Page 16 of Hidden Empire

“Fucking rude,” Matteo growls. “I was just talking about going to Empire, and she burst into tears.”

“No, I didn’t,” I lie stupidly.

“A poor liar,” Apollo muses. “That’s a family first. A deception class might help.”

Class. At Empire. Does everyone know I’m being sent away but me?

My face scrunches, resisting another sob, and Matteo sucks in a breath. “I’m going to get Dad before you make her cry too,” he snaps, storming off before I can object.

Apollo merely blinks at me, watching me like a puzzle he doesn’t know how to solve. Or, one that he doesn’t want to solve.

“Afraid of school or something?”

“He’s really sending me away?” I whisper, my throat burning with the words.

He tilts his head like he’s figured me out after only five words.

“You think he’s tossing you aside once you’ve just arrived?” Apollo asks mildly. “Seems like a bit of a dramatic leap.”

I have the urge to lash out in my own defense, but somehow, his words are also calming me. He hasn’t come to the same conclusion as me, and if he’s our father’s successor, he probably knows how he thinks more than anyone.

Voice wavering, I dare ask, “It is?”

“Yes,” he states easily. “For one thing, the next boat to Empire Academy is five months away.”

Oh! My eyes widen.

“For another, he wouldn’t send you there to get you out of his hair, he’d send you there to keep you safe. He’ll miss you, just as he’ll miss the others. You can expect emails from him daily, I’m sure.”

Less panicked now, I inform him, “I’ve never been good at school.”

He blows out a breath. “Well, you’ll fit right in with Matteo then.”

“I don’t know how to make friends or talk to people,” I tack on, clarifying what I meant. My grades were never great either, but interacting with people has always been extra hard for me.

He shrugs. “I’d rather you didn’t.”

“What if I don’t want to go?”

“Too bad for you, I suppose.”

Before I can respond, Dante comes crashing into my bedroom, a stressed-looking Matteo following close behind.

“What are you upsetting my daughter for?” he demands, his voice deep and deadly.

Apollo isn’t the slightest bit affected by our father’s tone. “Your second youngest spawn is the one who made her shed tears, dearest father. I simply rectified the situation. You’re welcome.”

“If you helped, then we’re in an alternate universe,” Matteo angrily quips.

“She’s fine. Matteo brought up Empire and rightly assumed she would go with them next semester. I explained that she isn’t being shucked off to boarding school days after arriving at her new home, and all is well.”

“Oooooh, of course!” Matteo rushes out. “We aren’t leaving any time soon. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“He’s easily excitable,” Apollo explains. “Like a puppy.”

Our father stops their bickering with one look and offers me a hand out of bed. “Are you hungry?”

Shyly, I take it and nod. “I could eat.”

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