There was a very long pause, and Amber said, “Yes… sadly, that has been the case. But I’m optimistic the rest of you will pull through! After all, we’re counting on you!”
She gave us a thumbs-up. It was far from reassuring.
“I think we need to bring this meeting to a close,” Cassiel said. “We’ve covered much information, and I’m sure the prince and princess, as well as their friends, need rest.”
Absolutely. I felt drained. There was so much for us to do, discover, and solve, that it felt overwhelming. Good thing we were demigods, because I felt like we had to be, in order to have a shot at fixing this.
There was assorted conversation as people got up from their seats. Marcus and Kallie went to join their families, while others went in different directions.
I really wanted to visit my parents, but I needed some downtime first. “Meet you guys for dinner?” I offered as Mama waved goodbye.
“Of course. And Ava,” Daddy called before we left. I paused at the door.
Daddy’s tone was heavy. “Your Aunt Maddie is in the city. She wants to see you, when you’re ready.”
My stomach became hollow, and I nodded vaguely in reply. My aunt had made my prophecy. Maybe she’d discovered something that could help. I’d have to visit her as soon as I could…
I didn’t know if I had the strength. My prophecy had nearly killed me several times over, and had actually killed me once. I couldn’t take more bad news if my aunt had any.
I felt my nerves waver as I turned to face Daddy. I needed to talk to him about this, if only briefly. “Daddy… if I’m an Elvishprincess, what does that mean when it comes time for me to be chieftess of the Toaqua tribe?”
“Don’t worry about that now, peanut,” Daddy told me. “I’m not going anywhere, and I’m definitely not stepping down from the chiefhood while the supernatural world is going to shit. We can talk about it after the war is over.”
I nodded, but I wondered if it ever would be.
Charlie pushed my chair into the hallway. Danny did a complete turn on his heel and gave us a roguish smile. “I’d love to get to know you better, but I’ve got more important things to do. See you at demigod training. That is,ifyou can keep up.”
Danny took off down the hall at super-speed. The effect blew back my hair.
“I’m not sure if I like that guy,” Charlie grumbled.
“He’s not as bad as he seems. Danny’s for show, all bark and no bite,” Ivy said.
Then Ivy paused, and added, “Okay, maybe alittlebit of bite. But not toward his friends, and he’ll be loyal to us, if we’re loyal to him.”
“You got a history with that chump?” Chancey asked, totally jealous.
“He’s blowing smoke. We pulled off a couple of scams together, but we never had any romantic involvement. He’s not my type,” Ivy said, and they kissed Chancey’s cheek.
“But youdoseem to know him well,” I pressed.
“Danny’s an immigrant. He left Ireland and hopped over to North America when he was a teenager,” Ivy said. “I found him hanging around Chicago looking all sad and desperate, and sort of took him in. We helped each other get by. The last time I saw him was before I ended up at the Institute. I’d like to say I’m surprised he survived without me, but I’m not. The kid’s got nine lives. Kind of like a cat.”
Chancey scowled. “Or a cockroach.”
Whoever Danny was, he seemed like the kind of guy that wanted to be the boss, and I knew that wasn’t going to fly with my husband around. But they could work out their manly bullshit later, because as far as I was concerned, finding those keys and getting results was more important than any dick-measuring contest these two felt like having. Even if I’d always back Charlie up at the end of the day. It was good Danny didn’t like to lose, because that meant he’d do whatever it would take to win. We needed people like that on our side, if we were going to beat the Warden.
I couldn’t believe The Mission had eliminated all the other demigods. I knew there couldn’t be that many, but their deaths proved our kind had to stick together. Alone, we were strong, but we couldn’t resist the Warden unless we teamed up.
When we returned to our room, Charlie and I were alone with Oberi. As Charlie shut the door behind us, I said quietly, “You don’t seem to harbor any resentment toward your grandpa.”
Charlie gave a miserable shrug. “I’m still kind of pissed at my dad for everything that happened to me as a kid, though now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I can somewhat see that it wasn’tallhis fault… I don’t know. I’m still on the fence if he did everything he could to find me, though I want to believe he did.”
“Doesn’t that mean you should be mad at Cassiel, too?”
“My grandfather is an Emperor,” Charlie replied. “He’s responsible for everyone, so I can understand his position. It would be difficult for him to look for me while ruling an empire and trying to keep thousands of people safe. But my dad was merely a prince. He was responsible forjust me, and he still let me down. I can’t get over the fact that I think he fucked up… but maybe he didn't mean to.”
I didn't say anything. My hatred for Cameron was a sore subject. He wasn't my father, so I didn’t have to love him, or consider forgiveness. As far as I was concerned, he was a sperm donor who'd created the love of my life, nothing more or less. We didn't need him to get by.
