Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
“I did go into Rage, though,” Torus said. “I honestly don’t know how I kept myself from killing that male,” he added in a low voice, remembering the red curtain that had dropped over his vision and the all-consuming fury that had filled him. “My thirst for vengeance was nearly unquenchable.”
Lizabeth Paige’s eyebrows shot up.
“You went into Rage for Ms. Byrne even though the two of you aren’t even dating?”
“I did,” Torus said simply.
“His eyes turned red,” Molly offered. She cast a timid glance at Torus and he saw she was nibbling her lower lip nervously. “I mean, if that means anything.”
“That’s definitely a symptom of Rage.” Commander Sylvan nodded thoughtfully.
“All right, well we still have to prove that what he did was justified.” Councilor Paige pointed out.
“Justified?” Torus demanded, beginning to get angry. “If you could have seen the extreme emotional distress he put Molly through yesterday, you wouldn’t ask me if my actions were justified—you’d wonder why I didn’t kill the bastard!”
“All right, Commander Torus, I understand her distress sent you into Rage,” the Councilor said, raising her hands in a “calm down” gesture. “But for this to work in court, we need to show some kind of physical harm was done to Ms. Byrne. If not at the time of the incident, then in the past. Kindred have been known to take revenge for past harms committed against their mates as well.” She looked at Molly. “Did your ex-husband ever hit you or physically or sexually abuse you?”
Molly’s face went extremely pale.
“He…he used to throw things at my head sometimes,” she said in a low voice. “And he would pinch me and pull my hair. But he never…” She cleared her throat. “Never hit me or left bruises or…or broke any bones or anything.”
Torus frowned. He knew damn well from the dreams he’d been experiencing for months that Molly’s ex-mate had been extremely abusive—at least in their bedchamber. But it was clear that Molly didn’t want to talk about that—she probably didn’t even want to think about it.
Lizabeth Paige was frowning and shaking her head.
“So we don’t have any medical records to prove past abuse either. That’s not good.”
“A male doesn’t have to cause physical harm to be abusive,” Torus pointed out angrily. “Molly shouldn’t have to endure broken bones or bruises to prove that her ex-Mate was a vicious, sadistic male who’s been harassing her for years!”
“Believe me, I agree with you,” Councilor Paige said earnestly. “Before I met my Kindred husband, Lone, I was trapped in a loveless, emotionally abusive marriage myself for many years. I’m just telling you, I need something to argue in Court—some reason why you attacked Zach Wyndham and stole all his expensive computer equipment.”
“I told you why,” Torus said, frowning. “I wanted to be sure that he would never harass Molly ever again!”
“Okay, but the whole ‘Rage killing’ defense rests on two factors…” The human Councilor ticked them off on her fingers. “One—was the Kindred who did the killing—or in this case the beating—Bonded to or at least romantically attached to the victim he was defending? And two—was the victim in imminent danger of getting raped or killed or otherwise suffering bodily harm or had she suffered bodily harm in the past, which caused the Kindred to go into Rage to defend or avenge her? We need both those pieces to convince a Jury that what Commander Torus did to Zachary Wyndham was justified.” She lifted her hands, palms up. “And we don’t have either.”
“I think you can understand why this case presents a problem for Councilor Paige,” Sylvan said, frowning.
“And then there’s the matter of the hundreds of thousands of dollars of computer tech you took,” Lizabeth Paige went on. “Zachary Wyndham claims he was developing a new game and it was saved exclusively to one of those computers. So if we could give that back to him, he might be willing to withdraw some of the charges.”
“I wouldn’t give it back to him even if I could,” Torus said. He could hear the growl in his own voice, but he couldn’t seem to help it. “He used that equipment to hurt and belittle Molly—therefore he didn’t deserve to have it.”
“Well, where is it?” the human Councilor demanded, looking exasperated.
“In the ablation chamber,” Torus told her. “I destroyed everything I took last night—and I would do it again,” he added, frowning.
“The ablation chamber?” Councilor Paige shook her head. “Oh my God—you atomized it?”
“And I would do it again,” Torus repeated. “This is getting us nowhere. Commander Sylvan, may I speak to you privately, Kindred to Kindred?” he added, looking at his Commanding Officer.
“Well…all right.” Sylvan sighed. “If you ladies would excuse us?” he asked, rising from his desk.
Councilor Paige sighed.
“Fine. Molly and I will just wait here.”
“Thank you.” Sylvan nodded and together he and Torus stepped out of the office and into the corridor outside.