Page 77 of Broken Fate
The crowd stirred uneasily. They weren’t used to their Alpha being challenged. Understandable. My fists were clenched—not from anger but to stop them from shaking and giving me away.
I still recalled how Arcadus had moved on my Fate Night. The speed with which he’d intercepted my attempt to destroy the stone. The blithe dismissal of my strength as he used one hand to stop me cold.Thatwas power. That was terrifying.
Compared to that, Andracis was just a bully. He could hurt me, but he didn’tscareme.
“You will come with me,” Andracis stated primly, gathering himself and standing tall, trying to take charge of the situation. “You will be escorted to a cell, where you will await trial for your actions.”
“Trial for my actions,” I repeated, mulling the words over. “Just like the trial that was granted to my parents? Is the act of burning their bodies in an ‘accidental’ house fire your version of a trial these days? The verdict was guilty,obviously. But tell me, Andracis, what were they charged with? What didtheydo to deserve such a fate?”
Andracis’ eyes darted from side to side as angry mutterings from the crowd drew his attention from me.
“Enough of this,” he snapped, lifting a hand to order his guards.
“On that, at least, we agree,” I said sharply, catching him by surprise. “Enough of other people being punished. Enough of othersdying. Tell Arcadus to get his pompous ass out here and explain to these people why he was willing tomurder innocent peoplejust to get to me!”
A shout of agreement went up from somewhere in the crowd. It was followed by another. I glanced around, noting the looks of unease, the shifting of weight from one foot to another. Some people were leaving, sensing the way things were going. Others were crowding in. They wanted to hear, to see what was happening. Mixed in among them were others, moving here and there, whispering in ears, baring teeth.
Andracis was seeing it all as well. His eyes darted all around as he decided what to do. Was he going to push his luck and try to have me arrested anyway?
The option was taken from him, however, as another figure emerged from within the gates.
A hush fell over the crowd, spreading from the front toward the back as Arcadus himself took to the streets. Responding to my challenge at last.
“My lord,” Andracis said, bowing swiftly.
“What is going on here, Andracis?” The Alpha fixed his gaze on me even as he spoke to his second-in-command.
Lifting my chin, I met his icy jade stare, forcing myself not to look away. It wasn’t easy. The weight a man as old as Arcadus could put behind his eyes was immense. It was as if staring at a portal into the past, a vision of life hundreds of years ago. The gulf between us was immeasurable.
Yet, in the end, he was still a shifter. Immortal, perhaps, but he was no god, and I would do well to remember that.
“The, uh, the traitor, sir,” Andracis said, pointing at me. “She has come.”
“I can see that, Andracis.” The Alpha sighed. “Why is she out here and not in our custody?”
“She, um, well, sir, she—”
“I demanded to see you,” I said, answering for the Beta. “To hear from your own lips why you sought to kill these people just to force me to surrender. I thought it would do all of us good to understand your thought process. To know why you cared so little for the innocents that you would invent crimes to punish them.”
Arcadus’ green gaze flowed across the crowd. Instantly, he understood what I’d been doing. Anger lit a fire in the corners of his eyes as he glared at his Beta, sending the other man scurrying to the side.
“Little more than a lie,” the Alpha said, sweeping his hands out wide. “All designed to get you to do exactly as you did.”
“A lie. Really? You know, I’m not so sure of that. Given how you ordered the death of my parents. How you let Andracis there whip my back to shreds and accused me of being a Calli instead of a terrified young adult who wasn’t ready to set the rest of her life in stone.”
Muted rumblings ran through the crowd. Many of them had been there that night and had seen how it went down. I doubted all of them had been happy about the heavy-handedness of the Alpha and his guards. The hood was slowly being pulled away from their heads, and some of them were beginning to see.
“You are a Calli and a traitor to your people. A danger”—Arcadus’ lips twitched—“as I’m sure your sister would agree. If she could.”
He meant it to taunt me. To goad me into action. But in his arrogance, he forgot the other people. The shifters of Arcadia were not idiots. Nor were they blind. Though they’d said ill of me about Lanna’s death, most knew what had happened wasn’t malicious. That even if Ihadkilled her, I hadn’tmeantto do it. That it was a horrible accident.
And now, their leader was taunting me about it. Making fun of her death to try to elicit a reaction.
“I was at fault,” I said loudly. “It was my actions that led to Lanna’s death, yes. As many here have heard. She fell through the iceto save me. I didn’t kill her. There’s a difference. If I could swap spots with her, I would do so in a heartbeat. I’m not afraid to die if it means she got to live.”
“Well, you’ll get part of your wish,” Arcadus said, snapping his fingers. “Arrest her. Now. Enough of this.”
The guards started forward. In the crowd, angry murmurings increased in volume. Figures moved about, stoking the fires of those who had watched.
