Magic Rising (#4 Stella Mayweather Paranormal Series) Read online

“I left a message an hour ago. But I have heard nothing.”

  So he wasn’t answering Micah either. That wasn’t good news. “Do you know where he is?” I asked again.

  “No.”

  “I just want him to call me.”

  A hand landed on my shoulder and I jumped, but Micah didn’t offer any comforting words. I didn’t think he could. I genuinely didn’t think he knew where Evan was or why he wasn’t calling. Whatever was keeping Evan from me had little to do with the witches and their opinion of his race. After all, Micah was here, a full-blooded demon compared to Evan’s half-bred, daemon status, so it must have had something to do with the job. Evan never mentioned anything about making a personal request and that struck me as odd. Come to think of it, he didn’t say much about the job at all. When did we start keeping things from each other?

  “What is Steven up to?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder at the older man, suddenly recalling he said something about an “idea.” He’d stopped reading and was now making notes, his hand flying over the page. I was sure he’d read and reread his notes enough to have them memorised by now.

  “Now that I do know; but why don’t you ask him?”

  I returned to the living room with my tea and took the seat opposite Steven while Micah looked out of the windows, scanning the street as well as the rooftops. Whatever he was looking for, I had no clue; but I would have felt more comfortable if Evan had been with me instead of incommunicado wherever he was.

  “What’s your grand plan?” I asked my lawyer. “I don’t know if my stress levels can take much more of this.”

  “Tomorrow, I plan to ask the judiciary to hear your testimony first,” he replied succinctly.

  “I thought I wouldn’t be called until last.”

  “And Georgia thought she had a slam-dunk case, as the kids say, against you. I’ve practised law a long time, Stella, both human and witch. I can sense when the judiciary is not happy with the progression of a case.”

  “You think they’re not happy?” I’d been watching all of them throughout the day’s testimony and observed nothing of the sort. The judiciary had watched the witnesses with expressions of ennui.

  “I think they are surprised to hear everyone’s account saying the same thing: you acted in self-defence. If the case continues in the same vein, it could be perceived as harassment against you,” Steven explained.

  “It still doesn’t make any sense. There’s no reason for Georgia, or Alison Dorling, to harass me.” Across the room, Micah snorted. “Well, Georgia,” I admitted, wondering if Micah had the misfortune to have already met her, “but not Alison.”

  “Alison grieves for her child. She is probably being manipulated. It could be that Georgia is fighting for the Eleanor murder charge, where as Alison believes this case to be about her son.”

  “Publicity, damage and glory,” summarised Micah, “under the guise of benevolence towards the grieving mother.”

  “For whatever reason Alison Dorling brought the case against me, I feel sorry for her. I can’t imagine what she must be going through.”

  “That’s magnanimous of you.” Steven patted my hand. Little dots of ink marred his writing hand. “I’m sure you know better than most exactly what Alison must be suffering. It’s not dissimilar to your own situation.”

  “Yeah, but I found closure for that.” I thought of my parents, and how I only ever remembered snatches of conversation, little morsels of my childhood memories. I only knew their faces from photographs, but they were a striking pair.

  “Then let’s hope this trial gives Alison what she needs. Answers.”

  Étoile and Kitty flashed into the apartment a moment later, and both Micah and I turned at the same time to greet them.

  “This is horrible!” Kitty exclaimed as she rushed over to give me a hug. “You’re not a murderer! I’ll tell them that on the stand tomorrow,” she promised emphatically, her voice taking on the same note of disbelief as mine upon hearing I’d been indicted.

  “You might not need to take the stand,” I told her, returning her hug. “Steven wants me to testify first.”

  Étoile turned to him. “You told her?”

  Steven grimaced. “Not quite everything.”

  Looking from Étoile to Steven, I asked, “What part did you leave out?”

  “Do you remember back in England when I let you peek inside my head?” Étoile asked. “I let you see my memories, my truth.”

  “Yes.” It was weird, like I was plugged into Étoile and could move freely inside and through her memories. It required great mutual trust. She revealed the truth, and showed me exactly how deep her loyalty was as a friend. I’ve never doubted her since. “What of it?”

