FULL NOVELXO Chapter 24 ~ The Trial
Evander’s POV ~
Mom walked into the office, fuming. I laid my pen down and waited.. we are four days away from Adrianna’s hearing. The attorney general sent a packet of redacted material.. that had no substantial information she could work with. I know she’s frustrated.
She started to open her mouth, when Roy rushed into the room.. “Queen Aurora.. I found it! The last hard drive finally decoded.. The encryption was so sophisticated, I wasn’t sure we could do it!”
Mom muttered “Okayyy? And?” Roy jumps.. “Oh! Oh yeah! I was excited.. sorry! I am printing out the rest of it.. but here..” Handing her a file. Mom opened it and started reading.. she glanced up “Adrianna’s case file?”
Roy nodded.. “Everything is in there! Everything they did.. her reactions.. her recovery time. Everything!” Mom jumped up and hugged him “I could just kiss you! Thank you! Finally! Something I can sink my teeth into!”
She ran out the door, past Adrianna.. as she waddled in. I smiled at my very pregnant.. very beautiful mate. She groaned.. I pulled her into my lap and rubbed her back. I said “I’m worried, love. We have to fly out in the morning.. it could put you in labor. I know Doc is coming with us.. but I still worry.
She nods in agreement and said “Don’t worry, my love. He won’t come for eight days.” She laid her head back on my shoulder and dozed off right away. I don’t know how she knows things.. she just does.
We boarded the flight.. Mom, Dad.. Abram.. with Blake and Adrian. We have ten warriors with us. Doc had the bed made up in the back, so Adrianna was rested.
When we arrived, our rental vehicles were waiting. Dad had ordered five armored SUVs.. blacked out windows with bulletproof glass. We are taking no chances. We got checked in.. and waited for Colleen to arrive. She is going to cover this hearing for us.. so we are assured a fair story.
We had a nice quiet dinner and an early night. Having to be at the courthouse at nine.. I wanted Adrianna rested. Mom kissed us good night and told us not to worry. She laughed and said “This is just a dog and pony show. They want to parade us around.. and try to paint us as bloodthirsty monsters.. Well, surprise! We have more manners than any human!”
I snuggled into my mate and kissed her. She sleepily says “Avery doesn’t like fish” I am confused.. Avery is our son’s name.. but I don’t remember ever having fish. Not for months. When she’s sleepy.. she has a habit of blurting out things that have no relevance.. so I just snuggle down and doze.
At 8:30, we were stopped by security and told we weren’t allowed in the courtroom with Adrianna and Mom. Abram stood taller and wider than I have ever seen him.. he growled “My daughter does NOT enter that courtroom without her guard! This is Not a closed hearing and you DO NOT have the authority to deny us entry. Either we all go in OR we all go home!”
The guard cowered away and I nearly laughed out loud.. I told him “Damn Dad! You got a mean streak!” He nodded “These humans will never cause harm to my little girl again!” I believed him!
The hearing got underway and Mom was objecting to everything Sloan said.. a tactic she uses to get under someone’s skin.. when he said Adrianna was being tried by a jury of her peers.. Mom objected “Your honor, seriously? A jury of her peers!? I was never even told of the jury selection, therefore I was deprived of the opportunity to poll them.. they cannot be her peers, unless they’re shifters.. Are they shifters?” The judge said no.. and she sat back down.
The prosecution presented their case.. and every witness he produced, Mom only asked one question “Have you ever met Adrianna Mosley”. And the answer was always no.
When it was the defense’s turn, Mom called every one of the fifteen that Adrianna had rescued. They all told the same heinous story.. implicating the dead doctors.. they stayed true, even on cross-examination.
Then Mom introduced into evidence the file with every experiment and torture inflicted on Adrianna.. handing a copy to each juror, so they could follow along. At one point, the judge excused himself to throw up.
The judge dismisses the case out of hand, and lectured Sloan on wasting the court’s time. And we walked out. As we walked down the steps, a shot rang out, but with our heightened senses we heard it.. a warrior pushed Adrianna into my arms.. and took the round in his shoulder.
Dad roared and Donnaugh was in the air to the rooftop where a sniper was trying to run. Donnaugh grabbed him and landed back on the street. He shifted back and growled so loud the windows shook “This man is my prisoner! When I find out who ordered this hit, heads will roll! You tell your President, if he wanted WAR… then WAR he shall have!”
He shoved the man in the back hatch of the SUV and knocked him out. We arrived at the airport.. Doc working on our warrior. The bullet was dipped in wolfsbane. Adrianna said “Tell the pilot to get us to the Lake.. Although, it would be faster on Argon!”
Dad said “NO! We can’t risk another sniper!” We landed at Luna Lake within two hours and our warrior was barely holding on.
Adrianna and I got him into the water, and she began her chant.. soon Abram and Zander both joined us.. taking turns with chanting. Ten minutes later.. the warrior was sitting at the edge of the Lake.. with Zander’s hand on him, until he could stand on his own.