Thirty-six

Thirty-six

DESI

The two occisors chase Jace down the aisle but he hauls ass, and the bulky demons can't keep up. He charges past Cannon and me and grabs the ax hanging from my father's hip. The weapon breaks free of its restraints and Jace swings it in front of him at Cannon. The ax—specially made for my father—flies from his grip and somersaults toward the crowd as Cannon ducks, though the ax came nowhere near his head.

Screams echo off the vaulted ceilings and demons flee the weapon's path. Jace's gray eyes grow wide, his arms held out before him as if he still has control of the weapon.

"I saw that going differently in my head," he mutters.

My father shoves Jace to the side and grunts, "No one can wield my ax but me." He holds out his hand and calls it back to him. It stops and spins top over bottom until it lands in his palm. "What is this all about?" my father asks, securing the handle to his belt again.

The guards rush forward. "We're sorry, Your Majesty. The human is stronger and faster than we thought. We'll take care of him."

The occisors each take Jace's arms and pull him down from the dais.

"No!" I rush forward and attempt to pry the occisors' meaty fingers off Jace. "He needs to go. He doesn't belong here." When they don't release him, my panic morphs into pure anger. "Let him go. Now!"

"It's all right, Desi."

I glance up at Jace, realizing he was talking to me the entire time.

He holds my stare and again says, "I know what I've done, and it's all right."

"Jace?"

He looks like he hasn't slept—his hair's a mess and dark bags sit under his eyes, but he's as beautiful as always. I've never been happier to see someone . . . but also, I've never been more confused. How can this be all right when it isn't what he wanted? Jace doesn't give me a chance to wonder for long.

His features harden as he turns to our friend and repeats, "Cannon isn't who we thought. He's an angel."

Murmurs erupt and the crowd steps back, putting as much distance as possible between Cannon and them. Even my brothers lean back in their thrones. Saying an angel is in our realm is the equivalent of telling us the plague is sweeping through Infernis. If what Jace says is true, in a few hours Cannon will be tied to our realm and the energy flowing from him will affect every demon and those who have chosen to remain in chaos for eternity.

"Leave it to Desi to choose a damn angel as an eternal partner," one of my brothers says with a snicker.

Cannon holds up both hands and moves away. "I'm not—I mean I am, but . . ."

"His chest. His angelic mark is on his right pec," Jace says.

"What?" I whisper, my eyes darting between Cannon and Jace. "How could I not—I would have noticed . . ." No, I wouldn't have. We hadn't ever taken things that far because we didn't feel that attraction toward each other. Our energies clashed.

Chaos and peace.

Demon and angel.

We would have never connected on a deeper level than friends.

"How could I have been so—"

My father cuts me off, his voice weak. "You wouldn't know unless you saw his mark. Don't beat yourself up."

"Dad, you need to sit down," I say. Glen and Mandis immediately jump from their seats and help my father to his throne next to my mother.

Something is definitely wrong. My dad is already weak, but everyone in this room except for Cannon and Jace is starting to lose energy—we're sluggish, dazed, even some of their coloring is off.

"I saw his mark right before he left. It's been weeks now since I learned what they mean, and it was second nature to see it on someone else," Jace whispers in my ear from behind me, his hand gripping my hip.

"No," I breathe, my heart speeding back up, both at the prospect of everything falling into ruin in a matter of hours and Jace's proximity when I thought I'd never see him again. I step toward Cannon, and Jace shadows me, his palm lingering on the small of my back but letting me take the lead. "Why would you offer to come here? What's your real motive?"

Guards file into the room, closing in on Cannon. The angel has nowhere to go.

"My father sent me to distract you from finding an eternal partner. It was supposed to be my final trial to prove I was worthy of the throne," Cannon says, eyeing the occisors surrounding him.

"What? Trial? Your fa—" My jaw drops, and I look over my shoulder and catch my father's eye.

"He's Angelo's son," my father says, closing his eyes like I imagine one would when they get a headache.

