Page 50 of Poison

I cringe as he reaches behind him and then there is a set of keys in his hands. I watch frozen, I don’t mean to be on edge but it hasn’t been a fun time here. The douche took his job above and beyond so I’m kind of at a loss with who I can trust at the moment. He gently takes my wrists, slips a key into the lock, and turns it. The blue glow dissipates instantly and I feel a rush of energy wash over my as he does the same to my legs.

“Thank you,” I whisper, pulling myself up so I’m sitting, and rub at my wrists.

He smiles softly but doesn’t say anything, he just sits up straight and stares at me. So many things are rushing through my mind that I desperately want to ask him, but I can’t process it fast enough to choose one thing to start with.

“You, ok?” He asks.

“I am but I’m more surprised you’re here? I thought they would have told everyone I was sent to the human world?” I ask curiously.

“She—”

“There you two are!” a voice booms, making both our heads whip around to face the far end of the corridor. “What the hell happened here? Never mind, we need to go now. The trial has begun.”

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN

Raised voices and arguing can be heard through the huge oak doors, my heart hammering in my chest as we wait for them to swing open. Ajax pats me on my shoulder gently, and I turn my head to look at him, seeing him standing at the entry way to a set of stairs. He mouthsyou got thisto me, then disappears. My eyes get drawn upwards, taking in the huge imposing doors.

A groan fills the stone area, then my mouth drops as the doors slowly start to swing open and the arguing stops. The new guard on my left pushes me forward, making me stumble. I straighten myself up, glaring at him and he smirks, then I hear the whispers. They’re not really quiet about it, but the muttering pulls my focus away from the guard and brings it to the room full of people.

The guard walks me to the centre of the room, and all I can do is gawk at my opulent surroundings. Marble lines the walls, and huge statues are perfectly placed around the room. A raised platform off the floor sits high into the air, with eleven people sitting in their seats. All eyes are trained on me, but I do notice the seat that is just a touch higher than the others stands empty.

A groan has me spinning around, my heart dropping into my feet. The doors bang shut, leaving me in a room full of strangers. The guard pushes me again, and I hiss at him. He smirks like my annoyance is nothing to him and points to something next to me. A platform hovers just above the ground.

“Get on,” he demands.

The platform lifts into the air as I step onto it. I keep myself frozen in place as it gets higher, my eyes trained on the line of people in front of me. If I look down now I’m going to lose it. I still have to crane my neck to see them, so I brave a glance and breathe a little easier as I realise I’m not as high up as I thought I was.

“Poison Draken, you are charged with causing a tornado in a shopping centre and risking our exposure to the humans,” Dane says with a smirk. “How do you plead?”

“I—”

“What is the meaning of this?!” An amplified voice booms through the area, and relief fills me as my aunt materialises in front of the empty seat, her eyes narrowed on the other council members. “You dare to hold a trial without the council leader present?”

“Ah, so good of you to finally join us, Belladonna,” a woman says. One that I have never seen before, but something about her puts me on edge. “We weren’t sure you would want to attend with the party being your niece.”

“You all know my niece is now in the human world,” she retorts back. All the members look in my direction, and her head follows theirs. Her eyes widen as she takes me in, an emotion I have never seen before washing over her face. But as quickly as it came it’s gone. She drops into her seat, the fight leaving her.

“What is she charged with?”

“Causing a tornado in a shopping centre full of humans and risking exposing us to them. Then evading the warriors charged with bringing her in, it all has something to do with the thing with her,” says an older man as he points at me with a bony finger, I look at him, his face is heavily lined and his hand rests on a cane as he stares at me, smirking. The guy must be ancient.

Cursing pulls my attention away from the council as I hear screams and yells from somewhere. A group of men who are most definitely shifters stumble into the room, pulling on huge metal chains. Something roars, and the anger in it has me holding my hand against my heart. One of the guys is launched into the air, and I can’t do anything other than watch horrified as he hits the ground and doesn’t move.

A massive head comes into the room first, a humongous muzzle covering most of the face of whatever it is. Then I hear a hiss, and I drop to my knees on the platform as Kevin is pulled into the room. As more shifters grab a hold of the chains coming from his shackles, my head whips up to look at my aunt who is watching me. I see the colour drain from her face and I know she knows.

“Keep a hold of the damn thing!” one of the guards screams as Kevin throws his head again and lifts three of them at once.

“Kevin, stop it!” I bellow, hoping he hears me.

He stops fighting instantly, his enormous head whipping around to me, and his body relaxes… so does mine. Even though he’s shackled like this, the happiness I feel seeing my guardian is amazing.

“You okay, Poison?” he asks as he ignores the guards tugging and slithers his way over to me. He has the same shackles on I had earlier and I can see the blue glow glinting on his scales where they have been placed.

“I’m okay, are you?” I ask, patting his massive head.

“You know me,” he chuffs, and I have to smirk.

“What is that thing?” one of the other council members asks.

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