Eleventh Grade Burns(77)

The chairs that had been placed at the back of the room had been removed. Apparently, there would be no audience to Otis’s trial.

Even Dorian, who’d seemed unusually kind at the pretrial, was decidedly absent from these proceedings.

Once they were shut inside the room, the small girl named Em spoke. “The council calls Otis Otis before us. You have been accused of killing a fellow vampire, your father, Ignatius; of disfiguring a council president; of revealing your true nature to two humans—one Nelly, last name unknown, and one Henry McMillan; and of aiding and abetting the known fugitive Tomas Tod. How do you plead?”

Otis’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “Innocent of all charges, good council.”

There was a murmur among the council and a distinct feeling of unease in the air. Even Vlad raised an eyebrow at his uncle’s words. Otis was definitely innocent of blasting D’Ablo’s hand off (that was Vlad’s fault) and of aiding and abetting Vlad’s dad (who was no longer with the living, but some people apparently cannot take a hint), but letting Nelly and Henry in on the secret that he was a vampire? Oh yeah. Way guilty. Still, Vlad admired his uncle’s guts. It had to take a lot of them to face the Council of Elders, let alone lie to them.

Em raised her eyebrows a bit and then said, “As head of this council, I am dismissing the charge against you of taking a fellow vampire’s life. Ignatius had a bounty on his head, placed there by this council, and as such, you are due the reward monies from collecting on that bounty.”

Otis looked surprised and at the same time, mildly relieved. “I’d like the monies placed in a trust for my nephew’s college fund, if the council would see to it.”

With nods from several members, Em said, “Your request is granted. Five hundred thousand dollars will be placed in trust for your nephew’s college fund.”

D’Ablo stood, eliciting disapproving glances from almost every member of the council. “On the charge of disfiguring a council president, I call a witness. Vladimir Tod, take the stand please.”

Vlad shot a glance at Otis, whose mouth pursed some, but he didn’t make eye contact. Then Vlad crossed the room and took a seat on the chair to the left of the council. Once he was seated, D’Ablo unwrapped the stump that used to be his hand and held it up for all to see. From the looks of it, it had healed up perfectly; there was no trace of a scar. There was also no trace of a hand, which was D’Ablo’s primary concern, Vlad would have bet. “I give you exhibit A.”

The room was quiet. Too quiet, considering that no one was supposed to know about D’Ablo’s missing hand. Vlad felt his insides sour. Something wasn’t right here. Why wasn’t anyone crying out for D’Ablo to be removed as council president? Why, all of a sudden, was D’Ablo’s disfigurement no big deal?

The room was so quiet for so long that Vlad was beginning to wonder if D’Ablo was ever going to ask him a question. Then, as if suddenly pleased with himself, D’Ablo flashed a small smile at Otis and turned to Vlad. “You were there the night my hand was permanently removed from my arm, yes?”

“Yes.”

“And precisely how was my hand destroyed?”

“By the ...” Vlad paused for a moment, trying to see exactly where D’Ablo was going with this. He couldn’t pin the loss of his hand on Otis, and he certainly couldn’t count on Vlad to pin it on Otis either. “By the Lucis.”

“And who was it that used the Lucis against me that night, obliterating my hand and leaving me disfigured?”

To be honest, that was Vlad. But Vlad wasn’t sure where D’Ablo was going with his line of questioning. He glanced at Otis, hesitating with the answer stuck in his throat.

D’Ablo took a step closer and hissed, “Stop protecting him, Vlad. Your uncle broke into the Stokerton council building and viciously attacked me with the most dangerous weapon known to vampirekind, didn’t he? If allowed to live, Otis will try to finish the job, won’t he?”

He couldn’t take it anymore. There was no way he was going to let this pompous windbag make his uncle take the fall. Vlad stood. “No! It wasn’t Otis and you know it. It was me, okay? I ruined your hand. But you—”

D’Ablo grinned broadly, turning back to the council. “I move to clear Otis Otis of the second charge.”

Otis released an uneasy sigh.

Vikas said, “Motion granted. On the third charge of revealing your true nature to two humans, I present myself as a witness and attest that I have spent much time with Otis and the two aforementioned humans. They believe that Otis is very much human. I would wager my seat on this council on it. I move to clear Otis Otis of the third charge.”