  “We want the judiciary to do the same to you. It’s more valuable than any spoken testimony. No one can possibly refute it,” Steven told us. “Étoile thought of it, but we weren’t sure you would comply.”

  “Uck!” Kitty, who knew the story already, flopped onto the sofa. “You want to give her open brain surgery in court?”

  Étoile laughed. “It’s not like that. It’s a simple exchange. No probes or drills.”

  Steven nodded. “You’ll just be transmitting outwardly to more people. It’s draining, but not too risky. Your memories of that day will be laid bare for everyone to view. Lisette is somewhat skilled and a specialist in such procedures, fortunately.”

  “So, I let them peek into my head and it’s all over?” It seemed like a no-brainer, (no pun intended), to me.

  “That’s the idea,” agreed Steven. “We have two days until the Summit begins. It would be good to end this case now.”

  I threw my hands in the air. Screw the Summit. I wanted it over, even if it meant letting absolute strangers see into my most personal thoughts. This was the only way to clear my name for good. “Let’s do it.”

  ~

  As soon as the judiciary were seated the following morning, Steven asked permission to approach the bench. Behind me, every available seat was occupied and more spilled out into the lobby, the word clearly having spread, as the court doors shut. Kitty sat with the Winterstorms. Despite all her cross words, I could tell she was nervous about taking the stand. She had received the most injuries on the day in question, and though her wounds had healed, I was pretty certain she never wanted to talk about that day again. To do so for me was evidence of our proven friendship.

  After a few murmurs of conversation amongst the judiciary, both he and Georgia were summoned. Though I could not hear their discussion, Steven had explained how he planned to petition the judiciary to allow him to put my mind and memories of that day into evidence, thereby outstripping the need for further witnesses. Georgia clearly argued against it, no doubt preferring to cast further doubt on the events, despite her lack of evidence. After a sharp word from the judiciary, followed by a warning glare at Georgia, both counsels returned to their respective tables.

  Lisette stood and addressed the room. I noticed for the first time that a member of the judiciary was looking directly at me. It was neither friendly nor unfriendly. He simply appeared to assess me before turning away to mumble something to his colleague, the woman I recognised as Mary. “The defence has petitioned us to hear direct testimony from the accused, and the judiciary has consented. The defendant may approach,” Lisette instructed, beckoning me.

  I sucked in a deep breath and approached the bench, taking my seat on the dais as directed.

  “This is highly irregular,” Georgia insisted as I sat. Her palms were planted firmly on the prosecution desk as she leaned forwards. Next to her, Alison’s eyes flitted worriedly about the room. When she tried to chew on a fingernail, Georgia simply extended one hand, grabbing hers and removing it from her mouth, while never once looking at her. “The prosecution has other witnesses whose testimony has more bearing on this case.”

  “Sit down, Ms. Thomas. The judiciary is aware of the other witnesses, but after hearing yesterday’s testimony from the four witnesses who
were present at the demise of Mrs. Bartholemew and Mr. Dorling, we are more concerned with the merit of this case. We have accepted the defence’s offer to perform a memory exchange in order to extract the information, as well as the truth of this unfortunate calamity.” She turned to me. “Ms. Mayweather, are you willing?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ms. Thomas, do you have any reason why we should not view the memory banks of the defendant?”

  Georgia’s sighed. “No.”

  “We shall proceed.”

  I wasn’t sure what to expect. When Étoile allowed me to access her mind, we simply held hands and my magic flowed into and through her, returning to me when I had what I needed. Somehow, I didn’t expect this was going to be so easy. Lisette walked around the table as a chair was carried by the clerk and placed on the dais next to mine. She sat so close that our knees touched. Instead of taking my hand, without preamble, she placed her palm on my forehead and extended her other hand towards the blank wall at her side. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, like lightning suddenly struck me, I jolted forwards and my eyes rolled backwards into my head.

