Free Now or Never: Wizards of Nevermore by Michele Bardsley Page A

echoed the metallic ring of his ankle shackles scraping the polished marble floor.
    Cullen kept his gaze on the white-robed back of the lictor in front of him, watching how the fabric crinkled as he marched forward. He felt the hulking presence of the other lictor behind him, and he had the unsettling sensation that an oak tree was about to fall upon him. It wasn’t that he was a small man himself; he was six feet five and well muscled. But he was cautious. Fighting wasn’t always the way, even though he was good at it.
    Whispers rose and fell like crashing waves. His audience hissed and muttered—some voices hard with judgment and others soft with pity.
    He couldn’t blame them, not really. He was, after all, the incarcerated black-sheep son of Leopold Deshane.
    For the thirty years his father had been a veteran Consul in the House of Ravens, he’d been lauded for his political policies and for his charitable work. Each House had only three Consuls—positions at the top of magical political structure, both in-house and in the Grand Court. His father had been a very powerful, and in some circles, a very feared man.
    Now dear old dad was facing jail time—if they could find him. Leopold had disappeared, and no one had been able to track him down.
    Cullen had laughed at the irony. He’d known his father was a hypocritical prick—he’d fooled the world into believing he was some sort of philanthropic Goody Two-shoes. Cullen had long been seen as a thorn in his side, as the widower supposedly tried everything to manage his unruly son. So no one had seemed too surprised when Cullen had been accused of—and convicted of—burning down the Raven’s Heart orphanage. Children had died in the blaze that decimated the building and everything in it. Goddess! It made him sick to his guts to know others believed he was such a conscienceless bastard.
    What no one had known was that Leopold had sethim up, his own fucking son, and made sure he’d ended up in prison.
    Then eight months ago, a banned Raven wizard named Bernard Franco had disappeared. Despite efforts of his friends and family, he’d never been found, but one thing had become clear: He’d been murdered.
    A natural death would not have enacted Bernard’s little protection scheme: truth spells. Franco had been the keeper of many secrets and had worked a powerful magic to ensure no one would ever try to kill him. It appeared someone had either not known or not cared about the spells that would expose those secrets. The lifelong transgressions of many Ravens, and even the corrupt practices of the House of Ravens itself, all those terrible truths Franco had been safeguarding, were magically sent to the appropriate authorities upon his death.
    Word had spread through the magical community and had even reached the ears of those sitting in prison. Whispers about Bernard’s death had turned into shouts of outrage. Franco had been careful and thorough, backing up accusations with solid evidence.
    Leopold Deshane had been the biggest offender.
    Collusion with demons, circumventing magical law, and willful endangerment of children were among many of the charges levied against his father. Thanks to the discovery of Leopold’s many and varied illegal activities, Cullen had actually gained some sympathy among the ranks. Maybe that explained why DragonConsul Letitia Calhoun had pulled strings for this visit to the Grand Court.
    What Cullen had never figured out was why his old man hadn’t just killed him already. Leo was perfectly capable of being ruthless, even against his own family members. As soon as he figured out that Cullen wasn’t going to be a ruthless, soulless asshole—when he was around fourteen and had actually punched his father in his bloated face—the “accidents” began to occur. He wasn’t sure when his father grew bored with his attempts to take out his son—and Cullen damned sure never figured out why he managed to survive the falls, the car