Wells took a step forward. “Ar, if there’s any good left in you, please just stop working for him and come back to the camp.”
The smoke and fog swirled around my brother. “Any good left in me, Wells? Do you even know why I’m doing this? Do you know what I’m sacrificing by staying in Lux?” Arcane shifted, and I noticed his wince, how he stood rigid with his back straight. Athler must have brought him down to the dungeons recently. But for what? Arcane rarely acted out. He was the angel child between the three of us and tried to avoiddispleasing the King for the sole purpose of avoiding the punishments that followed.
“Can’t you see I’m doing this forus? They,” Arcane gestured toward Dovelyn and me, “want to someday go back to Allium or to whatever new planet they can claim as their own. They want to leave Earth. Do you know what that means, Wells? It means I would never get to see you again. Our kind needs to stay here, we can’t leave. But in order for that to happen, for us to be together, we need to make our presence known. We need to—”
“I know what your father is planning,” Wells interrupted. “He plans to overthrow my kind. It doesn’t matter how much I love you, nothing is worththat. Nothing is worth the lives of millions of humans.” Tears slid down Wells’ chestnut cheeks at the same time Dovelyn shifted from foot to foot. This conversation felt too personal to be having while everyone listened. I could feel the palpitating emotions coursing through my brother and Wells. They both had pent-up feelings that had been building and building over the last three years.
“You would risk millions of innocent lives just to stay here with me?” Wells’ tears turned to anger. “For what, Arcane? A blink in your own very, very long lifespan? You know you’ll outlive me. I’ll be gone. Dead. And you and your father would have destroyed our Earth in the process. You would have him control and enslave humans, murdering anyone who wouldn’t submit? This would carry on for centuries, maybe forever, long after I’d be six feet under.”
“Stop—”
“If you still think I’d want to be with you after all of that, after what you plan to do to my kind, you’re a fool, and you already lost me.”
“I said STOP!” Arcane screamed. The fog rose and shot into the sky as the wind swirled around us. I planted my feet, so I wouldn’t fall over. I couldn’t risk him sensing Rainer. Dovelyn only stayed put using her own abilities. But Wells staggered. Hishands flew up to his face to prevent his glasses from falling off. When the mist cleared, Arcane collected himself. “I wouldn’t let it get that far. I’m going to stop him before he tries to enslave the humans. I’m on your side.”
“No, you aren’t,” Wells snapped, and I’d never seen him so riled, so firm about something. “If you’re still working for your father, you aren’t on our side.”
“I’m not working for him. It’s just easier, for now, to pretend I am. I have a plan. A plan that will allow both of our kinds to live in peace. We wouldn’t have to flee. We wouldn’t have to search for another planet. We could live together and be happy.”
“Humans would never be okay with this,” Well said. “They won’t react well to meeting your kind. They fear the unknown. A war would be inevitable. I don’t want to spend my life having to fight against you. And it’s safer for your kind too… The humans have weapons that could kill an Advenian, regardless of your prolonged lifespan. We possess machinery that could take you all out in seconds, and anyone they don’t kill, they’d study and research. You’d be no better than one of the vials in our lab. Either side winning would be detrimental to the other. Can’t you see that?”
“It won’t be like that. I’m working on something, on a serum. It’ll allow for mass compulsion. When we come out to the public, I’d use the serum alongside a compulsion user. I’d get them to listen, to stand down. I’d make them realize we can live together, that we mean no harm. They’d welcome us with open arms. We could have real peace.”
I shifted. I knew Arcane was working on a mass compulsion serum by the King’s orders. I just had no idea why he had agreed to it. Not that Arcane could refuse orders, but he could have told him it wasn’t possible. When the King asked about it at one of our mandatory family dinners, Arcane perked up. I had no idea why at the time, but now it made sense. It was all for Wells, even if it was delusional thinking.
Wells looked just as taken aback. “At what cost?” he breathed. “You think it’s better to take away our own ability to think? That’s called brainwashing. Tell me, Ar, would you use compulsion on me too?” Arcane flinched at Wells’ words. “I don’t agree with you, so you’d have to compel me. According to you, there’s no harm in that, right?”
When Arcane didn’t answer, Wells continued, “Don’t lie to me. You know your father won’t be happy with ruling alongside the humans. Besides the fact that he regards us as nothing, it’s not just about him wanting more land for his people. He wants control. He wants to rule, and he wants power. He wants to overthrow everything.”
“I know,” Arcane said desperately, his voice rising. “We’d stop him before it gets to that point.”
“Why did you let us go, Arcane?” Dovelyn asked, drawing the conversation away before Wells could respond. “Because you did let us go. Athler had Scotlind when you came after us, and then you just stopped.”
Arcane sighed, forcing his gaze away from Wells to look at our sister. “Dove, if Father ever gets his hands on you or Tez again, you’ll wish you were dead. I don’t want that for either of you. You don’t understand how livid he was when he realized what you both had done. He already has Athler preparing for your return—” He didn’t need to finish for Dove and I to understand what he meant. If we were captured, we’d both be locked up for decades, maybe longer, and he wouldn’t go easy on our punishment.
“Where’s Scottie?” I asked again, not able to take it any longer. I knew she was nearby, I could feel it, feel her, and I had to see her. “Is she hurt?” The question was burning on my tongue. I couldn’t make out her emotions.
“She’s fine.More mentally abused than physically.”
“If you hurt her—” I started to growl, not believing his words, but he cut me off.
“I didn’t. I said she’s fine, and I mean it. I only sampled her blood. Beyond some daily needle pokes, she’s unharmed.” He paused for a moment, seeming to question if he wanted to tell me more.
“Spit it out.”
He sighed. “I know you’re bonded and so does the King, but it’s better if he doesn’t understand to what extent.”
“What do you mean by that?” I snapped.
“You don’t know?” He looked genuinely shocked, then a smirk formed on his lips. “Interesting. I don’t think she knows either.”
“Where the fuck is she, Arcane?”
My brother met my gaze for a long moment before he arched his back, calling back his wings. “I’m here to make peace, Tez. If you try anything, you’ll regret it.” Then he lifted off the ground and flew away.
I waited, holding my breath, until he came back.
Please don’t let her get hurt.
