Bride (Ali Hazelwood) by Ali Hazelwood

            “Correct.”

            I remain skeptical. “Did the Alpha tell you this when you met?”

            “No. This is intel we obtained separately. The Alpha told me other things.”

            “Such as?”

            “He is young, you see. Around your age and built of a different stock. As savage as Roscoe, perhaps, but more open-minded. He believes that peace in the region is possible. That alliances among all three species should be cultivated.”

            I snort out a laugh. “Good luck with that.”

            Father’s head tilts to the side, and his eyes zero in on me, assessing. “You know why I chose you to be the Collateral? And not your brother?”

            Oh, no. Not this conversation. “Tossed a coin?”

            “You were such a peculiar child, Misery. Always uninterested in what went on around you, locked in a vault inside your head, hard to reach. Withdrawn. The other children would try to become your friends, and you’d stubbornly leave them hanging—”

            “The other children knew that I’d be the one sent to the Humans, and they started calling me fangless traitor as soon as they could form full sentences. Or have you forgotten when I was seven, and the sons and daughters of your fellow councilmen stole my clothes and pushed me out in the sun right before midday? And those same people spat on me and mocked me when I returned from ten years serving as their Collateral, so I’m not—” I exhale slowly, and remind myself that this is fine. I am fine. Untouchable. I’m twenty-five and I have my fake Human IDs, my apartment, my cat (fuck you, Serena), my . . . Okay, I probably don’t have a job right now, but I’ll find another soon, with 100 percent fewer Pierces. I have friends—a friend. Probably.

            Above all, I’ve taught myself not to care. About anything.

            “The wedding you mentioned. Whose is it?”

            Father presses his lips together. Several moments tick by before he speaks again. “When a Were and a Vampyre stand in front of each other, all they see is—”

            “The Aster.” I glance down at my phone, impatient. “Three minutes and forty-seven seconds—”

            “They see a wedding between a Vampyre and an Alpha that was supposed to broker peace, but ended in death. The Weres are animals, and always will be, but we are on the road to extinction, and the good of the most must be considered. If we let the Humans and Weres form an alliance that excludes us, they could completely wipe us out—”

            “Oh my God.” It suddenly dawns on me, the crazy, ridiculous place where he’s heading, and I cover my eyes. “You are joking, right?”

            “Misery.”

            “No.” I let out a laugh. “You . . . Father, we cannot marry our way out of this war.” I don’t know why I’ve switched to the Tongue, but it takes him aback. And maybe that’s good, maybe this is what he needs. A moment to think this madness through. “Who would agree to this?”

            Father looks at me so pointedly, I know. I just know.

            And I burst into laughter.

            I only ever laughed out loud with Serena, which means that it must have been well over a month since I last did it. My brain nearly hiccups, startled at these newfangled, mysterious sounds my voice box is producing. “Did you drink rotten blood? Because you’re unhinged.”

            “What I am is charged with ensuring the good of the most, and the good of the most is the furthering of our people.” He seems somewhat offended by my reaction, but I cannot help the laughter bubbling in my throat. “It would be a job, Misery. Compensated.”

            This is— God, this is funny. And mental. “No amount of legal tender would convince me to— Is it ten billion dollars?”

            “No.”

            “Well, no lower amount of legal tender would convince me to marry a Were.”

            “Financially, you will be set for life. You know the council’s pockets are deep. And there is no expectation of a real marriage. You’d be with him in name only. You’ll be in Were territory for a single year, which will send the message that Vampyres can be safe with Weres—”