“Not like that,” he said quickly. “He only told me, Ivy, Opal, and Ez the truth. I guess Kallie and Ava have been avoiding him, and you were in the infirmary. He needed someone to talk to.”
“Kallie and Ava are avoiding him?” I asked. “Why?”
“I know how to get my hands on information,” Chancey said. “But don’t ask me to explain why girls do the stuff they do. I don’t know why they’re avoiding Marcus. If he has any clue, he left it out of his version of the story.”
I think I already knew. Ava was avoiding me, too, and I felt the unease as well. Guilt permeated my bones. I hadn’t let myself go there just yet, but it was bubbling to the surface. Sooner or later, I wouldn’t be able to push it down.
They were dead. Thousands of Elves had been slaughtered and displaced from their homes, their existence revealed… because of us.
We all had baggage we carried around daily. With this, it just became too much to bear. I wasn’t sure any of us had the strength left in us to keep dragging this shit around. The guilt had broken us all.
“How much does everyone know?” I asked.
“They know the four of you broke out,” he said. “It was a big deal when you four disappeared after the explosion at the mines. Marcus said Kallie cast an illusion, but you guys weren’t back by the time it faded. We all knew something was up. We just didn’t know what until you guys returned, and with a bunch of Elves, too. It’s… kind of surreal.”
“Did they find the rest of the Elves?” I asked, holding my breath. “The ones that escaped?”
“No. Nobody knows what happened to them. Right now, all anyone knows is that the Elves are still out there. We don’t know what’s going to happen next. Everyone seems to think another war is going to break out.”
I stilled. Had we started the war the prophecy spoke of? I’d been trying so long to stop the prophecy and to keep it out of Ava’s reach… and it was still coming true. It didn’t seem to matter how much I tried to protect her.
There was only one thing left I could think to try.
My stomach dropped out of my abdomen. This would be the hardest thing I’d ever done— worse than the trauma I’d endured as a kid, worse than witnessing the slaughter of the Elves in Forevermore. The Warden could take my life force all over again, and it wouldn’t be as bad as what I was about to do.
And yet the decision seemed so easy, because it felt as if the choice had already been made for me.
My throat closed up, but I managed to force out, “Thanks for the info, Chancey. I’ll catch up with you later.”
I nudged Oberi and spoke to him in my mind,Take me to Ava.
Oberi let out a soft whine.She doesn’t want to see you right now.
I don’t care, I replied.I need to see her.
Charlie…Oberi used a sharp tone, as if warning me of something. He was taking Ava’s side, but I couldn’t stand being shut out like this right now.
Fine. I’ll find her myself,I huffed at Oberi before storming out of the room. My shoulder slammed into the doorframe, but I yanked the door shut behind me and kept on moving. The door to the Villain’s Den was almost always open, but I didn’t want Oberi following me.
He barked through the door and screamed in my mind,Come back here, young man!
I scoffed. He couldn’t tell me what to do.
Navigating the halls of the Institute was difficult without Oberi. I could get to my classes without him, because I knew the landmarks and counted my steps, but when I wandered, I easily got lost. I turned a couple of hallways to lose Oberi, but I didn’t really know where I was going.
Pidge, please let me in, I begged in my mind. She couldn’t hear me the way Oberi could, but she could feel me reaching out to her.
She shut me down, as if telling me to go away.
Come on, Ava. We need to talk. Where are you?
She shied away from the connection, but a mix of emotions slipped through— sorrow and guilt, combined with a sense of safety.
There was only one place I could think of that would make her feel safe.
I turned around and wandered the halls until I heard voices coming from the cafeteria. Once I knew where I was, it was easier to navigate. I calmed my breath so I could focus on my surroundings. I counted my steps as I wove through the halls. I went up a stairway, until I came to the door that led outside.
I opened the door, and Ava gasped at the sound. My heart surged when I heard her— it felt so freaking good— but it crumbled a moment later. This wasnota meeting to be happy about.
