Pallas appears by my side and hands me his cell phone. “Thanks,” I mutter.
“You realize that’s treason, right, Brigid?” Wilder asks. Brigid sighs.
I don’t stay to hear the rest. My footsteps sound harsh as I walk toward the courtyard for privacy. Once there, I dial Janus’s number with trembling fingers, praying she picks up.
I shut my eyes as fury directed at Alden and myself fuels me. I knew he would betray me, yet I allowed it to happen by foolishly believing I could outsmart him. My fists clench. Alden will pay for his treachery, and I will see to it that he answers for every lie, every false promise, and every moment he spent deceiving me.
The call fails, and I sigh, redialing Janus’s number, when I hear stomping to my left.
“You fucking bitch!” Isolde charges Marlowe.
Gianna grabs Isolde’s shoulders, stopping her.
“Release me,” Isolde demands in a growl. “She is a wanted criminal. She also attacked an officer!”
Marlowe frowns at the bloody gash on Isolde’s forehead. “You should see a healer for that wound, Faez.”
Isolde throws her weight against Gianna, but Gianna pushes back. “You can’t touch her. She’s under Leigh’s protection.”
“You better be joking,” Isolde says to me.
I clutch my phone tighter. The phone stops ringing after the first ring, and Janus’s sharp voice fills my ear. “Hello, this is President Janus Dyer.”
“Janus. It’s Leigh. We need to talk,” I say. “I just found out that?—”
“Ah, I heard the good news. Congratulations,” Janus warmly interrupts.
I blink. “For what?”
“Your engagement. When I spoke with Alden, he told me he would travel back to Lua to share the good news with his father.”
“What? There’s no engagement.” My knuckles turn white around the phone. “Did he leave?”
But then Janus speak in a hesitant voice. “Yes. Not long after you—he and Ravi left together.”
Black dots dance in my vision. Alden left Borealis. He is on his way here to join his troops. If he left after me, he’s probablyalreadyhere. I lean against a pillar for support. My terrified expression reflects in the puddle of water at my feet. “Did he say anything else? Anything about his plans or intentions?”
“No. Leigh, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
“You shouldn’t have let him leave!” I exclaim. “Zeus invaded Corona, using Alden’s troops. He is here in Aurora, and they have mygrandmother. Alden was distracting us this whole time.” I gasp. “I told you he was bad news!”
“You can’t trust Alden,”Ravi told me his first night here. Did Ravi know what Alden planned to do this entire time? I need to talk to him. Maybe he knows what Zeus is planning. I wasn’t willing to listen before, but now I am.
“Zeus likely wouldn’t have invaded if you had agreed to Alden’s proposal,” Janus replies tightly.
I gape at the phone. “Are you serious? If that was the case, they would have waited until I refused him to move their troops. Did you not hear me? They’rehere, in Aurora, already. They’ve made their base camp here.” If we had negotiated for peace, like I’d wanted, maybe we could have found something to appease Zeus. But no, the Council insisted on falling for Alden’s farce of a marriage proposal and focused all their attention on that.
I watch a Blade with curly blond hair enter the foyer, heading straight for Gianna as she converses with Isolde. He sayssomething that makes Gianna’s eyes widen before they flicker to me. The temperature in the room drops.
I take a deep breath. “We need to figure out a plan on how to handle Zeus and Alden. Stellan is with them, which means they know I am here, too,” I tell Janus. I’m sure they’ll reach out to ask for our surrender before they officially enter the city. I want to have a plan before I receive Zeus’s summons. “You need to call an emergency war meeting with the Council.”
Janus sighs, and the sound grates on my already frayed nerves. “Leigh, there’s no time for that. If Alden is joining his troops, their next plan must be to march on Borealis. I need to prepare. If the capital falls, so will the country.”
I want to throw the phone across the yard. “Make time, Janus. What about the innocent people in this city?”
Bennett charges toward me, his eyes are slits behind his glasses. “Where the hell did you go?”
I hold up a hand, indicating I’m on the phone. He can be pissed at me for leaving him out of the meeting with Stellan later. It was a colossal waste of time, anyway. Stellan had no plans to work together.
