“It doesn’tmatter.You’re strong enough for now, but that won’t last.”
“The hell it won’t,” I snarled. “I don’t care what the Warden does to make himself powerful— there will never come a day when he’s more powerful than me. I'll be stronger than himalways.”
“Pidge, he has the power to destroy the entire city in one blast. He just has to know how to break your magic down, and mark my words, he’s going to figure it out sooner or later. We can’t keep hiding here and expecting that he’ll never reach us, because it’s not going to work.”
“You’re jumping to conclusions. If the Warden hasn’t come for us by now, then we’re strong enough to keep hiding. He has all this power and still isn’t able to get past my defenses. If he could, he’d be here already,” I pointed out.
“So what? He has control over Celestial City, Atlantis, Kinpago, Octavia Falls, and almost all of the vampire territories except Chicago, and Salvatore will be next on his list once hedeals with us. Then he’ll go on to bully the Astromancers into joining him, and they won’t have a choice but to take his side. The only places we have left are Dolinska,Hok’evale, Edinmyre and Ilamanthe, and that’s not enough to stand up against him. Not without a plan. He could destroy fae-owned territories or what’s left of Elementai land within days. We need to stop him before that happens by fighting fire with fire, and throwing our army at his.”
“This war is personal,” I argued. “We need to targethim, not all of his soldiers.”
“You aren’t listening,” Charlie said. “There’s only one way to beat the Warden, and I know how.”
My heart grew heavy with terror. Sounds began swelling over the palace gardens— shouts, screams of horror, metal singing as weapons clashed. The sounds of the dying… something I never thought I’d hear in Ilamanthe… created a symphony of sorrow across the city streets as the music of battle began its plight.
“Charlie, what did you do?” I asked, my voice painted with horror.
“What I had to,” he growled. “My father is a pathetic excuse for an Emperor. He can’t lead us anywhere but into failure. If he rules Ilamanthe, we lose. My grandfather prepared me to take the Elvish throne, and I’m not waiting my turn in line. I’m overthrowing my father,today, and taking the city’s army for myself.”
I clutched at my throat. “You can’t stage a coup against your father! Have you lost your mind?”
“Why not? I’m a demigod, so are you. We can do anything we want to,” Charlie said forcefully.
I wildly grasped for excuses. “You’re grieving. You’re not thinking straight?—”
“No, Ava. I’ve been considering this for a long time. I have to move forward, and fulfill the destiny my grandfather had in store for me.”
“How are you even doing this? Who’s fighting for you?” I demanded.
“The young guards of the city are loyal to me. They believe that I should become Emperor, and that Cameron needs to go. Max told me that a long time ago. It’s only the old guard that’s loyal to my father. I’ve already sent Eddie to deploy my orders. My Associates are leading the charge, and once my father is out of the way, we can do what needs to be done around here.”
“And was Eddie happy to rally your soldiers against the rest of his family?” I asked sourly, knowing absolutely he wasn’t.
“It doesn’t matter what Eddie wants. He’s sworn to me, so he’ll do as I say.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” I asked, and I moved closer. “You didn’t go over this with me at all.”
Charlie’s answer, so cold, wasn’t what I expected. “You didn’t need to know.”
My love for him turned spiteful. “So now you’re keeping secrets in our marriage? That’s not the Charlie I knew.”
“That person doesn’t exist anymore! I’m sorry if I’m not the man you wanted me to be, but I have to become something bigger now.” He grabbed my hands. “But it doesn’t have to mean anything for us. We love each other. So let’s be together, and not let anything get in the way of that.”
I searched his eyes and saw that this was the truth he believed. This was a worse reality than even my darkest nightmares could’ve conjured. No matter what I’d feared or imagined, it had never been this.
“You can still take it back,” I begged. “Call off the guards, say you made a mistake. It doesn’t have to be this way. The Elvesshouldn’t be fighting each other. We’re killing our own soldiers! Your grandfather wouldn’t want a civil war in Ilamanthe!”
“My grandfather would want me to do whatever it takes to win,” he insisted, and he yanked his hands away.
“Charlie, don’t you get it? This isn’t a game! This is an insurrection!” I yelled. Behind me, Oberi let out a whine.
“Of course I understand,” Charlie said, and he gave a twisted laugh. “Am I insane for enjoying the pain of my enemies? Am I mad for wanting to use the power I have to stop the Warden? If that’s being crazy, then that’s what you can call me. I personally don’t care what labels people put on me.Insaneis a term people give to the ones they’re afraid of, and everyone needs to be afraid of me. It’s the only way we’ll survive.”
“So you overthrow your dad, what next?” I asked harshly. “What’s your grand scheme then?”
“We’ll take the Elvish soldiers and go to our allies. I’ll take command ofHok’evale, Dolinska, and any other magical city that’s still out of the Warden’s grasp. Then I’ll unite the supernaturals we have together under the Elvish banner, into one army. Anyone who is able to fight, must. There can be no exceptions.”
“You can’t force people to fight for you,” I said. Hot tears started burning at the corners of my eyes.
