I probably shouldn’t trust a high level demon I just met who fed off the jealousy of others, but for some reason, I did. I breathed out in defeat. “Okay.”
Envy gave me a single nod. “I’ll go now.” He stopped short, fishing for something in his pocket before holding out a necklace. “Almost forgot. I found this in the exorcism room when I did a sweep,” he explained. “Collector had a hard-on for magical rocks.”
I took it, studying the amber amulet. “He used this on me so my powers wouldn’t work,” I said grimly, remembering how it had been wrapped around my wrists while I was in the cell with Aunt Marie.
Envy nodded. “He was able to wield it to absorb power.”
I held it in my hand, curling my fingers around it before stuffing it in my pocket.
The jealousy demon gave us one last parting look and then walked out of the room, greeting the enforcers in the hall as he left.
I buried my face in my hands and sobbed profusely, and Crow immediately moved forward and held me close, while Tomb continued to stroke my back. “Am I doing the right thing?” I asked.
“You know the answer to that, Little Spider,” Crow murmured against my forehead before placing a kiss there.
“I didn’t even get to see him. I won’t get to say goodbye,” I choked out. All I wanted was a sense of normalcy. We kept getting shoved from one place to the next, leaving one prison to the next, mourning one loss to the next.
I just wanted all of my mates together. I wanted to relish in our bond, make a life for ourselves and figure out what we were going to do. I wanted to go to Aunt Marie’s home and pack up some of her belongings, flip through photographs and breathe in her scent. Every passing moment faded into the next as I was stuck in limbo and couldn’t find my footing.
“He’ll heal, and maybe one day, he can come back.”
“He will,” Tomb cut in.
I lifted my head to look over at him. “How do you know?” I sniffed.
Tomb’s fingers came up to brush away my tears. “Because he has you for a mate. He’ll do whatever he can to get back to you, for as long as it takes.”
Chapter 34
Risk’s newborn daughter looked like him. She had his playful smile and hopeful eyes.
My eyes were riveted on Ms. Cainson. She was seated in the courtroom at council headquarters. The stadium seating was packed shoulder to shoulder and was noisy from the constant murmuring in the audience. The proceedings for the Spector trial were all over supe news. It was the biggest story in our communities, and everyone was watching the council’s every move.
I was sitting on the council’s side, along with Tomb, Crow, and Stiles, as well as several Spector employees, including the exuberant Vick. Judge Braxton resided over everything at the center podium while sitting in his golden chair, where he was currently listening to more testimonies from a Spector guard. But my attention was solely on the baby currently being held by Ms. Cainson.
I knew it was part of a ploy to give her more sympathy from the public. She hadn’t been painted in a good light, since she was on the council and had attempted to get a high level demon’s essence put into her. But a woman holding a newborn baby was hard to incriminate. Based on the glances she was getting from the audience, her manipulation was working.
But with every muffled coo and soft cry that came from the bundle held in her lap, my heart clenched for an entirely different reason. The baby was beautiful. And despite the fact that she had wispy blonde hair and feminine features, she had dark, glittering brown eyes that were the exact same shade as her father’s.
My heart gave another squeeze. I missed him. I missed him so damn much. And now he had a daughter that he hadn’t even been able to meet. My eyes swelled with heartache.
The council had been up in arms when Risk disappeared. They had no idea where he went, until their very helpful demon consultant told them that hell had simply zapped him back below, and nothing could be done about it. Envy was currently sitting on the other side of the council’s seating box, his feet kicked up on the railing in front of his seat. When he saw me looking, he tossed me a wink. Tomb must’ve seen because he clamped a hand onto my thigh and squeezed.
It took hours to listen to the testimonies. Some of them were horrible. Spector guards would spew off awful things about me or my mates and what we’d done, and the audience ate it up, becoming more and more hostile toward us—me especially. And I just had to sit there and take it, because...well, it was true. I had done those things they were saying. But I didn’t get to say my side or explain why. Judge Braxton wasn’t interested in allowing the hybrids to have much of a voice.
The only person who was permitted to speak on our behalf had been Stiles, and only because our father held some sway. But even my brother hadn’t been given much time to speak, and based on his tense expression, I knew the truth as much as he did—we were fucked.
I gave Tomb and Crow a worried look. This was going all wrong. We hadn’t even been given a chance. I shared a look with Stiles, but his mouth was pressed into a thin line. He’d shown the truth of what Spector was doing to the public so that it would get shut down, and he succeeded in that. But in doing so, we’d doomed ourselves, because
