Free Cursed (Demon Kissed #2) by Holly Ward Page A

but then I saw the time. It was seven
o’clock. Eric’s hearing just started.
    Instead, I said, “Thank you. I’ll see
you again tomorrow,” knowing full well that I wouldn’t.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER TWELVE
     
    I hoped that I could find Al quickly
to confirm what I thought about the abandoned Martis entrance to
the Underworld. The catacombs were massive, sprawling under a large
section of Rome, and if I was wrong, if I picked the wrong
location, there were too many tombs to randomly pick another and
hope I was right. To make my escape, it was important to have the
correct grave picked the first time.
    The gleaming hallways were illuminated
by flickering lamplights, as the sun was swallowed by the horizon.
My guard followed behind me, saying nothing about my change in
mood. The hallways were deserted, which was odd for this time of
day, but I suspected that the Martis were all trying to hear Eric’s
testimony. There was tension in the air, and it only worsened as
the evening progressed.
    Before I found Al, I was redirected by
two more Martis guards. They were dressed in blue, and they had the
insignia of the court stitched onto the left breast of their
uniform. I wasn’t certain what their role was, but I knew it was
different than my normal guard because of their uniforms. They
weren’t just guards. My dual escort dropped back allowing the new
Martis to move in closer.
    They rerouted me through the building,
refusing to answer my questions. Eventually, we neared the lower
chambers of the villa and I knew that they were ushering me to the
hearing.
    I continued to speak to them, though
they didn’t reply. “What do they want me for? Is Eric all
right?”
    Why wouldn’t he be all right? He
couldn’t lie, well not totally, and we sealed the portal together.
Case closed.
    So why all the guards? And where was
everybody?
    A bead of sweat rolled down my spine
making me shiver. This was bad. My finger nervously rubbed my ruby
ring to abate my tension. There would be no coming back once I
left.
    The guards walked me along the
corridors to the courtrooms. We passed ogling Martis who weren’t
important enough to get inside the court room where Eric was
waiting. I’d been in the room several times, and it was equally
intimidating every time. The court room was white travertine stone,
like the rest of the building. Ornately decorated bleached oak
dividers encircled the center of the room. The person being
questioned sat alone in the center of the floor. That was where
Eric sat now. Behind the dividers sat rows upon rows of Martis.
They were divided into three sections, each according to his or her
specialty—Polomotis, Seyer, and Dyconisis. The eldest and most
influential members sat in the first row with their Martis marks
exposed. Guards flanked every entrance and exit in the room. They
wore the same insignia and uniform as that of my new Martis
guards.
    The court felt cold, and unforgiving.
Not sitting next to a judge or lawyer made the person testifying
feel isolated. Maybe that was the intent. If you put someone on the
stand, and made them feel utterly alone, and outnumbered by row
upon row of immortals…well, it’s intimidating even if you are
innocent. I can’t even imagine how the guilty must feel.
    How do you have a guilty Martis
anyway? It’s not like they can totally lie. And they pretty much do
what they are told. They’re like a bunch of lemmings in that way.
Martis glared at me as I was escorted into the back of the room. I
glared back. The guards stopped me before I could enter the small
circle where Eric sat. They didn’t stop his testimony to get me.
I’d walked in while it was still going on.
    Eric sat on a small white chair with
an expression on his face that I’d never seen before. His brow was
pinched tight, and his fingers were balled into fists on his lap.
He sat at the edge of his seat like a metal pole was strapped to
his spine. His amber eyes were