Just at the mention of Emory and her family’s name, Brokk’s gut twisted, palms becoming sweaty. Black dots spotted his vision, and a deep roaring filled his ears. He gasped, “Excuse me.”
Pushing his chair back, he scrambled out of the room and into the hallway, gulping in the damp air. The shuffle of feet and the clicking of the door was Brokk’s indication to look up at Memphis, his arms crossed over his chest.
Whispering with venom in his voice, he said, “Pull yourself together, man. It’s too obvious that something is wrong.”
Standing, the world tilted, and he shook his head. “We have to tell them. It’s been too long, and nothing is getting better. It’s time to make a difference. She could be our difference.”
Memphis countered, “You don’t think I realize that as well? How is everyone going to react when they find out their leaders have kept this a secret for six years? There will be an uprising. That we saved her while we entered a war. How do we explain that rationally?”
“The Rebellion will see reason. We start with the team, and then go from there. We start with our friends. We owe them that much,” Brokk replied.
Memphis ran a hand through his hair, dark circles under his eyes. Loosening a breath, he said, “We do this together.”
“Always.”
Keeping a firm hold on his churning breakfast, Brokk reentered Command, knowing when he came out, everything would have changed.
***
Brokk and Memphis finished telling the truth about what happened six years ago when the Academy fell. What they had done to save Emory Fae.
Brokk looked up to meet Nyx’s gaze first, but she looked like she was about to kill Memphis. Venom churned in her gaze, and Brokk noticed her palming her knife she gripped in her lap.
The rustling of scanners and screens that kept surveillance disrupted the tension. They had kept up a lot of the technology the teachers of the Academy had created, but their world had reverted with Adair waging war, instead of progressing. Brokk tried to ignore the buzzing and read each of his friend’s expressions but found nothing but hatred in their features.
The bitter taste of guilt coated his tongue, and for the hundredth time, he reassured himself it was his only choice to save Emory Fae. Even if it meant that his existence had turned into one of torment—that he had become a soldier, that he had killed more of Adair’s men than he would like to tally up, that everything he had done since that fateful day in the woods was for her.
“How could you do this?!” Nyx suddenly screeched, pushing her chair back and seething. Jabbing a shaking finger into Memphis’s chest, she said, “I trusted you. This is not something you keep to yourself, Memphis Carter. I trusted you. By fire and flame, you are saying that while Kiero fell, towns have been destroyed, and thousands of people have died, Emory was ensured safety because of you two? You both have betrayed us to save one girl.”
Nyx was trembling, tears glistening in her eyes as she locked her violet eyes onto Brokk. Wyatt, Jaxson, and Alby looked at them skeptically, their frowns and darkened expressions were answer enough.
Addressing the room, Memphis whispered, “I’m sorry. We both are. But this can change our chances. From Adair’s point of view, I don’t think there would be anything more challenging than Emory returning from the dead. We use her and the Fae name to be the face of this Rebellion, and we finally end Adair. Emory is the heir of Kiero, and it’s time for her to return, to reclaim her throne. We have no other option.”
Nyx rolled her eyes. “Well, doesn’t that just sound like the perfect fairy tale. The long-lost princess finally home to free her lands. Only, she saved her hide to leave the rest of us to suffer. Not very noble, from where I am standing.”
Memphis’s face darkened. “You can be mad at my faults in this and in my decision to keep this from all of you, but Emory would have been killed if she stayed that day.”
Nyx flipped her purple hair over her shoulder. “Call a meeting. Tell the others. Go on an ops mission, bring her back, and then maybe I will not end you, Memphis Carter.”
Memphis flushed a deep red, not getting the last word in before Nyx stalked out of the room haughtily.
The others followed, not giving them a second glance. Memphis turned to Brokk, angry. “Well, that went fantastic.”
Rolling his shoulders, Brokk ran a hand through his hair. “You have to understand their point of view, Memphis. We both have betrayed our rebellion—our family—with this secret. Let them navigate their emotions while we bring Emory back.”
Brokk’s stomach twisted then at the thought of seeing her again. Gone was the gangly fifteen-year-old he left in the throes of another world. She would be twenty-one now—a woman. Would she even recognize the man he had become? Would there be an undertone of memory, even though Memphis had taken them away from her? Heart cracking, Brokk pushed the thought down.
Sighing, he watched Memphis flush a deeper red. Standing, he said, “Call the alarm in an hour. Until then, take a moment to gather yourself. Then we will leave.”
Walking out of the room, Brokk navigated down the hallway. People surrounding him were just blurs of colors.
It only felt like yesterday that she was there, laughing beside them. That he would get lost in her emerald eyes. That they were attending classes and the worst stresses in their life were navigating her parents and their politics.
But now, Emory would be brought back to a world on fire. To one of her best friends now a Mad King while himself and Memphis lead a rebellion to
