A REWARD

　　Irena's POV

　　"Hush hush child, you're not a murderer," I dismissed quickly.

　　" But I am Irena, I killed a man, a human, he didn't do anything to me," she was crying furiously again and I felt a strong pull in my chest.

　　"You killed a man, love. But it wasn't your fault, okay? Someone was controlling you," I reminded her, hoping it would make her feel better when I knew that it wouldn't.

　　Whether she was innocent or not, we can't tell. The council wouldn't believe her until there is proof of her innocence or her being controlled. And that too was going to be totally unbelievable if we come to them with the claims of magic being involved.

　　"No one is going to believe me, Irena!" She wailed, it was so heartbreaking.

　　" Don't worry, I'm here remember? I'll help you and protect you as much as I can, as long as what you're telling me is true. I believe you, you know I do. But it's going to be hard to convince them and see that you're telling the truth, especially when we have no evidence,"

　　I was aware that she knew how this situation would play out, but I wanted her to know the exact way it would and how she could help us help her.

　　"Listen, you have to act strong. Don't tell anyone about this, if you want to, you can stay with me, here in my place and I'll do the best I can," Fuck! If only we could find evidence, proof that it actually happened.

　　"Thank you," she sobbed. "I'll stay here with you. I'm so scared,"

　　I held her to myself, "Don't worry, you'll be fine." I really hope so.

　　She fell asleep as I held her and when she was deeply asleep, I tapped into her memory, checking if what she had said was true.

　　I believed what she had said, but this is a risky situation, I couldn't blindly trust anyone. Unlike the rest of the council, I could check her memories and see if she had said the truth. Which she actually did; she said the truth, she was under an influence to do what she did.

　　I let out a breath of relief. I am so glad that she was, now I can clearly think of the next step to take.

　　I thought of what she had told me, she said Lesley had called her for the job. Nothing wrong was done there, but had Lesley denied being aware of August's movement?

　　I decided to call Carlos.

　　"Madam," he answered after the first ring.

　　"Are you still at the scene of the crime?" It shouldn't have taken them too long to clear the area. If they spend too much time there, it might raise suspicions. Although, the only active area there is the supermarket that barely gets customers. But then anything can happen, I can't afford to do anything risky.

　　"No, I'm on my way to your place, I was informed that August is at yours," smart man. Carlos and his sister Monica could be the most useful vampires in that fucking club.

　　"I have a few questions, but I'll just wait for your arrival," There's no rush.

　　" Alright, I'll be at yours in a few minutes," he hung up. That means he's close.

　　I walked out of the room to meet Magnus and the rest of my girls. The girls were in the living room and I caught no sight of Magnus.

　　"Where's Magnus?" I asked as I walked towards them.

　　"He's at the back," Cassie replied. Cassie might be the oldest vampire working for me as an escort.

　　"How is she?" Two of the girls asked in unison. All six of them looked worried. They cared about August, it was cute.

　　"She is fine now, she is asleep,"

　　"Did she say why she was crying?" Izzy asked eagerly.

　　I sighed, "She was just scared about everything that happened, and she woke up from a scary nightmare related to it, that is why she woke up screaming,"

　　I could not tell them that the reason why she was crying was that she killed someone. This is something that would take some explanation and convincing to sound logical to anyone because no vampire would easily believe that August had been controlled to kill someone. The talk of magic is not believable among vampires, even though I am now aware that it exists.

　　And besides, I don't want words of August killing a human spreading fast. I only want the appropriate people that are necessary to this investigation to be aware of it. And the council members too because this isn't something I can push them out of. They needed to know, and I'll try to make them see, while August is protected under my custody until there is proof of their innocence.

　　"Is she alright now?" Izzy asked.

　　I nodded, "yeah, she fell asleep after talking to me," some of them let out sighs of relief.

　　" Alright then, I would need you all to go back to the club. It's a busy day today and you all know that this incident isn't charging anything at work, so in other words, work continues. August will be here for some time and she will not be working also. She needs time to heal from what happened to her psychologically. If you want to see her, you are free to come by anytime that does not affect your work time,"

　　They all agreed and left. But before they left, I called Izzy back and thanked her for her help.

　　"It's nothing Madam, I was just attentive is all,"

　　"Well, your attentiveness saved August and also saved some chain of events, so thanks,"

　　" Alright then, I'm just glad that she is okay," she looked like she wanted to say more.

　　"You don't have to worry about giving me your pay at work for a week. Any job you get and any cash you get from the strip club, you can keep it for yourself for the entire week,"

　　She looked surprised, her mouth parted in awe, and her eyes wide, "oh my gosh! Really?!"

　　I nodded, "you can take them all for the week. I'll inform Lesley to give you the full payment for all your escort services this week,"

　　She deserved it, and it would serve as an encouragement to get others to be more helpful in the club.

　　"Thank you so much!" She exclaimed, sounding happy.

　　I smiled, " you're welcome love. Now go, the others are waiting for you,"

　　She thanked me again and hurried off to meet the others.

　　I wonder what it was that she wanted to tell me.

　　Magnus walked into the living room as soon as the girls left, they came in their respective cars.

　　"They're gone?" He asked.

　　I nodded, "yeah, and one of them is going back very happy,"

　　Magnus smiled, " yeah, I overheard your conversation,"

　　He sat on a sofa. " How is she? Why did she scream and why was she crying?"

　　I sighed and sat next to him. " Oh Magnus, this whole thing is way more complicated than it seems,"

　　He started to look worried, " what do you mean by that? What happened?"

　　"She screamed because she had a nightmare about the whole thing," I started. Maybe I should start from the less shocking piece of information.

　　"Alright?" He looked at me waiting for the next thing I was going to say.

　　"And she was crying because she killed someone, a human,"

　　Magnus looked shocked for long seconds before he composed himself. "You mean that human we saw on her car? The one that was impaled? The one that was impaled on her windshield?" His voice whispered.

　　I nodded, " yes, that one."

　　" How?" He asked, confused. "Did he try to attack her? Was it through self-defense?"

　　"In a way, it is."

　　" What do you mean by that? Stop all these suspense shit and tell me what fucking happened!" He whisper-yelled.

　　Having no zeal to repeat the whole story to him, I decided to share the memory with him telepathically and his eyes widened in horror.

　　"How are we going to make anybody believe that?!" He exclaimed.

　　" That's why we need proof, but how?" This was frustrating in all aspects. " I can't make them see what she saw telepathically, because the brain can make up anything and convince itself that it's true, and using that, they would not believe that she is innocent. They would need physical proof of our claim,"

　　" We should take time to think about this. She's going to be here with you right?"

　　I nodded, " yes. I can protect her and ensure that this remains between us and other important individuals in this investigation,"

　　Magnus nodded in agreement.

　　I sighed and leaned back on the sofa. "Something terrible I'd coming, I see it."

　　" We'll be fine in the end," he sounded so sure and it was very encouraging.

　　" The council would soon call for a meeting regarding this, if we can find proof before then, it would be a fucking miracle," I hope we find something or else August would be convicted.

　　"Let's hope for a fucking miracle then," He brought out a pack of cigarettes and handed a stick to me.