Page 39 of Knox

Zev watched with a thoughtful expression. "Let’s hope they actually listen to the lyrics instead of just dancing to them."

Knox remained silent, his eyes narrowing as he studied the TV screen. "We need to be ready for Caelen to retaliate," he finally said.

Adrian felt a knot of anxiety tighten in his stomach. Knox was likely right; the Shadow King wouldn’t take this lying down—and there was no telling how the masses would react in any case.

He pulled out his phone and quickly navigated to his favorite message boards.

The notifications were overwhelming—dozens of new posts from people discussing Lyrian’s performance. Adrian scrolled through them rapidly:

"Did you see that guy singing on TV? He was amazing!"

"Guys! Is this really happening? Are we living in the best time-line?"

"Who is he? And what was that song about?"

"I think he was warning us about the Shadow King! This is insane!"

"Help me! Should I fangirl over Caelen or Lyrian? THEY’RE BOTH SO HOT."

"Why not both? Life is short, don’t cut corners!"

"You’re right! I will draw them together!"

Of course the online discourse was led by horny people. At this point, Adrian wasn’t even surprised. Exasperated, but not surprised. Why did no one seem to understand that this was serious?

"What are you seeing on your little rectangle?" Knox asked.

Adrian nearly jumped. He hadn’t noticed the incubus approach. "It’s called a phone, and I’m checking on people’s reactions."

"What are they saying?" Lyrian asked.

Adrian considered telling the siren that there was going to be a lot of fanart showing him fucking the Shadow King, but he decided against it. "Give me another minute," he said instead.

Leon was still conspicuously offline (what was he doing while the internet was on fire???), but Daniel had a green light next to his name, so Adrian sent him a quick message.

"Are you seeing what’s happening on the forums?"

Within moments, Daniel’s response popped up. "Forget the forums. Check the main page of the Book Nook."

Curiosity piqued, Adrian switched tabs and navigated to the Book Nook’s homepage. The usual reviews and recommendations had been pushed aside by a glaring announcement at the top of the page.

"THE SHADOW KING TO APPEAR AT FAN CONVENTION IN GREENWOOD TOMORROW!"

Chapter

Eleven

Adrian stared at the screen, mouth agape. The Shadow King was going to make a public appearance? At a convention?

This was bad.

"What’s wrong?" Knox’s voice broke through Adrian’s thoughts.

Adrian looked up to see Knox, Zev, and Lyrian all watching him intently. He took a deep breath and tried to steady his voice.

"Caelen… he’s going to appear at a convention tomorrow," Adrian said, struggling to wrap his head around the absurdity of it all.

Zev frowned. "What’s a convention?"