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“…find the defendant not guilty,” the judge states.
Bernard leaps to his feet. “That’s bullshit! The—”
The dream cuts off before he can be held in contempt of court.
Wow. I feel another trauma loop coming on. This is probably a record number. Most people have one, maybe two. Did Valerian know how tough this job would be? Is that why he paid me extra? Or maybe he simply needs the final results that badly—results I’ve yet to produce.
Speaking of Valerian, I feel a sudden urge to take a break from Bernard’s doom and gloom and revisit my uber-attractive employer in my dream bedroom. I can think of many ways his simulacra could make the time pass. He could feed me plump, juicy grapes, massage my feet with his strong, warm hands, use that sensual mouth for—
“Bailey,” Kit’s voice booms. “Wake up.”
There goes that idea.
I come out of my trance, the taste of sweet grapes fading from my tongue.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“You’re one cool cucumber,” Kit says when I open my eyes. “I don’t know if I’d be able to sleep under such circumstances.”
“I wasn’t sleeping, per se.” I sit up. “How screwed am I?”
She perches on the edge of the bed and puts down the stack of papers she’s holding. “The good news is they won’t kill you outright. I had to use all my oratory skills to pull that off, but Kain helped.”
“He did?” I move from the bed into a chair opposite her. That doesn’t sound like the vampire I know.
She turns into Kain. “He’s not as bad as he seems. He’s just in a shitty position. Since he’s the head of the Enforcers, everyone blames him for not preventing the murders. Clearly, he’s decided to shift some of that pressure onto you.”
As I thought. “Makes me feel so much better. What a saint.”
Kit shifts back into herself. “The head of the Enforcers before Kain left very big shoes to fill.”
I take in a deep breath. “What’s the bad news?”
“You’ve got three more days to find the killer,” Kit says. “And, if anyone else dies, that’s it for you.”
“Pucking great.” I leap out of the chair and start pacing the room. I’m failing. Failing badly. If I don’t get my act together, Mom stands no chance.
“I swear I did my best,” Kit says. “But when Kain told everyone about Hekima and Albina’s death, Gertrude made it sound like they voted to spare you in the hope that you could solve this thing. She said we needed to revote. Then Kain chimed in to give you another chance. I told them you can’t prevent someone as powerful as one of us from murdering, but they didn’t care.” She shimmers, transforming herself into Eduardo. “You’re lucky a few negative ninnies like their beauty sleep so much. As unbelievable as it sounds, the vote could’ve gone worse. One of the options was to kill you now.”
I grimace, stopping in front of her. “Why don’t I feel lucky?”
“If you want, I can help you escape.” She turns into me. “There’s going to be a Mandate ceremony soon, and we can disguise you to sneak out along with the guests. I can pretend to be you for a while, give you a head start.”
Tempting. Very tempting—and very nice of her to offer.
Regretfully, I shake my head. “I need Isis to heal my mom. Besides, Kain has my DNA. I don’t want to have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my days.” It’s the same reasons I had to turn down Valerian’s offer in the beginning.
Like it or not, I have to see this through.
Kit turns into Isis. “You’re also lucky no one’s killed her yet.”
She’s right. That wouldn’t be good at all. “Speaking of luck,” I say, pushing away the upsetting possibility, “did Chester vote for or against me just now? He had an alibi, but I still wonder if he could be behind it all.”
“He voted to give you another chance,” she replies in Chester’s voice while still wearing Isis’s face. “Chester can be a pain, but I don’t think he’s the culprit.”
“Fine,” I say tiredly. With the adrenaline leaving my system, the sleep deprivation is hitting me again, hard. I sink back into the chair. “Now what?”
Kit assumes her preferred anime blonde guise and hands me the stack of papers. “Kain made everyone write down what they were doing during the murders. They all swore to go to sleep in a bit, and Kain will check everyone’s compliance shortly. The idea is that you’ll dreamwalk in the rest of the Council as soon as possible.”
“Not a bad idea.” I glance at the papers. “I haven’t finished connecting with everyone, though.”
“That’s where I come in. I’ll walk you into the right people’s bedrooms.” She waggles her eyebrows lasciviously.
Ugh. Leave it to Kit to make the necessities of my power feel dirty.
