Chapter Twenty-Four

AVA-MARIE

Life didn't mean anything if it could turn out like this.

There was instant panic the moment we returned to Ilamanthe. We portaled back into the throne room where all my friends were recovering, sprawled out on the floor or hovering over their knees.

"Cassiel's dead," Ivy said weakly. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

Eldin set me down. I managed to sit up from my place on the floor, and Oberi slowly came around beside me. I gritted my teeth in pain as I pulled myself onto her back. She got to her hooves as the throne room dissolved into a mess of screams and chaos. Servants and Elvish nobles had received word that Cassiel had perished, and now, the palace was crumbling from the inside.

Charlie was still unconscious from Cameron's blow. A group of servants carried him out, taking him to the infirmary.

I glared at Cameron with all the hatred I could muster. I knew he had to subdue Charlie to get him back to the city, but I wasn't going to forgive him for laying hands on my husband. When I had a spare moment, I'd make him pay, too.

But that would have to wait, because first of all, we had to make sure Cassiel's death wasn't in vain.

Cameron acted like he didn't notice my death stare and said aloud, "It's over! Doctor Taurus is too powerful! He'll be here any minute to storm Ilamanthe's gates! The city is going to fall!"

Cameron was so pathetic. Cassiel was dead and Ilamanthe was exposed, yet he was losing his head when it was imperative we took action.

"We need to fortify Cassiel's wards and boost it with a shield of our own," I insisted loudly, taking charge. Charlie was down and Cameron was useless. If there weren't any other competent royals around here to give orders, I sure the fuck would. The screams quieted down at my words, as I knew they would. I was the princess— these people needed me. The Elves in the throne room looked to me, waiting on my orders.

"Ava, you're still recovering. You don't have any magic right now," Daddy said, laying a gentle hand on my knee.

He was right. Shielding us from the Warden's blast had taken all my strength, but my rage was fueling my abilities. I could feel my magic beginning to spark, becoming stronger with each moment that passed.

"Just give me a little bit of time." My demigod powers would regenerate. We needed time to recover, but not much. "I need everyone who can make a shield at the outskirts of Ilamanthe, with me. It'll take everyone's power to do this."

"We'll come," Marcus said, holding Kallie against him.

"And me," Danny said. "We can use simultension to fuse my blood magic into the shield. Anyone who attempts to break the shield will have their magic siphoned, and the shield will continue to drain the Warden's magic the more he tries."

"That's good," I said. "We'll add layers onto the shield, so it'll have more defenses. He's got a lot of power— unlimited maybe— but it'll definitely slow him up. Even if it doesn't hold, it'll buy the citizens time to flee. We'll craft the shield so nobody can portal in or out of the city."

"I'll help too," Alistair volunteered, coming forward.

"The more casters we have to hold the shield up, the better," I confirmed.

I turned to Eldin. "I want my command broadcasted throughout the city. Every magic caster of every race is to come to the city's border and lend their aid. We're going to need everyone we can to make this shield as powerful as possible."

"Yes, princess," she said, bowing to me before running out of the throne room.

"What's the use?" Cameron wailed. "Nothing we can do will stop that man!"

I couldn't believe Cassiel, once the most powerful Elven Emperor on Earth, had raised this worthless excuse for a son. Cameron was no leader and couldn't even begin to fill a sliver of the void Cassiel had left. That meant I would have to.

"Shut up," I snapped, and Cameron blanched. "I'm sorry you lost your father, but Cassiel is gone, and we need to protect the city before the Warden destroys the rest of us. If Cassiel's wards fall, his death will have been for nothing. Go to the barracks and order the generals to start stationing soldiers around the perimeter. Hurry up!"

Completely cowed, Cameron obeyed. He hustled off, and the rest of us immediately left for the edge of the city. I hustled to take action, urging Oberi forward while my companions followed behind.

Supernaturals of all kinds were waiting for us when we arrived at the edge of Ilamanthe a short time later. Everyone was here; Kallie's parents, all of our aunts and uncles, the Demigod Guardians and all the Elvish nobles. Thousands had gathered to help me create the defensive barrier. Oberi carried me on her back as a unicorn as I approached the city's edge. The crowd followed me, waiting on my signal.

Though Cassiel was dead, I could still feel his wards holding across the city. He'd been powerful, so his magic had still held after his death.

"Peanut, be careful. You could hurt yourself," Daddy warned at my side, sounding worried. "No one has ever been able to fuse the power of so many different races into one spell before."

I narrowed my eyes. "Just fucking watch me."

I raised my voice, and Air elementals used my magic to project my commands to the crowd as I cried, "I need everyone to cast their magic at once! I'll do the rest!"

