CHAPTER 18 #2
“So that means someone has to get to them, find a way to get the cuffs off, then transport them out.”
“And first, we’ll have to reset the wards surrounding the castle,” Sera added.
“Father doubled the guards on the ward stone chamber,” Isabella reminded them. “You’re never getting in there.”
“For this to work, we would have to reset the wards entirely. Otherwise, once we liberate the castle, Cavalieri and his men would just return.”
“The only ones who could do that are—”
“The high fae. They set them for us in the first place after the first peace accord.” Sera rubbed her temples. “It’s going to be a problem. They aren’t too happy with us at the moment given that their people are being held as hostages, but I don’t see another way in.”
“Finneas would do it if you asked him nicely.” Dani smirked.
“Get down on my knees and beg, you mean.”
“Hmm,” said a voice from behind her. They turned to see Finneas standing against the wall, smiling. “That does sound intriguing.”
“Keep sneaking up on me like that and I’m going to put a bell on you like Dani’s cat.”
“Even though I brought the blade you asked for?”
Sera’s expression softened. “You got it.”
“It will work for the next forty-eight hours. Now how are we getting in there?”
“We’re still working on that,” Sera said reluctantly. “I know you said before your council didn’t want the fae getting involved.”
“Cavalieri has my people. I think we’re already involved.”
“What you’re proposing will violate how many treaties?” Isabella shook her head. “The werewolves will go crazy.”
“Oh please.” Sera made a face. “Cavalieri’s men are an illegal occupying force. Let’s not pretend they have any right to be there in the first place.”
“It’s the only way,” Dani said. “The protests are getting more violent by the day. People are starving. They’re dying, and when they demand this regime do something, their only response is to shut off their heat and water in the dead of winter.
If we don’t stop Lara and her father, I’m terrified they’ll destroy the sector and everyone in it out of sheer vindictiveness. ”
“Then what?” Isabella countered. “You and what army are going to take on hundreds of Cavalieri’s guards and get Alex out?”
“You could at least try to pretend like you’re on our side.”
“I am on your side. I swear, I never meant for any of this to happen.”
Dani rolled her eyes.
“Our ten-year-old sister said the exact same thing not twenty minutes ago,” Evan growled. “Funny how it sounds a whole lot better coming from a little kid than a grown ass woman.”
“You sold us out.” Sera’s voice was hard. “You’re not a little girl anymore, Isabella. Actions have consequences.”
Isabella glared back at Sera, and Dani was struck in that moment by how very alike the Visconti sisters looked. Same stubborn set to their jaw. Same flash of angry determination in their eyes.
“I didn’t have a choice. You were going to shut down the research that was keeping our father alive.”
“Wake up, Isabella,” Sera scoffed. “This isn’t some cutting-edge discovery that will win you a humanitarian award and save lives. Cavalieri is literally kidnapping people off the streets and holding them as blood slaves to fuel his pharmaceutical profits. How can you be party to that?”
“I didn’t know, okay? I made a mistake. You don’t have to keep being a bitch and rubbing it in my face. I went to Luciano and he told me all their samples had been obtained through volunteers.”
“Gods, you really are so fucking na?ve sometimes—”
“Okay, let’s all just take a breath here,” Dani cut in. “Isabella, you said you know how we can get Alex out?”
“Lara is freaking out about the cuffs,” Isabella explained. “She wants the big royal wedding with hundreds of guests in attendance, but she can’t exactly have her groom shackled to the altar, or everyone will know he’s only marrying her under duress. It will be humiliating.”
“You think you can get her to remove the shackles?”
“She knows the fae want their prisoners back.” Isabella turned to Finneas. “If you could convince her to agree to release all the fae hostages she’s holding in exchange for glamouring Alex’s cuffs, it might be a way to get someone close enough to him to break the magic.”
“There’s no guarantee Lara will go for that,” Sera said. “And she has to know we used a fae dagger to free the aberrant prisoners last month. She’ll be suspicious.”
“Maybe, but I still think she’ll agree. She’s a bit desperate at this point.
She needs this wedding to go perfectly. Rumor is, she’s had some internal surveying done and people aren’t buying the romance between her and Alex, nor are they enthused about the idea of her as queen.
And I know she’s considering it because I already suggested glamouring as a solution. ”
“It could work,” Finneas offered mildly. “I could slip Alex the dagger if I can get close enough to him. That wouldn’t be an issue.”
