“Simone is lucky she’s not a headless scarecrow strung up in the cornfields right now,” I state absently. “Hank too.”
“Because they left Ella,” she says, almost as though she’s finishing a sentence she feels I left unfinished.
My eyes finally come up to meet hers.
“You want me to care about the princess, don’t you?” I ask on a sigh.
She squirms uncomfortably. “After we win—”
“We can’t win if everyone is busy living life while Hannah plans her next attack.”
“After we win,” she starts again, her tone a little firmer, “our people are going to need to decide if they trust the queen or want to continue in a pointless rebellion.”
“Pointless rebellion?” I ask her with an incredulous tone.
“They’re only rejecting the royals because you are. Eighty percent of immortals bow to the queen. She doesn’t kill those who won’t bow to her, but she will exterminate you if you harm her people. She’s a queen of consequences.”
Sounds like some of that drivel Polly was spewing.
“And Ella will be their queen when Alyssa is gone or no longer strong enough to conquer lesser individuals who can’t let go of power. Let’s see how long the monarchy lasts when she kills endlessly, while staying victim to the darkest pieces of her, and wants to save every butterfly with damaged wings when she’s pretending to be in control.”
Her lips thin, and she looks down again.
“We’re immortal. Alyssa could reign long enough for Ella to learn control.”
“Alyssa’s blood is only considered royal because their lineage is supposed to carry the first of our kind or some bullshit like that. You can’t create our kind—they got lucky by producing another one in their family so soon. It’s why the monarchy fell apart until another creature goddess was born. Because you can’t rule by blood if you’re weaker than someone else. You rule by being the deadliest. Already Alyssa isn’t the deadliest, and neither is Kane.”
I arch an eyebrow at her, daring her to argue. Her jaw grinds.
“There’s reason to believe the royal bloodline is more complex than you seem to think. Alyssa and Kane were the first ever to pair. It’s possible it becomes an entire species—”
“Why are we having this conversation?” I ask in interruption. “We’ll worry about what happens next after we finally finish what we started.”
She stares at me for a long moment. “You’re right. Alyssa is weaker than you and Alton. She’s weaker than Ella. She’s even possibly weaker than Zee, now that Gavin has done whatever it is he did to him.”
Heaving out a breath, she slumps in her seat, pausing as her eyes meet mine.
I never should have told her what comes next. She’s been different ever since I laid out certain pieces of my plan.
“But Ella isn’t weaker than you. If she does have to step up, she’s going to need someone strong enough to pull her back, and someone who is just as strong to help obliterate people like the ones who’ve run those rings undeterred for centuries,” she adds.
My eyes narrow on hers.
“Kya, I see what you’re doing, and now isn’t the time to be sentimental,” I say on a disappointed sigh, fighting to keep my jaw relaxed instead of tense.
“One Gemini has to die according to some ancient prophecy that could just be someone’s idea of a sick joke.”
I knew I should have kept that to myself instead of sharing it with her.
Leaning back, I steeple my hands in front of my face. “You’re onto something. I’ll change everything I’ve been planning for centuries. Thank you, Kya. I’ve seen the light,” I state in a droll tone.
She leans forward, an annoyed expression tugging down one corner of her mouth.
“I grew up thinking I’d never care about anything other than killing as many people involved with the rings as possible. Nothing else mattered when I was in there.”
“What’s your point?” I ask, already returning my attention to my charts and drawing a line as something niggles in the corner of my mind, a memory just barely evading me.
As I draw another line, tilting my head as I shift some of the pictures of the past few nights, she mutters something to herself.