“Cameron, stop this at once!” A female voice I didn’t know echoed behind me, and footsteps rang across the throne room as someone ran to my side. She knelt beside me, grabbing my mutilated hand.
“Drea, he doesn’t deserve any mercy,” Cameron hissed.
It was my father’s wife and guard, Drea. She came to my aid, even though I didn’t deserve it. I felt soft cotton on my skin as she wrapped up my hand with a bandage before she stood to face her husband. “Whatever has transpired, he is still your son.”
I’d judged Drea too harshly. She was a good person, someone who was able to prevent Cameron from doing the worst. The only thing she’d ever done wrong in her life was marry the pig that was my father. I felt sorry for her, being tied to a sinking ship like him.
Cameron relented. “Very well. Take him out of here. I do not wish to see him again until I decide to summon him.”
I was dragged out by guards. I let them do it, because who fucking cared anyhow? My discarded finger was still lying on the floor, and I guessed that was where it was going to stay.
They threw me into my quarters. I stumbled into the living area of my tower, and Oberi yelped as another soldier tossed him in behind me. These Elves had once revered us, but now, they were treating us as the worst of the worst.
I supposed that was what we were.
As I careened forward, I fell into someone. That person grabbed me and held me upright. I immediately recognized Marcus was the one who’d caught me, and felt the magical signatures of several other people in the room, though I was so disoriented I couldn’t make out who. People must’ve gathered here, waiting for me.
“Charlie…” Marcus uttered in horror. I could guess that he and all the others were staring at my bloody hand.
I didn’t bring it up. Instead, I stood taller and choked out, “Who’s… who’s all here?”
“Me, Kallie, Ez, Opal, Alistair and Danny,” Marcus replied, his voice even.
“Where’s Ava?” I asked immediately. I wanted to— no, needed to— know where she was, because I couldn’t sense her, and she was my beacon in this world. How was I going to navigate my life if she wasn’t there to be my light?
“You don’t need to know where she is right now,” Kallie replied. “She needs some space.”
That was understandable. I swallowed thickly. It wasn’t lost on me that Ivy and Chancey hadn’t turned up.
There was silence, until I heard Danny utter, “Dude, fuck you.”
His voice quivered with rage. The next moment, he completely lost it. His fist connected with a stone pillar, and his hand went straight through it, sending bits of stone scattering to the floor.
“I can’t fucking believe you,” Danny growled, and he came closer to me. “You better feel lucky that your father only took a finger, because I want to rip your head off right now.”
“You should,” I said hoarsely. “Please.”
Danny huffed. “No way. You don’t get to take the easy way out. You’re sticking around to clean up your shit.”
He was so mad he couldn’t keep talking, or he’d lose control. Danny stormed out of the room, and Alistair gave a hefty sigh.
“I can’t believe we lost,” he grumbled. “If you ever want to take over again, I’m right here by your side, buddy.”
“Alistair, shut the fuck up,” Kallie snapped. “This isn’t about you right now.”
Alistair sulked, and Ez exploded. He started toward me, shoving me backward. “How dare you, Charlie. I will never forgive you for this. You’ve broken my sister, when she already had so little that held her together. She doesn’t have her magic now! She doesn’t have her Familiar— anything! Do you think you had the right to do this to her?”
“No,” I said hollowly. “Ava would’ve been better off if she’d never met me.”
“You’re damn right she would’ve,” Ez snapped. “I should kill you where you stand.”
“Ez, wait,” Opal said kindly. She was holding him back, and I heard Ezekiel’s gasping breaths as he struggled to obtain control of himself.
Then, his voice changed, from furious to despondent. Ez took a shattering breath and said, “Charlie… I hate you for taking Ava’s magic away. I always will. But…”
His voice broke, and he started to cry. “I know how Ava gets when she’s out of control. I know you had to stop her somehow. But did you really have to go that far?”
“She didn’t give him much of a choice, Ez,” Marcus mumbled.
