Strange Love

CHAPTER 108: Long tooth of the law

Arei pushed Jos protectively behind him, squeezing her hand tightly. He kept his attention trained on the large crowd gathered outside the Embassy doors, filling the entire circular drive and many of the common areas. "What is going on?" He called back to Peg and Andy who were following close behind. They had met for an early breakfast with the hope that the distraction of friends would encourage Jos to do more than pick at her meal, but it had not.

Peg's eyes searched the crowds. "It looks like a protest of sorts." He said pointing to the backs of several signs held high over the heads of the crowd.

As Arei neared the front of the crowd a familiar purple head came into view. "Raven?!" The words had no sooner left his lips before Jos was pushing past him.

"Raven! Is Isha with you?" Jos flung her arms around the fairy's neck as she searched the crowd closest to them for other familiar faces.

Raven chuckled as she handed the sign to Arei and squeezed Jos tight. "No, she wasn't able to sneak away as easily." She sent a hateful look toward the Embassy. "These bastards aren't letting the public inside today OR me for some reason," She shrugged and shot a thumb over her shoulder to the man standing beside her. "When this crazy bastard mentioned holding a protest, I was down."

"Dad?!" Peg asked in surprise as the man in question turned toward their small group and smiled as he pulled his hat off.

Arei's brows furrowed as he looked from the stranger's face before finally examining the sign in his hand. It read 'Release the Kraken'. Arei's eyes widened, "Is this the wisest thing to do right now?" He shot his disapproving gaze from Raven to his father. "Don't you have more important things to do than lead a protest?"

The man came over and clasped a hand on Arei's shoulder. "Something more important than cause a stir for these bastards to deal with? Nope..." He shrugged. "Besides I have to show my support of my new court member somehow." He winked at Jos. "And look I didn't forget you either." He flipped the sign in his hand toward Shelly. It read 'Justice for Princess Boosilis'.

"Father, I'm not sure it's wise to advertise who she is exactly." He studied the signs. "Plus, I'm not sure they are the most tactfully worded either."

Poseidon shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen? If they turn a head or two then good. It will make it harder for our dear corrupt council members to perform shady dealings and acts." No sooner had Poseidon finished his speech, a reporter and her one-man crew bustled through the crowd toward them.

"You are here for the trials today? Please, can you tell us what you predict for the outcome today?" The reporter asked, pressing her microphone toward the small group.

Arei pushed the mic away and pulled Jos back against him. "No comment." He replied as he began pushing them forward.

"Then this must be the Joslyn Decker?" The reporter's vulturous attention moved to Shelly. "And this must be the Rachelle Boosilis?!" She pressed the mic toward the wolf. "What do you have to say about these trials? Is it true you were involved in the deaths of Xavier and Dante DeMarco?"

Arei snarled nastily at the woman as he pushed past her. "I said, no comment."

"Joslyn is it true you seduced first Prince Russell Boosilis then Xavier DeMarco before moving on to one of Poseidon's sons." The reporter continued as she forced the mic in front of Jos.

Arei turned a heated glare to the woman. "Apparently you do not realize the company you are in." He growled. "I assure you there has been no seduction of any kind here. Jos is not the villain here," A wicked smile curved his lips. "But I'm not afraid to be if you don't stop harassing my party."

The woman's eyes lit up. "Does that mean you are the son in question? Could you please state your name for the-"

Arei grabbed the mic and crushed it in his hand before letting its pieces drop to the floor. "I sometimes regret my oath not to hit women."

Peg walked past Arei, one sleeve already rolled up as he worked on the other. The burned-on bolt Zeus had branded him with the day he left his court was now exposed on his upper forearm. "It's a damn good thing I never took such an oath." He stood intimidatingly tall over the woman and her camera guy. When they both began stepping back, Peg smiled menacingly. "That's what I thought." He turned and took Andy's hand and nodded toward the rest of their group. "Shall we?" He nodded back to Raven and Poseidon who were both smiling from ear to ear.

Jos shook her head, "It's like being in a 1920's gangster movie with you guys.

"Oh no, they are at least ten times worse!" Andy joked as she held her I.D. badge up for the guards standing at the front gate.

