I realized the awful truth, and felt that I might as well be perishing inside. Ava was using her Spirit magic to crush my soul. Whatever piece of me that was tied to Oberi was being torn apart, and it was all thanks to her.
“How does it feel, Charlie?” Ava asked. “How does it make you feel, knowingthisis what you did to me?”
I’d never intended to make her feel this way, and if I had, I regretted any choice I had made that had led to it. Damn my plans, my kingdom, the world. I never wanted to do anything unless it was for her.
“Fine. If this is what you want, pidge, take me,” I rasped. “Take my life.”
The searing agony continued for a moment longer. Then Ava pulled her magic back, and I fell onto my side as I curled up in the fetal position, trembling as I did my best to breathe.
“I know I want to end the world,” Ava said quietly. “But I don’t know if I can end you.”
I laid there on the ground and didn’t blame her. I got it. She got it. She still loved me, and I still loved her. Didn’t matter what we did to each other. We just couldn’t escape it. We’d damn it allif it meant we could be together, but there was no coming back from this. There was no hope for our relationship now.
Not after what we had done.
Ava’s spell continued to grow, wracking the ground with tremors and causing the sky to fracture above. A cry of defeat echoed from somewhere down shore, and it sounded like it’d come from Kallie. Her sobs were only twenty feet or so away, muffled as she cried into someone’s front.
“It’s all right, pretty girl. I’ve got you,” Marcus said lovingly. I knew he had to be holding her.
Marcus had beaten her, but I didn’t know if it meant anything. Not at this stage of the game. Farther away, Ivy said, “Stay down, Chance. I don’t want to keep doing this.”
Chancey moaned, but gave no other response. I recognized Alistair, heaving in pain. Eddie must’ve hurt him badly, though I couldn’t tell what the injuries could be.
Our friends had followed us out here to the beach, fighting all the way. They’d finally caught up with us. They’d clearly planned to help either me or Ava, and now, they were going to jump in.
“Ava, we’re here to stop you,” Ivy screamed over the noise of the roaring tempest.
“You’ll never stop me! No one can!” Ava cried.
Ice rushed past my face, and I realized Ava had cast another spell. There were shouts of pain, ones that melded into panic.
“I can’t move!” Alistair shouted, and Ivy let out similar protests. She’d frozen Alistair and Ivy to the beach, and they couldn’t do anything to get away.
I staggered to my feet, but my head swam. Marcus took action. He ran past me, nearly knocking me over on his way to get to Ava. His arm was drawn back, the Death spell in his hand grazing my face.
“You’re giving me no choice!” Ava cried. There was thewhooshof a fireball and Marcus cried out, stumbling to theground. I smelled burnt flesh, and Marcus wailed in pain as Ava’s flames rushed up and down his torso. It quickly fizzled out into smoke, but Marcus still curled on the ground in pain.
“No!”Kallie screamed, falling to his side. He breathed heavily, trying to get up, but his injuries wouldn’t let him.
This was my fault. I’d done this to my friends. I’d put them in this situation, and now, they were paying the price for it.
“Ava, draw back the spell!” I said again. I leaned into the wind, bracing myself against the roaring currents as I came closer.
“You’re too late!” Ava shouted toward the skies. “Any moment now, all of this will be gone!”
“Ava,please!” Kallie pleaded, but the earth shook again, and didn’t stop this time. The earthquake was so violent it rattled my bones, creating caverns in the ground. Skyscrapers within the city made creaking noises as the steel ruptured, falling into the pits and burning into the earth’s core. Ava’s maniacal laughter resonated over it all, the last sound the universe would ever hear.
“Charlie,do something!” Kallie shrieked. Now that she’d seen Marcus get hurt, she’d suddenly changed her mind, as she fully comprehended exactly what was happening. She now realized what was at stake and understood that she was willing to give up the world, but not give up Marcus. She wasn’t just telling me to take action— she was giving mepermissionto hurt her best friend in the only way I had left, because there was no other alternative.
An idea rose to the surface. Something that had been on my mind since the start of this fight, It was magic that, until now, I’d been unwilling to try. There wasonething I could do to stop this. It was the only spell I hadn’t tried, and it was now or never.
There was only one way an Elementai could lose access to their magic forever… if they lost their bond with their Familiar.And if I didn’t take Ava’s magic away, she’d destroy us all. There was no other choice.
A golden spiritual cord, gleaming like what I supposed was sunlight, hovered out of my chest and into the open air. It was two feet across and wound together with many strands, thousands of past lives woven into the threads. It was the strongest bond I’d ever come across. Probably the strongest bond there ever would be, in all of time.
The cord linked me to two beings, Oberi and Ava. Tears beaded at the corners of my eyes as I observed the spiritual strand tying us together. I needed to do this, but I didn’t even know if Icould.
But she was forcing my hand.
