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Rick had time to shower, put on his own black suit, and watch half an episode of CHiPs by the time Dante changed into a tailored black cashmere suit with black satin lapels embroidered all over with black thread. Rick sighed and shook his head. He supposed that was probably the best he was going to get out of the fashion conscious phoenix. Besides, no suit was going to make up for the red spiked quiff that made Dante look like his head was on fire, or the youthful face that never quite looked serious.
Except now. Dante’s expression was quite sober as he climbed into the car. He sat for a moment and fingered his rosary silently, before finally starting the car.
“That bad?” Rick started to feel a little nervous about this meeting himself. His testimony had been basically a formality to free Dante. With an alibi and no motive, the human courts of law had nothing to hold him on. Rick supposed he had assumed the Mythic Tribunal would be as easy to deal with. Dante’s attitude now said otherwise.
“Politics play as large a part in this hearing as facts, and Elayna is a powerful member of the Council.” Dante shrugged as he pulled his Firebird out onto the street. “I have allies in the Council, more than I do enemies, but the enemies are... more assertive than the allies at times.”
“In other words, instead of an impartial jury of your peers, you're being judged by a group of powerful people you may have recently ticked off.” Yeah, that sounded just. “Isn’t this why PNI exists? To manage Mythic crimes?”
“Crimes that involve both mythics and humans, yes. Elayna has charged me with murdering her assistant and seeks vengeance for the offense. She does not want human justice, she wants blood.” Dante flashed him a rueful grin. “Much as I did after you were attacked.”
“You probably should have worn a cheaper suit then.” Rick grunted. It was becoming less clear to him why his partner insisted on spending thousands on suits that he was just going to burn up anyway.
“Ah, mon ami. Elayna and the council would make sure I would not need the replacement.” Dante gave a soft, melancholic laugh, as if something Rick had said was amusingly sad.
“Wait,” Rick sat up straighter in horror. “Are you saying they’d end you permanently?”
“They have done it to other immortals before when they felt the crime particularly warranted it, though simple murder is not usually enough.” Dante parked the car in front of an ancient stone building not far from his own home. It looked like it had originally been a nice home, a little newer than the colonial era pictures Rick had seen, but not by much. Dante gave him a bright smile that nearly hid the fear lingering in his golden eyes. “But that is why you are here, no? So you can help ensure I avoid that fate.”
“I will do anything in my power to help you.” Rick already hadn’t liked the thought that even his testimony might be unable to save Dante’s mortal life, but the thought that all his partner’s immortal lives lay in the hands of a panel of fantasy creatures with an entirely arbitrary sense of justice just made him angry. Dear Jesus, please bless our efforts here. Let us get them to see reason. A mental image of himself punching a matronly elf in the face rose up in his mind and he shook it off. That was definitely not going to help either of them. And help me not to do or say something to make it worse.
“May the Savior show His favor to us today.” Dante made the sign of the cross, took a deep breath, checked his reflection in a polished silver urn in the marble floored foyer, and adjusted his jacket collar. He led Rick to a pair of carved double doors in the back. A large man in an ill fitting suit and only one eye stood guard in front of the doors.
“A cyclops? For real?” Rick leaned close and whispered.
“After all the things you’ve seen with me, a man with one eye is hard to believe?” Dante laughed softly. He nodded to the cyclops and reached for the worn brass door handle. “Arges. I believe the Council is expecting me.”
“Dante. Your human stays out here.” Arges the Cyclops stepped between Rick and Dante to block Rick from the entrance. “You know humans aren’t allowed inside the Council chamber.”
“Unless the Mythic Council has rejected any pretense of seeking justice, they will allow Agent McCoy to enter to testify on my behalf.” Dante’s soft voice held none of the trepidation he’d shown in the car and his eyes met Arges’s single one boldly.
Arges looked from Dante, to Rick, to the door, then sighed loudly. “I’ll ask Vikas. Don’t go anywhere.”
