A light bulb went on in Jax's head as his eyes lit up and he rewarded me with a sly grin.
"Who did you contact when you had issues with Officer Waters? You never mentioned the details, but you and Kaito dealt with someone, right?"
"Lisette Cross," I remembered and looked at him. "She's not a real lawyer though. She doesn't even live in our universe."
"Ya, but she was able to get all that dirt on Officer Waters to shut him up, right?"
"Ya...when did I tell you that?"
"When you were half-drunk a few days ago. You talked about how badass this Cross lawyer was and that we all should have seen Officer Water's face during the whole confrontation," he revealed. "Then you did a twirl and passed out on the couch."
I gritted my teeth in pure disgust before I muttered, "Note to self. Don't drink too much."
"You still looked fabulous," he praised and turned his attention back to Elijah. "This could change everything, Brianne."
"Maybe...but do you think Elijah will come out of the coma?"
"Only time will tell, right?" he offered and wrapped an arm around me to give me a side hug. "Go pee. We have to tell the others and see if your lawyer-not-a-lawyer from another universe can help us."
I nodded and was going to leave, but I stalled for a few more seconds at the thought of Elijah dying at the same time as his evil counterpart.
Would I be truly okay with that final conclusion?
Jax reached for my hand at that thought, and very gently, he squeezed it while our eyes met.
"Let's dig up the truth of all of this. Then, we'll determine if we can help the real Elijah. The one who was once your best friend, okay?"
"Okay," I quietly replied as I squeezed his hand back. "Thanks for understanding."
"Just because friendships end and people drift apart, that doesn't mean you wish the worst for them. Time makes us change, and no matter the past, everyone's soul is worthy enough to burn until the Universe decides it's time to be blown out. So until then, all we can do is support from afar and hope for the best outcome."
"Yeah," I agreed as he lifted our joined hands and pressed his lips to the back of mine.
"We'll figure this out," he vowed.
"Together," I replied, the word sealing our vow.
It's time to end this year with the truth.
14
Trial Of Ultimate Retribution
"What if she tries to make it seem that I'm the bitch in the situation?"
Connor watched me nervously pace through the room, my heels being the obvious noisemaker with their continuous clicks and clacks across the tiled black floor.
We were waiting to be summoned by the judges, which surprisingly included my parents. I expected this trial would consist of one judge, a jury, a few family members from both sides, and Elisha and I with the support of our designated lawyers.
Apparently, trials went a little differently when it came to magic users, especially due to the complexity of this case. Due to the circumstances that led to my almost fatal injury - from falling off the bridge with Finnick to being deliberately hit by Elisha's car - magic centered around many of these scenarios.
Magic users had to go through a trial with a total of four judges. Due to both my parents being chosen to participate in this trial, it was determined by the four of them to invite one more judge to the table to ensure things remained professional because of my association with my parents.
I wasn't sure why they were chosen when it was a potential conflict of interest, but judges were chosen by a magic method versus a simple decision of choosing at random. My parents mentioned they underwent the magic decider three times, and they were both chosen in all cases.
Maybe they needed to be present for this. Deep down, I was glad they would be because I didn't know what the hell would happen this evening.
It was only hours before the new year and we all wanted to get this done, so the nervous tension in the mere building was intense. Adding our recent discovery yesterday, we went from revealing that Elijah was the one in a coma next to us to hopping on a jet back to Witchling while all the "adults" were hustling to gather information for the trial.
They expected me to change the date, or simply postpone it to after the final semester was over, but I felt down in my gut that those actions would carry far more consequences than benefits.
It's time to address this now because we won't have time for all of that next year.
"Bri?"
I turned around and walked right into Connor's chest. "Oomph." He put his hands on my shoulders, which made sure I didn't lose my balance in these heels. Lifting my head up to look at his calm expression, I couldn't help groaning.
"Teddy, I need a hug."
Those large arms of his wrapped around me and I allowed myself to enjoy the comfort of his warmth for just a few seconds.
"Brianne, things are going to work out."
"You don't know that."
"I don't, but I could always reverse it and we could try again?"
"Ugh, please don't," I huffed and placed my chin on his chest so he had no choice but to look down as I pouted my lips while giving him a judgmental look.
"Didn't Professor Phoenix warn you that you can't use that gift often?"
"Ya." He didn't seem pleased with the news. "How am I going to be strong like Sebastian, who only got a measly cold from reversing time, if I can't train my gift?"
"Well, it's a demigod gift. Maybe once we graduate, we can see what we can take to help us grow in those areas?" I offered. "I hope so, anyway. I really don't want to keep zapping into places."
"You do that when you're nervous or killing people."
"Well, isn't that lovely," I concluded with an eye roll. "When's the last time we kissed?"
"On the jet when we totally made out in the washroom you sneaked into."
"I needed to pee."
"So did I, but you don't see me butting into your peeing time." He laughed but kissed me. "Man. We need an off-the-grid vacation."
"An off-the-grid vacation?"
"No one knows where we are. We can do what we want. Basically immunity to go around the world and just live life like we're not always being chased down by an evil organization that wants to get rid of us over a kingdom or, I guess, a school, that was never theirs to begin with."
"Right?" I shook my head but kissed him again. "You, me, Jax, Finnick, and Kaito. That would be kind of fun. Go on tours. Try different restaurants and see the sights. Just a year of being a typical individual traveling the world and living like tomorrow won't bring another round of chaotic fuckery."
"Fuckery?"
"Jaxsin's been rubbing off on me."
"He's never said fuckery."
"You don't know that." I winked and moved away from him to twirl around his muscled body. "Your workouts have been paying off, I see," I changed the subject.
His look told me he knew what I was doing, but he went along with it.
"Apparently, seeing as I needed a new suit."