability to control my power. I’m sure you feel it already?”

“I feel nothing.” Even as Galen said it, his eyes flashed brighter, as though his grip on his wolf slowly worked free. He must have recognized the same thing, because he growled lowly then turned and stormed out.

“You too,” the man said to Ruben. “You aren’t immune.”

“You should work on your control, so this doesn’t pose a problem.”

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