  I had the strange feeling that I was swimming underwater while being outside of my body at the same time. A fog began to descend over me. The dense, viscous substance enveloped me as the pressure in my head persisted. As foreign magic entered me, I resisted the urge to fight it and force it back. It went against my very nature to sit still and allow this to happen to me. I felt only vaguely afraid for an instant, then suddenly not. As though very far away, I felt my fingers gripping the underside of the chair.

  Someone was talking and I could hear cries. I tried to open my eyes, ignoring the strange feeling of being outside of my body, but still able to feel everything. The magic converged onto my memory banks. I was frozen between two scenes. The first one was Lisette clamping her hand on mine as if I were a power socket. The second was the scene from my memory, which now appeared on the far wall like a home cinema projection. The cries stopped with a screech, the audio frozen with the picture, like someone had pressed “pause.” All at once, the scene began to play. In double time, I saw Robert drop to the floor while we scattered, my vision split between seeing it happen as if he was right in front of me and seeing the replay on the screen. I could feel every bit of fear and confusion, but I knew it wasn’t real this time. Somehow, I was reliving my own memories, replaying the events as they unfolded, adrenaline surging in my veins though my body remained still.

  I saw Jared rush into the room, and heard a loud crash, right before Seren appeared next to me. I heard Eleanor laughing. The scene sped up, then slowed down until I saw Jared’s lifeless body. Someone cried out, but I wasn’t sure if it came from my memory or someone in the court, and then all sound switched off. Like a silent movie, the scenes continued to unfold. The sick feeling of watching powerlessly as Eleanor jerked Kitty around, breaking her bones… Evan was badly injured… Meg obliterated… It now streamed for all to see and I had to struggle to keep myself from blacking out as my eyes flickered with the strain. I watched Astra’s power clash with ours, as I rose to her challenge, pushing her back. I saw myself holding Eleanor’s heart in my hand. I felt fear all around me everywhere and knew it was both real and remembered.

  With a piercing screech like the worst feedback ever, the scene went pitch-black. Magic rushed out of me with a surge and my torso started to flop forwards. Hands caught me right before I tumbled off the chair. I willed myself not to faint as I was manoeuvred into an upright position. When I opened my eyes, and the hands left me, I was met with silence.

  Every single eye in the room was fastened on me. Then someone started shouting and more voices joined in, their dissension filling me with confusion. On top of that, I could hear the bitter sound of a woman sobbing.

  EIGHT

  The noise in the room was deafening. It seemed like everyone had something to say and it all had to be said at once. I just concentrated on staying upright on the chair until the clerk reached me, making me stand then propelling me towards the defence table in one smooth movement. My head hurt, with the pain hitting tipping point somewhere in the middle of my forehead. Inexplicably, my limbs ached too and my shoulders burned with the effort of remaining upright. I felt like I needed a shower to get the creepy, icky feeling from my skin, then a nice lie-down in a very dark room.

  “Order!” Lisette banged the gavel against the desk, amplifying the hard rap throughout the room. “The prosecution and defence must approach the bench now!”

  “What are they doing?” I asked, my hand landing on Steven’s sleeve as he rose.

  “That’s what I’m about to find out.”

  Étoile and I exchanged worried glances as Steven and Georgia both obeyed the order from the court. Lisette must have cast some kind of silent spell around them because as much as I strained, I couldn’t hear anything. It was like they were enclosed in a bubble.

  I leaned towards Étoile, my muscles seemingly back under my control. “Any idea what’s going on?” I asked her.

  She gave a quick shake of her head. “I’m not certain, but the judiciary doesn’t look very happy.”

  “No shit.”

  “Steven played a smart move putting you on the stand.” She cast a glance at them. “They should have done that first and spared us, and you, yesterday.”

  “They’re coming back.” She straightened up as Steven returned to us, poker-faced. On the other side of the room, Georgia’s countenance was also stony. She slipped from view behind Steven, turning away from us to snap at Alison who shrank away from her, her face half obscured by a wad of tissue.

  “What did they have to say?”

  “You’ll find out in a moment.” Steven sat, tugging at his shirt sleeves, on which shone twin, polished, silver cufflinks.

