The king’s eyes are quick to find Zhang. Zhang has access to the temple and therefore the cup, and the king’s facial expression says he’s putting that together quickly. Thankfully, he doesn’t mention it out loud.
Atlanta’s not one to take it lying down. He makes his way to his feet, and I can see the plan forming in his mind. “I did it. I’m responsible for everything. I bought a temple key on Earth and hitched a ride home.”
There’s no such thing as a temple key, is there? I’m not sure, but what is for sure is that Atlanta’s banking on the king’s ignorance. Earth holds many mysteries for Pleiadians. Many throughout the galaxy were involved in its making, and with Earth being the planet with the free will to create whatever you want, nothing’s off the table.
This is one of those times we seethe at Atlanta for throwing himself to the wolves, but begrudgingly let it happen. If we’re all thrown into the dungeon, we can’t get him out.
The door to the throne room opens, and a frantic Gemini races into the room, his bare feet pounding across the carpet. His face is a bloodied mess, and his robes are too loose, exposing bite marks that are definitely in the shape of my brother’s teeth. Gem’s flyaway hair’s giving deranged instead of the fairy princess vibes he’s usually giving.
Is that … yep. That’s my brother’s handprint on his neck.
“Atlanta!” His guttural cry pierces my nerves, searing down to the bone. It leaks pain into the air until it’s seeping into every one of us.
My brother loses his mind, thrashing, and kicking. There’s a sickening crack, and then blood spouts from the guard’s nose. Atlanta stands over him, ready to smash him again with whatever he has available if needed.
Gem claws and scrapes his way to Atlanta, clinging to him. Atlanta can’t wrap his arms around Gem like I know he’d want to.
“Father, please, let him go,” Gem begs.
“Go? I can’t let him go. He drank from the cup without permission, Gemini. This is serious. It will go to trial.”
Fucking hell. That’s a death sentence. A trial means the Guild, and the Guild doesn’t like Orions or fucking with the cup.
“No. No, Father, please. Let us go. We’ll go far away. Say we ran off. You never saw us.” Gem’s words are garbled, and spaced between sobs because he knows how rigid the king can be.
The king’s brows pinch together, and his eyes darken. “You would leave your kingdom?” He shakes his head. “I never should have allowed this to go on for as long as it did, but I assumed you were intelligent enough to realize that your marriage would be reserved for the Nebuli when the time came. I’ve been too lenient. You’re the crown prince, Gemini. I shouldn’t have to tell you that your life belongs to the Nebuli.”
He waves a hand to the guards who eye Atlanta like he’s a beast that’s about to eat them. No one wants to approach him because they know he’ll still kick their asses, even with his arms bound behind his back. “Take him to a holding cell and take my son to his room until he calms down.”
Gods fucking dammit.
Gemini clings to Atlanta as guards grab him and attempt to rip him away like he’s a leech. The cries of anguish bleeding out of Gem’s lungs are something else. Atlanta’s never been able to take Gemini tears. I see it in my brother’s eyes, his kill switch is on, and he’s about to explode.
Welp, I’m not letting him do this alone. Consequences be damned.
Two sets of hands stop me in my tracks. “Don’t even think about it,” Zhang says.
“I’ll kick your ass, Orion,” Merrick says.
“What do you mean?” I hiss. “We have to help him.”
“This is not the way we help him. We might win this fight, but we won’t win the war, there are too many guards,” Zhang says.
I turn to Merrick. “Fly in there. Do something!”
“I’m about a flight away from losing my wings forever. If this was life or death, you know I’d do it. We’ll save him another way, I promise.”
I know they’re right, but standing here like this is all kinds of wrong. Watching it’s worse.
Gem’s heartbreaking shrill fractures the room as several hands grab for him, and more guards pour in. His glow rises and falls with the beat of his heart. All that energy, with nothing to channel it into. He’s going to break apart.
“At least give him your sword, Centaurus,” I hiss. My gaze flicks to his back where they always sit, and my heart falls. He didn’t bring his swords.
More Orion guardians file in with their sorbothane rods to neutralize Gem, and now it’s Atlanta who’s seething with unspent energy. They freeze when they see who they’ve been sent to detain. “Shit, Atlanta.”
Atlanta sobers some. They’re trained to follow the king’s orders, doesn’t mean he won’t make them pay when he has the chance. “Just give me … give me one fucking second, okay? I’ll come without trouble. Let him the fuck go,” Atlanta says to the palace guards who have Gemini pinned to the ground.
They look to the king. His body’s tight, as if he can barely stand Gem’s cries. Finally, he nods. Guess even he has a heart rolling around in there.
