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Everything shifted into a different perspective. We needed to leave Earth, needed to find somewhere safer for Verena, where she wouldn’t be stressed twenty-four-seven. Fuck, where we wouldn't be stressed.
"You good?" Kai asked her, watching her intently enough that she gave him a strange look.
"I'm fine. What's up with all you weirdos?"
"I told you," Em said fondly. "You're one of us. We worry about our own."
Verena had no reply for that. I knew exactly how she felt. I'd felt the same way when this family welcomed me into them a hundred and ten years ago.
"So," she said, giving us a judgement-heavy look. "Are we going to Hell, or what? Preferably the part of Hell without killer ghosts."
A smile began to form, spreading across my cheeks. It fell when Emlyn turned the radio back on and a voice blared through it. Except … Em was right here. The radio was on the floor with no one near it.
And the voice coming through it was Cronus's.
CHAPTER 19
This is a message from your new ruler.
A gasp caught in the back of my throat, and I moved closer to Kai until we were pressed against each other, hip to hip
"Turn it off!" Wyn hissed, darting for the radio.
Harvey grabbed it first, punching the off switch, but Cronus's painful voice still filled the room.
I am Cronus, first king of the United Earth.
"The united what?" Emlyn demanded, his voice pouring out as a growl and his shoulders broadening, protectiveness surging through his soul.
"It won't turn off," Harvey breathed, the blood draining from his face. "I can't turn it off."
"Listen!" Kai hissed when Cronus spoke again.
I froze, straining my ears, my heart slamming against my ribs.
I have subdued your leaders and liberated you from their disagreements and skirmishes. Instead, every country on Earth will unify under a new leader. I understand this will be a difficult transition for you, so I'll allow you a grace period of three days to adjust.
"But," Wyn muttered, grabbing more assorted magical objects and throwing them into a bag until it bulged.
But I expect your fealty and obedience. Rebellion will not be tolerated.
"There is it," he laughed bitterly, throwing the bag over his shoulder and spearing me with an intense look. "Let's get the hell out of here. There are emergency bags of clothes and supplies in the hallway cupboard."
"You expected this to happen," Kai realised, too freaked out to snarl at Wynvail.
"Not this," Wyn sighed, his silver eyes flickering with shadows, memories, "but I knew he'd do something. Here, Verena."
Verena jumped, surprised to be addressed, and accepted a leather satchel a darker shade than ours. Even with my stomach twisting, threatening to evict everything I'd eaten today, my heart turned to mush. He hadn't prepared anything for her, hadn't known she'd be here to provide for, but he had provided for her.
And he thought he was a monster?
"What's this?" Verena asked, rifling through the bag as Em and Kai ushered us out of the armoury.
Emlyn made a beeline for the cupboard and found it crammed full of backpacks. I shot Wynvail a soft look he didn't see, my heart bursting out of my chest.
"Explosive," Wyn said sternly. "Put it away."
Verena slid it back into the satchel, smiling.
