Wyatt moved before I could even blink.
He teleported next to Barbie, claws already out, ready to tear into her throat. But his hand passed right through her.
“Oh shit,” Sapph said. “She’s a hologram to bait him!”
As soon as Wyatt appeared next to Rupert, he let out an agonized howl and tried to teleport out, but something kept his body contained. We couldn’t see it at first because it was so thin, almost like it wasn’t even there.
Some sort of force field kept him on his knees next to Rupert.
“Oh great,” Rupert said dryly. “I can’t even have my own trial. My father has to come and ruin that too.”
Barbie appeared again, this time outside of the force field bubble. She had her elbow propped on it, her head resting against her fist. She winked at Sapphyra, and I could feel the heat rising from my mate.
“Get the hell away from them!” Sapphyra roared with every ounce of fury she could muster.
She tried to stand, but she got a little dizzy and started teetering back and forth.
“Whoa there, angel. I got you.”
I caught her in my arms and helped her sit back down.
“Come on, guys,” Barbie said, smiling at everyone. “Is that any way to treat an old friend? Besides, I’m here for the betterment of Cyran City. Something I thought we could all agree would be useful.”
“The only thing useful that can come from you is your death!” Wyatt cried out.
His fists beat against the force field, and he blinked in and out of existence several times, but every time he ended up back on his knees, unable to move forward.
“Now, now.” Barbie wagged a finger at him, a condescending sneer on her face.
Next to her, the city official turned red in the face, clearly upset by this turn of events.
“Now see here, this is an official city event! You are not a member of this city, therefore you do not—”
“Quiet, old man,” Barbie cut him off. “You better shut that mouth before I shut it for you.”
A growl from the crowd made everyone sit up and take notice.
“Damn, isn’t that Wyatt’s nephew?” I asked aloud.
“You mean the same nephew that everybody forgot about?” Sapph added bitterly. “Yeah, that’s him.”
“I’d get away from him, lady!” Voss said, one hand on his new weapon. “I just got a shiny new class, and I’m itching to try out my abilities. Don’t make me put the dog down.”
But disturbingly, Barbie just tilted her head to the side and smiled, showing all her pearly white teeth. She shrugged and snapped her fingers.
“Dumb boy. I’m still going to defend these two. Since you opened it up to the audience, and I am a member of Cyran City. Just a very old one. In fact, I’m just as old as Sapphyra over there and Wyatt.”
Sapphyra grit her teeth and did her best to keep her composure. The city official and a few others came together, murmuring amongst themselves. Eventually, they nodded.
“Very well. You may defend Rupert, but why are you holding the other one here?”
“Oh, isn’t it obvious?” she answered, her innocent facade firmly in place. “He’s just as guilty as his son is. In fact, I think you should throw Wyatt in jail before you even get to Rupert. And I’ll tell you why. Actually, I don’t have to.”
Barbie’s grin widened.
“But Mnemosyne can.”
“Oh no,” Sapphyra softly whispered.
We all turned and saw the former Titan of memory, Mnemosyne, step forward.
She looked badly beaten, with bruises on her body and claw marks across her face and chest. Her hands trembled as she opened her book and played a memory out.
But unlike before, during the previous trials, the memory was less like a movie and more like direct streaming.
And the stream went right to our brains.
I cursed to myself, watching Wyatt’s crimes in high definition. Because the crimes he committed weren’t just against Cyran City.
They were also against Drakkir, the birthplace of dragons.
The murmuring began immediately. Questions spread through the crowd.
Did he really murder six dragons in cold blood?
Did he build an ark and then not rescue anyone?
Did he really stop the city’s salvation by trapping his wife in a digital prison?
Though I wasn’t sure about the first one, I had the feeling the answer was still yes.
Yes to all of those crimes.
Oh Wyatt, what have you done?
Sapphyra stood up again, but this time she took off into the air and landed next to the official.
“The trial today is not for Wyatt!” she fiercely objected. “Do not let Barbie have her way, or it will put everyone here in jeopardy.”
The city official looked at her with a confused face.
“You are our great Dragon Queen, yet you would defend the person who entrapped you?” he asked.
“I’m not defending him! I’m saying today is not the day for his trial!”
She tried to pivot and get everyone back on track, but Barbie wasn’t having it.
“Oh, but his trial is finally here. Not just for trapping you, but for trapping me too. Come on, Sapphyra. You know this day was coming. He’s got to pay the piper!”
“And what about you?” Sapphyra asked, turning to Barbie with eyes full of hatred. “What about the crimes you committed against him? You and Rhea and—”
“You mean Rhea?” Barbie cut her off. “The person who’s no longer alive because Wyatt killed her?”
Sapphyra’s eyes widened.
“How could you possibly know that?”
Barbie just gave a cute little smile.
God, I hate her.
“I have ways. Don’t you worry about it. But seriously, Sapphyra, it’s time. And with Mnemosyne’s power, it’s clear today that the trial is arbitrary at best. Both of these men are monsters, and monsters should go where monsters belong.”
She paused, letting the word hang in the air.
“In prison.”
She carried on, pacing in front of the crowd.
“I mean, think about it. The city wouldn’t have been destroyed if it weren’t for Rupert putting those trials on our poor Dragon Queen. Am I right?”
The audience nodded along, some of them murmuring in the affirmative.
“And when the time came for Rupert to save people, he not only chose not to save anyone, he welcomed everyone’s destruction. Though he is absolutely guilty of many things, being a good leader is not one of them.”
“I thought you were supposed to be defending him?!” Sapphyra roared, her voice shaking the entire city.
God, she was hot when she was pissed.
“I am defending him,” Barbie insisted. “I’m defending him from the death penalty. Rupert has done a great many awful things to the people here, but he does not deserve death. More importantly, his mind is too valuable to just quickly sentence to death.”
She glanced toward Wyatt.
“And unfortunately, the same goes for his father.”
My stomach sank.
“I propose we send them both to the worst prison Cyran City has to offer. The one only the upper echelon of dragon society even knows about.”
I looked at Sapphyra.
She looked at me.
We were both confused.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked. “A prison? There’s no prison that can hold these two.”
“Oh, there was once upon a time,” Barbie said with a smirk. “But since it was destroyed, the only way for it to come back is for you to rebuild it, Sapphyra.”
I watched my mate break.
Tears burst from her eyes as Barbie told her the worst news she could possibly hear.
“Oh, but you might want to take care of that first.”
Barbie pointed at the blood pooling at my poor angel’s feet.
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