Page 118 of Dragon Unleashed

Farrell climbs slowly to his feet. “It might. Maybe you were hacked. You’ve got Naeve’s phone, don’t you?”

I’m across the room and out the door before he says another word. Pounding up the stairs to our dorm, my muscles relish the movement. I’ve been sedentary too long. Stuck in limbo.

I burst back into Chano’s room, Naeve’s phone in one hand, her little granny book of passwords in the other. It’s dumb, keeping passwords written down. But right now, I could kiss her.

The boys have already called in the tech guru, and Alarick is set up at Chano’s desk. Zephyr hovers in the background, obviously wanting to help but with no clue how. I thrust the phone at Alarick, and start flipping through the scrappy little book.My finger stills as I scan the page.Naeve4Beck. That’s it, it has to be.

Beck. Oh crap. I’ve barely spoken to him since.

“Got it!” Alarick’s yelp brings me back to the present. “Some asshole deleted the message but, call me magic, I got it back.”

My chest opens up, and for the first time in weeks I can breathe properly. We’ve got something concrete. The others are jumping around, fist-pumping the air, and for a moment I let myself soak in their enthusiasm.

“Is it enough?” I clear my throat. “Anyone else, they’d go down in flames. But the Virrey? That man writes his own truth.”

Zephyr deflates like someone just broke his favorite toy, and curls into a ball in the corner. Farrell glares moodily out the window. I could kick myself for bursting their bubble.

“I’m just saying we need to do more. We need to pull out all the stops.”

Chano raises an eyebrow. He steps forward, grabbing my hand and pulling me to him.

“We need the rebellion on our side,” he says, glancing at Farrell. “We have to play dirty.”

I stare around the hall and hundreds of faces stare back. Merely being here is dangerous. Yet all these people from the rebellion have come, for us. Naeve’s father steps onto the stage. He crumples the speech he’s holding, clears his throat, and tugs at his shirt collar.

“Thank you for coming today, for risking everything. And a special thank-you to those of you who couldn’t be here but facilitated this.”

Silas, he’s talking about Silas. We took a big risk, asked Silas to get the word out. I clutch Naeve’s dagger a little more firmly in my grasp and blow out a breath.

“Those who know me know I recently lost my only daughter, Naeve.” Her dad doesn’t worry about keeping his voice steady; he lets his emotions flow into his speech, lending it a raw kind of truth. “I know some of you were alarmed to hear herown allegiance turned on her. After all, how could you follow someone so untrustworthy as that?”

He leans back and gestures toward where we sit, off to the side of the stage.

“Lies. Dirty, dirty lies. The Virrey is the father of a dragon, but he has the heart of a snake. He’s lying to you all. Selling you on partial truths. Today I’m here to ask you, to implore you, to see the whole truth. Through my grief I saw it. I ask that you see it too, see the charlatan for what he is—a power-hungry, aging monster. I ask that you throw your weight behind our true leaders.”

A few heads in the audience snap up at that.

“Our true leaders,” he repeats. “Lorelei Bal and Farrell Cuelebre—two royals to lead us on the right path, the true path. Lorelei and Farrell, everyone, and their allegiance.”

The room erupts as we step forward. Zephyr’s hand rests lightly on Farrell’s shoulder while I’m jammed firmly between Farrell and Chano, with both their arms wrapped around my waist. This was my condition. The rebellion sees who we are from the outset. Chano too.

Chano ducks his head and kisses me lightly before turning my head toward Farrell. I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry. We agreed to this but suddenly Iwantto. My heart beats so loudly it drowns out the noise of the crowd as they stamp and clap.

Farrell’s lips brush mine, gently at first, then forcefully, passionately. We pull apart and I’m breathless, dizzy.

It’s pretend. It’s just pretend. We’re doing this to get the rebellion on board.

Chapter Fifty-four: Lorelei

Lying on my back, I stare at the ceiling in my dorm. It was time to move back in. Naeve’s body has been released by the P.I.G. and the funeral is next week. I need time in our room before I say a last goodbye. A lump forms in my throat, making it hard to swallow.

These past few weeks have been a hellish limbo. Training with the rebellion, schoolwork, and waiting. So much waiting. Prof Maximillion wants more evidence, more to besmirch the Virrey’s character, but we’re running out of time. I finger the crisp heavy documents resting on my chest. I don’t need to read them again to know what they say.

I have a court date.

Ping.

Naeve’s phone lights up with a message. My phone now. With a sigh of relief, I shove my morose thoughts of the funeral and the court out of my mind and reach for it.

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