Holy fuck. It was Anya’s younger brother— the kid Marcus left behind in Octavia Falls. Marcus had dated Anya before she died, and he’d gotten close with her little brother. He’d taken Kellen under his wing and started teaching him art, before Marcus was sent away to the Institute. He’d talked about Kellen multiple times, mostly to say how much he regretted never saying goodbye. Kellen had been like a little brother to him.
Kellen drew back. “You’ve put on some muscle.”
Marcus squeezed his arms. “You don’t know how happy I am to see you. There’s so much I never got to tell you. I’m really, really sorry. None of this ever should’ve happened to you.”
“You don’t have to apologize. It’s not your fault,” Kellen promised. “I’m here because ofThe Mission.”
He spat the words like they were poison.
Charlie turned to Ghost, who had crawled back inside the fence. “How did the two of you survive? The spell that took out the others should’ve killed you, too.”
“After I was forced to join The Mission, they took me out of the Institute,” Ghost explained. “The Warden made it sound like we were going to do good in the world, and I thought I could help. I learned pretty quickly that wasn’t the case, but I did the best I could. I was stationed here as a guard. I tried to get people out, but never could, and almost got caught a few times. So I changed tactics and did what I could to keep people alive instead.”
“He snuck us food,” Kellen said. “He was the only guard that cared about us.”
Ghost dropped his gaze. “I tried, but it wasn’t enough.”
“I was scared of all the other guards, but not Ghost,” Kellen admitted. “We knew each other from back home. I was friends with his little sister— Mother Miriam rest her soul. She never made it out of Octavia Falls. Ghost used to drive me home from school, because I was just one block over from his house. He was my only friend here at the camps.”
“Yesterday, the guards were told to pack up and leave,” Ghost explained. “We weren’t given a reason why, but I just knew something bad was about to happen. We only had minutes to evacuate. I was already on my way to sneak Kellen some food, and I knew I couldn’t leave him behind. I snuck him out here to the guard tower so we could hide and wait for whatever was coming. Then… we heard the blast. There were no screams— just silence.”
“Did you see what caused this?” Charlie asked.
“It was that creepy guy Ghost calls the Warden,” Kellen spat.
“How was he able to do this, though?” Marcus asked. “This is beyond anything we’ve seen before. He must’ve gotten the power from somewhere.”
“He’s got demigod power, so he can create energy out of nothing,” Danny offered.
“Demigods can create their own power, but there are limits even to what we can do,” Charlie said. “We’re still in mortal bodies, so we’re still going to reach a point where we can’t handle limitless energy. Eventually, we’re going to get tired.”
“He’s got dark gods on his side that would give him the power and do the work for him,” Danny pointed out. “He doesn’t have to cast the magic himself.”
Marcus’ gaze shifted thoughtfully. “But what if hediddo this by himself, without help? The Warden’s demigod power is that he can’t die, so he must be able to handle more magic than we can, because his body won’t give out on him.”
“He can still pass out, even if he can’t die,” Charlie stated. “He wouldn’t be able to finish a spell like the one we saw.”
Ghost shuddered. “I’ve had a theory for a while, and after what happened here yesterday, I’m certain I’m correct. It was my job to take the Elves to one of the warehouses, then pile up the bodies once the Warden was done with them. Once they went in, they never came out. He never said what he was doing with them in there, and guards were forbidden inside whenever he was here. But sometimes I was stationed at the doors, and I could hear the screams from inside. Every time the Warden walked out of that warehouse, it was like he was stronger than ever before. I can’t explain it, because nothing about him changed outwardly. But there was this magical energy that rolled off him that was undeniable.”
Ghost drew a shaky breath. “I think the Warden was using the Elves to gain power, like he did with kids back at the Institute.”
“What does he need their power for?” Alistair asked. “He’s already a demigod. You all saw it the night we escaped the Institute.”
“Yeah, he’s already a demigod, but like Charlie said, even demigods have limits, and their bodies will give out if they overexert themselves,” Ghost said. “I think he was using the Elves’ power toincreasehis limits. As a demigod, he can create power from nothing, but with the power of the Elves, that power can flow through him all at once. That's why he hasn't struck like this until now, because he's finally powerful enough to do anything he wants, and he's done using the Elves. He no longer needs to siphon their powers.”
“Just because he was able to increase his limit doesn’t give him ultimate power, though,” Charlie insisted. It seemed he was grasping at straws. He didn’t want to believe the Warden was as powerful as he was now.
If all of this was true, that meant the Warden had accomplished what he intended with the Elves. He didn’t need them anymore. There was nothing holding him back from attacking Ilamanthe now. With power like this, he could take on all us demigods at once, and he would no longer care about the casualties. We were holding him off before, and that’s why he had to lure us to his manor.
But none of that mattered now, and because the Elves were now useless to him, he was going to come for Ilamanthe the first chance he got. I had the horrible thought that he might already be on his way, and all of this was a ploy to lure us away from the city.
I furrowed my brow. It made sense, but something was missing. I knew there was. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. “So the weapon he used here… you think it washim?”
“Well, yeah,” Ghost said breathlessly. “He waltzed in here, and five minutes later everyone was dead.”
“We saw him from the guard tower, lurking around all night,” Kellen added. “We’re pretty sure he knew we were here and left us alive to tell the tale. But we couldn’t leave the tower as long as he was still sneaking around. Looks like we’re safe now that you’re here. You took care of him, didn’t you?”
The blood in my veins turned to ice, and my throat became sandpaper. “Wait… you’re saying he’s still here?”