There was a resounding response from the crowd, then thousands of small shields began blooming all over the city, blossoming like white flowers as veins of magic grew across the sky. It was a spectacular sight, watching as the shields expanded against Cassiel's ward, but I didn't have time to observe it. My mother, Lucas, Nadine, Emma, Marcus, Kallie and Alistair were at the front near me, and their shields were the most powerful, growing to become miles wide.

I used simultension and began weaving all the shields into one, combining each shield into one massive barricade that fused with Cassiel's wards, preventing any kind of entry. I used intrafusion to combine other kinds of magic into the shield, melding the city's powers together into one. My magic sewed patches together into a protective blanket that covered Ilamanthe, so thick that the shield itself appeared to be a window several inches thick, expanding it across the city and over the beach a few miles off. When I'd fused everyone else's power, I called upon my own and funneled it into the shield, making it ten times stronger than it already was.

I wouldn't have been able to do this as a prisoner at the Institute, or perhaps even a few months ago. This kind of magic had never been attempted on such a mass scale, but I was done playing the Warden's games. He'd chosen the wrong bitch to fuck with, and I was going to show him how big of a mistake that was. At the camps, I'd had to make the shield that protected us from the Warden's attack at the last second, and it'd caught me off guard, stunning me and leaving me weak. Now, I was fully aware of what I was doing, and I could craft this shield to stand up to any magical attack that came, even if that bastard showed up here right now.

When I was certain the shield was secure, I took Danny's demigod magic and channeled it into the shield, merging his blood magic with the protective power. Danny had a spectacular wealth of power at his disposal, almost as much as Charlie's, and I took every drop of it I could without harming him to make the shield stronger. The shield flashed a deep red for a moment before it returned to its usual translucence, indicating the blood magic had taken. Even if the Warden dropped a bomb on this place, the blood magic would suck him dry of power for at least a few moments afterward, I was sure of it.

When the shield was finally in place, I drew back my power. It shimmered above us, a round dome that sealed the city off from all invaders. I wished the Warden good luck with breaking through.

There wasn't so much of a whisper amongst all those people as the stunned expressions of Ilamanthe's citizens gazed upon me with reverence and awe. They seemed terrified of me.

Good. I was something to be terrified of.

Soldiers from the barracks could be heard marching out of the city, taking their places to stand watch at the city's edge. I turned Oberi, leaving the area without another word.

Nobody else would've been able to do that. Not a damn one of them. But I could. I was the strongest supernatural there ever was, and unlike the Warden, I was born that way. I didn't need to be a pathetic little welp and steal from others in order to gain strength, because I'd been created with it from the beginning of my existence. People bowed away from my presence, creating a path for me as Oberi carried me back to the palace, looking at me as if I had the power of a god.

Maybe I did. And that's why the Warden was still afraid of me.

Very soon, I was going to make his fear all too real.

Seven days passed after Cassiel died in a monochrome, tasteless blur.

The entire city was in mourning. Ilamanthe had once been vibrant and full of life, but now the palace was quiet, and everyone dressed in black. People walked with their gazes toward the ground, heads bowed. There were so many whispers infecting the palace I often wondered if the voices were coming from around me, or were merely the ones echoing inside my head. Everyone in the city had loved Cassiel and adored him as a ruler. Now that he was gone, there was nothing left but grief.

And fear. People were so terrified. I could feel it every time they walked by. Just being in the presence of others caused my heartbeat to quicken in terror. I heard what people said. How were we going to defeat the Warden when Cassiel, the most powerful Emperor that had ever lived, had done everything he could to kill him and failed?

I didn't know. All I knew was that it was on my shoulders to take his life. If no one else had the ability to kill the Warden, I would. I just had to figure out how.

The shield remained untouched, and neither The Mission nor the Warden showed up to try and break it. It confirmed, for me, that my power was enough to hold the Warden off, at least for now. If he thought he could get past my defenses, he would've already tried. My shield would buy us some time to come up with a plan to put him in the ground for good.

The Beast appeared to me frequently now. He didn't say anything, just stood in the corner of the room and stared at me. I stared back, my thoughts lingering on the pointlessness of it all, wondering where any of this was going or why it mattered.

Cassiel's funeral would be in a few days, as Elvish tradition dictated that a mourning period of nine days had to be held before the ceremony took place on the tenth. After the funeral, Cameron would be crowned Emperor. Things would move on, but they'd never be right again.

Charlie stayed in his quarters and didn't come out. He refused the food the servants brought him and locked himself away in our bedroom for a week straight. I laid beside him at night, but that was the extent of our contact. He hadn't said a word to me since we'd come back from the camps. Just turned his back to me and pretended I wasn't there.

