I stride past him and onto the crystal lake, walking over the waters until I’m seated with my council.
“And now, my brothers”—I shed a sly smile—“we shall lay the destinies of those we preside over. Open up the books. Let us begin.”
17
Skyla
There have been times in my life where I’ve been anxious, and times where I’ve been excitedandanxious all at once. But right now, with this nuclear bomb Cooper Flanders just detonated in the living room at Whitehorse, you can add, relief, exhilaration, and molten hot rage to the mix. How dare Demetri. How dareGagenot bother to notice. How dare Logan and I not pick up on this.
I latch onto Logan’s arm, my eyes still glued to Cooper.
“Why?” I shake my head. “What gave you the right to hold back this information?”
Logan leans in hard. “When exactly did you transcribe the book?”
Coop takes a full breath as he looks from Laken to Wes.
“Late last winter.” He closes his eyes briefly. “And I selfishly used this to gain access to Gage.”
“What?” I growl over at him. “Fill in the blanks, and fast.”
Cooper glances to Wes. “Gage isn’t aware of anything I just told you—not the important parts. He doesn’t realize that a lie is what’s driving him to tear apart his world—”
“The entire world,” Logan interjects.
“The entire world,” Coop corrects. “Gage doesn’t know it’s a lie.” His voice is low and thick with remorse. “I told him that I knew what he was up against—regarding the fact he would be Hell bound if he didn’t retain the seat of victory over Celestra. I let him know that if he didn’t help me get closer to Laken—physical proximity—that I would report what I knew to the two of you.” He nods, tears pooling in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Skyla. I used Gage. I used his pain. He would have done anything to protect you from the truth as he knew it.”
My throat swells as I struggle to speak.
Logan pulls me in. “Gage didn’t want us to know that if he lost he could potentially be sentenced to rot in Hell. He knew we wouldn’t put up a fight where Celestra is concerned. That we would focus all our energy on trying to help him.”
I close my eyes and feel the hot tears sear down my cheeks.
“Gage knew I would sell out my people in a heartbeat to have him with me,” I say the words just beneath my breath. “He wanted a fair fight.” I take a breath and look to Wes. “He wanted a worthy opponent, but his intention was never to let me win.”
Wes shakes his head. “He couldn’t.” He glances to Laken. “I wouldn’t.” He reaches over and takes up her hand and she voluntarily scoots toward him. Cooper’s eyes monitor the way her body glided right over to Wes and he purses his lips.
Wes continues, “And when Coop told me”—Wesley’s chest bucks and he closes his eyes, wiping away any trace of tears—“I was relieved. When you left me, Laken, I made the decision to plunge my way into Hell so long as you respected me for what little time we had left on Earth. I wanted to vindicate myself in your eyes once I saw you were never coming back.” He pulls Laken’s hand over and kisses it before looking back my way. “I found out a few days ago. We thought we’d wait until after your wedding. There’s a gift for you.” He glowers over at us. “Now run.”
Logan and I exchange a glance.
He takes an unsteady breath. “How are we going to do this?”
“I think we should find him now. We can’t waste a minute. This is it.” Tears stream down my face, hot and steady. “This is the holy grail. It’s what we wanted.” I look to the others in the room. “Let’s keep this to ourselves. I don’t want Demetri catching wind that we know just yet.”
Logan and I grab our jackets and head out the door.
It’s time to find Gage and remove the gauze that Demetri has so tightly wrapped around his eyes.
This is the day we’ve waited for, wished for, wanted, and we are seizing the hell out of it.
We take Logan’s truck and ride through a torrential downpour all the way to the estates. Logan parks high up on the driveway. It’s early evening, already as dark as midnight. The porch light is on, and Gage has replaced the red door I tore off the hinges with another one just like it. Only this time I don’t think of it as angry. In fact, it looks as if it was dipped in Gage Oliver’s blood while he poured out his love for me.
My heart thumps wildly as I hop out into the rain and run all the way to the porch with Logan on my heels.
The door is locked, and I butt my shoulder into it reflexively.
“Let’s try the old-fashioned way first.” Logan pounds on the door. “Gage,” he bellows. “Open up.”
