Charlie’s skin turned from pale to yellow, and I knew the Warden’s words were true. He would employ any means necessary if it meant breaking my spirit— even if it meant hurting, or evenkilling someonewho was innocent. Someone connected to me, whom I loved.
I heard Eddie scream. He came out of nowhere, rushing forward with his sword aloft, to stab the Warden and protect his prince.
But before he even got close, a couple of guards blocked his way. They yanked Eddie’s sword from his hand, and punched him in the gut, making him double over. The guards struck Eddie across the face, and as a punch landed on his cheek, he passed out. Eddie was put in cuffs, dragged away to be held with the rest of the Elven prisoners.
I heard footsteps as Kallie and Marcus hurried to our sides. The guards had let them through and into the circle— but that was our mistake, because now, all of us were trapped.
“Ava, do something,” Marcus pleaded. He was on his hands and knees at Charlie’s side, completely terrified. Kallie’s gaze flashed from me to the guards, as if she wasn’t sure if we should fight or give in.
“I love you,” Charlie whispered. Tears fell from my eyes onto his face. He wouldn’t say that if he didn’t think it was time for him to go.
The other half of my soul was so far away now. I could feel Charlie’s spirit on the brink, ready to detach from mine and pass into the Ancestral Lands. The movement would rip my soul in half. I was sure I’d die from it.
Oberi’s black eyes landed on me, and then I knew. Charlie wouldn’t survive this if the Warden didn’t stop his assault. He had to lift his magic. Otherwise, Charlie wouldn’t make it. He wasdyingbefore my very eyes, and there was only one thing I could do to make it stop.
The Warden looked down upon me with a cruel gaze. “Are we willing to comply yet, Miss Mitoh?”
I bowed my head. “Yes. Please,” I said. “I’ll do anything. I give in.”
“I’m glad you’ve come to your senses.” The Warden took a step back, and immediately, the spell lifted. Charlie took a deep gasp, as if it were the first breath of life. I wept as I watched the color come back into his face and light ignite in his eyes. His skin became warm again, and as I laid a hand on his chest, I felt with relief his heart beating wildly against his ribcage.
Charlie slowly sat up, with the help of Kallie and Marcus. His head lolled.
“I feel so sick,” Charlie murmured. Nausea crossed through our bond, though it wasn’t from me. “I’m too weak to stand.”
“Lean on me, man,” Marcus said. Both Kallie and Marcus got up, and they hefted Charlie to his feet. He had to lean on both of them in order to stay upright. They managed to get him onto Oberi’s back, though he slumped forward immediately. Marcus and I each took a side, to catch him if he fell off. Kallie held Rishi in her arms. The cat’s hair stood straight up, like he’d been spooked.
“You’re alive.” I brushed back Charlie’s hair yet again, and tried to see my way through the tears.
“Barely,” Charlie breathed, and I kissed his face.
A guard came marching up to the Warden, who’d failed to be affected by the scene. Heartless, emotionless bastard. The guard straightened to attention in front of the Warden.
“Sir, we have forty Elven prisoners, as you requested,” the guard said. “What would you like us to do with them?”
“Take those twenty-three and younger to the Institute,” the Warden instructed. “All the rest, drag them to the adult penitentiary on the island.”
“Yes, sir,” the guard said, nodding shortly. He turned back to the group of guards that had contained Eddie. Elven prisoners were taken by force back through the stone gate, handcuffed and completely helpless.
“Sir, do you want us to cuff them?” another guard asked, motioning his head to me and my friends.
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” the Warden replied. “They’ve been sufficiently trained.”
A burning ember of resentment sparked in me, but it quickly died out when I glanced at Charlie. Twenty guards circled around my friends and me. They marched us through the broken remnants of the city, which was still burning and filling the cave with smoke.
I expected us to go back through the traps again, but once we got out of the stone gate, the guards took us down a different tunnel, one that had been newly dug by a Nivita guard— most likely, that night.
I bet the Warden and a couple of his guards had followed us through the traps. Then, once they’d gotten to the door that led to the city, he went back to the prison and got as many guards as he could, and dug a new tunnel down here to funnel his army into. That’s why it took them so long to attack the city after we arrived. We’d been sostupid.
The immensity of our mistakes— my mistake, really— warred with me from the inside out. The guards were dragging us back to the Institute, and the Warden was pillaging the city that the Elves had called home for over a hundred years. As we walked, a verse from my prophecy broke into my head.
A discovery of the ancient ones on the island of shadow
Will change the course of our universe
A chill crept over my skin as I realized it had already been done. I had found Forevermore and the Elves beneath Dark Island, and that discovery would changeeverythingin the supernatural world. A piece of my prophecy had been fulfilled today.
But not merely my own. Charlie’s prophecy, too.
