“It doesn’t matter now. There isn’t anything left to do but wait to die.” Charlie sniffed.
Everyone looked to me, as if expecting me to make a plan. They wanted me to rally them against the inevitable. Not even I was that delusional. This only had one conclusion.
The Warden would kill us all within hours. Then we’d all be stuck in the in-between together… forever. A jail without an escape.
A thought crossed my mind. Charlie had destroyed my half of our soul, so maybe I wouldn’t end up there after all.
For the first time, I was grateful he’d taken our bond away. I’d rather my soul be destroyed and cease to exist than be locked in another cage ever again. I would not return to the Institute, no matter what I had to give up, and an eternal Institute I couldn’t escape with the Warden at the helm would be a fate far worse than being erased completely.
It just sickened me that my friends had to suffer that fate… but maybe they didn’t have to.
“Marcus, I need to ask you to do the hardest thing you’ve ever done,” I started. “You need to use your Death magic to?—”
“No!” he cried, before I had a chance to make my devastating request. “That’s worse than suicide. You don’t understand the implications of what you’re asking!”
“This is the only way!” I demanded. “The Warden is going to imprison our souls in the in-between for literally all of time. A fucking eternity. That’s the worst punishment that could ever be given, and there’s only one way out of it!”
“I’m not going to?—”
“Stop being a coward!” I screamed. “Use your Death magic, yank our souls out and destroy them so we no longer exist! If you can’t find mine, fine, but at least do it for Kallie and Charlie!”
“I’ll go first,” Danny offered weakly, raising a hand.
“What you’re asking me to do is basically the same thing you did when you tried to destroy the world,” Marcus insisted. “You regret that decision. It’s not a choice I’m willing to make for any one of you! I refuse to do it.”
“I won’t be locked up for anything, and I won’t let my friends suffer behind eternal bars either. It’s the only thing we can do,” I argued. “This is our last option.”
“And what, we no longer exist and Marcus is meant to be stuck in the in-between alone for all of time?” Kallie snarled. “That’s not fair to him, Ava!”
“None of this is fair to any of you,” Charlie rasped. “This is my fault.”
“Charlie…” What could I say to that? It was his fault, but he wasn’t the only one to blame. All of us were— we demigods had screwed up for the last time, and because we had, the entire world was paying the price for it.
Marcus wouldn’t erase our souls, so I supposed we were all going back to prison together. This time, there’d be no breaking out of it. I gave up all hope at the thought of being chained up once again, but even so, my friends were still looking to me to lead. I couldn’t let them down one final time, even if our last efforts would be futile. I had to give my friends something to do, some sort of hope, while accepting this was our final farewell. I would rally the Firebirds to fight while knowing that it was useless.
“We have to station troops around the city,” I said. “If the Elves feel the need to fight, let them try.”
“It’s not going to do any good,” Danny said dryly.
“It’s what people have to do. To feel some sort of hope.” My shoulders dropped. “Enjoy these last moments, because this final taste of freedom is all we’re going to get.”
Nobody else had any other plans.
“I need to hide you, Kaz,” Kallie said frantically. “Cameron can’t know you’re here.”
“Why does it matter? The Warden’s going to kill us all anyway,” Kazim snarled.
“Kaz, please,” Kallie pleaded, and her twin’s face fell. “Hide out with Mom and Dad. It’s the only thing we can do.”
He nodded. “Okay. I’m with you.”
Marcus and Kallie left the garden holding hands, and Kazim followed them with Sigrid. Danny staggered away, alone— I felt so bad for him, that he had no one to indulge in these last seconds with, but maybe he was luckier than the rest of us. He didn’t have to watch someone he dearly loved die, because all of us would before we perished ourselves.
I wasn’t sure who would go first, me or Charlie. I prayed that the ancestors would be merciful and Charlie would die before I did, because I didn’t think he could handle watching me die again. He already had once. It was my turn to carry that particular burden. I didn’t want him to go through any unnecessary pain.
I could handle his death. I would carry it. The weight of that responsibility was heavy, but it wasn’t as heavy as letting Charlie be without me, even if it was only for a few moments after my demise. If I wanted to protect what little was left of his wounded soul, I had to die last. There was no other way.
Charlie fell to his knees before me, his head hanging low. “I let you down. Again.”
