“We have forever,” Micah said, smoothing back my hair. “A conversation or two won’t delay us overmuch.” I heard what Micah left unsaid—that he’d give anything for one more conversation with his parents.
I smiled, agreeing with him. I yelled to Sadie that we’d be down in a moment, and straightened my clothes while Micah redressed himself. I knew he was right, that we had forever and that granting my long-missing father twenty minutes of my time was nothing in the greater scheme of things, but that didn’t ease my frustration in the slightest.
“If we don’t get to fricken’ do it soon I’m gonna go fricken’ crazy,” I muttered.
“If we don’t get to do what?” Micah asked, all knowing smiles and devious eyes. I swatted his elbow and went downstairs to find out what the heck was so all-fired important.
A few minutes later, all of the Corbeaus and Silverstrands were clustered in the sitting room, watching as Dad paced before the hearth. Micah and I had tried to claim the couch for ourselves, but Sadie had gotten there first and refused to budge. Luckily, it was more than big enough for three.
Max sat across from Dad, gazing at him with blatant reverence. Mom was seated beside Max, but she watched Dad with something closer to incredulity. I figured she was still mad over the disappearing act he’d pulled last night, as well she should’ve been.
Once we were all accounted for, the silverkin passed around bowls of ice cream, tiny perfect scoops of black raspberry and double chocolate. It was a little runny, but the big chunks of raspberry and deliciously bittersweet chocolate more than made up for it. It was their first crack at ice cream, after all.
“We in the resistance have learned some important things recently,” Dad began, forgoing any sort of introduction. “We have the details regarding certain sudden and devastating weaknesses that have appeared within our government, and within the upcoming election. It looks like your toppling of the Institute for Elemental Research shook the Peacekeepers to their core,” Dad added, with a nod toward Sadie. “It took the remaining staff nearly two weeks to escape the metal dome you created.”
“That wasn’t me,” Sadie said around mouthfuls of mint chip. Why hadn’t I gotten any mint chip? “Sara created the dome.”
Dad’s brow furrowed. “Our reports stated that the Inheritor was responsible for destroying the facility.”
“Reports were wrong,” I said, craning my neck to find Shep. “The Peacekeepers said that they wouldn’t let us leave, and I freaked. Next thing I knew, all of Ferra’s warriors and the Peacekeepers’ drones and weapons were squashed into a dome. I don’t even know how I did it.”
“Interesting,” Dad said, rubbing his chin. Dad went on, but I had no idea what he was talking about since Micah had managed to secure a bowl of mint chip for us to share. We were laughing, spooning the ice cream into each other’s mouths, until Dad decided to blow a gasket.
“Sara!” he bellowed. Confused, I tore my gaze from Micah to Dad. “Is it too much to ask that you pay attention when I speak?”
Mortified, I set the bowl down in my lap. “Sorry. You said there were events affecting the election?”
Dad glared at me for another few moments, then he continued. “Yes. It seems that doubts have been raised of late regarding the effectiveness of the frontrunner, one Michael Armstrong.”
“Really?” I said, looking at Max. “When Max and I went to his political rally, it looked like he had all the support in the world. He didn’t even have a party backing him, but both the Pacifists and Mirlanders were all about him. The Mirlander candidate was pretty much booed out of the place.”
“New intel says otherwise,” Max stated.
“Yes,” Dad continued. “Once reports were leaked about the destruction of the Institute, the public began to question his competence. ‘If Armstrong can’t manage one facility, how could he manage an entire country,’ things of that nature. We should plan our strike soon.”
“Strike?” Micah repeated. “Exactly what have you been planning, Baudoin?”
“The same thing I’ve been planning since I got the call to war,” Dad replied. “To end the Mundane government.”
As a whole, our mouths gaped and our eyes nearly fell out of our heads—all of us except for Max. He was grinning at Dad like one of those fanatics you find in cults, the ones where they all wear the same sneakers and drink the funny punch. I’d always known that the council of war mages had been put into place to stop the Peacekeepers, but to end the entire government? That government had served Pacifica well for five hundred fricken’ years while the Peacekeepers had only been around for a few decades. Surely Pacifica’s government could be saved. If we got rid of it, who the hell was going to run things?