I knew he was grieving terribly. I couldn't imagine the deep, bottomless loss he felt. His grandfather, the only person who'd ever been a parent to him in the entire world, was gone. His grief devoured him, changing him into someone I couldn't recognize, nor reach.

I wondered if he blamed me. It'd been my idea to go to the camps, after all. I wanted to apologize and beg for his forgiveness, yet I was petrified at the thought of giving him more pain, so I said nothing.

Our friends weren't around. Like Charlie, everyone stayed in their rooms and kept to themselves, though the others had all coupled off. Chancey and Ivy, Ez and Opal, Eddie and Alistair… they leaned on each other. Since we'd been married, I didn't think Charlie and I had ever felt more apart.

Kallie and Marcus came by to talk here and there, but I told them Charlie wasn't ready and sent them off. Kallie didn't need to deal with this, not after what she'd been through with the Dollmaker, and Marcus needed to focus on taking care of her. I'd done enough damage trying to fix the unfixable. Repairing Charlie's broken spirit was my job, and no one else's.

Me? I was depressed as fuck, though I did my best to hide it from everyone, especially Charlie. Nobody else needed to be brought down due to how I felt… if we could sink any lower… but when I was alone, I completely crumbled into pieces.

Oberi was the only one who got me. He stayed by my side and wagged his tail, trying to cheer me up.

It's not your fault, dearest, Oberi insisted, laying his head on my lap as we hid in a parlor room that was far away from Charlie's quarters. It was late afternoon, and I'd come here to break down. I didn't want anyone to see or hear me doing it, so I'd taken off. This wasn't about me; I needed to be strong for everyone right now.

It is my fault. I stroked Oberi's ears as tears leaked down my cheeks. If I had taken a second to think, Cassiel would still be alive.

Charlie doesn't blame you in any way for his grandfather's passing. I can tell, Oberi promised. Neither his thoughts nor his heart lay guilt upon you. You were trying to help people. The only one to despise for this atrocious act is the Warden.

Even if Charlie didn't blame me, I wasn't sure if it mattered. Because I blamed myself.

After my tears slowed, I left the parlor room and took an elevator to the dungeons below the castle. The agony in my heart turned to rage when I saw Abigail in a cell against the far wall, exactly where I'd put her. She sat on the floor, looking sad and alone.

I hadn't seen her since we'd left for the camps, and you know what? I didn't want to.

If I wasn't going to blame myself for Cassiel's passing, then I blamed Abigail. Someone had told Cassiel that we'd gone to the camps, and I'd already confronted Eldin about it. She'd followed my orders and kept her mouth shut. Abigail was under no obligation to do the same, not the way Eddie had to follow Charlie's orders. Abigail had run off and told the Emperor we'd left the palace, and it was because of her that he'd followed us to the Main Facility.

The Warden had been right. Having a good heart had been my downfall, because I trusted others to think the same way I did. I believed Abigail to be good, despite her family ties to the Warden, but she'd sent Cassiel after us on purpose to get him killed. She was the spy in the palace. I'd been a fool to think it couldn't be her, because it was so fucking obvious. The only reason I hadn't sent her to the gallows yet was because I wanted to find out what else she knew about the Taurus family. I'd get answers out of her; it would only take some time.

Except my patience was starting to run out.

"Why are you here?" Abigail rasped. "You've thrown me down here without an answer, leaving me for days, and now you come to visit?"

"You deserve to be imprisoned for betraying my trust," I growled.

"Let me explain," Abigail offered weakly.

"I don't need your explanations. The Emperor is dead. You've done enough."

"I beg you to hear me," Abigail pleaded. "I never meant to cause harm, only to protect you, as is my purpose."

"Fuck you. You were supposed to be my lady, but you went against my orders. The second my back was turned, you went running to Cassiel to tell him what we were doing. You're the reason he ended up at those camps, and you're the reason he's dead now."

"I'm not bound to you like Eddie is to Charlie, princess. We do not share a bond, so I am not magically obliged to follow your orders. I have to do what's best for the good of my people," Abigail insisted.

"The good of your people? What don't you understand? Cassiel is dead," I spat. "You need to know your station. I'm the princess, and I make decisions for the people. That means you do as you're told."

"If I hadn't told the Emperor where you were going, my uncle would've found you all, and he would've slaughtered you in those camps. Cassiel bought you time to escape."

"Screw you. We could've fought the Warden. We could've beat him!"

"Forgive me, princess, but that is a foolish hope," Abigail snapped. For the first time, her voice rose in anger. "If Cassiel had not gone after you, my uncle would've killed all of you!"

My fingers dug into the armrests of my chair, turning my fingers white. "You don't know what I'm capable of when it comes to destroying that man."

