AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The next few days were a blur. Johnny refused to leave Marilyn's side, but we’d expected as much. More and more updates about the climax of the war are starting to circulate, with the general consensus being that the Upper Council had lost. The last lingering bits of resistance they had were failing at every turn to drive the fae out, and most news outlets were predicting that they would be waving the white flag any day.
It was a bittersweet thought.
Aria and I were curled up together, scrolling the latest, when I saw Michaelson’s photo.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
I eyed the little square with some trepidation. Aria hadn’t noticed yet, flipping through her own newsfeed with a furrowed brow. The headline wasn’t anything crazy, just the standard clickbait about a shocking statement from the Free Kingdom, but my heart leaped into my throat anyway.
“Click it,” Aria chirped, leaning over and giving me a little smile. “Maybe it’s talking about the wedding? It would be worth announcing since Azazel is on the Council.”
My heart settled some at that thought. Obviously, it would be newsworthy that the son of Azazel Ambrose would be marrying the Free Kingdom princess sometime soon—it was more or less a traditional way of creating a peace treaty.
Aria leaned her head against my shoulder as I clicked on the video, not even reading the article. I figured it would be a quick summary, but it had been too long since I’d seen Mikey; being able to verify he was healthy would probably work wonders on my anxiety.
It started normally. Tarragon was there, dressed to the nines and giving a little speech about how they only wanted peace and for the war to be resolved. I smirked when Aria huffed and started tapping the fast forward, leaning across me. When she caught the first glimpse of Michaelson, she stopped, beaming at me.
He looked fine. Healthy, if not happy. He wasn’t gaunt from hunger or bruised. His clothes were clean and pressed. I relaxed, despite Aria murmuring about not seeing Blossom or Lucia anywhere. It wasn’t like they didn’t have to be present for every broadcast, so I brushed it off with a shrug.
“They were probably busy doing an actual job. You know how they feel about wasted time.”
Aria winced, obviously remembering what a pain the training regime had been while we’d been there.
“Or planning their next attack. I was reading that they’d stopped trying to garner public support,” she said with a grimace. “They took out a few suburbs the last time their troops swooped in.”
Of course, they had. I glared as Tarragon went on and then gestured for Mikey to join him.
Something was wrong. I knew it from the nervous glance Michaelson gave his new in-law as he obeyed, giving a brittle smile to the onlookers.
“Today, I would like to introduce the newest member of our family, Michaelson Ambrose. He’s fated to my darling sister-in-law, Lucia, and she could not be happier with the match.”
I noticed he left out the incoming baby, but if they intended to claim it as theirs, that made sense. The thought made my stomach roil in disgust.
I waved it off, though, intent on paying attention to whatever this was. Was he going to say something? Provoke our father somehow?
“But, in the interest of honesty.” I frowned, watching Mikey grimace from his place beside the King of the Free Kingdom. “I never liked him that much.”
Whatever happened next was a blur between the speed of Tarragon and the way the cameraman flinched away from it; there was a series of horrified screams that made my stomach drop.
When the camera stilled again, Tarragon's hand was buried in Michaelson's hair, hefting his severed head up for the onlookers—and my vision whited out for a moment.
In the next, the room was spinning. I tried to breathe in, only for a strangled sound to escape me instead.
“Our bargain has been fulfilled, Sariel Ambrose. We’ll call it even.”
The video kept rolling, even as he tossed Mikey's head aside and stalked off the stage, adorned in gold and glimmering in the sun.
My head blanked out. My ears lost their hearing.
I can't feel my hands.
That’s the first coherent thing that came to my mind, and then Aria was in the bond with me, trying and failing to combat the instant cold that had washed over me. Her laptop was slammed shut and tossed aside in favor of her clamoring into my lap and guiding my head to her shoulder.
What… just happened?
My brother's slack features flashed in my mind's eye. I swallowed back the bile that tried to escape, clinging to the back of Aria’s shirt.
I choked out, “Aria—”
