Twenty-Six Summary

Queen Tatiana has been discovered with a silver stake in her heart and a look of pure horror frozen in her death mask. Daniella fears her son Adrian will become embroiled with the assassination because only Christian can provide Rose with an alibi during the Queen's killing. Adrian pressures his mother into calling her cousin Damon Tarus, a noted if sleazy criminal defense lawyer considered the best for such cases. She reluctantly agrees, realizing it may also be Adrian's only hope of further entanglement as well.

Mikhail arrives to escort Rose in handcuffs to her pre-trial hearing. There evidence will be presented to Moroi judges who will in turn decide whether or not Rose will face trial by jury. He confides to her that he believes the entire motion is simply a show trial. Further, he states he thinks they want to send...