“What’s he doing?” I whispered to Marcus.
“Danny’s running his hands over Takahashi’s arms. His eyes are glowing red— like, redder than usual,” Marcus explained.“Strange red tendrils are filtering out of his body. Danny’s dissolving them into the air.”
Danny stood. “There. He should be back to normal.”
Takahashi stirred.
“Did it work?” I demanded.
“Charlie?” Takahashi’s tone was so weak. He sounded completely beaten down. “Where… where am I?”
He had no idea where he was. This was bad. “You’re in the music room inside the palace in Ilamanthe,” I told him gently. “You were compelled to come and kill me. Do you remember any of that?”
Takahashi gave a weak groan as he tried shifting in his seat. “I recall being captured at the Institute and held prisoner by The Mission. Professor Hemlock was with me. They… tortured us. For months on end.”
A hollow pit opened in my stomach. Had I known what they’d endured, I’d have worked to get them out.
No, Iwouldhave got them out. I regretted not being there for them.
“We did our best to withstand the interrogation, and gave nothing of value to The Mission,” Takahashi promised. “Everything the Demigod Guardians know, we kept safe.”
“How did you get into Ilamanthe?” I asked. “My grandfather fortified the wards around the city days ago. You shouldn’t have been able to get through.”
“We’ve been here for a week posing as guards, so we must’ve slipped through before the wards were fortified,” Takahashi said. “We were compelled to attack once we had ample opportunity, and today was our first chance. Believe me, Charlie, I didn’t want to do this, but I could not fight the compulsion.”
“Hemlock,” Marcus said thoughtfully. “She must’ve been compelled to put the illusion on Takahashi. She’s a powerful fae sorceress, and I wouldn’t be surprised if her magic could makeit past our wards undetected. That’s how he got into the palace unnoticed.”
I started barking orders. “I want the Elvish Associates to alert all guards. Get Ava somewhere safe, and find Hemlock. Danny, go with them. If Hemlock’s being compelled, they’ll need you to break the spell. Max, call the infirmary and tell them to bring a gurney. Takahashi needs medical attention.”
“We’re on it, your highness,” Max obeyed.
The others filtered out of the room, while Marcus and I turned back to Takahashi.
“I’m sorry for what The Mission put you through, Professor,” I said softly. “But we need to know more. Did you overhear anything while you were being held captive?”
“I know very little, I’m afraid.” Takahashi swallowed audibly. “Professor Hemlock and I were both in a poor state when they came to compel us. Though I overheard the Warden speaking. There was a fire on one of his properties, and the demigods he controls were inside. They got hurt, but the Warden arrived in time to order his soldiers to pull them from the flames. Mad Dog, Deuce, and Naya all bore scars from the fire, but Esther was able to heal herself, and got out unharmed.”
Fucking hell. Esther and the others were still out there. What was it going to take to kill these people?
“The Warden said he’d tried to kill you already, and since that hadn’t worked, he would send me and Hemlock to perform the assassination,” Takahashi continued weakly. “He thought since you trusted us, you’d let your guard down, and we’d get the job done. He ordered Mad Dog to compel us and send us in. The Warden’s plan was to have us infiltrate the palace quietly, but Mad Dog had other plans. His magic was impatient.”
I scoffed. “Mad Dog fucked that one up. He clearly doesn’t know how to use trust against us, and he botched his spell.”
“Yeah,” Marcus agreed. “I bet he’s never trusted anyone in his life. Doesn’t know trust from his asshole. All he knows is violence.”
I sighed. “Well, this time, violence didn’t work.”
“He’s certainly being punished by the Warden now,” Takahashi rasped. “Gods have mercy on him.”
Hell. I couldn’t imagine what kind of torture they’d put our teachers through to have Takahashi feel sorry for Mad Dog. He was a gentle guy, anyhow, but to show forgiveness to an enemy after what he’d been through meant the Warden was probably submitting Mad Dog to horrible pain right now.
I put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re safe with us now, Professor. Let’s get you all healed up.”
A team of medical staff arrived then, and I undid Takahashi’s handcuffs and helped him onto the gurney. Marcus and I followed the medics to the hospital wing.
On the way there, I overheard Takahashi literallyweepingin what seemed like relief. Shit. I felt terrible for him. It was awful, listening to a poor old man cry.
“Takahashi looksbad, dude,” Marcus murmured. “He’s basically skin and bones. There’s nothing left to him. What The Mission did to him was really fucked up.”
