Page 127 of Embrace Me Darkly

“A lot,” she admitted, unable to keep the smile off her face as she considered all the possibilities. “It messes it up a lot.”

With Orion gaping at her, she raced back toward her office, her phone plastered to her ear, and Blair at the other end of the line.

“Question for you: What if Tasha attacked Braddock? Took him just to the point of death. Self-defense because he was raping her. Where does that put us legally? If the DNA proves my theory, then that would knock Dragos down from a capital crime to a lesser charge, right?”

“Well, yeah,” she said. “You seriously think that’s the way it went down?”

“Just go with me on this. Okay, so Dragos gets charged with a lesser crime—gets to avoid execution. But what about Tasha? If that’s really how it happened, then what happens to her special dispensation?”

“Hang on. Hang on.” She heard Blair typing. “Nope. No leeway. It’s clear. She takes steps—she lets the darkness take control—she’s terminated.”

Sara leaned back, incredulous. “Even with evidence of rape?”

“Regular vampire wouldn’t have such a raw deal, but, hey, she wasn’t supposed to be allowed to live in the first place.”

“Shit. Okay. Thanks.” She clicked off the call and tried to sort through her thoughts, because she was positive she knew what had happened. Braddock raped Tasha. And Tasha, terrified, lashed out against him, her own serpent probably coming out for revenge. She went after Braddock, wanting to end the torment, and somehow Luke realized what she was doing.

He followed, found Braddock on the brink of death, and realized what would happen to Tasha if the PEC tied her to the murder. So he did what Sara had come to expect of Luke: He protected the girl. He put himself out there as a target to draw the fire away from Tasha. He staged the scene, leaving his ring, leaving his DNA. All of it, every bit, designed to lead the PEC to him.

He’d intended to run; of that she was certain. Draw them in, make sure he said enough to be determined guilty in absentia, and then escape. That had been the point of the nerve gas in the tomb when the team had rushed to capture him.

Something had gone wrong, though, and he’d been incarcerated. And unless she introduced the evidence about Tasha, he would most likely die for a crime he didn’t commit. Implicate Tasha, though, and Luke’s ward would be staked.

There had to be a way to protect Luke without putting Tasha’s head on the block.

And as she passed under the Judicare Maleficum archway, she realized that she knew exactly to whom she could go to for the answer.

* * *

“You’re asking me to consider dropping a capital murder charge down to manslaughter?” Nikko Leviathan peered at Sara from behind his desk, the hint of gray in his temples glinting in the overhead light. She stood her ground, back straight, shoulders square.

“Yes, sir. I think the evidence will show that Dragos was protecting his ward. She was being subjected to repeated abuse by the defendant.”

“You have proof of the abuse?”

“Working on it.”

He stood up, began pacing behind his desk. “When you were first assigned this case, you told me your relationship with the defendant would not affect your judgment.”

She bristled. “And it hasn’t.”

“Hasn’t it?”

She lifted her chin. “Sir, I’ve learned that it was Dragos who killed my father under Alliance orders, the crime pardoned, of course.” She made an effort to look as if she was holding back a wild fury. “I’m the very picture of objectivity.”

He leaned back. “I see.”

“Sir, I’m only asking you to consider this if it’s supported by the evidence. Whatever my feelings may or may not be, they can’t change the facts.”

He stared at her, the scent of cinnamon filling the air. “What exactly are you looking for here, Constantine?”

“Reduced charges and house arrest. He wears the detention device until time served.”

“This is a high-profile matter, and you’re suggesting that we should forego incarceration?”

“Sir, he was protecting a woman who couldn’t protect herself. How is justice served by locking him up?”

Leviathan exhaled loudly, then drummed his fingers on the desk. After a moment, he nodded. “You prove the rape, I’ll authorize the deal.”

---