Thirteen (Otherworld 13)

Sean stepped in front of him. "I'm going to take her out of here, Granddad." As he turned toward me, Josef broke the silence.

"She can't just walk away. She participated in a terrorist act against the Cabal and she must face those charges--"

"Oh, for God's sake." Sean spun on his uncle. "Nobody believes that but you, Josef, and you're just trying to screw me over by putting Savannah on trial--"

"Mr. Nast is right." It was one of the men in suits. The lawyer from the intra-Cabal agency. "The charges have been laid. Unless Mr. Nast wishes to formally withdraw them . . ." Everyone looked at Thomas. Finally he looked at me, and it was as if he'd looked into the eyes of a basilisk. He slowly but irrevocably turned to stone. "No," he said. "I do not wish to withdraw the charges."

Sean slumped a little, then recovered. "Fine. But we can't begin until Lucas gets here. As the representative of the Cortez Cabal, under whose protection Savannah falls, Lucas Cortez must be here to witness the proceedings. As her lawyer, he absolutely needs to be here, to represent her."

Josef glowered at Agent Stein, who stood, tugging at his tie.

"Yes, under normal circumstances, that would be true," Stein finally said. "However, your family has protested his involvement on the grounds that as her former legal guardian and current employer, Mr. Cortez cannot be expected to be impartial in this proceeding."

"He's not meant to be impartial," Sean said. "He's her lawyer."

"Yes, well, the intra-Cabal agency has ruled in your family's favor on this matter. Miss Levine will be represented by Mr. Turin, one of the agency's legal team. As for the Cortez Cabal's interests, we are attempting to video-link in Benicio Cortez, but we've encountered technical difficulties."

"Technical difficulties, my ass," Sean muttered. "All right then, we at least need to wait until those difficulties are resolved before we begin."

"No, we have decided that Mr. Cortez can be updated as soon as the link is established."

Sean stood there, staring at Stein, who wouldn't meet his gaze. Then he dropped into his chair so hard the clunk reverberated through the room.

The intra-Cabal agency--or key members of it--had been bribed, and there was nothing we could do about it. My heart started to thud harder. This was real. I was on trial for treason.

The Nasts' head lawyer stood, cleared his throat and began. "It is alleged that Miss Levine was in charge of a detachment of the reveal movement, having joined the cause to aid her grandsire, Lord Demon Balaam . . ."

"What?" I whispered to Sean as the lawyer continued reading the allegation.

Sean glanced over, his jaw tight. Adam reached for my hand, but pulled back, and when I tried to take his anyway, his fingers were so hot I had to bite back a yelp. He shot me an apologetic look, flexed them and whispered, "We'll get this sorted."

The lawyer droned on. The upshot of the charge? I was secretly a member of SLM and had been getting information for them from the Cortez and Nast cabals--hence the treason charge. Together with my mother--whom Balaam obviously freed from the afterlife--I'd joined up with SLM in New Orleans and had been leading a terrorist cell to Atlanta. At that point, the Nasts swooped in, saved the day and arrested my mother, me and Adam, whom they suspected I'd duped with my version of the events.

"My version?" I said. "My version is that my mother was brought over by Shawn Roberts, to aid the anti-reveal movement, which Jaime Vegas will confirm. Lucas Cortez will likewise confirm that I was infiltrating the reveal movement when you ambushed--"

"Lucas is your former guardian. Ms. Vegas is your friend and his," Josef said, ignoring the lawyers' attempts to quiet us both. "She will say exactly what he tells her."

"And your version?" I said. "Where did you get this supposed proof that I'm part of SLM? You killed everyone at that warehouse."

"There was a survivor. A necromancer named Andrea Patterson. She's told us everything."

"Please," Stein said. "You'll both be allowed to speak."

He motioned to the Nast lawyer, who continued. "Now, as this witness testified, Miss Levine and her mother . . ."

I didn't catch the rest of what he said.

Someone was speaking behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, but saw no one.

"--damned well better figure it out," the voice snapped. "You owe us . . ."

The voice faded again, but beside me, Sean had turned, too, and was staring at the empty space. The expression on his face . . .

I must have had the same expression on mine yesterday, when Shawn Roberts made my mother manifest.

"Dad?" Sean whispered. His gaze shot to me. "Did you hear . . . ?"

"It sounded like--" I swallowed. "It sounded like him."