Lauren stared at the hand clutching his to-go sack. “She was planning on petitioning the Scales of Justice to send her back here, but Sam and I met with Adila last night.” Her face was grim, and Caius crumpled the top of the bag in his hand. “She can’t send anyone here unless they’re on trial, and even then, she has no say in where they go.”
Caius’ jaw ached from how hard he clenched. “Bullshit,” he ground out. “If she had no say over my sentencing, then why am I here?” The worker called Lauren’s name, and after grabbing her food, they stepped outside onto the cobblestone sidewalk. “Her power would have known I was innocent. I didn’t deserve a punishment.”
“She knows that,” Lauren returned defensively, taking Caius aback. “The Scales of Justice ability is like a separate entity from her, for lack of a better explanation. It—” She lifted two fingers and made air quotes. “‘Tells her’ why, though.”
Caius stopped and turned to her. “I’d love to hear why the Scales of Justice decided I needed to be locked away for five-hundredfucking years.” His anger was mounting. How dare she defend his sister’s actions? The cool burning sensation spread to his shoulders, and he knew what he’d find beneath his shirt.
“Because you were grieving and angry,” she snapped back. “You would have gone after Gedeon with nothing but pure rage while he laid in wait. He would have killed you, Caius.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” he fumed. “I am stronger than Gedeon when I have access to both realms. He didn’t even have power until he murdered my sister. He was completely untrained!”
Lauren held up her empty hand. “Calm down, Caius, and let me finish.” He took a deep breath, nodding. “The Scales of Justice said you needed something before you could defeat your brother.”
He wanted to ram his fist into a wall. “What exactly would I need? If she sentenced me because I was angry, why not only a year or two?”
Lauren looked at him pointedly, and it clicked. “Five-hundred years after I was sentenced, Rory arrived in Vincula.”
TheAngelnodded. “Adila doesn’t know why or what it means, but that’s everything.”
“Did her power tell her to avoid me for five-hundred years, as well?” he asked, unable to hide the bitterness in his tone.
“I gave her hell, if it makes you feel better,” Lauren offered. “Until I realized she had no choice. Gedeon has been spying on her since your arrest, possibly longer.” Caius opened his mouth, but Lauren held up a finger. “This is a conversation you need to have with her, but until then, know she had a reason for her actions. Some were out of her control, and some were self-preservation, but what’s important is if you can get out of here, she’s on your side.”
Caius wanted that to be true, but he wasn’t dense enough to believe anything his siblings said without proof.
They passed through the palace gates and crossed the courtyard to the main entrance.
He and Lauren greeted the guards as they walked inside. “Keep Rory as far away from Gedeon as possible.” He smiled at a passing butler. “That includes keeping her out of The Capital.”
“She’ll have no need to go to The Capital once Sam tells her Adila can’t send her back,” Lauren assured him.
That didn’t make him feel better.
They settled into his office, and Lauren propped her feet up on his desk as she unwrapped her sandwich. He frowned and used a pen to push her boot off the edge.
“I need to see Lenora and Rory’s friends,” she mumbled as crumbs fell into her lap.
His hands froze midair with his sandwich halfway to his mouth. “Why?”
Lauren set down her food and pulled her phone from her pocket. “Rory recorded video messages for them.” She pulled out another phone and handed it to him. “This one is yours to keep.”
He couldn’t grab the device fast enough. The screen was black, and he looked at her expectantly. “Hold the bottom button down for three seconds to power it on,” she explained.
Following her instructions, he watched the screen light up, and Rory’s eyes glared back at him from behind a coffee mug. He stared in wonder as he ran a finger down the screen, but it changed, and a few file icons appeared.
Frowning, he tapped the bottom button again, making the screen black.
Lauren’s cheeks were puffed out, and her body shook from holding in a laugh. “I set that picture as your main background.”
His face screwed up as he flipped the device over in his hand. “What does that mean?”
Leaning forward, she tapped the button, illuminating the screen. “The first screen is her picture, and when you swipe sideways, your apps come up.”
He swiped back to her picture, knowing he would stare at it an infinite number of times every day. “Thank you for bringing me this.” Looking up, he held up the phone. “When you go back, can you bring one of her entire face?”
Lauren stood quietly and rounded the desk. “I already did. Tap here and swipe side to side whenever you want to see them.”
His heart rate picked up, and he tapped the icon. There were tiny square pictures and videos, and when he clicked one, it enlarged to fill the screen. The first was a video in a dark hallway, and two men scrambled and screamed as anEidolonfell from the ceiling. Rory and two other women laughed so hard they were bent over.
