“Absolutely!” Eddie romped out like he was Charlie’s personal lap dog, excited he’d gotten thrown a treat. When the door clicked shut, there was an anxious silence— made even worse by the obnoxious tapping of Marcus’ shoe against the floor.
“Marcus!” Kallie snapped, throwing her hands up. “Gods, can you just chill out?”
“Sorry! I’m nervous,” Marcus blurted. “I don’t know why we’re doing this. Why now?”
Nobody said anything, and it was clear we were waiting for Charlie. He took a breath. “Eddie and I have been doing our best to search for the remaining keys on our own, but we’re not getting anywhere. We need help.”
Ancestors, thekeys. The ones that opened the Elven gate on Darke Island. We’d hid them in the Criminal Lair last summer, because it was the only place they felt safe. It was the last time I spoke to Kallie or Marcus. I hadn’t given them a thought since, because the last time we’d gone looking for a key, my entire life had imploded. I honestly thought we were done with this.
“So you only talk to us when you need something. Got it,” Kallie said.
“It’s not like that,” Charlie ground out. “Things were… they’re complicated. It didn’t feel right to be friends, after—”
“After we condemned a whole city to their doom?” Kallie raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, got to say, that’s pretty awkward.”
Charlie rubbed his face. “This is going to sound harsh, but I think it’s time all of us just… got over it.”
“Got over it?” I repeated with disdain. “You want us to get over the fact that the four of us led the Warden straight to the Elves, and set off tension between the supernatural races that just might start another war?”
“We don't have any other choice. We have to move forward,” Charlie snapped.
“And how do you expect us to do that?” I crossed my arms.
“By focusing on what’s ahead,” Charlie said firmly. “We can’t go back and reverse what we did, but we can still make things right. There are Elves out there that need our help. We can’t bring back those who died, but we can rescue those who are still alive.”
Could we? I wasn’t sure. The Elves would’ve been better off if we had done nothing at all.
Charlie noticed my silence. “Did you make any headway on your own prophecy?”
I scoffed. “No.”
And I didn’t want to. I couldn’t care less about my prophecy. The night Forevermore had been discovered, I’d stormed back to my cell and tossed the journal my Aunt Maddie had given me into my desk drawer in a fit of rage. It’d been collecting dust ever since. I didn’t care about fulfilling my prophecy, finding the keys, or anything having to do with my destiny. As far as I was concerned, my prophecy had cost me everything that mattered, so I didn’t wish to have anything to do with it until I was forced to face it again. I’d lost interest in finding clues, or even in discovering more about my demigod blood.
Charlie frowned. “I’d thought you’d be interested in uncovering what the other verses meant.”
I gave a pitiful laugh. “Why? So more people can get hurt? I’ve already fulfilled one line of the prophecy:A discovery of the ancient ones on the island of shadow will change the course of our universe.That line came to pass, and now, Forevermore is gone. That was onlyone verse, and there are still five verses left to go— oh, wait, there’ssixnow. I forgot.”
My tone was bitter. Charlie hunched over, away from my voice.
“Six?” Kallie asked. “I thought—”
“There are seven verses of my prophecy, one that my Aunt Maddie kept hidden from me, but she toldCharlie,” I said. “The last verse says;A choice will be made by the twin of her soul, to save her and damn the realm, or curse her, and save us all. A fate worse than death is the chosen one’s destiny.Charlie’s supposed to cause my greatest demise, or whatever. Like anything could be worse than languishing in this hellhole, forced to endure the Warden’s every whim.”
“Wow. That’s rough,” Marcus said, raising his eyebrows.
“Yeah. So excuse me if I don’t exactly want to push forward with my own prophecy. I’d like not to destroy any more civilizations… or myself.” I shrugged.
Charlie went on, in a hurry to get away from what I’d revealed. “Anyway. I know saving the Elves is my responsibility, because I’m the Elven heir. You guys don’t have anything to do with this. All of you can walk away.”
“Walk away?” Marcus sounded disgusted. “Do you really think we’d do that?”
“I’m asking you not to!” Charlie shouted. “I need your help!”
“You need our keys to open the gate on Darke Island, so you can lead the Elves to the Blessed Haven,” Kallie clarified. “That’s it.”
“No.” Charlie shook his head. “It’s not that simple.”
Charlie collapsed in a pew a few rows down from Marcus. I took a seat across the aisle away from him, waiting for him to explain.