All the happy voices beside her died off as the wide double doors leading into the courts opened up. Jos froze dead in her tracks. When her lack of movement tugged on Arei's hand and caused Andy to bump into her back, she shot a nervous look to Shelly. The wolf was also frozen in place, her eyes trained on the same profile as Jos.

Arei's brows furrowed as he followed both Jos and Shelly's gaze through the courtroom, landing on a tall woman. "What is it?" He asked.

Jos swallowed hard past the lump forming in her throat. "T...that is the woman who led the attack against us on the beach that day."

Arei turned his attention back to the woman. She stood with Marcus and a few other high-ranking vampires he recognized from his work with the vamps in the U.S. "That's her? Are you sure?" He whispered. When Jos only nodded, her worried eyes still trained on the woman, he turned to Peg. "Stay close." He leaned toward Andy. "Take Shelly back to our room and call Father." He nodded toward the woman Jos had implied. "That woman is the one who attacked Jos and the wolves on the beach a month or so back."

Andy nodded a quick yes as she turned from the doorway already lifting her cell phone to her ear. Shelly whimpered and brushed her cheek against Jos's leg. Jos bent and stroked the wolf's head. "It's alright, I'll be ok. I'd much rather know without a doubt that you're safe." She smiled weakly down at Shelly as she shrugged. "Don't worry about me, I'm the bigger monster after all..."

Arei tightened his grip on her hand as he leaned closer to her. "You are no monster, and I promise, that bitch will have to climb over my dead body before she hurts either of you again!" He bent farther and patted Shelly's head. "This is no time to be stubborn. Thank of your baby. Go back to the room and wait with Andy and dad."

Shelly nodded reluctantly and turned to follow Andy who had already walked into the main lobby of the Embassy that separated the hotel from the business wings. Andy hung up as Shelly approached, sending Shelly a reassuring smile. "Poseidon is already waiting in the room and he brought you a surprise. Come on, trust me you don't want to leave him unsupervised for long."

Jos watched as Shelly and Andy disappeared down the corridor leading to the room. Letting out a long, heavy breath she turned back toward the courtroom. Her eyes automatically found the leather-clad woman and another wave of anxiety pulsed through her. The large hand that encircled hers squeezed tighter. She forced her eyes from the woman to the stormy hazel eyes overhead.

"You can do this. I'm with you the whole way. I'm not sure how she ended up in this room, but we will get to the bottom of it." He shot the woman a glare. "If that truly is the woman that attacked you guys, she'll be in a cell by the end of the day, I promise... even if I have to drag her there myself."

Jos leaned her forehead against the hard bulge of his upper arm. "I just want it to be over already..."

He cupped the back of her head with his free hand and placed a light kiss on the top of her head. "I know, Kitten. Let's get on in here so that it can be." He held her tightly to his side as they walked past the plaintiff box. He eyed the woman before sending Marcus a disapproving glare. He had submitted the paperwork for the attack within twelve hours after and knew good and well the warrant for that very woman's arrest was now public knowledge. {How is it, if this is the same woman, is she standing here freely today?} The second Jos stepped into their box, Arei bent to whisper something into Prometheus's ear.

Jos watched as the man's eyes widened and quickly shot over to the other box before shooting her a surprised look. "Are you positive, child?" He asked.

Jos glanced up to Arei before answering. "Yes... I got a good look at her that day. So did Shelly and she recognized her immediately as well."

Prometheus looked around the seating area behind them. When he turned back to Jos, his brows were furrowed. "That's all and well, dear... but where is the girl? Would she be willing to shift and testify against the woman?"

Jos frowned, "No. She's safely in our room and wouldn't shift either way."

He frowned, "Someone else will have to identify her as well. The boy, yes?" Jos and Arei both nodded in response. "Very well. We will ask that she be held in one of the holding cells until the boy can be contacted. I don't believe they had planned on bringing him in today for these hearings so it may take a bit longer." He waited until all the standard technicalities were out of the way and the initial trial had begun before addressing the court. "I would like to bring it to the court's attention. The woman standing in as rep of the DeMarco coven has been identified as the same woman who led an attack on my client, Ms. Decker, and both the Boosilis twins. We ask that she be taken into custody of the courts until Prince Boosilis can be reached to confirm her identity."

