The Warden paused for a beat, then spoke calmly. “Alert me once the doctors have finished. I’d like to speak with herhusbandfirst.”
The door clicked shut. A shiver traveled down my spine, but I was done fearing this old fuck. He could experiment on me or kill me; it didn’t really matter. Unless Ava made it out of surgery, I had nothing left to live for.
“It’s over,” the Warden stated firmly. “I know what you and your friends are.”
“And?” I questioned coolly. “That doesn’t help you unless you can do something about it. Jaymin proved tonight that you have no idea what the fuck you’re doing.”
“Jaymin was a loose cannon,” the Warden snapped. “She was sloppy. It was a mistake to hire her. Her only use to me is her death. Ava-Marie murdered her, and that’s grounds enough for me to lock her away for life. As an accessory to the murders that occurred tonight, you will also receive a life sentence, Mr. Wahkin.”
Anger rushed into my chest to replace the numbness that had settled there. I was too fucked up with rage to take his threats seriously. I scoffed. “Is that the story you’re going to tell everyone? And what proof do you have?”
“I know the four of you caused that cave-in,” the Warden snarled. “Jaymin left me a message before she pursued you. I need no other proof.”
I gritted my teeth. “The Union’s going to want proof. And if all you have is testimony, you openly admit that you knew about the Underground. The Union will go snooping— and it’ll beallthe Union members, not just the ones you have in your pocket. They’ll discover what you did down there. All the parents of missing kids will know what happened— all the torture and crimes you committed against every supernatural race. They’ll show you no mercy. You’ll receive the death sentence.”
My tone became innocent— fake. “We’re so sorry about what happened to our counselor. Jaymin was our therapist, the best we ever had, and she was really helping us reform. We’d just seen our Elf friends die and be dragged away. She knew how traumatic that would be, so she invited us to the graveyard for a midnight ritual under the moon. She was only trying tohelp. That’s when the sinkhole happened. You know, these caves we mine— they’re so unstable. We tried to save her, but it all just happened so fast.”
The Warden blew heavy breaths. I was obviously really pissing him off. “You’ll never convince anyone of that story. No one has sympathy for a convict like yourself.”
“Oh, really? They’ll believeyouover the poor, blind orphan whose wife is on her deathbed?” I scoffed. “I can be just as manipulative as you, but believe me, I’m better at it.”
“You can’t tell your story if you’re locked away in Cellblock 9,” he threatened.
I let out a cold laugh. “You don’t know what I’ve already said. You don’t know what Ava’s parents have seen. Or are you going to takethemto Cellblock 9, too? The Union would be all over the investigation of a missing Hawkei chief. You want to play this game? We can play it. My wife isdying. I have nothing left to live for. As much as you try to make the rest of us believe you’re the ultimate power here, you have your limits. So, no, I don’t believe you’ll be accusing us of murder anytime soon.”
“You’re not as clever as you think. I know what you are—the emperor’s legacy, his heir,” he growled. “You’re the last Elf in this prison. It has to be you.”
My teeth gritted, and my eyebrow twitched, betraying me. If the Warden didn’t know for sure what I was before, I’d just confirmed it for him.
“Then you know the wording of my prophecy,” I stated dryly. “It is his choice to damn the realm, or save us all.I’ll gladly damn every last soul in existence to destroy you.”
The Warden chuckled, like he found my threats nothing more than amusing. “I’ll get what I want from you first. All I need to do is perfect this spell, and use the inferichite to drain your powers. You have nowhere to go. Rest assured, Mr. Wahkin, as long as you are inside this prison,I own you. Demigods or not, you can’t escape. You think because you’re not locked in a cage in Cellblock 9 that means you’re free?”
He laughed maniacally. “Mr. Wahkin, you’re already locked inmycage. And I will drain every last bit of your power before you make it out of here.”
He turned and strolled out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
Fuck him. I sank back into my chair and stroked Oberi’s fur.
He’s a real asshole, that guy, Oberi said.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But he doesn’t know what kind of assholeIcan be. The Warden thinks he won this battle, but I’ll make damn sure he loses the war.”
The door creaked open, and my spine straightened. I could hear Ava’s father sobbing from the waiting room.
“Ava’s strong,” Sophia reassured him. “She’ll fight for her life.”
“Mr. Wahkin?” a kind female voice said, though I didn’t recognize it. It had to be one of the doctors.
“Yes,” I replied quickly.
“Your wife made it through surgery.”
A heart rate monitor beeped. The wheels of a gurney squeaked as they brought Ava into the room. I nearly toppled over in relief. They transferred her onto the bed, and I immediately went to her side.
“Pidge,” I breathed as I took her hand. She didn’t squeeze back.
Poor pidge. She had to be so weak. Even so, her skin was warm, and I realized that was the most incredible feeling in all the universe.
