We kept on going… until we hit a dead end.
“What’s the trick here?” I asked Eddie. “How do we get out?”
Eddie gave a cold laugh. “Back the way you came. The only trick here is my own. This passageway was never finished. It leads to nowhere.”
“Are you kidding me? You’re bound to follow my orders!” I yelled.
“I did exactly as you asked,” Eddie stated evenly. “I showed you the secret passageways.”
“There are others,” I accused. “You knew Alistair wouldn’t have taken this one, yet you led us here anyway. I thought you two broke up. Why are you still defending him?”
“Because I still love him enough to want him to live,” Eddie stated defiantly. “Good luck finding him.”
“You let a murderer escape!”
“Alistair didn’t do this. He’s too moral.”
“Alistair’s a lot of things, but moral isn’t one of them.” Eddie had been so blinded by his love he couldn’t see the truth staring him in the face.
“Eddie, how could you?” All the fire had gone out of Ava, and she’d crumbled completely into pieces. I wanted to reach out to my pidge and hold her, tell her it would be okay even if it felt like things would never right themselves again.
But I couldn’t. So I was forced to listen to the sound of her tears without being able to do a godsdamn thing about it.
“I am sorry, princess. But I have to believe in my love, even when he does awful things,” Eddie replied softly. “As we all do.”
Was that a comment directed toward us? Sure sounded like it.
Ava didn’t respond. Only continued to cry softly.
“Is there any chance Alistair’s telling the truth and he’s not the spy?” Kallie wondered.
“No,” Danny said coldly. “Magic or not, it’s the only thing that makes sense. We were all together when she was murdered except for Ava, so we know it wasn’t one of us. No one else here has anything to gain by working with the Warden except for him. Alistair killed Hemlock, and he’s not one to give up the game if it ends in his execution. He knows he can’t talk his way out of this.”
“If there’s one thing we can say about Alistair, it’s that he’s consistent,” I said. “He’s always going to play whatever role he has to in order to save his own neck. As far as I’m concerned, Alistair isn’t our friend and never was. I don’t care what happens to him. But you…”
I turned on Eddie. “I need to speak with you in private.”
“Charlie…” Ava started, like she was scared of what I might do.
I bristled. “Eddie and I need to talk alone. This has been a long time coming.”
Kallie scoffed. “You really think we’re going to take orders from you?”
Eddie drew himself up. “It’s okay. I’m sure I can handle whatever Charlie has to say to me. The rest of you can go.”
Kallie got up close to me, then hissed in my ear, “Eddie better walk out of here alive.”
Then she spun on her heel and left. Marcus and Danny followed, along with Oberi and Rishi. The resounding silence throughout the passageway was a clear indicator they were all pissed with me. That was nothing new.
Ava was the only one who remained. I couldn’t tell her to go. I didn’t have the heart to do anything except try to make her feel better, and I doubted she would let me, so I just stood there, wondering how I could ask her to leave when all I wanted her to do was stay here with me.
But I didn’t have to. Ava spun around, snarling viciously, “I’m done with this. I’m overturning this palace for Alistair, because he’s here somewhere. I don’t give a shit what the rest of you do.”
She left the passageway. I waited for her to be gone, because she didn’t need to hear any of this. Once she was, I faced Eddie, seething. “You’re supposed to be my guard. Magical bond or not, it’s your job to protect me and those I care about. You just let a traitor go free!”
Eddie kept his tone even. “Are you going to execute me?”
I thought about it for a second, but I knew that wasn’t the right choice.
