ARIELLE

I resisted the urge to scrunch my nose against the wafting scent of excrement. I don't understand how people could live in this dump.

The Willis Tower stretched out behind us, rising to the sky in a series of boxes, its glass sides catching the moonlight. I tried not to shift around in the Streeter drab I was wearing. Damien, always the cry baby, muttered under his breath about his broken nose as he fiddled with something small in his hands. Clearly, he needs more Injury Training.

At the thought of Evandor, I stood straight and turned to him.

"Weren't you supposed to go back to school a month ago?" I asked him in a whisper.

Damien shook his head. "I convinced Ma to persuade Father to let me test out of the last year."

"Why? I thought you liked Evandor."

He shrugged and grinned. "I did, but it was starting to get boring when I already knew more than the teachers. My sole source of entertainment is annoying you guys and I can't do that at Evandor."

"Did you know about this?" I asked over my shoulder to Xavier.

Xavier looked at me, his beautiful eyes invisible in the light although I could still imagine the way they would be staring at me with amusement.

"Of course you did," I mumbled and turned back to Damien."And what do you plan to accomplish by being in Cressida instead of at school?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"Fantastic."

We rounded the corner and headed down a smaller street that twisted between buildings and winded down towards the humble side of the city. I had no clue why my sister decided to live here, of all places, though I wasn't even sure if she actually lived here. As far as I could tell, she had many living quarters throughout the nation. This was the only one we could find, and of course, it had to be right in the middle of the trashiest place in the city.

I jumped over a puddle which I was positive contained human excrement. Looking up, I could make out a path of sewage winding its way down the street from the direction of the Willis Tower. Xavier said there were rumors of an anonymous wealthy Streeter keeping the Willis Tower running and providing for the Streeters of Chicago, though the numerous investigations we made never found any evidence of this. Still, if Xavier took the time to note it, he must've thought it was true and I wasn't foolish enough to go against Xavier's judgment.

In world where everyone takes as much as they can to survive, a random Streeter was giving and taking care of an entire city. They spent the time, money, and resources to make the city better—a beautiful thought. Although, the sewage I was currently trying not to slip into showed there was still plenty of work to be done.

The small shack my sister was living out of came into view. There were wooden planks spread across the roof, providing little to no cover. The cement walls were bare, not even trying to look pretty with it's sides unpainted and a molding grey. Only the metal door seemed somewhat reasonable with it's black painted exterior and the small designs swirled into it. I couldn't understand what the designs were supposed to make, so I assumed it was just abstract art.

I took a deep breath, conjuring the confidence and fear I radiated whenever I was presented in front of the Court or at school. I would need it now.

Damien—who must've sensed my nervousness, but chose to ignore it—asked, "Do you really think she's going to listen to us? After what we did?"

"You mean after you two glued a note to her door which indirectly indicated you were trying to murder her?" I retorted, throwing him a sideways look. "Hopefully, she'll read the apology I left for her and ignore it."

"I'm talking about screwing up her plan," Damien clarified with a half-hearted glare. "We sort of ran into her, ruined her entire scheme to rob the bank, and ended up having to give the diamonds she stole back to the bank."

I shrugged as we climbed the creaking wooden steps up to her door. "It was just a few diamonds. She could have an entire nation at her hands if she wished. She won't care that much about ruining her robbery."

Xavier scoffed behind me, but I ignored him.

Looking at the door, I noticed the note I placed was ripped off, though she couldn't get the one the boys' off. I sighed, taking in the way the roof's wooden planks was just an arm's length away. Doubt arose, crawling up my throat and gnawing at the edges of my consciousness. What if she still wanted nothing to do with the Crown?

"I never realized just staring at the door can make people open it. Would've saved all the effort I put in knocking," Damien remarked.

I huffed and raised my hand to knock, but Xavier suddenly stuck his foot out and kicked the door, almost making me jump. It swung open and crashed into the wall next to it with a bang. I turned and glared at him.

"What was that for?" I hissed.

He fixed me with a level stare. "She's not going to open the door just because you knocked, and trying to pick the lock of a theif's door is idiotic."

I shook my head, annoyed that he was right, and stepped into the my sister built for herself. I seemed to have entered the living room. Moonlight spilled from the musty window. Two couches were placed against the wall, though I didn't know who would want to visit this place. Another doorway was in the wall across from me, giving me a clear view of the kitchen and the small bedroom beyond that.

For a moment I thought Arielle wasn't home until I heard a voice from the side.

"I don't understand why you wear heels when you're already tall. It just makes you look like a big, blonde tree."

I turned to find Arielle sitting in the couch, her dyed red hair almost glowing, sea blue eyes painted silver in the moonlight as she stared at me with an unreadable expression. I could've sworn she wasn't there a moment ago.

Damien flopped into a couch as Xavier stepped in and closed the door, eyes fixed on Arielle with a smirk as if he was sharing some joke with the cosmos.

"It's for fashion," I snapped back and scanned the Streeter rags she was wearing. "Nothing you would know about."

Xavier sat next to Damien and leaned back, watching us with amusement. God I wanted to wipe the wretched smirk off his face. Or kiss him. I couldn't decide.

Arielle stood her eyes filling with something like... rage? I couldn't tell. "At least my choice of footwear doesn't give my angry sister the perfect advantage to kill me."

I blinked. "I'm not trying to kill you-"

I was cutoff when she let out a growl and ran into me, ramming me into the wall and making pain spike up my spine. The air was sucked out of me.

Oh. She's trying to kill me.

Arielle pulled her arm back, rearing for a punch, but I was ready this time. I blocked with my right hand and elbowed her in the nose with the other. Her head flicked back for a moment and I took the opportunity to knee her in the stomach.

