Page 113 of Mortal Shift
It made no sense. At all. Cole would never attack his friend, and he’d never confess to something he hadn’t done. Unless… I swallowed hard. Unless they’dforceda confession from him.
“I want to see him.”
“No doubt. And no doubt you shall continue to want. So if you’re done wasting my time…” She lifted a hand and gestured to the door. I squared my shoulders and notched my chin.
“I am his mate, and I have a right to see him. Under section seven of the Shifter Hierarchy and Mating Act of 1124, I cannot be refused.”
Astor’s eyes narrowed. “It would seem your considerable time in the library has not been entirely squandered.”
Was thereanyonewho didn’t know about me hiding out in the library? Astor swept her calculating gaze over me.
“Very well. I will make the necessary arrangements. You do, after all, deserve the chance to say goodbye before he is executed for his crimes.”
“He hasn’t even had a trial yet!” I blurted. “You can’t kill him.”
“Iam doing nothing of the sort,” Astor replied icily. “I suggest you watch what accusations you are so carelessly flinging around, Ms. Ellis. Consternation will only excuse discourtesy so far.”
The chill from her words seemed to flow straight down my spine and splinter into my bloodstream.
“Sorry, Domina,” I said, before she could get any ideas about chucking me in a cell right next to him, becausesomeonehad to get to the bottom of this whole mess, and somehow I didn’t think I’d be able to do that from whatever kind of prison shifters had. “I misspoke.”
Astor inclined her head sharply, which I took to mean I wasn’t about to be hauled away to rot for letting my temper get the back of me. I resolved to try a little harder at the whole ‘polite’ thing.
“But…they can’t kill him without a trial, can they?”
“He has confessed,” she repeated. “A trial is no longer obligatory.”
Shit. And I thought the human world was fucked up.
“I know he didn’t do it.”
“What you ‘know’ appears to differ greatly from reality. As usual. Your mate attacked and grievously injured a prince of the Moritego clan. Vampiric royalty will push for the maximum sentence to be delivered without delay.”
“They can’t!”
“I assure you they can. Now, if you’re done wasting my time, I suggest you return to your lessons and take advantage of the extensive education my staff is providing, while it’s still available to you.”
I blinked in surprise. “What?”
“Oh, you didn’t imagine you’d still have some claim to a place at this academy once you’re no longer the mate of one of my students?” She arched a brow at the door. “That will be all, Ms. Ellis.”
I staggered out into the hallway, head still reeling, and made it round two corners before I sagged against the wall. They were going to kill Cole, and they were going to throw me out so I couldn’t get to the bottom of whoever was trying to frame him. I sucked in a ragged breath, and then another. I had to stop them. There had to be something I could do other than visit him to ‘say goodbye’, because I sure as hell wasn’t ready to do that yet. And I didn’t care that vampiric royalty was out for his blood because fuck them. He was innocent, and I wasn’t going to let him carry the can for something someone else had done just because he was a convenient target.
…One who’d confessed.
…One who they had a witness swearing was guilty.
Well, they were lying. Both of them. Cole’s confession had been coerced, and maybe the witness had been, too.
A tingle prickled at the back of my neck.
Maybe the witnesshadn’tbeen coerced. Maybe the witness was someone with an agenda. Someone who wanted Cole gone—someone who knew about his intended alliance with Thessalia and wanted to see him punished for it. Or someone who wanted me gone and knew I’d be thrown out without Cole around to keep me in. Astor had seemed pleased enough about the idea of me being gone, and there was no shortage of supernaturals round here that hated the thought of a human sullying their hallowed halls by daring to walk amongst them as an equal.
But would any of them really go that far to be rid of me? I mean, there had to be a better way than hospitalizing Thaden and framing Cole. Thessalia had said it herself: if she wanted me dead, I would be. There weren’t many supernaturals in the academy who couldn’t say the same thing. I was the easy target, much as I hated to admit it. So it made no sense to go through Cole to get to me.
Hell, it made no sense to go after him at all. What could anyone have to gain from doing this to him? And who here would lie and say they’d seen him attacking Thaden…and why? Or was the vampire prince the true target, and Cole just a convenient fall guy? But surely there were easier shifters to frame…
I shook my head and shoved off the wall. One thing I knew for sure was that standing around here wasn’t going to fix anything. I needed to get to the bottom of this, and I didn’t have time to waste. Not if vamp royalty was putting on as much pressure as Astor was letting on.