Cannon bows his head. "Yes." He exhales and runs his hand down his face. "I thought it was a harmless plot for my father to get the upper hand in your bargain with him. It's been decades since Pax acquired more energies than Infernis. I just wanted to impress my dad." He lifts his gaze to mine and the next few words out of his mouth look like they pain him to say. "But we became friends and I felt how much it meant to you to do this for your family. It was the first thing I'd admired about you, and I genuinely wanted to help in any way I could."

With a scoff, Colére straightens upon his throne. "He's a stinking empath. You do choose winners, Desi."

I shake my head and lower myself to the bottom step of the dais. Jace follows me down and runs a soothing hand along my spine. This is all too much, and I don't have the strength to deal with it.

"What—why does everyone look like they're about to pass out?" Cannon asks, just realizing that all the demons and energies in here aren't doing well. He really has no clue that he's made a grave error by coming here.

That he is about to destroy us all from the inside out.

"That sly, greedy bastard Angelo wanted you out of the way," Avaros says.

Fier glances at our brother and cocks a brow. "He would sacrifice his own child if that's what it took to remain the ruler of Pax?"

"I don't trust the angel," Colére says, reaching for his sword. "If his daddy isn't giving up the throne, why not take ours? Kill us all off and he'll have his own realm to rule."

But the realm would be empty. He'd have to start all over, and even then, how could he be sure it would even sustain any sort of life? This isn't adding up.

Cannon shakes his head. "No. No, I didn't know this would happen." He looks at me and then at Jace, and he shifts from foot to foot. "In fact, I hoped that once I came here I could buy you and Jace some time. You guys belong together, but he's so hurt and not ready to take that leap. It wasn't going to be the perfect scenario, but I wanted it to have a happy ending for you guys. Chaos," he says, his gaze shifting to my father, "my motive was never to hurt any of you. I told my father my plan and he agreed. He used me to hurt you."

"If you didn't have ill intentions toward my daughter, why didn't you tell her the truth?" my father asks.

"My orders were to distract Desi. I was to make her believe I was human. If she found out what I was, I would fail. I was hoping that I could appease my father, and when Jace was ready, I'd reveal what I am and the bond would have to be broken. Jace and Desi would get to be together, and I'd return home to rule. I never thought my plan would lead to harming anyone."

Julius steps forward and glares at Cannon, jealousy saturating his stare. No doubt he's envious that everyone's attention is focused on the angel, not to mention how Cannon's muscular form fills out his tailored suit. "You're saying that you came up with this elaborate plan but didn't know what would happen if angels and demons were to invade each other's realms?"

Cannon shakes his head. "Our education focused on the principles of our realm and strategies to lure energies to Pax."

"I don't trust him," Mandis says, shifting in his throne and pulling a cellophane wrapped cake from his pocket. He takes a large bite and continues with his mouth full. "No way he didn't know. He was following Desi from the start."

Glen makes a disapproving tsk and says, "You aren't just saying that so your father will kill him, and we can go to dinner, are you?"

"Bitch, I might be," Mandis mutters, shoving the rest of the cake in his mouth.

I glare at my brother and say to my father, "What are we going to do?" I run the back of my hand over my forehead and lean back against Jace for support, my head spinning again. "Whether or not you believe him, we have to get him out of here before we all drop dead or melt or whatever the hell happens when an angel stays here for too long. I'm starting to feel really off."

"It is not our call to make," my father says, and his gaze cuts to Cannon. "Detain him."

Fear sweeps over Cannon's features. I'm not sure if it's his presence in Infernis or a hint of sympathy, but my stomach roils. I've spent hours upon hours with Cannon, and either he's a great actor or he's telling the truth. Other than his purpose for appearing at Jace's the moment I did, he's always been candid with me. It's hard for me to believe everything about our friendship was fake.

"What are you going to do to him?" I ask.

"This is a matter for Dex to judge. Take him to the portal."

The guards yank Cannon forward, and he twists his head and mouths I'm sorry to me. I wish I could know for sure if he's telling the truth. Thankfully, that isn't my call to make.