“Vikas?” Rick whispered once the cyclops bouncer disappeared inside the room.
“He’s a kitsune – fox shifter – and the current president of the Council. He’s an ally, but will take a neutral position in this hearing, as befitting his position.”
“Kitsune. Of course.” Rick shook his head. “You know my little sister watched cartoons more believable than this. Like the one with the talking ponies.”
“Kelpies? They’re represented by the queen of the merfolk.”
“No, not kelpies. I don’t even know what a kelpie is. Remind me to Google that when we’re done here.” Rick rolled his eyes as the door opened again to the sound of internal arguing and a harried looking cyclops.
“Vikas says your human may testify as long as he is silent unless addressed and respects the sovereignty of the Council.” Arges looked at Rick as if waiting for agreement.
“I agree to keep my mouth shut and respect the Council.” Rick figured being silent would cover for the disrespectful words he was already certain he’d be tempted to say. Like, Sovereignty? The only sovereignty in this city resides on Pennsylvania Avenue. It was in everyone’s best interest if he kept silent.
Arges made a confused face at Rick’s intentional rewording of his instructions, but didn’t push it. Instead, he just opened the door and announced their presence, “Dante Brand, phoenix, here to face charges laid to his account by the Council, and Rick McCoy, human.”
The room was huge – by Rick’s estimation, it occupied the vast majority of the ground floor – but it was still nearly filled by a massive, polished wood table lined on both sides with high-backed chairs. In each chair sat a sober-faced man or woman, presumably something other than human, though most passed as human at first glance. Rick recognized the werewolf he’d punched in the nose and the vampire makeup saleswoman among the Council members, and assumed the stately blond with a grief flushed face sitting to the right of the head of the table was Elayna the elf queen. At the head sat a thin man with an angular face, reddish brown hair, and long sideburns. He wore a black polo shirt and a pair of jeans carefully tailored to allow his five tails freedom of movement. A trench coat hung on the corner of his chair.
“Before we begin, Dante, the Mythic Council would like to state for the record that your insinuation that the Council is anything less than just offends the Council deeply.” Vikas rested his elbows on the table and templed his fingers. “And you, human, be aware that you are here only as a gesture of our gracious indulgence.”
“Gracious indulgence” didn’t sound too much to Rick like “commitment to a fair trial” but he inclined his head anyway and said, “The Council’s graciousness is appreciated.”
“Let the charges against Dante Brand be read before the Council.” Vikas nodded to a short Irishman next to him.
The little man stood up on the chair and cleared his throat. “Dante Brand, phoenix lately cursed to be a man, is charged with the wanton, savage murder of Annika Moore by fire, and for disloyalty to the Mythic race.”
Rick risked a sideways glance at his partner. Even if his testimony cleared him of the first charge, his presence might be enough to convict him of the second. Dante stood ramrod straight with a defiant look and one hand clenched tightly at his side while the other was plunged deep into the pocket holding his rosary. His expression didn’t change at the reading of the charges, as if he’d expected them.
“The members of the Council have been provided with the details of the murder, and have made themselves quite familiar with the unique method of the crime.” Vikas frowned at Dante. “What do you say for yourself, Brand?”
“I had neither opportunity nor motive to murder Ms. Moore, as my partner can testify.” Dante’s voice was as quiet and calm as always as he gestured to a tall, muscular man sitting on the left side of the table. “And both you and Naar the dragon king are proof that I am not the only mythic being with the power to kill in this manner.”
“You were literally the only mythic being in my bakery burning stuff last month.” The elderly elf woman stood from her chair and screamed at him. “And this human shouldn’t even be here. His testimony is worthless. Everyone knows that humans will lie for their mythic allies. The only reason Dante is free and not in some human prison is because both his partner and the director of PNI are loyal to him.”
Rick ground his teeth to keep from speaking out of turn. He’d never once lied in a deposition or trial, and he certainly wasn’t about to start, even for his partner.