Themis's gaze moved between Prometheus and Marcus. "Were you aware of this Marcus?"

Marcus was already fumbling with his cell phone as he answered. "No, I was not. I was aware of the attack, but my officers had not yet been able to identify the individual responsible. I had no idea someone of Bianca Cass's status would risk such a thing." He watched helplessly as his key witness was placed in shackles and led from the courtroom.

"As Prometheus has requested, Ms. Cass will be placed in a holding cell and Prince Boosilis will be contacted to provide a secondary identification. In the meantime, I'm ruling this as a mistrial. I suggest if you want to proceed with your allegations against Ms. Decker you bring in a member of the DeMarco coven that isn't suspected of attempted murder on royalty." Themis hit the gavel down before adding. "You have three hours to come up with a fitting substitute Marcus.

Marcus moved his irritated gaze from his phone to Themis. "I am already contacting a second option, My Lady... but it seems it will be a bit more difficult reaching her and getting her into court. You see she is under the impression the trials and involvements of such is... well, um... beneath her."

Themis narrowed her eyes. "Is that so? Please inform her, if she does not make it into this courtroom as you've requested, I will personally issue a warrant for her arrest under the suspicion of involvement."

Marcus swallowed hard as he nodded his head in understanding. "Yes, My Lady. I will exhaust all channels until I am able to get through to her."

One corner of Themis's lips turned up. "Very well. Dismissed."

Jos let out the breath she'd been holding. She'd thought things would be much more complicated. She turned her attention away from the intimidating woman standing at the front of the council box to Arei as he squeezed her shoulder.

"We're not out of the woods yet, Kitten." Let's get back to the room and go over plans for moving forward, what do you say?" He asked as he leaned over to kiss the side of her head.

Jos nodded and allowed him to help her up and lead her from the courtroom. "What do you think will happen? Do you think it will all be dismissed?"

Arei shook his head in aggravation. "No doubt Marcus will find someone to stand in on behalf of DeMarco... even if he doesn't, you'd still stand trial for the other coven leaders killed that day. Our best bet is to hope this turn of events buys us time and helps paint a true picture of the coven's darker side."

Jos frowned as she waited for him to push open the door to their room. "What if Russ can't identify her? He hit his head that day. There's a good possibility he wouldn't be able to."

Arei paused with his hand on the knob. Releasing it and turning back to Jos, he pulled her into his arms. "Don't worry, Kitten, we'll get justice for everything that's happened." He ran the back of his index finger across her cheek. "All the vile shit they did to Shelly, the attacks, all the corruption, and underhanded dealings... they will pay. It may not be all at once during these trials, but I'm not going to stop after it's over. Ry and I will get to the bottom of all this shit with them. You and Shelly will be safe, I promise." He bent and placed a lingering kiss to her forehead.

Just as Jos took a step forward, the door opened. "I thought I heard voices out here. What are you guys doing back- ah... Never mind forgetting I interrupted." Raven's eyes trailed over Jos and Arei making sure to note the space between their bodies and the many places they touched one another.

Jos pushed away from Arei and stepped forward toward her friend. "You didn't interrupt anything. We were simply talking about the trials to come... The one today was declared a mistrial. The woman who attacked us the day you and Isha left was the main witness against me..."

Raven's eyes widened. "Well, isn't that some shit!" She shook her head as she made a tisking sound with her lips. "There's no low that bunch isn't willing to hit is there?"

Jos shrugged. "I guess not..." She said as she followed the fairy into the room.

"So, what now?" Raven asked Arei as he followed behind them, closing the door as he came.

"They have only called a mistrial on this particular portion. It does give us some time to plan." He ran his hand through his neatly groomed hair messing it up. "And after today, it's obvious we will need more protection for Shelly and Jos." He moved his gaze over to Peg who stood by the kitchen island with one arm wrapped around Andy. "What do you say to staying here with us through at least this next trial?" He nodded toward the sofa. "I could give you guys my room and sleep on the sofa."

"Aw! Sleepover!" Poseidon called out from the armchair he sat in, stroking Shelly's head as she rested in the makeshift bed beside him. He snapped his fingers and suddenly Arei's tight s.e.xy suit was replaced by a girly pajama set fully equipped with a stuffed fluffy pink bunny and matching bunny slippers.