For any normal person, my strike would've been strong enough to send them crying, but she was an Assassin, Heir to the Fortier Crown. She only glared and kneed me back. A groan threatened to escape my mouth from the shock of her strike, but if my out of practice sister could handle it, I could too.

I clamped my mouth shut and let her taste my right hook. This time she groaned from strike and her grip loosened. I struck a foot across her ankles and swept her feet out from under her. She crashed to the ground, but Arielle didn't let go of my arm, making me fall with her.

"What the hell is your problem?" I shouted as she did her best to kick me in the stomach from our position on the ground.

She rolled on top of me punched me in the face, accentuating her every word. "You. Ruined. My. Plan!"

I kicked her in the stomach and she was thrown off of me. Holding my nose, I kicked at her wildly. "And you abandoned me! Taking a few of your diamonds is nothing compared to what you did!"

We rolled around on the ground, fighting tooth and nail, kicking and pulling each other's hair. At one point, I could hear the boys talking from their position on the couch.

"Should we intervene?" Damien asked his older brother.

"No," Xavier replied, having the gall to sound half-bored.

"Good, cause I wasn't going to anyway."

We were still brawling on the ground, punching and kicking each other. I don't know long we were like that, but at one point I had her pinned to the ground and was throwing punch after punch until she kicked me in the gut and pushed me off. I crashed into the cement and rolled across the ground until I hit the other wall.

I sat up, head spinning, and looked across the room where Arielle did the same. We were both breathing heavily as we stared each other down, wondering if the other would make a move. The anger seemed to be extinguished from my sister, and as much as I wanted to punch her in the face again for her less than hospitable behavior, I needed her alive to take back the Crown and set me free.

After we were certain the other wouldn't attack, I sighed and leaned back against the wall. Arielle pulled herself up onto her feet and stumbled into the kitchen.

"You like vodka?" she called. Damien flinched but said nothing.

I climbed onto the couch next to Xavier. "I'll take some."

Xavier pulled down on the lamp switch and light flooded the room, making me squint. She walked back into the room with two glasses. I held up my hand to accept the glass, but instead, she sat down and threw head back, chugging both, one after the other. I rolled my eyes.

"What do you want?" she asked as she sat across from me.

I took a deep breath and began. "I know you probably won't agree, but this is-"

"Ari wants you to come back and take the Crown despite our logical protests and your clear reluctance," Xavier interrupted.

Impatient, self-obsessed ass.

I don't know why I'm going through all the effort of secretly dating him.

Arielle looked between the three of us as if looking through our facial expressions to see if it's true. Then, in a painstakingly slow motion, she placed both glasses back on the table and sat back and sighed.

Still, with a grim expression, she said, "You're all idiots."

"Hey!" Damien said. "We're not idiots! She is."

"No, you two are idiots," she said, pointing between Damien and me. "She's just a bigger one."

Damien pouted and sat back on his couch. Arielle looked straight at me and continued.

"You have an entire nation at your disposal, many well-trained assassins to kiss your feet, and all of the riches you could ever want. Why the hell do you want me back?"

"Because I can't rule!" I argued. "The moment I take the Crown I will run this nation to the ground. And all those assassins and riches you so generously pointed out would hardly matter if the nation is reduced to ashes."

"Who said you can't rule?"

"I just... I can't!"

"Why not?!"

"I wasn't born to rule. I'm not the type of person to rule. You are."

"A person who doesn't give a shit isn't the 'type of person to rule' either."

I threw up my hands and jumped to my feet. "Arielle-"

"It's Phoenix," she hissed as she got to her feet to look me in the eye. "Not Arielle Fortier. Not anymore. My name is Phoenix Night and I'm a Streeter thief, not a Crown Heir, not the future ruler of the Unassailables. You are."

She grabbed Damien by the front of his shirt and pulled him to his feet. She was about to do the same to Xavier, but he gave her an ice-cold glare and stood up by himself.

"Look," I tried again. "I know you're hesitant-"

"The answer is no," she said, the ferocity and threat behind her voice clear as day.

"So you don't want those riches and assassins to kiss your feet?" I asked, mocking her. "Not even a little?"

"No," she replied as she began herding the three of us towards the door.

"Then why did you go through so much effort to steal a few diamonds?"

"To wipe my ass with them," she snarled and pushed us out the door.

"Fuck you!"

"Easy," Damien muttered under his breath. "Incest isn't fun."

Arielle leaned forward and snarled, "Leave. Go back to your goddamn palace in the middle of the sky and you better not ever come back. Because, if you do, I will tell everyone about our little trade-off."

"You wouldn't."

"I will. I don't care if this stupid scheme keeps running or not. There's only a thin glass barrier left between this nation and absolute chaos, and the moment I tip people off it will shatter. I'll just disappear and find a new identity and you'll be forced to pick up the shards. And I would be careful. I heard glass pieces can cut the skin quite easily."

She leaned back and said, "Goodbye, Arielle."

With that, she slammed the door shut. After a moment, I heard a chair being dragged up the door to prevent us from breaking it down again. I stomped my foot and turned to find the Kingstons' staring at me.

Damien had enough respect to look apologetic, but Xavier just gave me a smirk which said, "I told you so."

"Shut up," I grumbled as I descended the steps.

"I don't believe I said anything," he replied as he followed. I looked over my shoulder to find him carrying a light smile.

Of course, he spoke only to make fun of me.

I sighed and we headed back to the pod hidden away in the streets in silence. I don't understand why Arielle refused. She left, but based on her thievery, she definitely wants the power back. Why not?

It doesn't matter. She has to take the Crown back and before it's too late. The moment the Crown is placed on my head, nobody can take it back and give it to Arielle, even if she's the proper heir.

She will come back. She won't have another option. I'll make sure of it.