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“I don’t understand.”

“I was required to find three faces.”

“You were specifically requested not to take the face of Death Bringer’s mate.”

“That is what I was originally told, yes.” Adam hesitated. “I must admit, I was surprised at the change in plans. When I met with Death Bringer at the hospital, I realized it had been a mistake after all.”

“You refused to carry out a direct order from Fae royalty. Doesn’t that make you as much a traitor as my grandson?”

“Not when he was the one to retract the demand.”

Vadim looked up for the first time, and Ella evaded her guard and shot to her feet. “That’s ridiculous!” She stared at Spencer. “Why are you even listening to this crap? This idiot stole my face! Make him give it back!”

“Please be quiet, Ms. Walsh. You will have your opportunity to speak later. Adam is not on trial here.” Spencer pointed at her seat. “If you can’t sit down, you will have to leave the courtroom.”

The queen raised her hand. “I will ask the same question, then. Why would my son allow you to steal the face of his mate?”

Adam waited until everyone was quiet again. “Because he wanted an excuse to return to Otherworld and complete his destruction of his own bloodline.”

Spencer stared at Adam. “Why on earth should we believe you?”

“He was using her to get back here.” Adam said patiently. “Doesn’t it make a perfect kind of sense? Look at my face and look at his mate’s. Whom do we resemble?”

“Nia and Ciaran.” The king’s expression darkened. “Are you suggesting that Death Bringer chose those facesdeliberately?Isn’t that the decision of the sect?”

“Not in this case.” Adam looked faintly regretful. “We were ‘persuaded’ to help Death Bringer. I assume he intended to make a point.”

“By making us look upon the face of his murdered victims, his sister and his brother?” The Fae king slammed his fist into the table. “Why are we even holding this trial? Isn’t it obvious that we are dealing with a monster who cares for nothing and even taunts us with his pathetic victories?”

Ella’s gaze fell on Vadim, who was watching his father, his expression inscrutable.

He’d killed his sister and brother? She felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. Something was very wrong here. From his sadness, she’d guessed Vadim was hiding something from her, but not that.

She sat back and tried to make sense of the incredible pile of crap Adam had just spouted. Like hell, they’d allowed Vadim to persuade them to work for him. She’d seen them in action, and they were way too powerful and arrogant to play nice with anyone, especially a rival of Vadim’s magnitude. If the sect liked tidy sets of three, then why hadn’t Ms. Phelps and Brad been made to look like Vadim’s siblings, and not her? If Adam were correct and Vadim was gunning for a third victim, presumably his father, wouldn’t she be wearinghisface? He was blond. He would’ve been the perfect third victim for Adam, so how had she ended up getting involved?

Unless… Her gaze traveled from Adam to Vadim, and then back to the Fae king.

Adam was still talking. “Iassumethat Death Bringer realized he had to allow me to take his mate’s face so that he had an excuse to descend on Otherworld in all his righteous wrath. You would all be afraid of the repercussions of not carrying out his wishes, and he would have a perfect excuse to execute every one of you.”

“By God, he’s right!” shouted the Fae king. He pointed at Vadim. “I want to hear him defend himself against these inarguable truths.”

The silver bars around Vadim thinned until they resembled silken strands of silk. Ella focused all her empath ability on her mate and the cage as the Fae king stalked toward him.

“Do you deny that you murdered both your brother and your sister in cold blood?”

“Aye.”

Vadim sounded far too composed for Ella’s liking.

“You came back to finish what you started, didn’t you? This whole elaborate charade was simply to get yourself back into a position of power. Thank God Adam revealed your perfidy in time.”

“I didn’t set out to kill my siblings.”

“You were seen!” He threw a pile of parchments onto the table. “We have witnesses.”

“I was defending myself!”

“You are the strongest power in Otherworld. Why would you have to defend yourself against those who are weaker than you?”