Page 77 of Hart's Redemption

A gavel struck the sound block with a resounding ring that bounced amid the chaos of noise that erupted. I couldn’t help but smile as the factions split apart for the entire world to see.

“See the prisoner back to his cell,” Senator Stevens shouted over the noise.

The soldiers from before reappeared, and I was hastened back whence I’d come not minutes before. In their rush to remove me from the increasingly volatile room, they completely forgot to cuff me, instead dragging me by my arm through the bronze gates and immediately through an adjoining portal that took us back to the Pit of Despair.

Elijah

I’d never seen such an orderly room dissolve so quickly. In a matter of moments, Josh had been ushered out of the room, and half the panel of supposed authority figures stood shouting at each other. Then there was the animosity openly breeding amongst the attendees. While this tribunal may necessitate the presence of both the human and supernatural factions, it was abundantly clear that neither saw eye-to-eye.

I leaned forward to talk to Lombardi, mindful of the cameras capturing every second of the explosive chaos Josh had caused in a few select words. “What the hell just happened?”

Lombardi’s smirk revealed sharp teeth. “Exactly what we’d hoped for. Now, we just have to keep the momentum going.”

Fear trickled down my spine. “We?”

“You really have no idea of the unprecedented situation in which you find yourself, do you?” Lombardi’s stare set my teeth on edge.

“You two have been planning this?”

“Admittedly, there were quite a few unforeseen variables that had the potential to throw things off course, your own connection notwithstanding.” He cocked his head to the side and considered me. “Still a shame he won’t let me exploit that connection. The absolute pandemonium that would ensue would be nothing short of exquisite. We could raze this whole system to the ground. Embers would burn to ash until nothing was left of the hypocrisy.”

The sinister joy in his words slithered beneath my skin. “I want to see Josh.”

“Quite demanding, aren’t we?”

I glowered at him and did my best to keep how intimidated I was by Josh's eerie dragon-lawyer in check.

The fire in his eyes glinted wickedly. “I’m surprised you haven’t asked about Beatrice Harker.”

I blinked, taken aback. Truthfully, I’d forgotten all about the vile woman. “How did you catch her?”

He shrugged as he gathered his things. “Simple really. She is a predictable creature. Catching her with the Mein Zeke formula was a little tricky. However, her attempting to sell out her own son was quite the bonus.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know the detective won’t be pleased to find that she will be lumped into this investigation, but it fits your own criteria for her punishment quite nicely. I had my doubts about being able to draw the connection to him in a believable way, but then she went and condemned herself.”

“You’re getting off on all of this.”

“I do rather enjoy burning things to the ground.”

I shook off my unease about Lombardi’s motivations. “How soon can we see him?”

“Considering I submitted the request before the proceedings began? I’d say as soon as we finish going through security.”

Josh

I took all of ten seconds to ensure that Lombardi had invoked lawyer-client confidentiality before laying into Elijah.

“You tricked me into signing a marriage license? You couldn’t even have asked first?”

His mouth pulled down in a frown at the unexpected attack. “I was afraid if I asked, you’d say no.”

“You’re damn right I would have said no.” I pointed at his chest. “Do you have any idea the position you’ve put us in? Putyourselfin? This trial is being publicly broadcast.Everyonenow knows your connection to me.” I’d thought about it practically nonstop since I’d been hauled out of the courtroom. Any angle I looked at the situation, it was a problem.

“You said we had to keep—”

I shot him a warning glare.