  “Order!” Lisette commanded again, and this time, the room fell silent as she stood up, her imposing presence daring anyone to continue speaking. “We declare this trial frivolous and meritless,” she told us, her eyes burning furiously as she inspected the room. Once again, she called order at the sudden bustle of noise. “The evidence presented to us both yesterday and today shows undeniably that there is no substantiation against Estrella Mayweather’s assertion that she acted in self-defence, and likewise, no ruling to be issued. We have decided in favour of the defence. Ms. Mayweather,” Lisette looked directly at me and inclined her head, finishing, “you have our apologies. We will not allow any further action to be brought against you with regards to this case.” She turned her attentions to the prosecution desk, her red hair settling over her shoulders. “Ms. Dorling, no action will be taken against you for filing a meritless case.”

  Alison Dorling nodded meekly.

  “This is outrageous!” Georgia leaped to her feet, causing the judiciary to recoil. Lisette turned to her. Judging by Lisette’s expression, Georgia had just made a very unwise move. “She’s a murderer,” Georgia insisted as she thrust a finger at me. “You can’t let her go. She killed one of the most illustrious members of our society. She’s a menace!”

  Lisette contemplated her. “Quiet, Ms. Thomas. The judiciary has pronounced its decision.”

  “But…”

  “But nothing. If you persist, you will be in contempt of this court and you will not like the consequences.”

  Georgia paled. But she sat down quietly. As one, the judiciary stood up and left the room.

  I sat rigidly stiff, my hands folded in my lap as their proclamation finally dawned on me. “I’m free,” I whispered, then a little louder to Étoile and Steven. “I’m free? I’m really free!”

  “Yes, you are,” announced Steven, a flash of surprise streaking across his face as I threw my arms around him and squeezed him tightly. I wondered how certain he was that his motion would be heard, much less the ultimate outcome.

  “Thank you so much,” I told him.

  “Any time.” Steven patted my back. “Any time, my dear. Though, preferably… never again. I’m too old fo
r this much excitement.”

  “We should get out of here,” Étoile suggested.

  I paled. “Why? In case they change their mind?”

  “No! This is done with! Although I am surprised they didn’t address Georgia’s meddling.” This she said very quietly so only I could hear. “In any case, we should leave. Our plans for the Summit were interrupted and there isn’t much time left.”

  Behind me, I sensed Marc’s approach, recognising his signature long before I laid eyes on him. I stood, turning to greet him. With the exception of yesterday, the last time I’d seen him was on the fateful day for which I’d just been absolved. That day, his magic re-entered his body in such a rush that he’d shone brightly and brilliantly. Now, I could no longer see his magic, but I could certainly feel it. It bristled around him with the unmistakable marking of power. It was unsurprising, however, given his parentage.

  “It’s finally over,” he said with a sad, little smile on his face. His hair was cut shorter than when we first met, but still sun-bleached blond, although he seemed a little tanner. His eyes didn’t quite match his healthy exterior. Now we stood close together, I saw they looked worn and weathered, and in dire need of sleep. Despite my thrill at being released, my heart still ached for him.

  “Yes, it is,” I agreed, careful to keep my voice solemn. We’d recently spoken several times on the phone, but somehow coming face-to-face with him was very different from what I imagined. I felt awkward, maybe even a little ashamed that I never thought of disabling Eleanor in any other way, except permanently. Maybe, if I’d been more in control of my powers then, and less afraid, I might have acted differently. It was a choice I would have to live with for the rest of my life, even though I was now officially pardoned and forgiven. All of my “what ifs” didn’t change a damn thing.

  “I missed you,” Marc said as he stepped forward, folding me into his embrace. After a moment, my arms wrapped around him and we held onto each other. I could feel sadness and hope undulating through him, and felt his forgiveness. There was something else too. Contentment, I realised. Marc was content and that was very much a first for him. I was glad he was no longer the troubled, manipulated soul he’d once been. Good things could come from bad. Marc was proof of that. Besides Eleanor only comprised half of his DNA.