Charlie and I hesitated, and Marcus dragged Kallie closer.
“I’ll take her back to her cell,” Marcus offered. “She needs some rest.”
Marcus walked Kallie back to her cellblock, and Rishi trailed dutifully behind. Oberi wandered between Charlie and me, giving low, impatient whines.
“What’s wrong with him?” Charlie asked, leaning down to pet Oberi.
“He’s not feeling well,” I said. “It’s like he gets worse every day.”
Oberi let out a moan. “There must be something we can do,” Charlie insisted.
Get along, I thought, but it wasn’t like that was going to happen.
“He’s just upset about… us,” I said. I didn’t know how else to put it, but even saying it that way felt like a knife carving my heart in two.
Charlie frowned. “Well, he’s going to have to move on. It’s over.”
It felt like he was saying those words tome, and not to Oberi, and that really stung.
I stomped my foot and turned around. “You know what? He’s probably just bummed out, because he spends all his time with you. He needs some fun in his life. Come on, Oberi.”
I walked away, and Oberi barked as he trailed behind. I didn’t know if Charlie stayed there or left, because I didn’t look back to see.
I wasn’t sure where I was going, but I didn’t care. As long as I got away from Mister Cynical.
Kallie could stop time, but I damn sure wished she could reverse it. If so, I’d use her powers to go back in time and stop myself from ever meeting Charlie Wahkin in the first place.
But even if I erased him from my mind, and my past, I didn’t know if that would help, because for some stupid reason, I couldn’t get him out of my heart.
And it was killing me.
CHAPTERFIVE
CHARLIE
Ihad to admit, Kallie’s new powers were pretty badass, but it was obvious she wasn’t going to perfect them anytime soon. I thought we could use them to escape the Institute, or get away with beating the shit out of the Warden, but the little bit of magic she’d used had knocked her on her ass. She hadn’t been at lunch all week.
It wasn’t until Friday morning that I ran into her again. Marcus and I sat in Commissary, drinking coffee just to keep ourselves awake between classes. I’d been working double shifts at the factory, as punishment for starting a fight with Mad Dog. With classes and a few hours of fight club training thrown in, I’d barely had time to sleep.
“Professor Warbright wants me to brew a transfiguration potion for my semester final,” Marcus said. It was hard to hear him above all the chatter and the TV playing in the corner. “He claims I havepotential, and that I should start studying now.”
“Youdohave potential,” I said. “But I thought transfiguration potions were banned. Otherwise, Alistair would be running around turning everyone into a frog.”
Marcus laughed. “You’re not wrong. Warbright says it’s okay under teacher supervision— oh, shit.”
I sighed. “What now? Don’t tell me you spilled coffee on your pantsagain.”
“Don’t look,” Marcus said quickly.
I sarcastically made a show of moving my head one way, then the other, as if I was glancing around the Commissary.
“I-I didn’t mean—” Marcus stammered.
He cut off just as I heard the sound of Oberi’s panting coming our way. I reached out and scratched him behind the ears, and he barked happily. The chair squeaked beside me, and Kallie plopped into it, blowing a breath. Ava’s scent surrounded me as she quietly took the chair opposite Kallie.
“Hey, Kallie,” I said. “Feeling better?”
She groaned. “I have one hell of a headache. Thank the gods for coffee, right?”