And she didn't— I didn't even know, not until this point. If I had wanted to kill the Warden before, I desired to completely and utterly ruin his soul now. There would be nothing left of him once he met my wrath, and I assured myself it was coming. I was only furious Abigail had taken that chance from me, and that Cassiel had paid the price.

"Even after all this time, you do not understand," Abigail raged. "You are a powerful princess, and Charlie is your prince, but the Emperor is above both of you. Pardon me for speaking bluntly, but this is a mob. There is a chain of command to follow that you and the prince stubbornly insist on going against time and again, but one rule above all here is that you do not disobey the commands from those that are above you. Orders from Cassiel took priority over yours. The Emperor ruled that you and your friends were not to go into the camps. You did not follow his orders, so I had to step in."

"Enough! You don't get to speak to me like that!" I yelled. Oberi quivered at my voice, shrinking down, and my screams grew louder. "I thought you were a friend, but you know what? That was a stupid mistake on my part. I should've listened to my intuition and gotten rid of you from the start. But I didn't, and now I have to deal with having a traitor in my midst."

Abigail's expression remained passive. "I have no idea what you mean, princess. I can assure you, I am not involved in any plot against you or the prince."

I gave a cold laugh. "You're such a liar, Abigail. You offered to spy for me when we first met, but it's clear you want to play both sides. You're working for the Warden— it's obvious. He was there waiting for us at the camps. He knew we'd show up. You hurried to deliver him a message to let him know we were coming, then conveniently told Cassiel where we'd gone, so he'd show up to rescue us. We know there's a traitor in the palace, giving messages to the Warden. We have for months. I just didn't want to believe it was you."

"It's not me," Abigail insisted. "I've never betrayed you! I've only done as the monarchy demands!"

"Shut up, bitch. I gave you a chance, because I thought we were alike. I felt sorry for you because of what Esther did to you. I felt bad that she took all the feathers from your wings, and wanted to help you. I thought you could understand me because you're in a wheelchair, too, but now I see that was just a ploy to make me feel like I belonged here in the palace. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, and it was the worst mistake I've ever made. I'll never trust an outsider again."

Abigail said nothing, which was good, because if she spoke again I wasn't sure what I would do. "You're excused from my service," I spat. "I cast you aside as my lady. If I ever see you again, I'll kill you."

I left Abigail there and abandoned the dungeons behind me. If she was crying on my way out, I didn't acknowledge it. I didn't let my anger fade until she was gone from my sight, but even so, once I was alone again it only abated slightly. I was still so enraged… and I wasn't exactly sure at who. The Warden, Abigail, myself? All of them all at once.

That was pretty harsh, Oberi grumbled.

So what. She hurt my family. I won't let her do that again.

We don't have any proof that she's the traitor.

We don't have any proof she's not.

False accusations can be more misleading than not having any clue of the perpetrator at all. If she's not the traitor, and there's another mole in the palace ferrying information to the other side that we don't know about, we're in big trouble.

I'm not risking it. There's enough evidence here to prove she's up to something, which means she's too dangerous to let roam free.

This kind of thing is exceptionally dangerous to get wrong, Oberi warned.

I knew full well, but I didn't care right now. Whatever I had said to Abigail, I felt justified about it. It wouldn't bring Cassiel back, but at least it gave me some way to place blame that wasn't just on me.

It was around dinnertime by now, but I didn't feel like eating. I hadn't, not since I'd seen the emaciated bodies of the camp victims piled up in the warehouses, desperate for a scrap of something to sustain their lives.

But I would eat, because I needed to gain my strength— to fight. I had to get better, get healthier, become more powerful, because the next time I faced the Warden I swore to myself he wasn't getting out of it alive.

Yet on my way to dinner, I felt a sharp tug on my bond. I halted in place, shocked to feel it, because I hadn't in days.

Charlie's calling us, Oberi said, tilting his head. Seems pretty urgent about it.

I felt my heart lift in hope. Finally, he was letting us in. I turned the other way. "Let's go, Oberi. We need to be there for him."

Whatever Charlie wanted me for, I'd help. If he was ready to come out of his room and face the world again, I'd help him carry his grief. He was my husband, and everything we'd faced at the camps together had only made me care for him a hundred times more. I couldn't imagine losing him, couldn't imagine watching him suffer, and I wouldn't dare to let him slip away. I'd be there for him, and though I'd made a big mistake, I swore to myself I would make it right again. We'd go through this together.

