Unleashing Chaos

Chapter Forty-Three

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

"Desideria, did Cannon ever let you see his chest?" 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. "Cannon. Tell me the truth." I step toward him, and Jace shadows me, his palm lingering on the small of my back, but letting me take the lead. "Are you an angel? Do you have an ulterior motive for being here?"

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

"I was sent by my father. This is my test before taking my place," Cannon says, eyeing the occisors surround him.

"Test? Your fa—" My jaw drops and I look over my shoulder at Jace who just looks clueless. "You're Angelo's son?"

He nods. "Yes. He sent me to the human realm on a mission to distract you from finding a human partner. That's it. That's all I knew." He blows a breath out that rattles his lips and runs his hand down his face. "I had no idea that you were going to ascend to the throne, that you were to be a queen until you told me." He closes his eyes and the next few words out of his mouth look like they pain him to say. "I also didn't know I was going to end up liking you so much. And—what—why does everyone look like they're about to fucking pass out?" I know Cannon well enough at this point to tell that he really has no clue that he has made a grave error by coming here.

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

"Sly, greedy bastard wanted you out of the way," Avaros says.

Feir 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 the sword. "If his daddy isn't giving up the throne, why not take ours? Kill us all off and he will have his own realm to rule."

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 down here and 'passed my mission' from my father, that I would leave here and go back to Pax to be ruler. I thought I could get Jace back for you, Desi. I was just doing this as a means to an end at this point. I, like many other angels, am ready to see my father step down, Chaos," he says, his gaze shifting to my father. "I would never hurt Desi. So...did I come down here with an ulterior motive? Yeah, I guess I did. I wanted to fulfill my mission and go back home to rule Pax. My motive was never to hurt any of you. My father tricked me."

"If you didn't have ill intent with 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 my mission."

Julius steps forward and glares at Cannon, jealousy saturating his stare. No doubt he is envious of the way Cannon's suit fits his muscular form. "You're saying that no one ever taught you 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, "No way he didn't know. He was following Desi from the start."

Grub 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?"

"Perhaps," Mandis says, 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 fucking 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 is his presence in Infernis or a hint of sympathy, but my stomach rolls. I've spent hours upon hours with Cannon, and either he is a great actor or he's telling the truth. Other than his purpose for appearing at Jace's front step the moment I did, he has 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 judgment to make.