Void(14)

I shook my head. “I’m not threatening you; I’m warning you that I don’t have control over this. The longer I go without feeding, the more volatile my Void is. It’s been six months since you’ve summoned me, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to just take her vampirism away,” I admitted honestly.

Murmurs erupted around me as men and women started to get up and leave the courtroom. More than half of the audience cleared out within seconds. Despite the spelled barrier, they didn’t want to risk getting caught in the Void, and I didn’t blame them. Supernaturals built their lives around their powers. It was so closely wrapped up in their identity. Taking their powers from them was viewed as a fate worse than death.

Judge Braxton continued to stare at me in that cold, expressionless way of his. His tapping finger against the armrest of his chair was his only indication that I was irritating him. I wasn’t purposely trying to be difficult. I was trying to save this poor woman’s life. I held my ground on the bottom platform, my feet planted firmly on the dark marble.

“We don’t have any other options. This was the verdict decided by the council. For your sake, I hope you control yourself, Miss Cainson. Murdering another supe is punishable by death.”

I clenched my teeth together. It wouldn’t be my fault if my Void went out of control, but I knew that didn’t matter. Braxton had been looking for an excuse to throw me in prison for years. He wanted me to be contained, to take away what small freedoms I had so that he could use me as needed and then put me away again.

As much as prison terrified me, I refused to look weak. If he thought threatening me with a death sentence could stop the Void, he was dead wrong. I couldn’t stop it. The Void was uncontrollable. It was volatile and deadly. It was a part of me but separate at the same time.

The last time I took off my amulet and let the beast free, it was like every bad thought came flooding out of me. Its toxic need wrapped around the neck of the shifter, forcing him to be severed from his wolf. My Void squeezed it out of him like a vice, drank him as dry as a newly made vampire sucks out the blood of his victims.

I always felt helpless to the gaping hunger of nothingness. The second my Void got a taste of the power it needed to feed on, it just wanted more and more and more. My emotions dulled when the Void took over, and I was put in the passenger seat of my own life. My humanity was shoved into a tiny box where rational thought and feelings couldn’t reach me. The Void was all my rage bottled up into a deadly black hole.

I didn’t want to be a killer though. I’d never wanted that. I’d never wanted to be a Void who stole powers from people. If I ended this woman’s life today on accident, I’d be so distraught that I’d probably welcome prison and my own death sentence. I didn’t want blood on my hands. Especially from a vampire who’d simply gotten sick.

“You will do the job that we have summoned you here to do,” Judge Braxton commanded.

“Of course, sir,” I replied dryly, letting my disapproval show on my face.

Most people kissed Judge Braxton’s ass, but being in the human community made me feel less bound to his influence and laws. Behind him, the council members frowned with disapproval. My eyes flicked over the four representatives from each community: elementals, vampires, necromancers, and shifters. There were others in the council box too, some assistants, the council secretary, the treasurer, liaisons from other countries, and my mother.

Judge Braxton had been overseeing the council for decades. His position was meant to be the deciding vote in the event of a tie when council members voted on a decision. I wasn’t really in the know when it came to the inner workings of the council, but I’d heard a rumor that Judge Braxton got into power by blackmailing influential people. I wouldn’t put it past him. He was a snake.

“Careful, Void. You are only here by my permission. If I decide that you seem like an agitator, I may need to rethink your current exile. Perhaps you’ve gotten too close to those humans you’ve been living with. Have you forgotten how to treat your council with respect?”

I curled my fingers into my palms, letting my nails dig into my skin. “No, sir.”

He looked down at me smugly. “Good. See that you keep your attitude in check.”

Gods, I hated him.

“Let’s begin,” he said, turning his attention to the council members behind him. “Bring out the vampire.”

Double doors at the other end of the room drew my attention when they suddenly opened, and a screeching sound filled the courthouse. Two men, likely shifters based on their tall stature, started dragging a female vampire out onto the platform. She was thrashing around in chains, arching her back and yanking on her own arms like she’d rip them out of their sockets in an attempt to get away, all while screaming in protest. She looked like she was in her mid-thirties and she was beautiful in a feral sort of way. She had long, black hair that was tangled and matted to her forehead. Her pale, plump lips were framed into a snarl and her blue eyes were looking around wildly at all the people staring down at her. I took a step back, already feeling the urge to flee, but there was a hand on my back, forcing me to keep still.

“Nowhere to run, Void,” Render said in my ear, his menacing voice flashing down my spine as fear made my skin prickle. “I’ll drag you back here screaming if I have to. Do your fucking job.”

Swallowing, I held still, and Render backed away as the shifters continued to drag the vampire forward. Her fangs were bared as she hissed at the shifters holding her firmly in place. They’d drawn their weapons, pressing blades against her throat to try to get her to heel.