Chapter Thirty-Six

Six months later

Larissa

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Caspian asked.

I paused before going up the steps, thinking about his words. Was I ready to face Nadine again? A shiver ran down my spine. Maybe, but I wasn't sure.

I met his gaze. "It's something I have to do."

Jude took my arm. "Then let's do this."

"I've got your back, sweetheart," Ezra told me.

That was something I never worried about. I knew they all had my back. I made my way up the stairs and into the building. We took the elevator up to the second floor. Before entering the courtroom, I took a deep breath.

I'd gained confidence over the last few months, but there were still times I would wake up during the night and feel an almost overpowering sense of fear. The therapist I'd started seeing said it was PTSD, but I had a great support system who would help me get through everything. Talking about it with her was helping a lot. So yes, I would get through this as well.

The room was filled with spectators, the jury, and the lawyers—and Nadine. I only saw the back of her and the wheelchair she sat in. We moved into the front row behind the prosecutors. Andrew turned and looked at me, then smiled warmly.

We took our seats, and a moment later, the judge came in. Everyone stood except Nadine, who'd never once looked my way. Not that I wanted her to.

The jury foreman handed the clerk a piece of paper, who, in turn, handed it to the judge. The judge looked at it and then read the verdict—guilty on all counts. I breathed a sigh of relief.

When I looked toward Nadine this time, she was looking right at me with hate-filled eyes. Cold chills ran down my spine. For a moment, I was back at the castle, and she was about to torture me.

Caspian squeezed my hand. "The judge wants to know if you have a few words to say," he whispered. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"Yes, I do," I whispered, then turned to the judge. "Thank you for allowing me this time." I came to my feet and walked to the podium. "First, I would like to thank the jury for coming to their decision."

I drew in a deep breath. I could do this.

"What you see before you, sitting quietly in her chair, is not a broken old woman. Nadine Corvin is probably more cruel than even her brother. Amon was the one who kidnapped me, but they both kept me in a cage, stripping me of my clothes and my dignity and not even letting me go to a bathroom to relieve myself. I had a drain under the cage. They fed me mush that even a dog wouldn't eat."

My hands trembled as flashes of memory threatened to stop me from saying what so desperately needed to be said.

Don't stop now. Don't let her win.

I continued. "I was tortured. They shocked me—electrical currents almost crippling me, they gave me mind-altering drugs, and they trained me to become a killer. They stole five years of my life to do this to me."

I realized it was so quiet I could've heard a pin drop. I didn't know what people thought, but I had to continue.

"Nadine is worse than Amon ever thought about being. She was so jealous of the women he dated that she tortured and killed them. She would have killed me as well out of revenge because she was afraid her brother loved me more than her.

When you look at this pitiful old woman in a wheelchair, know that one day, she'll walk again. I want everyone to remember how she stole those lives and would've taken mine as well. Those other women will never get married, never bear children, and never grow old. I am their voice."

I turned my gaze to the judge.

"I'm not asking for the death penalty because that's what Nadine wants. In her sick mind, she thinks she can join Amon in Hell. I want her to suffer as she made all of us suffer. I want her to live."

I heard a few whispers, but they quickly stopped when the judge narrowed his eyes on the crowd behind me.

I continued. "Nadine once told me that every time I saw the marks from the whip she put on my back, I would remember her. I won't. The marks tell me how strong I was and still am. That I'm a survivor. I have my life back, but she doesn't deserve hers. I ask for the maximum penalty of life in prison without the chance for parole, and I hope she lives a very long life without her brother. Thank you."

The silence continued for a few seconds after I finished, and then the applause broke out and thundered through the room. The judge began to hit his gavel on the desk and ask for silence.

"I hate you!" Nadine screamed. "I'll kill myself. You can't win against me!"

"Silence!" The judge demanded.

The room immediately grew silent. Even Nadine settled down.

When all was quiet, the judge began to speak. "I've looked at the video footage and the pictures. This was a heinous crime. No one should ever be subjected to this kind of torture, this kind of pain. I'm surprised that Larissa Wentworth was even able to survive such cruelness. But survive, she did, and she was the voice for others. Nadine Corvin I'm remanding you to a prison for the criminally insane for the rest of your life without the chance for parole, and just so you can't hurt yourself, I'm ordering you to be placed in a straitjacket. You will not be able to go to your dead brother until Satan decides to call you home."

Nadine began to scream and yell, pulling at her hair. It took two guards to restrain her.

"Get this monster out of my sight," the judge said. "Court dismissed."

Only then did I breathe a sigh of relief. I would never have to think about Nadine again. We came to our feet and left the courtroom.

"It really is over, isn't it?" I asked. It still felt surreal.

"Yes, it is," Caspian said.

I felt as if a weight was being lifted from my shoulders.

"Let's go home," I said.

I smiled as we walked to the car. Life was good.

I hope you enjoyed, A Rage Like No Other.