Chapter 51

Lucas grinned wickedly, and laid a claiming hand at the back of my neck. I shuddered from the touch, and felt my cheeks grow hot and red.

He lifted the microphone once again to his lips when the doors to the ballroom burst open, swinging all the way back on their hinges and crashing loudly into the walls beside them. A figure walked into the room slowly, with a torn jacket and bits of dirt and leaves clinging to his hair.

I squinted to make out his face, when I realized who I was looking at. “Caleb!”

I threw off Lucas’s hands and dashed down the steps to meet Caleb. The crowd parted like ocean waves as I ran into him, smelling like mulch and flowers and the musk that was distinctly him.

His face was streaked with blood I wasn’t sure was his. “What happened?” I whispered, reaching up to touch a deep, red scrape over his jaw. It was rough with his stubble.

“We can talk later,” he replied, gently removing my fingers from his face. With a booming voice he continued, “Right now, there are a few words I need to share with my brother.”

Lucas’s expression was shockingly calm, like this was something he had expected and planned for all along. “Caleb! We were just lamenting the fact you couldn’t be here with us while I addressed your guests.”

The crowd murmured as Caleb waltzed through them, dragging a line of mud and rotten leaves across the floor. “And whose fault is that?” He said, standing in the center of the ballroom under the chandelier lights. The sparkling glow made his wounds show even more prominently.

Lucas shook his head, “What are you talking about? You’ve clearly run off and gotten into trouble. Was your whore for the evening really so unhappy with your performance?”

A few gasps from the crowd at his crude comments. Caleb narrowed his eyes.

“I was told my fiancee was in danger. And for that reason I did what any of you would have done if your beloved was captured. I left to find her and bring her back safely.”

“Touching, but Ruby has been in the ballroom all night. She has been accounted for since the party started.” Lucas said, swinging the microphone casually. “Your alibi will have to be better than that.”

I bit my lip, desperate for Caleb to prove himself. After everything I had dealt with since he left earlier in the evening, all I wanted was to know I had made the right choice in trusting him.

There was a moment of silence, and the doors to the ballroom creaked open slowly once again. Joseph padded in over the muddy footprints, and behind him were two tall men in handcuffs, their heads hung low.

I spun back to see Lucas’s face, the swagger of a few moments before had completely vanished.

“These men can attest to my story.” Caleb said, gesturing for them to come forward. “I was lured away from the party by a fake message, sent by my brother Lucas.”

The audience immediately erupted into enraged shouting on all sides.

“He hired these men to attack me and keep me away from the party–”

“Lies! He brought them in himself, I have never seen them before in my life!” Lucas screamed hysterically.

“We’ll see about that when the courts have heard their recorded confessions,” Caleb responded, nodding to Joseph who was holding up his phone for the guests to see.

Lucas took a threatening step down the staircase, “You dare to accuse me of something so heinous?”

Caleb shrugged, his shoulders slightly lopsided. “You dared to do it.”

For a moment, the tension was unbearable, and the entire ballroom was silent. I held my breath as the two brothers stared each other down, Lucas with his fists clenched and Caleb with his chin held high.

Then, almost too quickly to see, Lucas flicked his fingers, and the entire room descended into chaos. I leapt out of the way of a muscular man in a bright blue suit diving into the crowd, his arms swinging.

Small fights broke out across the hall, while many fled to avoid the attacks. Caleb burst through the grasp of three men circling him to run up the stairs of the podium, thrusting his fist into Lucas’s throat.

His brother managed to dodge the blow, only to lose his balance and miss as he tried to kick into Caleb’s stomach. Caleb twisted around to redirect Lucas’s momentum, sending him flying down the steps to the floor.

“You bastard!” Lucas screeched, eyes wild as he scrambled back to his feet. “You will never win against me. You’ve only ever been a desperate Prenian bitch–”

“Who you have been afraid of since we were children,” Caleb interrupted, advancing firmly on Lucas. “I never raised a word against you. and yet you thought I was your biggest threat.”

Lucas crawled away, trying to get back on his feet and slipping on the marble floor. The fighting ringed them like moving walls of limbs.

“So,” Caleb said, leaning down to face his brother. “Who really is the weak one?”

Lucas was frozen for a moment, before a crooked smile spread over his features. He was so fast I blinked and missed the blow, but it sent Caleb backwards, coughing.

I screamed for him, but the room was too loud.

I could barely hear the shouting of orders coming from Lucas’s mouth. A stampede of his supporters left the ballroom through the balconies and the central door, leaving Caleb’s battered fighters and the terrified politicians shivering in the corners.

“Well, that wasn’t quite the finale I had planned for the night,” Caleb said, groaning as he rolled over onto his side.

Joseph knelt by his side, pulling him back onto his feet. I felt a sigh of relief wash over me as Caleb stood, a cut at his eyebrow dropping blood onto his shoulder.

“Thank you everyone for coming!” I said over the noise, trying to take back control of the night. “Please make your way out through the front exit, we have guards and servants who will direct you home.”

The ballroom was in shambles, with upside down tables and chairs and broken glass all over the floor. After ushering the guests out, I was left alone with Caleb.

He looked more tired than I had ever seen him, with dark circles under his eyes.

I took a step towards him, unsure how to read the expression on his face.

“Are you okay?” I asked, searching his features.

He sighed, and rolled his sleeves farther up his arms. “As okay as I’ve ever been.”

I reached out to take his hand, and led him towards the door. “I think it’s time we go home.”