Novel Full Chapter 208: Sanctum
Chapter 208: Sanctum
FIA
I needed to find the lead elder. Now.
My feet carried me back through the estate grounds. Through corridors I’d walked a thousand times. Past windows that framed the manicured gardens.
Garrett and Baruch stayed close. Their footsteps echoed mine. A steady rhythm that matched my racing pulse.
The elder circle building stood not too far off. The prominent looking heavy oak doors. Wee what first caught my attention. The Brass handles worn smooth by centuries of hands. I didn’t knock. I didn’t even pause to think it over when I pushed through.
The room fell silent.
Five elders sat around the curved table. Papers spread before them. The lead elder looked up from whatever document he’d been reviewing. His expression shifted from concentration to surprise to something colder.
“Mrs Donlon.” His voice carried warning. “You are not supposed to be here.”
The other elders turned. Their faces arranged themselves into various degrees of disapproval. One woman with silver hair pursed her lips. A man with sharp features leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
“I need to speak with the lead elder.” I kept my voice steady and firm. “Alone.”
The silver-haired woman actually scoffed. “Absolutely not.”
“You were not invited to this space.” Another elder spoke up. A —compared to them— much younger man with calculating eyes. “You have no right to interrupt our proceedings.”
“This is highly irregular,” the lead elder said. He set down his pen with deliberate care. “You are not even supposed to be speaking with anyone involved in this investigation. Alone is completely out of the question.”
“Luna Fia.” The silver-haired woman stood. Her chair scraped against the floor. “Please step out. The investigation is still ongoing and your presence here compromises the integrity of our process.”
I planted my feet. “No.”
The word hung in the air. But my words were final.
“Excuse me?” The lead elder’s eyebrows rose.
“I said no.” I looked at each of them in turn. “I will not just sit my ass around while the powers that be are plotting to ensure Hazel somehow doesn’t pay the brunt of what she did.”
The lead elder sighed. A long, tired sound. Like I was a child throwing a tantrum.
“Technical is checking the audio recording as we speak.” His tone was measured and reasonable. The voice of someone explaining simple facts to someone too emotional to understand them. But that wasn’t who I was. “If anything in it proves true, due process will follow. Your sister will be punished accordingly.”
The calm delivery made my teeth grind. Everything about it screamed procedure.
Protocol.
A system designed to move slowly while the world burned around it.
“That’s not what will happen.” My hands curled into fists at my sides.
“And what exactly do you think will happen?” The calculating elder leaned forward. “That we’ll simply ignore evidence? That we’re corrupt?”
“Time is being bought right now.”
The lead elder’s expression didn’t change. “Bought for what purpose? For your sister to be broken out of here? Luna Fia, this estate is secure. No one is staging a prison break. That would break great tenets of supernatural law.”
“No.” I stepped closer to the table. “What happens if all of a sudden Hazel is bound to another powerful pack?”
The question landed like a stone in still water. Ripples of unease spread across their faces.
“Will that not compromise jurisdiction?” I pressed.
They exchanged glances. Quick and furtive ones. The silver-haired woman leaned toward the lead elder and whispered something. Another elder shuffled papers unnecessarily.
Finally, the lead elder spoke. “Last we checked, Hazel is not betrothed. Her marriage union to Alpha Cian was nullified the moment you took her place.”
“I don’t know much myself.” The words came faster now. The pieces falling together even as I spoke them. “But Pauline Strati is here.”
The name dropped like a bomb. Every elder at that table went still. Utterly still.
“Surely that makes the gears of everyone here grind.” I watched their faces. “The presiding Luna of Silver Creek was disowned because she didn’t marry into the house her parents wanted her to marry into. But the Strati house is here again? After all these years? All is forgiven now?”
No one answered. No one moved.
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t think so and neither should you. That betrothal will probably be passed to Hazel in this dire time. It’s perfectly legal and a great loophole. They just have to be here and who conveniently bought time during the trial?”
The silver-haired woman opened her mouth and closed it again. I know she hated my guts but even she had to see what I talking about.