Until… I arrived in Charlie's quarters. All of our friends were gathered in the living room, and everyone looked… anguished. It was a sorry sight, everyone dressed in black and in mourning. Ez's eyes were bloodshot, and Opal's cheeks were pale. Ivy huddled in the corner, their arms wrapped around their torso as they turned away from it all. Alistair slumped on the couch, seemingly defeated. Chancey appeared dumbstruck, like he didn't want to believe whatever had just been said.

Kallie leaned over her knees in the armchair, shaking with rage. Marcus had a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but his expression seemed… dark.

Danny stuck his hands in his pockets and scowled at the floor, as if he'd seen this coming and had done everything he could to stop it, but it still happened anyway.

I knew we were all devastated by what had happened at the camps, but this was something different. The moment he saw me enter, Chancey sprinted toward me, reaching out his hands to plead.

"Ava, you gotta stop it," Chancey begged. "Eddie told us everything. The guy's lost his mind!"

"What?" I hardly got the word out before a group of people surrounded me. Everyone was talking all at once, and it was hard to understand.

"He's a complete nutso!" Ivy ranted. "I can get behind a lot of things, but this is totally fucked."

"I thought we were his friends," Kallie said bitterly. "He betrayed us."

"What's going on?" I asked, feeling overwhelmed. I shrank under the demands of them all, starting to drown. Apparently, Eddie had told them something about Charlie, but I wasn't sure what it was.

"He's not letting any of us in," Marcus said. "You need to talk to him."

My friends spoke over one another. The noise got louder and louder. I couldn't make out any words, just sounds, and they melded with the voices in my head until I wasn't sure who was saying what. I felt suffocated, until I threw my hands up and said, "All right! I'll talk to him."

Whatever this was about, I would get to the bottom of it. I wheeled myself forward, and my friends stepped aside.

Charlie had locked the door, but I knocked loudly and said, "Charlie? It's me."

The door unlocked. I held my breath as I went inside. Oberi shut the door behind us, closing me in.

Charlie stood in our room. His hands were clasped behind his back, like he was waiting for me. He moved forward to lock the door again, even though I hadn't asked him to.

I wasn't sure what this was about. But clearly this was going to be an important conversation.

Charlie beckoned me forward. "Come with me."

I wasn't going to be summoned like some kind of pet. Yet still, I followed, Oberi padding behind me with his hair standing on end.

My stomach knotted into pits of nausea. I was terrified of whatever impending bomb he was going to drop on me, because obviously it wasn't good.

Charlie went to the balcony, and I knew it wasn't an option not to follow. The November breeze blew my hair back as we stood on the balcony that overlooked the city. Charlie put his hands on the railing and asked, "Ava, what do you see down there?"

"I see what I always see," I responded. What was he trying to say?

"Potential," he responded. "Wasted potential, not harnessed by my father, not being used for anything except to lie in wait for the Warden to come here and ruin it all. It's potential that'll be ruined unless I harness it."

I was already expecting the worst. "And how do you intend to do that?"

He didn't answer right away. He bounced in place nervously, his jaw hardening before he rounded on me.

"I waited to tell you, because I couldn't stand the thought of you being disappointed in me," Charlie started. "But I've realized this is something that needs to be done."

"What needs to be done?" I demanded, grabbing his arm. "Charlie, tell me!"

"The Warden needs to be beaten. We've given him too much time to get stronger," Charlie stated. "The more time we give him, the more power he's going to amass, which means we can't give him any more. We need to do what we can to intercede him now, so I had to take drastic action."

"Drastic— we already have the power to beat the Warden! We're demigods!" I objected.

"Pidge, my grandfather cut his head off and it didn't do anything," Charlie said roughly. "We're way out of our league unless we start taking control."

"So we can't decapitate him, or blow a hole in him, or rip his magic out of him. We'll just have to get creative."

"Ava, you witnessed the kind of power he has. The only reason he hasn't come here already and destroyed the city is because he can't get past the shield you put up. That's our only hope right now, and it's not going to last. The Warden's got big guns, and he's going to use those big guns to break your shield eventually."

"Those big guns of his aren't enough to bring down our wards," I countered. "He's got a lot of magical power, but that doesn't mean he can get past me. I'm strong enough to hold him off."

"It doesn't matter. You're strong enough for now, but that won't last."

"The hell it won't," I snarled. "I don't care what the Warden does to make himself powerful— there will never come a day when he's more powerful than me. I'll be stronger than him always."

"Pidge, he has the power to destroy the entire city in one blast. He just has to know how to break your magic down, and mark my words, he's going to figure it out sooner or later. We can't keep hiding here and expecting that he'll never reach us, because it's not going to work."

"You're jumping to conclusions. If the Warden hasn't come for us by now, then we're strong enough to keep hiding. He has all this power and still isn't able to get past my defenses. If he could, he'd be here already," I pointed out.

