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“Enjoy the conversation while you can. You’ll miss it when you’re in solitary confinement.”
I’ve never seen Luna look this defeated before. Does she really not have something up her sleeve? Is June going to pop in any second now and vanish with her leader? Maybe Luna will show me some final mercy and have June carry me away too because I’m all out of moves now. It’s up to Emil and the Spell Walkers to cast a light on the Senator’s crimes. Outsmart him.
“Do you remember when you were little and you were rooting for me to become President Iron so you could live in the White House? You should be proud of yourself. It required some nudging and threats, but you did this!”
“It’s not over. You can still lose, especially without my power to lie for you.”
The Senator laughs. “You think I don’t have this election in the bag? In the eyes of this country, I defeated that supremacist Sunstar in the debate, I have apprehended the alchemist responsible for many of our terrors, and I sentenced my son to a life behind bars for their protection. And if that isn’t enough, all isn’t lost.”
The impossible happens.
His eyes burn like an eclipse and the black eye and cut lip glow in gray lights and fade away as if they were never there. And that’s because they never were. I blink multiple times, not wanting to believe this is true. Then I piece it all together. The Senator and Luna both left together on the night of the Cloaked Phantom. Then he came back sick. . . .
“How? That alchemy doesn’t work well for people your age.”
“Perhaps in the hands of some untrained alchemists, but I worked with the best alive. Luna warned me that it could have dangerous results, though once I saw how valuable your power was I knew I would still need it on my side after you inevitably betrayed me. Who better to do all this dirty work than the only person I ultimately trust?”
This man is absolutely diabolical.
He worked me to the bone, but he’ll have a long career ahead of him if he can do everything himself. What better way to paint himself as a saint than by making monsters of his opponents?
“I should’ve poisoned you,” Luna says.
“I thought you were, after drinking that disgusting creature’s blood. Eduardo, you should’ve seen that hideous shifter. It was as if a coyote had wings made of fish scales.”
No one knows a shifter’s true state since they all take on different forms, but most are wise enough to blend in with other animals and creatures. The wounded shifter I got my powers from looked like a small red elephant with jackrabbit legs and a lion’s tail. I cried watching it die, whereas the Senator was repulsed by the one that’s made him powerful.
I stare at Luna. “This will go down in history as one of your worst crimes.”
“Of which there are many,” the Senator adds. “But don’t discredit yourself, son. You made this happen too.” He again glows gray and shrinks a couple feet, and his hair grows long and black with some silver in front. His pale skin becomes slightly darker than mine and breasts grow from his chest. His face’s tight skin becomes relaxed, natural, and beautiful with brown eyes and high cheekbones. “I’m proud of you,” he says with my mother’s voice.
This is cursing her memory.
“STOP IT!”
I use all my strength to try and pop these straps.
The Senator takes on Mom’s laugh. Then a bump grows on her nose that can only be found on the Senator’s and her round jaw squares like his too. He’s bathed in gray light. “I’m still ironing out the tricks, but I’ll get there.”
The deck door opens. “Docking, Edward,” Bishop calls down.
“End of the line,” the Senator says. “I can hardly wait to get started in the office and I’m looking forward to the many terms I will serve. It brings me peace knowing that if I’m ever voted out I can simply morph into the next president and continue the great work I’ve started to protect this country from people abusing their powers.” The Senator releases a deep, proud sigh. “Think of me in the White House from your cells. If you survive long enough.”
The Senator has fooled the world without these powers. Now that he has them, he’ll destroy it as the President.
Sixty-One
Villainized
BRIGHTON
I’m keeping up the good fight for Emil’s privacy.
Ma wants to let him cry in her arms, Wyatt wants to hold him, and Prudencia just wants to keep him company, but he asked to be alone, and it’s staying that way. We brought some chairs out into the hallway though so we can be with him at a moment’s notice if he changes his mind.
Everyone is exhausted. Before going to sleep in Maribelle’s room, Eva generously healed my burn marks from Emil’s fire. There’s a shortage of available rooms, so Wesley and Ruth joined her, and Maribelle doesn’t care that Iris is there too. I wish Ma would go take Emil’s bed in our room, but she’s being stubborn and resting in her chair.
“He must’ve really cared for him,” Wyatt whispers.