“I’m here because I can see what’s going on.” My voice carried across the room. Clear and certain. “And I hope this good court can as well. Because once political or potential marriage ties are established, punishment becomes symbolic at best. Pauline’s timing is not a coincidence.”
The lead elder didn’t deny it. None of them did. That silence spoke louder than any words could have.
Instead, the calculated elder stood. “This is pure speculation.”
“Is it?” I challenged.
“You are interfering with an active inquiry.” The silver-haired woman’s voice turned sharp. “From the look of things even, it seems like you are acting from personal grievance rather than civic duty.”
“Does it even matter?” The words burst out in a hot and angry fashion. “Even if we both know that’s not true.”
The lie tasted bitter on my tongue. But I needed them to move. To act. To do something before it was too late.
They sat there. Stone-faced and silent. The lead elder picked up a small bell from the table and rang it once. The clear tone cut through the tension.
“Sentinels.” His voice was cold now. Formal. “Please escort Mrs Donlon from this room.”
“Wait.” I took a step forward. “You can’t just ignore this.”
The doors opened behind me. Heavy boots on marble floors.
“You’re making a mistake.” My voice rose. “They’re going to get away with everything. Hazel murdered Milo. There is no doubt about it. And if you do not not listen to me and find a way to curb this immediately, you’re going to let her walk away scott-free.”
Hands gripped my arms firmly as the sentinels flanked me.
“This is procedure, Luna Fia.” The lead elder wouldn’t meet my eyes. “We follow the law here.”
“The law?” I laughed. The sound came out harsh and broken. “You’re hiding behind procedure while they rewrite the rules right under our noses now.”
They pulled me backward. My feet slid against the polished floor.
“You cowards.” The words ripped out of me. “You spineless, corrupted cowards. You know I’m right. Now you know what they’re doing and if you do not make a move now, you’re letting it happen.”
The silver-haired woman looked away. The calculating elder studied his papers. The lead elder simply sat there with his hands folded on the table.
“This is an outrage.” My voice echoed off the walls. “You call this justice? You call this due process? It’s theater. It’s a fucking performance and you’re all actors.”
The sentinels dragged me through the doorway. Into the corridor beyond.
“History will remember this.” I twisted against their grip but they held firm. “Everyone will know you chose politics over truth. Chose to bend the fucking knee to power over what’s right.”
The doors swung shut. The solid thud cut off my words. Cut off any chance I had of reaching them.
The sentinels released me then stepped back but remained watchful. Ready to intervene again if needed.
I stood there with my chest heaving and my heart hammering. The rage coursed through my veins like fire.
Garrett who has been waiting for me outside alongside Baruch moved to my side. His hand hovered near my shoulder but didn’t quite touch.
“Luna Fia.” His voice was gentle. Careful.
“They know now.” The words came out tight. “They know exactly what is going to happen and those old heads are just going to let it happen anyway.”
I looked at Baruch and I could see how distraught he was hearing me.
“What now?” Garrett asked.
What now indeed. I’d played my hand and made my accusation. And they’d thrown me out like garbage.
I pressed my palms against my eyes and took a breath, then another.
The anger wanted to consume me. It wanted to make me scream, rage and break things. But that wouldn’t help. That wouldn’t change anything.
I lowered my hands and looked at Garrett and then at Baruch.
“Now we figure out something else I guess but if I am being honest, I am out of options.”
The hopelessness crept in even as I said it. But what could I really do now in this short time?
That was when movement caught my eye. I saw something in the distance.
Vehicles.
A whole fleet of them coming up the main drive toward the estate.
Black and expensive looking cars, moving in perfect formation.
My stomach dropped.
“No.” The word came out as barely a whisper.
Garrett followed my gaze. “What is that?”
I watched the cars approach, watched them glide past the fountains and manicured hedges and watched as they pulled up to the main entrance with practiced precision.
“The pack that will be Hazel’s salvation.” My voice sounded hollow. “They’re here.”