Gabby whirled toward me. “You’re not in a position to bargain.”
“Oh, yes I am.” I yanked my phone out of my pocket. I pressed play, and showed Gabby the video of her performing the Unseelie ceremony. I’d gotten the whole thing on tape— from her murdering the fawn, to her drinking the blood and the hole that had opened up in the earth afterward, sealing her guilt.
She didn’t react. Not at first. But her eyes narrowed, and I could tell she was being careful as she said, “I can get rid of that phone.”
“I have other copies. I was sure to get witnesses,” I hissed. “Remember, human technology can’t be manipulated by magic.”
Gods, it felt so good to be on the other side of this now after she’d done this to me last semester. Gabby watched the video again. When she said nothing, I added, “Everyone thinks you’re some kind of powerful sorceress. That you’ve been blessed by the gods. But what are the people of Malovia going to say once they find out your powers come from dark magic instead of Seelie?”
“People won’t believe you,” Gabby sneered. “Videos can’t be edited by illusion magic after the fact, but illusions can be caught on tape. If you release that recording now, everyone will think you fabricated an illusion to get me off the throne. It would be easy to say you faked the whole thing to set me up.”
My stomach dropped. Gabby grinned, sensing she was gaining the upper hand. “It’s not like that with the video I have on Ethan. People might think it’s fake at first, but he has too much circumstantial evidence against him. All I have to do is plant some seeds of doubt in people’s minds, and all the little things about him that don’t make sense will start adding up. Just the question of if he’s the Phantom will be enough to expose him for good.”
“What makes you think I can’t do the same to you, huh?” I asked. “We all know you’re too powerful for a First Year, and not everyone’s so gullible to think you’re some saint blessed by the gods.”
Gabby’s eyes darted up to mine. It was like she was trying to calculate the risk of telling people she was using Unseelie magic, just to keep me under her thumb. “Do you really think people will believe you over me, after I saved everyone tonight? I’m a hero to them, and you’ve been shunned.”
“They won’t believe me at first,” I responded. “But fae are going to wonder why a nineteen-year-old sorceress is throwing around spells like a high priestess, and sooner or later, people will start having doubts. Even if everyone thinks you’re some kind of savior.”
“What do you want?” Her nose wrinkled.
I paused as I mulled over the question. I could force Gabby to abdicate— but I wasn’t sure if it would work. She’d throw me to the Circle, and those bastards would get me locked away on some baloney charge, even if I had the video. She was right when she said no one would believe me— I’d cheated in the Contest, and lost my honor because of it.
But this video was enough proof to create questions. Maybe even a rebellion from the people who really hated Unseelie magic. No matter what Gabby wanted me to believe, this evidence posed a threat to her rule.
Yet... there was something more at stake. My mate’s freedom. If I showed this video to the world, Gabby would let it be known that Ethan was the Phantom.
I wanted to get Gabby and Elijah off the throne so badly. But I needed my mate more. Even if it felt like I was aiding and abetting a murderer, and sacrificing my country in the process, we had to obtain the Crystals of Harmony at any cost.
And I didn’t think I could get them without my mate. Ethan couldn’t help us locate the rest of the stones if he was in jail or dead. We had so little time left to find the remaining crystals and repair the portal to Edinmyre, before all the fae turned to dust.
Without him, I didn’t think we’d ever find the crystals. Ethan had connections and could go places the rest of us couldn’t through his title. We needed him to spy on the Circle and remain in the royal society to obtain information. The wolven stone had been passed down through the monarchy. What if the other stones were in