"So what? He has control over Celestial City, Atlantis, Kinpago, Octavia Falls, and almost all of the vampire territories except Chicago, and Salvatore will be next on his list once he deals with us. Then he'll go on to bully the Astromancers into joining him, and they won't have a choice but to take his side. The only places we have left are Dolinska, Hok'evale, Edinmyre and Ilamanthe, and that's not enough to stand up against him. Not without a plan. He could destroy fae-owned territories or what's left of Elementai land within days. We need to stop him before that happens by fighting fire with fire, and throwing our army at his."

"This war is personal," I argued. "We need to target him, not all of his soldiers."

"You aren't listening," Charlie said. "There's only one way to beat the Warden, and I know how."

My heart grew heavy with terror. Sounds began swelling over the palace gardens— shouts, screams of horror, metal singing as weapons clashed. The sounds of the dying… something I never thought I'd hear in Ilamanthe… created a symphony of sorrow across the city streets as the music of battle began its plight.

"Charlie, what did you do?" I asked, my voice painted with horror.

"What I had to," he growled. "My father is a pathetic excuse for an Emperor. He can't lead us anywhere but into failure. If he rules Ilamanthe, we lose. My grandfather prepared me to take the Elvish throne, and I'm not waiting my turn in line. I'm overthrowing my father, today, and taking the city's army for myself."

I clutched at my throat. "You can't stage a coup against your father! Have you lost your mind?"

"Why not? I'm a demigod, so are you. We can do anything we want to," Charlie said forcefully.

I wildly grasped for excuses. "You're grieving. You're not thinking straight?—"

"No, Ava. I've been considering this for a long time. I have to move forward, and fulfill the destiny my grandfather had in store for me."

"How are you even doing this? Who's fighting for you?" I demanded.

"The young guards of the city are loyal to me. They believe that I should become Emperor, and that Cameron needs to go. Max told me that a long time ago. It's only the old guard that's loyal to my father. I've already sent Eddie to deploy my orders. My Associates are leading the charge, and once my father is out of the way, we can do what needs to be done around here."

"And was Eddie happy to rally your soldiers against the rest of his family?" I asked sourly, knowing absolutely he wasn't.

"It doesn't matter what Eddie wants. He's sworn to me, so he'll do as I say."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" I asked, and I moved closer. "You didn't go over this with me at all."

Charlie's answer, so cold, wasn't what I expected. "You didn't need to know."

My love for him turned spiteful. "So now you're keeping secrets in our marriage? That's not the Charlie I knew."

"That person doesn't exist anymore! I'm sorry if I'm not the man you wanted me to be, but I have to become something bigger now." He grabbed my hands. "But it doesn't have to mean anything for us. We love each other. So let's be together, and not let anything get in the way of that."

I searched his eyes and saw that this was the truth he believed. This was a worse reality than even my darkest nightmares could've conjured. No matter what I'd feared or imagined, it had never been this.

"You can still take it back," I begged. "Call off the guards, say you made a mistake. It doesn't have to be this way. The Elves shouldn't be fighting each other. We're killing our own soldiers! Your grandfather wouldn't want a civil war in Ilamanthe!"

"My grandfather would want me to do whatever it takes to win," he insisted, and he yanked his hands away.

"Charlie, don't you get it? This isn't a game! This is an insurrection!" I yelled. Behind me, Oberi let out a whine.

"Of course I understand," Charlie said, and he gave a twisted laugh. "Am I insane for enjoying the pain of my enemies? Am I mad for wanting to use the power I have to stop the Warden? If that's being crazy, then that's what you can call me. I personally don't care what labels people put on me. Insane is a term people give to the ones they're afraid of, and everyone needs to be afraid of me. It's the only way we'll survive."

"So you overthrow your dad, what next?" I asked harshly. "What's your grand scheme then?"

"We'll take the Elvish soldiers and go to our allies. I'll take command of Hok'evale, Dolinska, and any other magical city that's still out of the Warden's grasp. Then I'll unite the supernaturals we have together under the Elvish banner, into one army. Anyone who is able to fight, must. There can be no exceptions."

"You can't force people to fight for you," I said. Hot tears started burning at the corners of my eyes.

"I can and I will. Once we've got enough soldiers, we'll take everything we've got and face The Mission head-on. All our fighters, all our demigods. We'll corner the Warden and beat him back until we're able to put that bastard down. He can kill some of us; hell, he can even kill most of us, but he can't kill us all."

"You don't know that." I put a hand to my mouth to hold back the revulsion. "You're just sending people to slaughter, throwing whatever you can at the Warden because you're scared."

