But for once, I didn’t need him. Or Jack, on the other side of me. Or anyone. I knew suddenly, unquestionably, that I would never be afraid again. Not of the virus, not of my siblings, not of Stellan’s hand in mine and what it meant. The worst had happened. There was nothing else to be afraid of.
Monsieur Dauphin barked something in French, to Luc again. Luc looked back at us, and I nodded. He squared his shoulders. “What she’s telling you is that the Order didn’t do this,” he said. “And they haven’t been behind the assassinations, either.”
Confusion shot through the group.
“Your enemy has never been the Order,” I said over the whispers. “It’s the Saxon family.”
There was a moment of complete silence, and then the whispers turned into loud protests. I kept talking over them. “They are behind this, and the rest of the murders. And yes, I am part of their bloodline—but I’m not one of them. I’m telling you this now because I can’t let this happen.”
The chatter was turning angry. Jack stepped up protectively on one side of us, Elodie on the other. Luc and Colette stood out front.
Colette held up a hand. “There’s more. We’ve discovered who the One is.”
The group went quiet.
“And no”—Luc turned back to his father, his voice stronger—“it’s not me. It’s not any of the Circle.”
He and Colette moved aside, and he gestured behind him. “It’s a lost thirteenth bloodline. Alexander the Great’s own bloodline.”
Stellan and I were suddenly exposed, our friends flanking us. Stellan’s hand squeezed mine tight enough to hurt, and it felt good.
I watched the Dauphins and everyone around them as they finally saw where our fingers intertwined, and shock dawned on their faces.
“It’s true,” Luc said.
“And you’d better get used to it,” Colette piped up, “because they’ve already fulfilled the mandate. And we’re all behind them.”
Madame Dauphin’s eyes narrowed, disbelieving.
Elodie stepped forward, meeting her gaze with no hesitation. “I no longer belong to you.”
Monsieur Dauphin’s big hands clenched at his sides. “And the Saxon Keeper?”
We all looked at Jack. “I’m not a Saxon Keeper anymore.” He nodded at me and Stellan, then raised his head high. “I’m theirs.”
Stellan’s hand clenched in mine. The closest thing he had to a brother, and the guy who, until a few days ago, I thought I could be falling in love with, had just pledged himself, his life, to the two of us. Madame Dauphin’s hand fluttered to her chest. The rest of them whispered.
I blinked, hollow, and stared down Monsieur Dauphin until he looked away first. The rest of the Circle members, crowded behind him, murmured excitedly.
“All of you stop.” It came out of my mouth unbidden. The chatter stopped like a light switch had been flipped. “This isn’t a game. It’s not fun gossip.” The cold, hard voice didn’t sound like me. I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror at the end of the runway. I still looked tiny next to Stellan, but together, the two of us and our friends surrounding us formed a wall that, from this angle, looked impenetrable. I stood in the very center, blood still decorating my face like war paint, my dress dark, heavy, like glittering armor.
The whole group was holding its breath, waiting for me to finish.
“We’re going to stop them.” I took one more look at my mother, at the small body on the floor, covered by an ugly couture jacket.
I’d always had a shell I could put on when I needed it. It had just never been so unbreakable. I let it form the rest of the way around me, straightening my spine, strengthening my voice, crushing any errant emotion that might still be pulsing through me until I felt blissfully, completely empty. Everything looked the same, and everything had changed.
I didn’t have to consider what to say next. It was like I’d always known. “We’ve fulfilled the mandate. We’ve found what you’ve been looking for from the tomb.” Now they just stared. “You’ll do exactly what we say to stop the Saxons from hurting anyone else.” The twins’ faces flashed through my head. “And then I’m going to kill them.”
And I would. And the Circle would help me, because I was their new leader. Stellan and I were. They were ours, as surely as if I’d branded them with the thirteen loops of my necklace. Elodie had been right earlier—some of the families would side with the Saxons. It could be World War III, and I’d be at the front lines. But there was nothing else to do.
Luc gave me a tiny nod over his shoulder and turned back to his parents, to the Circle. “You heard her. But in case that wasn’t entirely clear, may I present to you Avery West and Stellan Korolev. The One, and the girl with the purple eyes, united. The new thirteenth family of the Circle of Twelve.”