I took his hand as Marcus moved me to his bedside. “Oh, Charlie.” If he could call me by my favorite name, all was right again in the world.
“You regrew my organs.” His thumb moved over the back of my hand, and I didn’t bother to resist a delightful shudder.
“I do what I want.”
“Still… that’s incredible magic. I’d say it’s hard for me to believe that you pulled it off, but nothing’s off-limits to you. Thank you so much for saving me.”
“I’d never let anything happen to you,” I promised. “Whatever happens, you’ll always be safe if I’m there.”
Kallie walked in, eating a bag of cookies. “Hey,” she said. “Have a nice sleep?”
“You butthead! You let Marcus spike my drink with a sleeping tonic! I know you were in on it,” I snapped.
“From what I hear, he had to, because you were being purposefully difficult,” Charlie said firmly. “I’d ask what you were thinking, but you obviously weren’t. Pulling off big magic like that then not letting the doctors make sure you’re healthy is beyond not okay. You’re in big trouble.”
I huffed out a breath. “We can talk about that later. What the hell did Danielledoto you? When we burst in, it looked like you were having some kind of fancy dinner to satisfy her disgusting fantasies.”
My blood nearly boiled out of my veins at the memory of her curled up on his lap. That wasmy place,and she’d takenmy man.
“I kept her talking,” Charlie said. “And if I’m being honest, what she told me isn’t good.”
“What’d she say?” Kallie asked, already appearing on edge.
Charlie seemed very frightened, which always scared me. Not much terrified my husband, so if he was concerned, we all should be. “Danielle told me the Warden doesn’t want to attack Ilamanthe yet. It’s like he’s biding his time, because he needs the Elves for some kind of purpose. The more Elves that die in battle, the less he has to use for whatever awful idea he’s got planned. He doesn’t want to exterminate them; he wants to imprison them. It’s why he hasn’t attacked the city yet. That, andit sounded like he’s threatened by us demigods. That’s why he had to lure us away from the city, onto his own turf.”
“If that’s true, this goes beyond the war,” I said. “It’s not about winning and defeating the other supernatural nations. It’s about taking control of the Elvish race and using their magic. For what, we don’t know. We need to figure out what the Warden needs the Elves for, because whatever he’s planning, it gives him even more power than he already has.”
“He could capture the Elves easily if he makes more demigods and creates an army for himself,” Marcus said in terror.
“He can’t,” Charlie said. “Danielle told me that he’s tried, and they die every time, plus he gives away some of his power on each attempt. The demigods he has are the ones he’s got.”
“Well, that’s good, because we killed them,” Kallie said, crossing her arms. “But it’s definitely concerning that we don't have an idea of what he wants to do with the Elves, and he needs us out of the way to do it.”
Cassiel appeared contemplative as he took in all this information, leaning closer to listen.
“That’s not the worst thing,” Charlie warned. “Danielle said the Wardencan’t die.”
Marcus gave apsh.“He’s an angel, of course he can’t die.”
“It’s more than that. Danielle said she watched the Warden fight the dark gods. They were trying to kill him and take over, but they couldn’t, because no matter what they threw at him, he survived it all. Apparently, his magic was so strong he put them in their place, and they had to listen. He was able to defeat and control multiple gods without a scratch on him,” Charlie said.
I scoffed. “She was obviously lying. That, or she was so stupid that she believed whatever came out of the Warden’s mouth.”
“It makes sense, though,” Charlie argued. “Nothing we’ve seen other people do has come close to even hurting the Warden,let alone killing him, and the dark gods wouldn’t be working for him unless he has an edge over them. Otherwise, they would’ve killed him and taken The Mission for themselves by now.”
“This is a problem, because if the dark gods can’t kill him, we don’t stand a chance, either,” Kallie insisted.
“But how did he get so much power?” Marcus wondered. “I’ve never heard of any supernatural who literally can’t die and are invulnerable to all attacks. Angels, Elves and vampires are immortal, but they can still be killed. It doesn’t even sound like the Warden can be wounded without recovering.”
“Maybe he’s like Oberi,” I speculated. “Even if you get him down, he’ll just regenerate, and come back to life.”
“Great,” Kallie grumbled. “Like we didn’t have enough problems on our hands. Now the Warden is basically a god himself.”
“Exactly,” Charlie growled. “If we want to kill the Warden, we need to learn how to kill a god… and I don’t even know if that’s possible.”
Nobody in the room said anything, because it might not be. I didn’t know of any stories or legends which told of a god dying, in any supernatural religion.
But I hadn’t heard any legends about a supernatural regrowing organs, either, and I’d done just that for Charlie. I knew, deep in my gut, that I’d kill the Warden one day. I was certain I would. Impossible things were possible for me. I just had to learn how.
