Page 60 of Little Wing (Shades of Fairhaven #1)

T he doors opened and I forced myself to look up from my lap, watching as the shell of a man I once respected and loved walked in, dragging his feet along the carpeted floor.

Luca was wearing an orange jumpsuit with thick chains around his wrists and ankles that jangled noisily with each step he took toward his designated seat.

He looked more pale than usual and what light was left in his eyes was replaced with a palpable rage that could be felt by everyone in the room.

He was furious and I felt the magnitude of it deep in my chest, his connection to me letting me feel every bit of his anguish.

Before he was allowed to sit, the officer at his side nudged him before the judge’s bench.

I watched as his head turned to look back at the people seated beyond the plexiglass.

His frantic eyes darted around the room, lingering on the Wells women before swiftly gliding to the other side where they landed on me.

Seeing me staring at him with Silas’s arm around my shoulder, Luca snarled, his chains rattling loudly as he launched himself toward the rail.

He slammed violently against the plexiglass, shouting obscenities that made the humans flinch.

But I sat still, watching as he was yanked back by the officer to his spot before Lady Pauline .

“That fucking bitch!” he snarled, his spit dripping from the corner of his mouth, like a rabid animal. “You chain me up and you let her just sit there?!”

“Mr. Everett!” Lady Pauline roared, slamming her gavel against the sounding block. “I order you to settle down. Better yet—” she nodded at the officer beside the door who wasted little time in producing a muzzle that was quickly fastened around Luca’s mouth. “Now, sit.”

The officer beside Luca yanked him back by the chains. The snarl that left him was felt in cascading shivers down my spine.

Lady Pauline rubbed the side of her head and leaned forward to gaze at my brother who spent his time fidgeting in his seat.

“I am over seven hundred years old, Mr. Everett.

I have lived through plagues, wars, and famines.

I have seen so much destruction and devastation in my time as both a human and a vampire, yet your actions against innocents make me feel nauseated. They cannot go unpunished."

“I thought judges—” Luca spoke, his speech muffled by the muzzle but also by the spit that had collected at the slot over his lips.

“Thought what, Mr. Everett?” Lady Pauline asked, her expression full of disgusted curiosity.

“That I wouldn’t insert my own opinion and experiences in your case?

” She shook her head and set her gavel down so that she could roll up the sleeves of her robes.

“I’ve been after you for a very long time.

You caused us a great deal of trouble when we were working hard on unifying our people with the humans.

Your actions were deplorable and are just as wretched to this day.

So, no—I will not remove my position on your case as I am so deeply rooted in this that it gives me great pleasure to deliver your final sentencing. ”

Luca shrugged and dared to look over his shoulder at the Wells women who sat huddled together.

You didn’t need to know them personally to know that the pain they felt did not die with time.

I only hoped that their family would find some peace knowing that the man who ripped their loved ones from them would finally be punished for his crimes.

Lady Pauline sat straight in her seat and looked out to the stand before looking down at Luca. Determination lined every fine crease on her face.

“Luca Everett, you have been found guilty of two counts of aggravated homicide, evasion of arrest, and vampire torment and starvation. You have been denied trial and parole. You will be held in the Washington State prison.” She paused and allowed her gaze to fall to me for only a second before finishing.

“You will also be stripped of any kin and spawn by way of bloodletting.”

I immediately shot up from my seat, gripping the bench in front of me until I felt the wood splinter beneath my fingers, just as Luca thrust himself out of his seat toward the plexiglass barrier.

The chains that bound him rattled as he snarled loudly.

Scattered gasps and yelps sounded from the spectator benches.

Bloodletting—a medicinal practice not used since our younger years.

It was truly the only way we could purge our systems of a foreign substance.

In this case, any trace of blood from a spawn would be purged from the maker, thus severing the connection.

In theory, it was possible. While bloodletting in humans often resulted in more infections and even death, that was not a way to kill a vampire. That was a wound we could survive.

Without fear, I stepped out into the aisle and took my first few steps toward my enraged brother. He continued to bang his head against the plexiglass, even as he was held back by the officer beside him.

“Ms. Everett!” Detective Morello gasped, reaching his hand out to me as I walked forward. He only pulled away when he saw me stop a few feet away from the spit and black blood covered barrier.

I watched as saliva dribbled from the muzzle around my brother’s mouth.

As he struggled, calling me names, I couldn’t hold back a grin.

My lips spread and curved, displaying the fangs he demanded I hide.

Everything he demanded I conceal was on display—my complexion, my eyes, and all the scars given to me by him.

I bore no shame or fear as I stood just feet away from him, because this was the end.

“Lady Pauline?” I addressed the woman watching from the bench with a polite bow. “What will happen to me when the tether breaks?”

“Ms. Everett, whatever you wish,” she stated plainly. “Your connection to Mr. Everett will be severed. Whatever ties you have to him as a maker will be no more.”

“And—” I fought to hold back the tremble in my voice. “I will not die?”

“No.”

I felt my smile spread wider. Luca slammed into the barrier again before being yanked back forcefully by the officer. My flinch was barely visible—good. In these final moments, I couldn’t let him shake me. Not when I was so close to freedom.

I couldn’t believe it. This would be it. This would truly be the end of everything he put me through.

“I-I should have killed you!” Luca snapped, straining against the officer’s hold on him. “I should’ve let you die!”

I nodded and swallowed hard before stepping closer to the rail where I pressed my hand against the scuffed barrier. “Perhaps, my brother, but you did not.” My eyes remained fixed on the man who made me and in turn stripped me of any joy I dared to experience.

Never. Again.

“You tried to break me, but it was you who lost your light. I never let it go out, not even after all the times you put your evil hands on me.”

His ruby eyes bore into mine intensely. I hoped to see a glimpse of warmth, of the love we once had for each other. There was none. There was no kindness and certainly not even a hint of regret. All that remained was darkness that had swallowed any good that ever lived in Luca.

My brother was gone.

He continued to growl and thrash like an animal. I turned around, walked back up the aisle, and out the door of the courtroom without looking back. Even as Luca continued to scream my name, a roar that still made the hair on the back of my neck stand, I didn’t stop until the doors behind me closed.

Even as the tether tugged me back to him, I pushed forward, focusing on the connection to the man whose presence soon joined me in the waiting room.

I stood, hunched over, with my ears ringing and bile stinging the back of my throat.

Centuries of torment at the hands of my brother, whom I once loved so much, would soon be nothing more than a painful memory.

Soon there would be no trace of his touch, his wrath—there would only be me and the life that I made for myself.

There would only be the scent of love tangled in my blood.

Silas and my friends gave me a moment to gather myself before we walked out of the courthouse together.

Though we were silent, the weight of what we witnessed was felt all around us.

As we took our first steps down the concrete stairs, I finally allowed myself to cry.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I turned back to face my family.

At the impending severing of Luca’s connection to me, the cherry blossoms were finally in bloom.