hurt her again?” Delmare accused. Her fingers curled, like she wanted to choke me out.
“Why can’t you understand it was a case of mistaken identity? Do any of you ever think I’d lay a finger on Emma otherwise?” I hissed at Delmare.
“Don’t go after my mate.” Stefan’s voice was a threatening growl, and his body quaked as he threatened to change.
Theo got between us and pushed us apart. “I recognize both points of view,” he said. “Ethan thought he was protecting Emma by attacking the White Rose. He couldn’t have known it was Emma the whole time.”
Theo shook his head. “But on the other hand... Ethan, you have a thirst for blood. No mercy was shown on this night from you. If you had hesitated, things would’ve turned out differently.”
“An Arcanea doesn’t hesitate. That’s how you end up dead,” I said.
“We aren’t monsters, Ethan! We’re your friends!” Alexei yelled. He rubbed his temples, like the high emotion in the area was giving him a headache.
It was then Emma entered the clearing. Relief flowed through my veins, along with a gnarled pit of agony. I sensed whatever we had to talk about, it wouldn’t be good.
All eyes turned to her. Odette shook her head, as if she had to snap out of it, and set her attention on us.
Emma went to speak, but Kiara stopped her. “Wait.” Kiara stepped forward. She twirled her arm in the air, and thin bands of light pulsated through the courtyard, settling around us in a circle.
“An illusion charm,” she explained. “Anyone trying to eavesdrop will hear something else instead of what we’re actually saying.”
That was a good idea. Campus closed in a week, as exams were nearly finished and most students had already gone home, but we couldn’t take the chance of being overheard.
Emma crossed her arms. “Gabby’s been dealt with. I showed her the video, and told her if she doesn’t keep quiet about Ethan being the Phantom, we’ll send it to everyone.”
“We should show it anyway. I deserve death. I’ve committed crimes,” I argued. “Let them execute me, so long as Gabby and Elijah are taken out of power.”
“No,” Emma said. “We need to work together on finding the Crystals of Harmony.”
Shock and anger rose through me. She didn’t want those two bastards to give up the crown? “What madness is this?” I asked. “How can you agree to let them stay in power?”
“We don’t have a choice, Ethan. It’s better for the fae to live under a dictatorship than to go completely extinct,” Emma said.
“That’s where I disagree with you. Preserving freedom is more important than saving lives,” I said.
“That’s bullshit,” Stefan snapped. “That’s not something you would say. That’s something the Phantom’s put in your head.”
“The Phantom is me,” I hissed. “You could never understand!”
Alexei’s eyes darted between us before his gaze landed on me— as if he was sensing something confusing, and couldn’t figure my emotions out.
Emma narrowed her eyes. “I know it’s important to the fae to live and die free. But they won’t live at all if time runs out and the portal to Edinmyre is closed. I won’t let centuries of fae history come to an end because we were too busy with personal grudges.”
“Gabby and Eli aren’t a personal grudge,” I said, though I felt a twinge of a lie as I said it. “They’ll destroy Malovia.”
“They’re looking for the crystals, too. We can’t give them an opportunity to find them, and the monarchy is a distraction. Let them have the throne, for now,” Emma said. “We’ll fix it later once we have the stones.”
“We won’t have a later, Emma. You don’t understand what the consequences are of getting the wrong people in power,” I said.
“Listen to me.” Emma fumed. “Milonna wouldn’t have appeared to all of us if I didn’t need everyone’s help here to find the stones. You were there, so that includes you. That means Milonna thinks I need you. If you die, or are imprisoned, you can’t help us find the Crystals of Harmony. Then we really are dooming the fae, because those stones will be lost forever. It’s the will of the goddess for you to help me!”
I couldn’t care less about the will of the gods at that moment, but Kiara spoke up. “Emma’s right. The choices we have are obvious. It’s clear if we stop Gabby and Elijah with the knowledge we gained tonight, we lose Ethan. Either we turn Gabby in, and Ethan dies— or Gabby and Eli