“So call off the flames,” Charlie suggested. “You’re strong enough to put the whole thing out at once.”
I thought about it, taking my time as I mused over the possibility. Then I shook my head slowly as I replied, “No.”
“No?Our friends are out there! Yourbrotheris out there!” Kallie protested.
“I know. But we have to let it burn anyway.”
“Ava, what are you talking about?” Charlie asked gently.
I didn’t know if they’d understand. But I had to tell them… show them. “The Institute is a horrible place. It’s tortured, maimed, and killed people for centuries. Even before the Warden took over, it was used to hurt everyone who passed through its doors. It can’t continue to stand. It doesn’t matter if the Warden abandons it. Someone else, maybe someone even more terrible than he is, will come here and use it to destroy and experiment. We need to fulfill these prophecies, and we can’t do that if the Institute is continually used to manipulate and exploit people. It needs to burn at any cost. Even if we end up losing the ones we love because of it.”
“This is a villain’s choice. The Warden is the villain, not you,” Charlie protested.
“I’m a villain, too. Just a different kind,” I replied. “And I became the villain because the world didn’t allow me to live my life the way I wanted to live it… the way that I knew was necessary for me to survive. I was different. All of us were. And we didn’t get the resources, or the help, or the understanding we needed to cope. Then we came here, and it got even worse. Not just for us, but for all these broken, troubled kids. They tried to fix us instead of understand us. When they couldn’t fix us, they used us for their own gain. We have to let the Institute burn, so no one else can be taken advantage of. There won’t be another Infernal Underground, or Cellblock 9, at least not here on Darke Island. If that’s all I can do for the good of the world, well… it’s worth the sacrifice. Because I don’t think any of us want another person to go through what we all did.”
Everyone was quiet. Charlie wrapped his arms around my middle as he asked, “Are you sure?”
“I am. I just wanted to live in peace, but the world wouldn’t let me. It’llneverlet people who are different be who they are. So now it has to suffer the consequences.”
“Then we let it burn.” Charlie placed a kiss on my neck.
No one objected, and I knew they understood. Most people wouldn’t. I’d be seen as a terrible person for allowing this to happen when I could do something to stop it.
But it wasn’t my fault. I hadn’t done all these terrible things; they’d happenedto me.And I was tired of being at the mercy of powerful persecutors who were willing tomake me sufferbecause I had something they wanted. I wasn’t the only one who'd experienced that here. That cycle had to end, even if it required sacrifice to do it.
I never really believed in sacrifice. I didn’t think it was necessary, that it was an excuse tyrants used to justify their evil actions. But now that I had a choice to rescue the kids who were still inside the Institute, most of whom were already gone, or prevent countless others from ever entering this building in the first place, it was almost an easy decision.
Almost.
I patted Oberi’s side. “Let’s go home.”
Where is… home?Oberi asked.
“Wherever we decide,” I responded. “We’re not accepted anywhere, so we’ll make it for ourselves.”
The Institute wasn’t home anymore. Maybe it never really had been. It’d just been a place we’d made into home, because we weren’t allowed to choose anything else. And I didn’t believe I could move on to a new life until this place was lying in desolation behind us. The past was over and done. I was finally free.
We all were. Now was the time to embrace that freedom. What we did from this point on was, finally, up to us. Whether we used it for good, or bad, didn’t matter.
All that mattered was that it was ours.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
CHARLIE
I’d never been closer to death than when I was lying on that operating table, being stabbed with scalpels and tortured for the pure enjoyment of complete psychopaths. The Warden had completely drained me of my magic, then left me there for his guards to kill, instructing them to drag it out in the worst possible way. Killing me wasn’t enough. He wanted me to suffer beyond comprehension before I died, and he’d definitely found the right monsters to do it.
For the briefest of moments, I let myself believe the Warden had won. I went numb, so I didn’t have to feel it when I died. Soon, I’d be with my love.
Then I heard her voice. The sound of my name had never sounded so good. Ava wasalive. Hell,Iwas still alive. It didn’t seem possible.
We had a habit of defying the impossible.
Then we shattered those inferichite cuffs, and the magic the Warden had tried to take from us came back even stronger than before. Our magic was uncontainable, and that was a dangerous weapon in the hands of delirious, unhinged inmates with their sights set on revenge.
The Warden had no idea what kind of enemies he’d created in his search for power. He should’ve killed us quickly, instead of trying to humiliate us before our demise.
Because now? We were unstoppable. We didn’t have any reason to stay here anymore, any motivation to act nice and behave. Our magic could finally be free. And all of us were begging to set it loose against the first sick fuck who crossed our paths. I waspissed off.We all were. And we weredoneplaying around. This prison was ours.