"If you aren't scared you aren't taking this seriously," Charlie hissed. "I've got to make hard choices, because I'm the only one who can."

"Okay, so let's pretend it all works out and the Warden's dead. You really think the supernatural community is going to forgive you once you've done this?" I snapped.

"You still aren't seeing the big picture. Ava, look at the opportunity we have!" Charlie said, spreading his arms out wide. "We're demigods, and we've been given this power for a divine purpose. The gods gave us our magic so we could set things right, and it would be wasteful not to use our abilities. Once we beat the Warden, the world is ours. We'll have such a powerful army that no one will be able to oppose us! We'll rule it all."

Tears began to fall from my eyes. This was everything I despised— everything I was against and didn't believe in. "Charlie, you're breaking my heart."

He wasn't listening. He was rambling on, ranting to himself in a frantic, deranged voice I'd never heard him use before. "There's only one way to stop war forever and make sure the world stays safe. I'm going to lead the Elves in a rebellion that's going to crush all the supernatural races, and bring them under our dominion. Then there will be no more fighting, and I'll have control over everything. Once we bring in the humans, we'll have world peace. Anyone who opposes us will immediately be put to death. The Elves are the original supernatural race and therefore are superior, so we deserve to rule over everything. It's the only thing that makes sense."

I was crying properly now. Charlie knew this went against my values. I put freedom and free will above all other morals, and he was trying to take that away from everyone, in the name of him becoming the ruler of it all. It was wrong beyond belief, and he knew I'd rather die than watch the world end up that way.

Yet… he had already considered my feelings on the subject, and he was choosing to go through with it anyway.

"How are you going to explain this to our friends? They'll hate you," I gasped through tears.

"So let them," Charlie stated. "They can either get behind me, or they can fall with the rest of them."

My already broken heart tore in two again. "Fall with the rest of them? You…"

I thought back to when we'd found Kallie in the alleyway, how I'd caught his fleeting thought that it was already too late to save her. "You were going to leave Kallie, weren't you?"

"I didn't want to," Charlie said, and he took a step closer. "But if it came down to her or the key?—"

"No!" I pulled away. "I don't care if there were a million Divinity Keys in that safe! I would've picked Kallie every time."

"Then you don't understand what we need to do to win," Charlie replied. "For the greater good, we have to be willing to make some sacrifices."

Who the hell had I married? Who was this man standing in front of me whom I'd shared my deepest dreams, my life, my body with? I didn't recognize him in the slightest. In moments, the dearest person in my existence had become a stranger to me.

No, not a stranger. A monster.

"When did you come up with this?" I whispered. Danny's warning came back to me. I was horrified with the thought of how long Charlie had been plotting… weeks, months? And I'd known nothing.

My marriage was an illusion. It was created out of lies, and now, was being blown to pieces.

"I've been considering this for a long time. I didn't want to, at first, because it seemed so cruel, but now I know it's what has to be done," Charlie said.

He extended a hand to me. "Ava, be my Empress. Help me make this world ours, so it can be a better place for everyone. With me as the king of this planet, and you as my queen, we can end suffering forever. I know that's what you want more than anything. Once this is all over, no one else ever has to be in pain. We can bring justice, hope, accessibility and safety to the people of this world. We just have to get our hands a little dirty."

I didn't take his hand. I backed my chair away and stated, "The Warden wants to end suffering, too. And your plan sounds a hell of a lot like his."

"I think I'm finally starting to see his point," Charlie said through clenched teeth. "It's him, or us. All of this was going to happen either way. It simply comes down to who's stronger."

Oberi hadn't said anything this entire time, only listened to what Charlie had to say. But now he spoke up, coming forward with bared teeth. Charlie, this is unacceptable. I can't let this happen.

"You're just a Familiar!" Charlie screamed, and Oberi lunged away. "I'm your Elementai, and I say we do this!"

"I'm his Elementai, too!" I yelled, coming to Oberi's aid and planting myself in front of Charlie, to defend my beloved dog. "You're not the only one in control here!"

"Ava, the Elves need you. I need you," Charlie said firmly. "You can't turn your back on this. Do you want to become the Warden's prisoner, or do you want to rule with me? Because those are your options."

I never cowered away when I was backed into a corner, even by my own husband. My mind rushed to wickedly devise a plan. I had to do some damage control. I wasn't going to be able to talk him out of this, so I had to play the long game.

I could lie, and say I wanted to go along with his plan. Then I would manipulate him to change his mind about all of this. Over time, I could make him understand what he was doing was wrong, and he'd back off. We'd beat the Warden the right way, without using anyone, and we could still have our happy life at the end.

