AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Where’s my father?” I growled.
“I’m sorry,” said Cael, his mouth twisted in a mocking smile. “I can’t take you seriously like this.” He gestured to my face and uniform.
“Now you understand how I’ve always felt aboutyou,” I said.
His cruel smile remained. “As will be mentioned in today’s papers, your father was moved out of house arrest. He’s been moved to a secure location.”
“Did you betray him?” I asked.
“No!” said Cael, flinching. “It’s your beloved Brennin who’s responsible, but thanks to me, he might be willing to hold his tongue and stop blaming your father from now on.”
“You spoke to Graham?” I wondered what could possibly make Graham listen to Cael.
“I’ve answered enough of your questions. Now there’s something I need to know,” said Cael softly, his tone shifting from careless to low and serious. “Back on the boat . . . who killed Enforcer Merrick?” His eyes darkened, pain taking over in a completely foreign expression for Cael. “How . . . how did it happen?”
“There was a gunfight between the Ash Islanders and the Enforcers. I was chained below deck so I don’t know who killed her. It could’ve been anyone, even someone from her own side with the way the bullets were ricocheting. Those guns they were using . . .” I paused, forcing the words out, hoping they didn’t sound insincere. “I—I’m sorry.”
His gaze became distant and he stayed quiet.
“What prison is my father in?” I asked quietly.
Cael’s pain fled from his face in an instant. “I’ll tell you nothing more until you’ve done something for me, so let’s talk about how you can make yourself useful instead of playing dress-up.”
I loathed the idea of teaming up with Cael. I hated to make him an ally and be forced to depend on him after all the ways he’d proven he didn’t care about me—or anyone, except maybe Merrick.
But he was the only powerful ally I had. He knew where my father was. He knew what the Academy was up to, and he could even request an audience with Graham.
“I’ll make myself useful if you do,” I said.
He nodded once. “I always do.”
I moved toward the dining table and sat in one of the high-backed wooden chairs.
Cael plodded over and took the chair across the table from me. “As you may have heard, Anton Byrne is after the throne.And even though the Fourth House should logically have no claim to it considering Brennin’s return, he seems to have some sway over the Academy in his argument that Brennin has been disqualified by leaving, even under the condition of abduction or coercion. And then the Third House—he pointed straight down at the table, his finger bending against the wood as he pressed—the Strouds have obviously forfeited their place in line considering you were either murdered or faked your murder. Both are disqualifying factors. And if you’re found alive, then you renounced your title, which is not a good look.” He eyed me with a frown.
“I’m not fighting for the throne,” I said. “It belongs to Graham.”
“I agree,” said Cael.
“You do?” I asked.
“You weren’t around long enough to get popular as queen, but due to my stable leadership in the wake of the chaos you created, I have been a very popular First Immortal. My compassion toward Maeve Brennin after her husband’s death and son’s abduction has been applauded from every Quarter of the city. Only Maeve herself has been slow to warm up to me.”
I didn’t want to give him any validation, but I knew he wasn’t lying. I’d seen the way the papers praised him.
“The truth is, I was blindsided by your escape.” His eyes narrowed. “It’s not often you surprise me, but that day I was blown away by your stupidity. Abdicating your throne like that after all you’d done to get there? Shockingly foolish.”
“Get to the point, please.” My fingers drummed impatiently on the wooden tabletop. I wasn’t about to explain my feelings for Graham and what had driven me to that decision. I couldn’t defend it without invoking love as an explanation and I refused to take that route with Cael.
“The point is,” Cael continued, “Byrne already has his loyalty fixed when it comes to his selection of First Immortal and there is little I can do to influence that. And Maeve Brennin will certainly influence, possibly even blackmail, her son to re-elect Cardiff Pearce.”
He took a breath, eyeing me intently. “Unless something were to happen to Pearce, in which case, I have good reason to believe Brennin would choose me.”
“What?” I laughed. “You must be joking. You were part of his capture! You attacked him. He’s still covered inyourbruises. Unless you threaten or blackmail him—” I paused, dread sinking in. “Youarethreatening or blackmailing him, aren’t you?” Graham hadn’t even been back for a day and I feared Cael had already twisted him into his manipulative grasp.
“As you well know, he has secrets to protect,” said Cael.
My stomach sickened. I didn’t know how Cael intended to control him, but I realized with a jolt that there was a possibility he’d overheard Graham’s private confession at the lake on Ash Island. Graham had told me his darkest secret, the truth about his brother’s death. It was something Cael was never meant to hear. My face flushed at the memory, but I tried not to show my fear.
