Charlie had been lying on the floor of the bathroom for nearly an hour before I finally convinced him to go to the nurses and ask for some medication. He didn’t want to leave me, but clearly, he was suffering. Oberi went with him, guiding Charlie to the nurse’s station and leaving me completely alone for the first time since before we’d gone to the Underground.
I wasn’t alone for long. I’d been wanting to drift off to sleep, but my eyes shot open as an intimidating figure strode into the room and shut the door. The dim lights illuminated the Warden’s pallid face. He straightened his suit jacket as he loomed overhead.
He wasn’t the only one who’d arrived. A canine with red lines running through his blue fur sat silently in the corner of the room, observing. The Warden couldn’t see him, but I sure could.
Coyote Spirit was here with me. He wouldn’t let the Warden hurt me.
The Warden’s tone was cool as he said, “So here we are again, Mrs. Wahkin.”
“Here we are.” I raised an eyebrow. “Come to deliver more empty threats?”
“I’m not sure you could do anything about them, in your condition. You’re more vulnerable than you ever have been.”
“You’re wrong. I’m more dangerous.” My words were flat and pointed. “I’ve been to the other side and back. I’ve witnessed things you can’t even imagine.”
I could see the greed in the Warden’s eyes. He wanted that information and what I knew. To die and come back again with all that knowledge… he saw that as a rare gift, no matter what I’d given up to get it.
“I’m sorry to say we nearly lost you. What a waste that would’ve been,” the Warden purred. “I wanted you alive more than the others.”
“You don’t get it. You kill one of us, you killallof us,” I stated firmly. “My friends and I will do anything to stick together, so we can take you down.”
“Your sentiments are charming, but I have no doubt you’ll all turn on each other when the time is right. Criminals always do,” the Warden replied in a bored way. “One day, the four of you will have a disagreement, a difference of opinion that’ll lead to division. Then it’ll be simple to pick you apart, like picking the wings off a fly.”
“You want to drive a wedge between me and my friends, you’re going to have to do better than this.” I jangled the cuff on my wrist.
“Oh, my dear, I already have. The inferichite cuff is only the beginning of your troubles.”
“You think this little bracelet is going to stop me? You’re wrong,” I seethed. “Though I have to thank you for the Christmas present. I always did like jewelry.”
“You’re entertaining. I’ll give you that.”
The Warden paused. He glanced over his shoulder, as if listening to something. Then he said, “You’ve no doubt reasoned that it is I who has been sending dark spirits into your cell in order to demoralize and degrade you. I can assure you that is the least I can do, and I get stronger every day. I have eyes everywhere, my child. You may have outwitted me once, and in doing so, have caused a war that I wasn’t ready to fight. But I am ready now, and I won’t make such a misstep again as to underestimate just how foolish you’re willing to be. You got lucky this time, Mrs. Wahkin. It’ll only be so long before your luck runs out.”
The Warden swept out of the room. Coyote approached me, walking toward the bed with small steps.The words he speaks are true. He knows Charlie is the Elven heir. He has access to hell and all of its power. And he is working on learning how to use the inferichite crystals to siphon your power for himself. You must be careful, for you’re in more danger than you ever have been before.
“I’m not afraid. The ancestors and the gods are on my side,” I replied.
There’s only so much I and the other gods can do to protect you from this moment forward. The dark gods are stirring, and soon, they will be unleashed from the Eternal Torment. Then there will be war in the spiritual realm as there is war here on the mortal plane, and we won’t be able to defend you anymore.
“I understand,” I told him. “I won’t let you down.”
You mustn’t,Coyote said urgently.Whale Spirit and I put everything on the line to advocate for your return to this life. If you fail, we all do.
Flames began licking away at Coyote’s form as he vanished into darkness.You’ll have to be braver than you ever were before. We’re counting on you… all of you.
CHAPTERTHREE
CHARLIE
Iwas done with this place. I’d rather go back to the streets than be locked in the Warden’s prison any longer. At least out there, I could take care of my family. I knew how to hustle for money and find a place to stay. No matter how shitty our lives would be on the street, at least I could keep Ava away from the Warden.
Here, this man was God.I step away for one minute, and the man comes in here like he owns the fucking place,threatingmy wife!
How dare he even stand in the same room as her! If I knew how to kill an angel, that man would be buried as deep into the earth as my magic could reach.
On second thought… maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea. But it’s not like burying an angel alive would kill him. The other angels would just dig him up, and he’d be even more pissed and come after us.
Fuck!How did you fight a man who was practically immortal? I clenched my hands from where I sat in the chair beside Ava’s bed.
