Page 121 of Unleashing Chaos

Julius whips his head around, his long red locks fanning across his face. He exchanges a glance with his platonic partner, Verte, and together they say, “Bullshit.”

Angelo waves his hand like he’s shooing away flies. “Maybe you don’t care about the order of things. I raised you better than this, son.”

“You were hardly there for my upbringing!” Cannon yells, fighting against his restraints and taking a step closer to Angelo. Like he’s reining in an angry dog, my father calmly grips the back of Cannon’s shirt and holds him in place.

Jace elbows me, and I look up at him to see his eyes as wide as saucers. “What is it? What’s wrong?” I ask.

“He’s lying.”

My heart sinks. Everything’s about to come to a head and boil over. Cannon played me. He was never my friend. He never cared. Even worse, he played Jace too. He made Jace think he cared about him, that he was his friend. Jace has already been abandoned by so many people in his life. Now, one of his closest friends?

“I think Dex will sentence Cannon to—”

Jace grabs my arm, leans down, and hisses in my ear, “No. Not Cannon. Angelo.”

I rear back and my jaw drops. “What? How do you know that?”

“Three reasons. One, Cannon may have been up to no good, but he was diligent about it. He was ‘dealing with business’ just as much if not more than being with us. Two, why would something as important as the ins and outs of your rivals be taught only one day and never reiterated? I don’t think it’s ever taught at all. By design. Three, I have a strange feeling. A nagging deep in my gut that Cannon’s telling the truth.”

“But what reason does Angelo have to lie? He’s the ruler of an entire realm, the long reigning king of Angels. To stand before Dex and concoct lies like this could lead to the end of his son.”

Jace shifts side to side and his eyes lock on Angelo. He goes so silent watching the scene unfold that I question whether he’s even breathing. It’s like he’s the lightning rod in the middle of this storm waiting for the blow that sets this all alight.

Finally, he whispers to me, “Is Cannon Angelo’s only child?”

“Yes.”

Jace’s jaw ticks. “That’s what he wants. The end of his line. Colére said something in the throne room that stuck with me. Maybe Angelo never wanted to give Cannon his throne but to get him out of the way. Then who could rule in his place? No one.”

My breath catches. Angelo has never wanted to give up power. He’s ruled Pax as long as anyone can remember while Infernis has gone through a reasonable number of rulers in the same time span. Father has always said Angelo is power hungry. I just never imagined he’d sacrifice his own son to cling to it.

“You’re right. We have to stop this.”

Jace nods and steps forward. He strolls through the room with his hands behind his back. As if he’s speaking to himself out loud, he says, “What a shame that your only child committed such a breach of trust and put our entire realm at risk. The imbalance he would have caused to humans is unfathomable.”

My emotions rip in two. Jace is claiming my realm as his own, but he’s doing little to prove Cannon’s innocence. If he isn’t careful, Dex will have our friend thrust into the Perpetual Torment, and Angelo will get what he wants.

Angelo shrugs. “Kids. You do the best you can to raise them right, but they seem to always disappoint you.”

Jace clenches his jaw so tightly his lips pucker. “I completely understand. Kids are such a burden. Now, you’ll have to rule Pax for eternity.”

Dex crosses her hands on her desk and sits forward. Something tells me she’s waiting to see Angelo’s reaction. And rightfully so. If my father was in Angelo’s place, I know he’d be fighting to save us. He’d go as far as to take the blame and suffer the consequences if it meant sparing us pain. Angelo doesn’t strike me as the type to do the same.

“I’ll do what I must for my realm. My first responsibility is to the angels and energies I rule.”

Dex turns her attention to Jace. “Who do you believe is the guilty party, Mr. Wilder?”

I am stunned into silence. Dex asking Jace for his opinion on the situation is strange to say the least. He’s a human who’s been in Infernis for only a few hours, and she’s asking him for his opinion on a crime that is certain to end in extinction.

But Jace doesn’t appear to be taken aback or scared. He looks strong, certain, and . . . kingly, if that’s even a word. My chest is warm, and my body erupts into tingles when he speaks in a loud, clear voice.

“Angelo. He’s lying about Cannon learning what happens when an angel or demon goes to another realm. I don’t know how I know that, but I do.”

The angel king scoffs. “So says a human. They can’t figure out what’s best for them without our intervention. I’d hardly put value on his opinion, Dex.”

“You’re really freaking out about my opinion for a being who cares so little for it. I take it that you don’t like the idea of your son taking over your precious rule. You want Dex to kill him off so you can rule forever. Don’t you, Angelo?”

Without any warning, Angelo shakes out of his hallucinogenic haze and charges at Jace. He slams his shoulder into Jace’s center, knocking them both off their feet. They skid across the polished floor toward the gaping hole in the middle. They stop just short of toppling over the side, Jace’s head hanging over the edge. Angelo straddles Jace with his hands around his neck, shaking him as his grip tightens. The movement causes Jace’s glasses to slip from his face and vanish into the void.

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