Fallen Kings

26

“What’s he doing here?” I ask, unable to hide the venom in my voice. We thought Cyrus was our friend, but he manipulated, used, and betrayed us just like Grace did.

“He found us,” Marcus says. “He said he was turning himself in, but he would only speak to you.”

“Time to start talking,” Callan commands, glaring at Cyrus.

“I’m in over my head,” Cyrus says, his eyes wide as we gather around him. “I never meant for anything like this to happen, I swear.”

“Maybe you should have thought of that before you turned on us,” Araceli says. “We thought you were our friend, but you were just hanging out with us to get close to me!”

Cyrus drops his head. “You don’t understand. Grace was my best friend as a kid, and she convinced me to join the Order. She said it would help me get a good job after I graduated, and her uncle Nariel could pull some strings for me. I thought it was just an elite club, but when I found out what they were really doing, I realized I was in way over my head. I did not sign up for murder, blackmail, or torture.” He sucks in a long, ragged breath. “I only stayed so long because I was scared. Last year they threatened to hurt Isaiah if I didn’t do what they wanted. But I was your friend. I swear it.”

Araceli crosses her arms with a harrumph. I know Cyrus’s betrayal hurt her a lot since he was one of the few people who accepted her early on even though she was part fae. Then we found out he was ordered to get close to her because the Order wanted to use her fae blood. It was hard to trust him after that.

I glance at Bastien with raised eyebrows and he nods. Cyrus is telling the truth so far. “Have you been with Grace and the Staff all this time?” I ask. “Does she have Kassiel?”

“Yes,” Cyrus admits in a pathetic tone. “I’ve always gone along with whatever Grace told me to do, but she’s gone too far now. She’s obsessed with the Staff and is torturing Kassiel to get him to use it, but he refuses. Soon she’s going to get fed up and kill him, I know it. That’s why I decided to escape.” He glances down at his hands, which won’t keep still. “I liked Kassiel when he was our professor. I know he’s the son of Lucifer and all, but I don’t want him dead.”

My heart clenches painfully at the confirmation that Kassiel is being held captive and being tortured. I stalk forward and back Cyrus further into the corner. “Tell us where Kassiel is being held.”

“I’ll tell you, but only if you promise you’ll protect me and my family. If the Order finds out I helped you, they won’t just kill me, they’ll kill everyone in my family. I have a little sister. She’s only seven.” His eyes water at this, and I actually believe him. He’s terrified of the Order. For good reason.

“We’ll protect you,” Callan says, with his authoritative voice. “Just give us the location.”

“Gabriel can hide your family,” Jonah says. “I promise you this.”

Cyrus nods slowly and then gives us a location, which Bastien writes down. Callan grills him for more details about the security of the place, how many people are there, and so forth, and Cyrus tells us everything he can. When he’s done, Araceli puts Cyrus in a magical sleep, so we can discuss what to do next.

“Even though he was telling the truth, can we really trust him?” Araceli asks. “It could be a trap.”

“Of course it’s a trap,” Tanwen says. “But we still have to check it out.”

Eveanna nods. “If we are cautious, it should not be a problem.”

“I’m going this time,” Jonah declares.

“We’re all going,” I say. “No one is getting left behind this time. We need everyone’s help to rescue Kassiel and get the Staff.” I glare at Callan. “And do not tell me it’s too dangerous. I’m going, end of story.”

Callan grits his teeth, but he says nothing, and everyone else nods at me. They’re all in.

“Should we notify Lucifer?” Bastien asks.

“No,” Callan says. “We don’t know if we can trust him. He could take the Staff from us.”

“We could ask our dad for help,” I suggest.

“Or Uriel?” Tanwen asks.

Jonah shakes his head. “No. The Staff is too powerful for any Archangel or Archdemon to possess, and we don’t know if we can trust any of them. Even our dad.”

“Jonah is correct,” Eveanna says. “The Staff should be returned to Faerie, where the fae can protect it. We are neutral in this battle, which is why Michael and Lucifer entrusted it to us to safeguard.”

“The fae couldn’t keep it safe forever though,” Marcus says. “Eventually the Order found it.”

Everyone starts arguing about what to do with the Staff and it’s clear no one is going to agree on a plan. Meanwhile, Kassiel is out there being tortured and there’s a ticking clock counting down to his death. We do not have time for this s**t.

I hold up my hands and yell, “Enough!” Everyone quiets down immediately and stares at me. “This is not the time to argue about this. If we manage to get the Staff, we can figure out what to do with it then. Right now we need to rescue Kassiel. That’s our number one priority. Trap or no trap, we need to leave immediately.”

With a sense of impending doom, the others agree, and we make our plans.