“Out with it,” I snap at her.
“When you ascend to your throne, she will have to take your place, Julian,” she blurts out.
I stagger back as if I've been punched.
“What?” I whisper in horror.
She nods her head sorrowfully. “Somebody has to rule this realm, and if you use Amelia as your key to the Celestial Realm, your chains will be transferred to her. She will have to rule this realm in your stead.”
I shake my head disbelievingly, “No, I'm going to take her with me. She'll be my queen. She’ll rule by my side.”
Glenda shakes her head at me sadly again. “That's not what I saw, Julian,” she says quietly.
I feel like my heart is being ripped from my chest. “Maybe you're wrong,” I insist stubbornly as panic rises in my chest.
“No,” she tells me gently. “You know my visions are never wrong.”
“Why didn’t you see this sooner?” I bellow at her. It’s unfair of me to take my frustration out on her this way. I know she can’t control how or when her visions come to her.
She must understand my pain, though, because she doesn’t try to defend herself. She doesn’t say anything. She just looks at me with that pitying look.
I harden my jaw as I make a decision.
“It doesn't matter. I’m keeping her. She's more important than reascending to my throne.”
Glenda’s eyes widen before her face breaks out into her signature snaggletooth smile. “I knew you were in love with her,” she cackles happily. “I'm happy for you, my boy. Never thought I'd see the day that anything was more important than your revenge and reascending to your throne.”
I didn't either, but a lightness overtakes me as I realize Amelia is more important to me than anything. I would give up every kingdom in every realm to be with her.
“What?” my brother’s voice suddenly cuts into our conversation
I turn to find Michael standing in the doorway, already knowing that this is a very bad thing. There is a reason I never told my brother about Amelia being the key.
“That little human you've been parading around with is the key to getting our kingdom back? Why haven't you used her?” he asks me disbelievingly.
“This is none of your concern,” I tell him sternly, hoping he’ll just drop it but knowing he won’t.
He scoffs. “The hell it isn’t. You may have been the official ruler of the Celestial Realm, but that's my home too, Julian,” he tells me angrily. “If there's a way for us to get back up there, we're going to take it. You might be too much of a pussy to use her, but I’m not.”
I’m on him in a flash as white-hot anger courses through me. “You touch one hair on her head, and I’ll annihilate you,” I warn him menacingly.
His lips twist into a sardonic grin as comprehension dawns in his eyes. “So that's what this is? She's got you by the balls.”
I grab him by the throat and lift his feet off the ground, which is no small feat because my brother Michael is almost as big as I am.
“Talk about her like that again, and it'll be your last words,” I growl at him as rage pulses through my entire frame.
Michael glares at me.
“Do you understand?” I press him, unwilling to release him until I get his submission.
He nods as much as he can manage with me still gripping his throat.
He stumbles to the floor as I release him, but he catches himself on a knee before he turns hateful eyes up to me and glares at me.
He wisely doesn't speak another word, but as he stands and turns to storm out the door, a feeling of dread overtakes me.
I know my brother Michael's not as bad as our brother who stole our kingdom from us, but his temper is just as volatile when angered.