Page 131 of Dark Shadow of Guilt

“There is no law beyond the mating law.”

The OneCreator cocked an elbow on each knee, his heart sad at the wolver’s loss. He softened his tone. “There are my laws.”

“Who knows what drug you snorted when you wrote them. Some of your rules make less sense than others.”

The OC rested his chin in both palms. “A reminder to all. Freki is a wolver. Dom is an Immortal. Madeline is a ... something. But they are all under my rule.”

Michael called Ohngel to testify. “How do you know you and the witch are mates?”

Indigo shot to her feet from the audience section, “I’ll field this one.”

Ohngel glanced at the OneCreator and shrugged.

“Roark...”

“Who?” asked the OneCreator, suddenly a tad snarky. Everyone wanted to be an expert on mating. He’d outlawed it millennia ago.

Indigo slammed her fists to her hips. “We’ve covered this whole name business. Anyway, Roark here asked me to be his mate at an inappropriate time. We were in the middle of a battle. I said, ‘Yeah,’ and the goddam thing snapped into place and almost took me out. I was speechless.”

“If only,” said the OneCreator.

Indigo blew him a kiss. Cheeky female, but she entertained him, and he admired her spunk.

When Tetrys declared he had no questions of Ohngel before he returned to his seat, Indigo smirked. “Cluck, cluck, cluck.”

Michael questioned Dominion, who also saw the bond he shared with Madeline, the mystical manifestation of their love. Once he finished with the black-winged assassin, he turned toward the spectators, announcing in a booming voice, “I call Jasmine and Terrell to testify.”

The audience whispered and even the OC flinched, unhitching his leg from the arm of his throne.

He opened his mind, searching for a memory of the two Immortals who were among his earliest creations. If he could sort through all the data in his head, he might remember them better.

The only memory he extracted from buried recesses was that Jasmine and Terrell had retired from court society, gone off to live somewhere, and had never been seen or heard from again.

All eyes in the courtroom, including his own, followed the two Immortals as they strode forward hand-in-hand.

“Let’s get to the point. Are you mates?” asked Michael once they stood in place to testify.

“We are,” said Terrell.

Jasmine nodded.

“How do you know?” Michael asked.

The female Immortal said, “We see the bond.”

“How can we be certain what you say is true?” asked Michael.

She bristled. “Other than our word?”

“Yes.” Light seeped from Michael’s skin. He quickly sucked it in.

“The OneCreator could look inside our minds to view our truth. I am aware he is reluctant to use such powers on his creations, but such would be possible,” said Terrell.

The OneCreator avoided Michael’s questioning stare. He was not ready to invade their minds. Besides, law was still law.

“Why did you leave the court millennia ago?” asked the Bearer of Death.

“We knew we were different. And by then, the OneCreator,” Terrell swallowed as though he had a fist in his throat, “had announced mating was a thing of the past. Along with others of our kind, we sought a place to live in peace. We call it The Retreat.”

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