For all the evil I’ve done, no one can take that away from me. No one can take the Scorp I’ve killed from me – or the lives I’d spared; that the Scorp would have claimed otherwise.
Those achievements are my legacy.
Taggar continues:
“You then took a private mission for Queen Jasmine herself – to secure Orb Mining rights for the Aurelian Empire.”
I stare down Lieutenant Taggar. “That mission is between us and the Queen.”
The officer shakes his head.
“When you broke the laws to achieve your goal, that became between you and me.”
I clench my fists. What right does this man have to judge me? Can’t he see the future clearly? That the universe will be plunged into war?
I know it – just like any man with two eyes and the senses to know what he sees with them.
The victor will be whoever controls the Orbs.
I take a ragged breath.
Lieutenant Taggar’s words suggest we’re not just going to face kidnapping charges – although that alone could bury us.
No. The Lieutenant’s going to go after the extensive history of wrongdoing attributed to us – to all the dark things we’ve done in the shadows. They’ll all come back to haunt us.
I sit with my back straight.
I’ll go to the executioner without fear.
15
Natali
I look through the one-way mirror into the courtroom. I have a birds-eye view from this small viewing room. Three Aurelian guards are crammed in here with me – and I wish they’d stop looking at me with such veneration.
They all know I’m a Fated Mate, and they treat me like some kind of… alien.
My stomach churns as I look down and see my triad enter the courtroom. This might be the last time I ever see them again.
I begged to be allowed into the courtroom itself, but Lieutenant Taggar told me that there was no chance of it. I’d tried to convince him in every way I could that the Aurelians should be freed – even down to lying through my teeth.
Through it all, though, Taggar had shaken his head; unbelieving.
If only I hadn’t put the Bond Disrupter on! If only I’d been able to speak to the Aurelians – so we could find a way out of this together. If only Lazar’s big brain could have found a solution to this whole damned thing.
Lieutenant Taggar will make the decision whether the letter, or the spirit of the law will triumph.
I’m just glad the Aurelians kidnapped me. Whatever happens next, I’m just thankful they showed me the things I’m capable of – that they let me live for the first time in my life.
You’ve set me free.
But what did Brennan do in the name of his Empire? Before this?
Does he deserve to be locked behind bars?
I feel nervous as I remember the medical report Taggar showed me. It was of the merchant who’d been admitted to hospital.
Broken arm. Four cracked ribs. My triad had brutalized him – that much was obvious. They’d beaten him, and then forced him to sign over his Orb-Deposits.
The rest of the crimes they are being investigated for are white collar – but what if there are more things Taggar doesn’t even know about yet? What if my triad did something truly unforgivable?
“We did what we had to do.”
Down in the courtroom, Brennan replies to the charges calmly. I just wish I could feel his aura – and know his true emotions. I’m certain he must feel like I’ve betrayed him.
Maybe I have.
I don’t know how this courtroom drama will play out. My father and Gerard are sitting down below me, and I know they’re glaring at my triad hatefully.
I pleaded with Gerard to keep an open mind – but he can’t help but see Brennan and his triad as the men who’d stole me from my bed and put me in danger.
My own father will be staring at them with an even colder anger – looking at them like the Aurelians are a useless trio of objects; to be discarded now that they have fulfilled their purpose.
“You dishonored the Aurelian Empire,” Taggar responds to Brennan’s defense, “and you’re going to pay for your crimes. Do you deny going against independent planetary law to secure Orb-Rights through illegal hostile takeovers and corporate raids?”
Brennan sits tall and confident in his seat. Lazar is shifting in his own chair; while Otho remains calm.
The normally pacing, brooding warrior is sitting uncharacteristically still – like he’s at afternoon tea, not facing a verdict that could destroy his life.
“I do not deny anything,” Brennan responds, “but I never did anything illegal by Imperial Law.”
“Nothing to break the Empire’s law?” Taggar counters. “So, you deny that you broke a merchant’s arm and ribs to secure a business deal?”
Lazar leans forward. “Fredick Galino, your honor. That’s his name – and, no, we do not deny it.”
“But we do plead extenuating circumstances,” Brennan continues.
“Out with it,” probes the Lieutenant dryly. There’s no mercy in his voice.
“We signed an agreement for the Orb-Rights to a mine he owned. Afterward, he forged a new agreement, for a lesser mine. We only used force to get the original agreement – the lawful one – back.”
Gods.
They’re animals. They might have had a justification for it – the merchant wasn’t innocent – and yet, to do something so violent?
I don’t know how I can deal with that.
That admission even gives Lieutenant Taggar pause. He looks at my triad in a new light. I’m sickened to see that the Aurelian agent approves of their actions.
“So, this merchant tried to swindle the Aurelian Empire? Is this correct?”
There’s a change in his tone. This question isn’t designed to convict my triad any longer. In fact, he’s proud of them for fighting for the Empire – for getting the justice they deserved.
My heart suddenly beats quicker, and I feel the first tendrils of hope well up inside of me.
I can get over the brutal past of these men. As long as