“And if they capture you, too?” Sera countered.
“So concerned for my safety, Serafina?” He raised an eyebrow. “And here I thought you were planning to shove me into the nearest punchbowl.”
“Be serious. It’s… risky. I need to think.”
Isabella snorted. “And your plan to reset the wards and storm a castle defended by two hundred guards isn’t? Admit it, you only hate the idea because I came up with it and you haven’t thought of anything better.”
“Or maybe I hate that you’re such a spoiled brat.”
“Everyone’s under a lot of stress,” Finneas said quietly. “Fighting amongst ourselves isn’t helping.”
“You’ve always had it easy,” Isabella said.
“Always the center of attention. Always the one everyone fawned over, the precious crown princess who would one day be queen. You got all the designer dresses, had lavish parties thrown for every one of your birthdays, with every eligible male in the sector there. I was an afterthought, the ugly duckling with her science books, whose family barely knew she existed.”
“You think that was easy? I was suffocated. You think I wanted to be dressed up like a doll, or be paraded out at parties? You think I wanted to be told I had to meet boy after boy, because one day, it wouldn’t just be dances I would be forced to consent to?
That one day our father would choose one of them and I would be forced to marry him? ”
Out of the corner of her eye, Dani saw Finneas wince. She knew from everything Alex had told her that he’d had no more choice in the marriage their parents had tried to arrange than Sera had, but still, this had to be painful to hear.
“I ran away for a reason,” Sera finished, swiping at her eyes. “You weren’t the only one who was miserable in that family.”
“Yes, you were always running away,” Isabella said tearfully.
“You weren’t there for me after Mom died.
None of you were. Alex threw himself into volunteering at the legal center so he never had to be home.
Dante would be gone for days at a time. You were too busy with your studies and your rebellion to see that I was alone and hurting. ”
Isabella scrubbed her face with the heels of her hands.
“Daddy was the only one in this family who cared, the only one who saw that I still existed, the only one who came to find me when I was alone in my closet, curled up in the dark. So don’t you dare blame me for wanting to try to save him now, the same way he saved me. ”
Dani watched Sera go pale, pressing her hand to her heart. “I’m sorry you think I was selfish for wanting to become a doctor, and for trying to keep our sector from destroying itself.”
“I had lost my mother. My life was falling apart. You were my older sister. I needed you.”
“I know.” Sera looked down. “I’m sorry.”
“And then you took Micah away from me, the only man I ever loved.”
“I’m so sorry he hurt you, but he wasn’t good for either of us.
” When Isabella started to object, Sera held up a hand.
“I had no idea what was really going on, or I would have gone to father myself. I never would have wanted someone on either of our protection details who we couldn’t absolutely trust, and a man who sleeps with two sisters, especially when one of them is underage—”
“I was eighteen.”
“Barely. I failed to protect you, and I will always bear that failure, but it’s been two years and you have to stop pining over Micah. He’s not worth it.”
Isabella’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know why I even try talking to you. It just makes me feel even more invisible every time I do.”
When Sera started to respond, she held up a hand.
“I’m leaving now. I just need you to promise me one thing. Swear to me that you won’t hurt our father whenever all this goes down. I know he’s made mistakes and you’re never going to give him a second chance. I’ve accepted that, but he’s all I have left.”
“We’re only going there to get Alex,” Sera said evenly, swiping at her damp cheeks. “That’s our only objective.”
“For once, just see that you keep your promises.”
And with that, Isabella swirled from the room in a gust of smoke.
“I don’t know what I’m even paying you for,” Lara screeched. “Can’t you see he looks washed out?”
Alexander flinched as a makeup sponge flew past his head.
“I’m sorry, milady. I’ll fix it.” The poor makeup artist’s hand shook as she reached over to dab on bronzer.
“Your Majesty,” Lara said sharply, shaking the bottom of her dress, which was made of so much lace and tulle that for a moment, Alex was briefly hopeful he might get out of having to kiss her during the ceremony. “And hurry it up. We’re running behind. The guests are already starting to arrive.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I apologize.”
Alex held his tongue. Lara wasn’t even queen yet. There were still hours left to go until the wedding of his nightmares. She’d been enlisting every caterer, decorator and musician in the sector, rushing to coordinate the event at the last minute.