The Ends of the World (The Conspiracy of Us #3)(96)

So we just put our hands up and walked calmly inside, like we were meant to be here.

The whole Circle was sitting around a long table, like they did at council meetings. In front of each of them was what looked like a contract and a pen. I immediately found Lydia, at the far end of the table, by my father. I let out a soft breath.

I hadn't actually seen Lydia since Cole had died. In Russia, we'd just heard her voice. Her long dark hair was gone, in its place a severe, choppy pixie cut, messy enough that she'd probably done it herself, and not carefully. She was wearing an oversized coat, and she had no makeup on. This was the first time I'd ever seen her less than perfectly put together.

Next to her was my father. Alistair Saxon was at the head of the table, pretending, as he did, to be in charge. He half stood when we came into the room. And then he sat back down and sighed, and my last, small hope that he would stand up for what was right died.



       
         
       
        

I didn't think my father was evil. My mom never would have fallen for him if he was, and Fitz's story had confirmed it. But he'd broken a long time ago, and had never put himself back together. Maybe it should have made me feel sorry for him, but it just made me angry. He might not be evil, but he was allowing evil things to happen because of his weaknesses, and that was just as bad.

"Avery." Lydia smiled, but there was no emotion behind it at all. It hit me who she reminded me of. She looked as vacant as I'd felt in the weeks after my mom died. I remembered exactly how little I cared about anything then, and how dangerous that was. "If we had known all it took was a council meeting to make you turn yourselves in, we would have done it long ago."

"Take their weapons," my father said.

We'd expected that, too. We let two men I recognized as a Saxon Keeper and one of Rocco's old cronies search us and set our weapons at the far end of the room. The guns on us slowly lowered, but the atmosphere didn't grow any more welcoming.

"We're not here to turn ourselves in," I said. Stellan and I ignored the murmurs of disapproval and made our way confidently around the room to the head of the table, where the Saxons sat. Jack and Elodie followed us at a distance. This was part of the plan, too. Tonight, we'd be what the Circle had wanted us to be all along.

Ryo Mikado stood. "You have no right."

Most of the table nodded, angrily or warily. Even kind Arjun Rajesh looked disappointed in us-if disappointed was the right word when someone thought we'd been trying to bring down the whole world.

"You initiated us," I said. We'd decided I'd do most of the talking. The Circle were intrigued by Stellan, but I was more familiar to them. I held up my wrist. "And we completed the tattoo ceremony with the Dauphin family as witnesses. We're official. What's more, when you initiated us, you did so knowing we'd technically be the Circle's leaders. So yes, we do have the right to be here. But we're not here to exercise our rule. We've come here tonight to tell you the truth."

"The only thing you've done by coming here is allow us to punish you as we see fit," Lydia interrupted. "The only question will be who to terminate first. The two of you, or the Keeper who murdered my brother." Her eyes flashed at Jack.

My father held up his hands. "Once all the treaties are signed and witnessed, we can discuss the fate of the thirteenth family. Until then, please stay on task." 

No one else protested. Instead, they picked up their pens reluctantly. They were too afraid of the Saxons. I'd been wrong to believe they didn't care about their people-they cared so much, they were going to ruin their own lives to save them. And they didn't want to speak up and take any chances.

Instead, we were taking the chance for them. This was the moment we could be sentencing the world to die. Or maybe the Circle. Or maybe ourselves.

"Don't sign the treaties," I said.

A few people with pens in their hands paused, but most just frowned up at me warily.

"Releasing the virus won't work." I was impressed with how confident I sounded about the lie. "That's what we've come here to tell you. We have a vaccine for the virus and we've distributed it in your territories. Your people won't die. You don't have to sign the treaty to save them."





CHAPTER 29



There were murmurs around the table. My father turned in his chair to face me. A set of massive doors with curtains pulled partway across them opened to a balcony behind us. It looked out on St. Peter's Square below, full of people as far as I could see. We must be in the room connected to the balcony where the pope always addressed the square.