“Thank you.”
“You misunderstand. Yes, I do mind. I will work with them as long as this makes sense for phoenixkind, but I’m not putting mints on pillows or changing sheets,” Tala says. She goes out to the balcony and lies down beside Roxana.
Wyatt leads the way himself, muttering about how much he’s loving how good we’re all getting on. There are two beds in each guestroom, and as much as I’d love to give Brighton and Prudencia some privacy, Maribelle makes it pretty clear she’s not welcoming me in her room when she closes the door behind her. Hanging out in a library all night sounds chill, but this simple room with a black-and-white portrait of a flying phoenix and a view of the first courtyard will do.
“Until tomorrow,” Wyatt says, tipping an invisible hat. “Perhaps later this evening if the mood strikes.”
I stupidly turn away from the window and Wyatt is straight staring at me with lust in his eyes. He winks before leaving us.
Brighton laughs. “Oh, bro. That Halo Knight is hard for the Infinity Son.”
“I don’t think it’s because he’s the Infinity Son,” Prudencia says. “Sorry, Emil, I’m not calling you that. Friend pass. But I do think Wyatt is interested.”
“You should’ve taken him up earlier and ridden his phoenix,” Brighton says with suggestive eyebrows.
Prudencia smacks him in the chest.
“Bright, bigger matters at hand.”
“I’m looking out for you! You’ve never even kissed a guy and there’s a Halo Knight with your favorite accent making a move on you.”
On paper Wyatt is someone I should explore something with, I get that, but just because a phoenix-loving, handsome English guy might be into me doesn’t mean that Ness is kicked out of my head and heart. Ness gained my trust, time and time again, and that’s saying a lot considering he had multiple chances to kill me. He paid the ultimate price trying to save my life. The world grieved him after the Blackout, but I’m one of the few people who knows that he was still alive and now he’s dead for real because he wanted to save me. I got to honor Ness by making sure his father doesn’t become president. And to do that, I have to disempower the Blood Casters who are only supporting Senator Iron’s case that gleamcrafters are dangerous.
I can’t undo their wrongs, but I can try to make things right.
I have to go back to my last life to do good in this one.
Thirty-Four
Pawn to Queen
NESS
I’m in my bedroom dreaming up ways to beat the Senator.
The first step is incapacitating Zenon, wherever he’s stationed in the manor, so he can’t sound some alarm if I manage to get past Jax and morph into someone else to escape. The polling numbers I last saw were favoring the Senator, and I’m sure he’s only gained more support since the propaganda videos, but if I can go live on national TV wearing the Senator’s face, I’ll own up to every single crime of his.
No more White House. Straight to jail.
There’s a gentle knock on my door and Luna slowly enters in a crimson cloak that contrasts her sickly white skin. It’s the first time I’m seeing her in the seven or eight days since she broke into the manor and built some arrangement with the Senator. She’s also alone without even June at her side.
I could take her right now.
Luna picks up an unlit candle from my bookcase and sme
lls it. “Eucalyptus. One of nature’s many deceptions. It invites you in with its smell but its oils are a welcomed touch to any poison.”
“You lied to me,” I say, cutting to the point.
“When?”
Her question is genuine. She has trusted me with her life, with her pursuit for immortality, and who knows how many times she’s lied to me.
“About the Senator,” I say.
“You not asking the right questions isn’t my fault.”
“Would you have told the truth?”