Runaway Mortal by Komal Kant Read Free Book Online Page A

quite serious for a moment until his face broke out into the familiar smile I had known from a young age. There was the “Uncle Troy” I had known since my childhood.
    “I am so relieved to see you safe and sound, Katerina. You have eluded SRECON for a long time.” He looked like he wanted to hug me, but was restraining himself, maybe because of the old angel dude.
    “I could’ve been naked covered in butter and they still wouldn’t have found me,” I said nonchalantly.
    Tyrone snickered, and I could mentally picture Veritas in the background looking ruffled, no doubt insulted by my dig at her tracking skills.
    “Well, that is a rather colorful way to put it, but, yes, SRECON has had difficulty tracking you down. You proved to be quite resourceful.” There seemed to be a hint of pride in his voice.
    “Her insubordination is anything but colorful.” The angel eyed me like I was last night’s trash that hadn’t been taken out, before continuing. “We don’t need mortals running around all over the country while we waste expensive resources on them. They are given privileges and they abuse them. Someone like her should be put down.”
    My ears burned. Put down ? He spoke about me like I was a wild animal.
    Delware’s jaw tensed at his words. “The death penalty seems too severe for someone so young, Parla Hampton.”
    Oh. So, this old dude was a Parla, a member of Parlum. Now it made sense why the SRECON agents had bowed.
    Parlum was made up of twelve Parlas and thirty-eight representatives who made the laws for the supernatural world. The representatives were important people from the supernatural community. To date there had only been a mortal representative in Parlum—like I’d said, mortals were at the bottom of the supernatural hierarchy.
    “She killed someone, Troitan,” the Parla said, fixing Delware with a steel gaze. “A very powerful angel, of all people. We must make an example of her.”
    Delware looked like he was fighting several emotions at once. I knew he would never allow anything bad to happen to me.
    “What proof do you have that I was the one who killed her?” I demanded. This old dude was pissing me off.
    The Parla’s upper lip curled in contempt. “Are you denying that you were the one who committed this atrocious crime?”
    “I’ve always said I was innocent!” His accusations were frustrating me. Weren’t Parlas supposed to be objective? “I’m not the one you should’ve been looking for!”
    “Then why were you seen arguing with the Headmistress mere hours before her death? How did it so happen that you were the first one to find her body? You have no alibi as to your whereabouts of that night, and you ran away from school days after you were named a suspect.” The Parla sounded smug as he recited all this. “Why should I believe in your innocence?”
    I met his apathetic expression with fierceness. “What did I kill her with? Did you ever find a murder weapon that linked me to her death? Were my prints on her body? What possible reason would I have to kill her?”
    “Whatever you were arguing with the Headmistress about is the reason you killed her.” Parla Hampton said this like he was Sherlock friggin’ Holmes and had figured out a great mystery. “You have yet to disclose the nature of your argument for us to verify.”
    I was so angry that I actually stamped my foot. “How can you verify what the conversation was about if the only other person involved in it is dead?”
    The Parla’s expression returned to lemon-sucking sour. “Don’t get smart with me, mortal.” His voice dripped with disdain. “Believe me, I am only looking for an excuse to show you what happens to troublesome mortals like you.”
    His threat made me queasy. There were nasty stories out there that mortals found guilty of crimes were tortured mercilessly, but I’d always hoped they were only rumors.
    I tried to push my fear away as I spoke. “I’m telling you I didn’t do it. Why