“You and Charlie are fighting against each other, and that’s not a marriage. When you’re married, two people have to fight against the world as a unit. It’s you and him against everything,” Daddy said firmly. “You aren’t each other’s enemies, but companions.”
“I don’t know why you’re advocating for him. He took my magic away and cut off my bond with my Familiar. He made me lose my soul. You should want to kill him.”
“I know a lot about what it’s like to live without a soul,” Daddy said. “Does the father in me want to brutally murder him in the worst way I can think of for hurting you like this? Absolutely.”
Daddy moved closer. “But the father in me can also admit when his daughter has made mistakes, and you did mess up, Ava. We both know how you get when you’re out of control, and you were that day. You didn’t pause to think hard enough about what you were doing. Charlie cast the spell, but what happened was a consequence of both of your actions. He hurt you in the worst way an Elementai can be hurt, and I can’t stand knowing that. But if he hadn’t, you would’ve killed everything else I love, too. I can love you more than anything while admitting to myself that what you chose wasn’t right.”
“You must feel like you messed up as a dad, raising me to be this way.”
“I know there’s only so much I can do. I helped you as best I could while you were growing up, but there’s a ruthless streak in you I knew I couldn’t erase. Part of me never wants that wildness to fade. But you need to learn how to rein it in, and not let it consume you, because you can’t keep letting it get out of hand. It’s not just harming you anymore.”
He was right. I’d let my pride get the better of me. “I’m not sure how to feel about Casey yet, or what decisions I should make for him.” I gripped my grandfather’s bow tighter. “But maybe Charlie and I can do this together. Though I don’t know how we can. I’m pretty sure he’s just as lost as I am.”
“Charlie needs a dad to guide him, too. He’s never had one, and it’s led to him being the way he is now. He’s had to raise himself, and with that kind of upbringing, it’s a miracle he’s managed to stay as good as he has. You’ll always come first— you’re my priority, no matter what. But Charlie’s a dad who doesn’t know how to be one, and Cameron is a pitiful excuse for a father. If nobody’s going to step up and guide Charlie, I have to. Whatever you choose, it’s not fair for him to do this alone.”
Daddy’s voice turned gruff. “I have to thank him for saving my daughter’s life. You wouldn’t have lived if Charlie hadn’t given his eyes to you— yes, your mother told me about that. And he wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t died for him. You complete each other.”
His acknowledgement of the deep affection Charlie and I once shared comforted me immensely. At least I hadn't been the only one. Other people had seen what I’d once seen. My marriage hadn’t been a fantasy, but something real.
I managed to shakingly say the thing that had been on my mind for months, but I’d been too afraid to speak aloud to anyone else until now. I nocked another arrow, aiming it at the target. “I don’t want a divorce. But I don’t see any other way.”
“Then become the warrior that’ll fight for him,” Daddy encouraged. “And he’ll fight for you, too. One of you has to start the journey. It’s up to you to lead the way.”
Daddy always gave the best advice. My lips trembled as I opened my mouth to thank him, the feeling of overwhelm lifting from my shoulders as incredible relief flooded down upon me.
There was light at the end of the tunnel. We just had to get there.
My gratitude toward my father was cut short as the door to the training arena burst open. Charlie’s voice bellowed across the arena, echoing off the walls as he cried, “You’re not giving away my kid!”
Chapter Nineteen
CHARLIE
I stormed into the training arena. I’d been on my way to visit Casey when Marcus let it slip that Ava had asked Kallie to raise our son. I found Sophia and confronted her next— she’d admitted that Ava had asked her to take him, too. Oberi wasn’t around because he’d been helping Emma and Lucas all day, chipping away at Edinmyre’s spiritual boundaries. Thank fuck he wasn’t here, or he might try to stop me.
Sophia’s confession had rattled my bones. I sought out Ava immediately. Sophia rushed to catch up with me, but I was faster, and reached the training center first.
Something whizzed by my head— an arrow, judging by the way the fletchings cut through the air. The arrow stuck into the wall behind me. Sophia gasped as she followed me into the room. I barely flinched. Nothing Ava could do could hurt me anymore.
Nothing, except this one thing.
“Planning to take my head off?” I sneered.
“That was an accident,” Ava said defensively. “You startled me.”
Liam sighed. “There goes our safety training. Charlie, what’s wrong now?”
“I think it’s pretty damn obvious!” I seethed. “Ava wants you two to raise Casey, but Ava’s not the only one who gets to decide what happens to him. He’s my kid, too! She can’t take him out of my life!”
“Nobody’s taking him away. Charlie, chill out,” Liam stated irritably, sounding annoyed.
How could he ask me to do that when Ava was threatening to rip away the one thing I still had? I was a dad now, and that was all that was left of me. Now she wanted to steal him, too? She couldn’t just divorce me, break my heart, and leave me with my son? She wanted to give Casey to someone else, have him grow up as I had, in a home without his parents?
Over my dead body.
“I’m his mother. If anybody’s going to have the final say on where he goes, it’s going to be me,” Ava demanded.
If that didn’t light a fire in me. Yeah, she’d been pregnant, and she’d done all the hard work of giving him life, but he didn’t belong to just her. I’d helped her make him. He was mine, too.