“Elayna herself can testify that she settled my dispute with the elves before I left the bakery that night.” Steel threaded Dante’s voice as he looked at Vikas. “And the Council agreed to hear Agent McCoy’s testimony. We all seek justice for Ms. Moore, but you will not find it by convicting me.”
“Agent McCoy.” Vikas nodded to him. “You came here to speak for your partner. The Council will take your testimony into the proper account when you have finished.”
Proper account. Yeah, Dante is toast. Rick briefly wondered how long they could survive an escape attempt from this kangaroo court before he spoke up with the same measured calmness Dante displayed. “I’d already told Dante my attackers weren’t elves. PNI’s investigation moved in an entirely different direction the moment I woke up in the hospital. So unless your breed of elves are short, ugly trolls, he had no motivation to hurt Ms. Moore. Besides, he was in the bathroom making himself look pretty from at least five to seven that morning. He answered my knock a half dozen times, and he stuck his head out to shoo me back to bed three times – just so you don’t get any ideas about him turning on the shower and sneaking out the window. He couldn’t have killed Annika Moore.”
“Thank you, Agent McCoy, that will be all.” Vikas cut him off with a wave. “You will remain here and silent as a material witness to the second charge.”
“Most mythics take human allies, Vikas, and most of the mythic guilds are as closely allied to their human counterparts as I am to PNI. Many even marry humans.” Dante scanned the members of the Council, eliciting a variety of reactions from shame to defiance as he met their eyes. “There is no disloyalty in any of that.”
“You’re the only one that has allied with humans against the mythics.” Wharton growled.
“No, I help keep the peace between mythics and humans by making sure crimes that might draw unwanted attention to the existence and activities of the mythic races are solved tactfully so that human mythic relations can continue as they always have.” Dante gave him a scolding look. “Seeking peace between factions is not inherently disloyal to one.”
“Except that you have failed at that miserably as well.” Laysha the vampire queen turned her phone so that they could see Lynch’s video. “You're responsible for this, Dante. You should have dealt with this stupid human years ago.”
Uncertainty flickered in Dante’s eyes as he glanced at the video. “Human laws –”
“That’s precisely the problem!” Wharton slammed his fist on the table and stood. “If we must have a liaison between mythics and human law enforcement officers, we need one that puts mythic interests first.”
A murmur threaded through the Council and heads began nodding thoughtfully. Rick bit his lip. This wasn’t going well.
“Not all mythic interests are werewolf interests.” A small man with reddish hair stood on his chair and glared at Wharton. “Dante also represents the less aggressive guilds where your kind would trample our rights.”
“Representing leprechauns is your job, Finnegan, as king of the leprechauns.” Wharton smashed his fist into the table. “For that matter, the president of the humans should treat directly with us, instead of through him.”
“Exactly. Why do we need a liaison at all? We should rise up and demand our place as equals to the humans,” Laysha shouted. “If Dante wants to be an enforcer, let him enforce for us. We can make the humans fear mythics again.”
About half the mythics hollered their agreement – the more aggressive looking races, Rick noticed – and half of the remaining members continued to murmur in worried tones.
“My purpose is to enforce the laws of God where humans are too weak to do so.” Dante raised his voice only enough to be heard over the tumult. Rick was frankly shocked the other agent hadn’t lost his cool yet. It was all he could do to keep from breaking his promise to keep quiet himself. “The only people who should fear me are murderers.”
“Like you murdered Annika?” The elf woman snapped.
“I did not murder anyone. We’re past that.”
“You’re responsible for ‘enforcement.’ Four humans have been attacked or killed in the last month – including your own – and PNI has yet to make a single arrest.” The elf queen pointed at him with a bony finger. “Even if you didn’t kill her, if you had done your job, she’d still be alive.”
“Enough!” Vikas stood. “The Council has heard enough to deliberate. Dante, take your human back into the foyer and await our decision.”