Page 130 of Wrath

Lupe didn’t squeeze my hand back, but he also didn’t release me.

“We believe Aaliyah will try to get to the capital again. She must know that the only way she can win this battle is by freeing the kings—which we can’t allow to happen.” Devlin shook his head, his lips pursed. “Which is what I want to bring up next…”

“We have the backing of Lilith, and because of that, the backing of our people.” Jax seemed to be on the same wavelength as Devlin, his red eyes glimmering with some unnamed emotion. “We don’t need the kings any longer.”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” I asked, hope and shock vying for dominance in my chest.

I wanted the kings to pay for the way they’d treated my mates over the years.

“We should return to the capital and publicly execute them. Show our enemies what happens when they cross us.” Devlin said all of this without inflection, his violet eyes expressionless.

I had no idea what he was thinking or feeling.

He hated his father—they all did, with the exception of Ryland—but still…

“Are you guys sure this is what you want?” I made sure to meet all of their gazes individually, one after the other. “They’re your family?—”

“You guys are my family,” Dair cut in, his tone scathing. “My trial reminded me of that.”

Once again, I wanted to ask him what he’d experienced but knew this wasn’t the time.

“I want my father to pay for all he has done,” Jax said gruffly.

“My father’s a monster,” added Killian. “He doesn’t deserve to live.”

“We can’t risk any of them getting free,” Bash pointed out.

“If we need a witness to detail all of their crimes, my father would be willing,” Ryland said, the shadows flickering around him.

They didn’t cover his scarred face this time. He was allowing us to see him—all of him—the good and the bad.

“Once we do this, anyone not loyal to us and our cause will throw their support in with Aaliyah,” Bash said.

“There’s no going back,” Devlin added gravely.

I stared at each of their faces once again, gauging their emotions. All I saw reflecting back at me were steely determination and an almost desperate need to right the many wrongs their fathers had committed.

“Okay.” I nodded and swallowed, feeling as if I’d just eaten a handful of molten lava. “We’ll let B know of the change. We’ll take a small contingent of soldiers with us. The rest will prepare to strike.”

“Aaliyah’s going to come after us as soon as she discovers what we did,” Dair warned.

“And what about your father, Z? He’s still at the capital, isn’t he?” Killian began to fidget with the hem of his shirt, his tailswitching. “What if he attacks you? What if he kills you? What if?—?”

“We can’t focus on what-ifs.” I took a deep, shuddering breath. “This needs to be done. We need to kill the kings.”

FORTY-SIX

Z

The trek to the capital was a solemn affair.

We marched with only one hundred soldiers, including a stone-faced B and a fidgety Mali. Davia chose to remain with our other troops, and she hand-selected Phineas—the mermaid who’d first brought us to the camp—and Stefan to lead the various squads.

Everything was coming to fruition.

I didn’t know how I felt about that. About any of this, if I was being completely honest. Fear ensnared me in a chokehold, and no matter what I did, it didn’t release its grip. And with that fear came a heavy dose of self-doubt.

Did I really believe I was capable of…what? Leading akingdom? The mere prospect made me stagger over my own two feet. I hadn’t overly thought about what would happen after we defeated the kings and Aaliyah and finished Lilith’s trials. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for the responsibility of caring for millions of lives.

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