EMIL
Senator Iron has been shot on live TV.
I’m horrified while standing beside my mother, and her hand squeezes mine. No matter how much we don’t mess with this guy, especially after everything he put Ma through, this isn’t how justice is supposed to go down. Brighton and Prudencia are staring at the screen in shock as pandemonium erupts outside Iron’s front gate—the one we escaped through hours ago. Even bloodthirsty Maribelle looks away.
“Not good,” Wesley says as Ruth steps away from the video streaming on his phone.
The cameraperson still has eyes on Iron on the ground as others run away. First I think someone is flashing a light on him, but I know that gray glow. My eyes immediately water. I might throw up.
“NESS!”
The real Iron hobbles past the gate, and he has a black eye. Did Ness fight back? Iron is breaking down in tears as he calls for help and presses down on Ness’s wound.
“HE’S A LIAR!”
The news teams are hovering all over them as if it’s more important to cover this groundbreaking story of Ness being alive all along and impersonating his father instead of getting him medical attention. Someone tried to kill him and these vultures can’t even give him some damn dignity.
This was probably Iron’s doing. He’s punishing Ness for helping me.
Punished.
I step back, and Prudencia stops me from accidentally knocking over the cauldron with the Starstifler.
I’m blazing hot thinking about how much Ness deserved a better father, someone who loves him so much that he couldn’t possibly be a suspect in his attack. Gold and gray flames burst around me as if I can protect Ness. I might burn down the Sanctuary’s lab. Everyone’s telling me to breathe, but I can’t control myself.
Brighton braves my fire and wraps his arms around me, shouting as he drags me toward the wall with swift-speed. Before we collide, we phase right through, out into the courtyard.
“Go for it!” Brighton yells as he crouches in pain.
It takes me a sec to figure out what he’s telling me to do.
I give in to my fury and shout at the night sky, hurling fire-orb after fire-orb toward the stars until it looks like a gold and gray meteor storm shooting over the river. I’ve disturbed some sleeping phoenixes, even scared some into flight. I exhaust myself and collapse to my knees, and Brighton wraps his arms around me and tells me to breathe over and over long enough that I finally listen to him. I cry against my brother’s chest, hating this life that forces me to grieve Ness again.