Fangs and Fennel (The Venom Trilogy #2)(8)

Like watching my ten-egg soufflé fall, the hopes of making the divorce official, of getting my inheritance back, slowly deflated into a puddle at my feet.

Judge Watts snorted. “A snake thing? And do you have proof of this claim, or are you just trying to get more money from your lovely soon-to-be ex-wife?”

Hope glittered. The judge was still on my side.

Roger nodded, and I had no doubt that it was because he was agreeing with both things. The money and the proof.

My heart rate ticked up a notch, and my hands grew clammy against each other as I pressed them tightly together.

“At the stadium ten days ago, that big rumble with the supernaturals was her and some guy with a sword.” Roger held up his phone. “I got it on video.”

The room spun around me, and I clutched at the table in sheer desperation to keep on my feet. I was going to be sick.

The judge held out his hand. “Let me see this video.” He took the phone from the bailiff and pressed play. The noises from the phone were all too clear to my sensitive ears. I heard my own voice call out, “Achilles,” and I knew what came next.

If Roger got the shot, the judge would see me shift from the beautiful woman he saw standing in front of him into a giant snake that towered over twenty feet tall when I rose up in an attack stance. Fangs bared, multicolored coils writhing as I swept through the stadium toward Achilles to save my brother and my friends.

From behind me, Tad stepped closer and put his hands on my shoulders. “I know it’s too late, but for what it’s worth . . . I actually thought you had this.”

I had no words. There was nothing to do now but wait for this to play out. Literally.

The judge’s eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. How could I argue with the truth?

“I’m still me,” I whispered. “I’m still Alena.”

Judge Watts shook his head and handed the phone back to the bailiff, who took it to a rather smug-looking Roger. Then the judge looked at me. Any trace of softness he’d shown me was gone. He leaned forward over his bench, his hands clenched into fists on his desk.

“You are not Alena Budrene. You are a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and I almost handed you everything you wanted instead of to this hardworking human man.” He shook his head, heavy jowls trembling.

Tad’s grip tightened on my shoulders, and I reached up to clasp my hands over his. He’d been right, all of my friends had been right about this. I’d been foolish enough to believe that with enough proof on my side I could make the system see I really was still me. That even if I looked different, I was still the same woman. Justice was not seen for Super Dupers the same way as it was seen for humans. I was a fool to have thought it would be different for me.

“In light of this new evidence, insofar as I can see, there is no need for a divorce, seeing as the woman who Mr. Budrene was married to is dead—”

A boom like thunder cut Judge Watts off midsentence. The entire courtroom froze. Eyes widened all around us, but nobody moved.

“This is bad, sis,” Tad said.

“Has nothing to do with us,” I whispered back. Okay, the likelihood was high it did have something to do with me. “Just in case, get my papers, would you?”

He nodded and gathered them all, mixing them up horribly.

Maybe the next hero Hera had drummed up to kill me had found us? I tried to swallow and struggled to make it happen. My mouth was as dry as a two-week-old brownie with no frosting.

I cleared my throat. Maybe I could still salvage this. “Your Honor, please, I am still alive. I am still the same woman.”

No one looked at me; everyone’s eyes were trained on the open doors.

A second boom was followed close on the heels by a third that shook the rafters. Plaster fell from the ceiling, and the lights swayed overhead. The crowd cried out, and Barbie was the loudest of them all as she ran back into the courtroom. One of the bailiffs slammed the doors shut behind her. As if that would keep the shaking out.

“Oh my God, Roger. I could have died.” She leapt into his arms, knocking him to the floor.

He let out a grunt as he stumbled and fell under her weight, but I was already looking at the threshold that led to the hallway. The tall framed wooden doors rattled as though something large had walked by. A few weeks ago, I would have said that was not possible. Now I wasn’t so sure.

The doors burst inward and Officer Jensen fell in, his eyes searching the crowd. “Alena?”

“I’m here.”

“It’s Remo; he needs help.”

There was no question. I kicked off my heels and ran toward Jensen. “What’s happening?”

“The rival gang is making a hit on him. They set him up, knowing he would be here without backup. They must have someone here in the human courts keeping them up to date.”

The building shook again, and I grabbed his arm to keep myself steady. “What the hey diddle fiddle are they using? Rocket launchers?”

His eyes widened. “How did you know?”

I groaned. “I didn’t. They sound like a rocket launcher off Tad’s Halo game.”

Officer Jensen shook his head, took my hand, and ran down the hall. “He’s cornered, nobody can get around the rival vamps, there’s too many of them.”

“What makes you think I can?”

He skidded to a stop at a T intersection. “Umm, two-story snake ring a bell?”