Page 64 of Microburst

“I fight here all the fucking time,” I gasped before laughing again.

Yeah, thehonorable judgewas at one of the illegal fighting and gambling dens. That apparently Belinda now owned.

My life was so fucking insane that I needed a new word besides crazy even.

The judge was a bit too into cards and had even hit a run of bad luck, so he didn’t think anything about it when he was brought to a separate room from where everyone else was. To say his demeanor changed when I walked in was an understatement.

I simply smirked at him. “So, here’s how it’s going to go. You’re retiring or you will be retired.”

And then I pointedly looked at Fraser to make it clear I wouldn’t just sign the judge’s retirement papers.

Not by a long shot.

17

Sagan

I let the judge go off for several minutes before I nodded to Belinda to silence him with her magic. Then I smirked at the judge. “It’s actuallyadorablethat you think this is a discussion or like a debate. It’s not.” I gestured around us. “You have a gambling addiction and owe a lot of money to unscrupulous people. That’s against the rules for judges.”

“So, you’re out,” Fraser drawled. “I think we should make it messy.”

“You and I enjoy messes,” Belinda chuckled as she looked over her nails. “I enjoy messes with gore even. Sagan prefers order and is too disgusted that this is even happening.”

I bobbed my head as I stared at the judge and crossed my arms over my chest, snorting when he took too much interest in the way my breasts moved. “Great, he’s a pig on top of everything else.”

“We already knew that given what he’s doing,” Benson drawled.

Good point. The others snorted in agreement.

I ran my tongue over my teeth as I kept my gaze locked with the judge’s. “You’re a piece of shit. If it had been my father and people had texted him death threats, no matter the context, you would never have let that stand. This is solely about me beingfemale and whatever other bullshit in your tiny brain. You are beingbiasedin your decisions and that’s not what a judge does.

“Not in my fucking nation. You call it akingdomall you want, but the foundingkingmade sure that Thovudin was called anationjust so assholes like you didn’t get locked in on that. That ruler so many thousands of years ago was less sexist than you. And the Alphas who helped him build thisnation. How does that not give you any hesitation that you are the problem?”

“You might as well talk to the brick wall, darling,” Belinda muttered. “He processes none of this in his delusions. He’s waiting for his chance to persuade Fraser to take over because he’s convinced he can. Ooh, now he wants to outlaw witches like me.”

“Because you see through his bullshit. Yeah, that’s why the elders basically banned the shifter species who can sense lies like tigers and wolves,” I drawled, freezing when others were shocked. I snickered when the judge’s eyes were wide. “You’re a fool. Your blindfaithin my father being so much better and he let it happen.

“He let himself be trapped and corrupted like that.” I gestured around me. “You want to know who you owe money to? An elder.” I laughed when his face went pale. “The elders all own these places which is why I’ve been shutting them down—the elders for now.

“This I will make legal and taxable. Also controlled so people with addictions like you gethelp. Yes, I’m horrible for the future whereas perfectRhyscontrolled nothing!” I went on a bit more and then realized Belinda was already using her magic to mess with the judge’s mind.

I was annoyed for maybe thirty seconds but then gave her a grateful look. It was smart. I centered myself and waited until she nodded to go on.

I stormed over to the judge and tapped his forehead. “I’m queen, you little pissant. You are but one judge taking on the head of the fucking nation—most powerful nation in the world. Realize you are done or fucking die. Is that blunt enough for you? I will not let you and corrupt assholes like you ruinmy nationand hurtmy peopleany longer!”

He looked scared and I realized it was because the power of my dragons was leaking all over him. It was surrounding me like a shield and just dripping on him so much I could practically hear it.

“Oh gross,” Fraser groaned as he pulled me back.

I burst out laughing. My power hadn’t made a dripping sound to my mind. The judgepissing himselfwas the dripping sound. “Oh yeah, you’re a big, strong man who should put me in my place. Pissing yourself when you feel some of my power. Fucking joke.”

“At least he believes you now and wants to retire and hide,” Belinda taunted. “Lovely. What do we do from here?”

“I need two questions answered first,” I said as I held up a finger to her and then gestured between Fraser and me. “We have a bet going on.”

“Oh, right,” he chuckled darkly and smacked the judge upside the head to get him to focus. “Who was the call with where you were talking about all of this?” He snickered when the judge’s eyes went wide. “Aye, you were overheard, you dunce. You walked down the court’shallwayand people heard you. Someone heard your blatant corruption and told us.”

“Wait, it was Vex,” Benson muttered, glancing between us.