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Olivia looked pleased but continued on. “These two officers were not the only individuals to die that night at the hand of Lucas Taylor or Nadine Evers. Is that correct?”
“That is correct,” Lilian said. “They murdered Priestess Stella.”
A murmur traveled around the courtroom. This had been a point of contention throughout the entire coven for months. We’d tried to tell the truth the night of the Burning—how Stella had been behind nightshade production—but we’d been forced into silence. The priestesses had made us lie and change our story. At this point, I wasn’t sure the coven knew what to believe.
“Please bring up evidence file one-six-six,” Olivia said.
This time, it wasn’t an image that appeared on the screen, but an audio recording. It was the first bit of evidence they’d provided that wasn’t a photograph.
The sound of Stella’s voice blasted out of the speakers. “I don’t answer to you.”
“You’re not going anywhere!” Lucas shouted in the recording.
We heard the sound of scrambling feet, then the blast of a spell, followed immediately by Stella’s dying screams. They echoed throughout the courtroom, sending a chilling sensation down my spine.
I was certain we all felt it… the horror of death permeating through the speakers. For a moment, the entire courtroom went silent. Then, all at once, the room exploded in an uproar.
“Burn them at the stake!”
“Send them to the gallows!”
“Rot in the Abyss!”
I knew that last voice. It was Professor Leto. He was loving the chaos.
The judge smacked her gavel against the tabletop, though we could hardly hear it over the sound of the screams.
“What are you waiting for? They killed a priestess!” someone shouted.
Olivia smirked proudly. “I rest my case, your honor.”
I felt like the walls were closing in on me. Of all the evidence shown, any of it could be doctored. Any of it could be lies. But Lucas’s voice in this recording was damning.
The priestesses knew it, and they wore smug expressions as the courtroom exploded in rage. It was odd how comfortable they seemed in the midst of the coven calling for a witch hunt. This is exactly what they wanted… why they gave us a trial at all. They wanted to leave no single soul who doubted our guilt. They wanted to unite the coven in rage.
It was over. We’d lost.
CHAPTER 21
LUCAS
Horror permeated my bones. The recording was real, and the jury knew it. But the prosecution had cut out all the rest. They didn’t show how Stella’s death had been an accident, or how we’d tried to save Stella. The clip they chose told a very damning story, one that didn’t remotely reflect the truth.
But the coven didn’t care. They wanted our heads on a stake.
“The court will take an hour recess!” the judge yelled, smacking her gavel.
People got out of their chairs and started pushing through the crowd, trying to get to us.
“Get them out of here!” the judge yelled at the bailiff.
Verla whirled toward Professor Warren in the front row. She quickly gestured to him, and he leaned over the barrier separating us. She said something in his ear, but I couldn’t hear what it was over the sound of protests.
We were escorted out of the courtroom through a private door, to a small room away from the crowd. I curled Nadine in my arms as she shook in fright.
“The coven’s not going to believe anything we say after that.” Nadine’s voice trembled.
“We can work with this,” Verla said. “We’ve known all along they had that recording.”