Charlie wasn't in his right mind. Once enough time passed, and he grieved his grandfather properly, I could set him back on a good path. He'd realize what he was doing was wrong, and then we'd put things back the way they should be. This wasn't really him— he was just hurting and lashing out. I was his wife. Nobody understood him like I did, and though I'd miscalculated, I could still rectify the situation. I'd promised Danny that I could control him, so I would. I could fix this.

I pulled myself together. "You're right. The last thing I want is to become a slave to the Warden, and if that happens, I won't be able to save anyone. At least if you and I are on top, we can do this our way. We don't have a choice if we want to keep people safe. I understand where you're coming from. We have to do this, to make the world a better place. So where are we going first?"

"You're not going anywhere," Charlie replied. "You're staying in the palace."

The world's axis shifted. I felt reality narrowing inward, enclosing me into a box that had little air to breathe as the earth tilted below me. "What?"

"You're too precious to lose," Charlie pleaded. He came before me on his knees, grasping my hands again, which were already turning cold. "You're not just valuable to me; you're priceless to the Elves as well. The Empress must always be kept safe."

He brushed back a lock of my hair and whispered, "Don't you realize how much I love you? That's why you have to stay here, where you're protected and won't get hurt. You've already died once. I can't bear to lose you again."

He'd turned into a raving lunatic. I guess we all had our breaking point. I should've seen this coming, but I'd willfully ignored it. Now I had to deal with the consequences.

"Do you really think this is the life I would've chosen for myself?" I asked, quivering with rage.

"Ava, I will give you whatever you wish," Charlie offered. "I'll make this life a paradise for you inside this tower, and you'll never have to ask for anything. You want it, it's yours."

"I'll have everything except my freedom," I spat.

"Because that's too much to ask for!" Charlie began pacing, walking the length of the balcony. "I know you want to travel, to explore and see the world, but that's not an option anymore. You're too much of a treasure, and we have too many enemies. You can still have a full life in Ilamanthe without leaving the palace. I'll make sure of it."

"That's not what I want!" I was bawling now. I wish I had some of that fiery courage I was known for, but I wasn't able to summon it against Charlie. At least, not at the moment, because I was dying inside. My entire spirit was decaying, and he could feel it, and he didn't care.

"I know what's best for you," Charlie said, dropping his voice to a gentle croon. "You promised me that I could make the decisions and you'd be okay with them. This is what I've decided."

"This is nothing like what we agreed to." I hated that he was using my choice to trust in him to lock me into a prison. I wiped more tears away with the heel of my hand. "The villain, keeping his trapped princess inside a tower. Might as well be a storybook."

"You're being dramatic," Charlie replied patronizingly. "You'll be living in luxury, and with our friends. I'll be here as often as I can. I adore you. I won't be apart from you for long."

You will not keep Ava in a cage, Oberi warned, and his hackles raised as he defiantly put himself between Charlie and me.

"I'll do whatever it takes to honor my marriage vows and keep her safe!" Charlie barked. "Why won't either of you accept that I'm trying to protect my wife?"

There was nothing left to say. I'd become empty. Charlie had hollowed me out and made me into a shell. He'd rather chain me up than lose me, and that was nothing resembling love.

I never wanted him to touch me again.

"I have important things to attend to. You're staying in our room until the rebellion is done." Charlie left the balcony and returned to the bedroom. I followed him, though I didn't know why. Maybe there was still a little protest in me, something that made me want to fight back.

"Charlie, don't go," I begged, as a last-ditch attempt to talk my way out of this. "Don't leave me here."

He went to the door, and as he opened it, I saw a full line of guards standing outside the room. I knew they were waiting for me.

"Charlie…" I whispered again. Another tear fell down my trembling face, and into my mouth. I tasted bitter salt.

He didn't even turn around to speak to me. "It'll be all right. Soon, you'll understand, and want things to be my way."

My tears slowed as I sneered, "Cassiel would've never done this to Aponi."

Charlie paused at the door. His response was heartless as he replied, "My grandfather didn't have someone like you."

Then he turned to the head guard. "Keep the princess inside. Don't let her out until I come to get her."

"Yes, your highness," the guard replied, giving a short bow.

Then he left me there. He left me. Charlie abandoned me in my new jail, closing the door and leaving our marriage in a complete state of destruction, so he could go on to do as he pleased and get what he wanted.

I ceased to feel as I realized this tower was just another prison I'd found myself locked in. The palace had become my new Institute, but it was far worse than anything Doctor Taurus had ever put me through, because this time, Charlie was my new Warden. My husband had become my captor, and everything I thought I knew about us, our love, and everything we shared exploded into dust. Memories shattered in my vision, days Charlie had spent by my side and nights I'd given up all of me to him.

I wasn't sure if it'd been real. I didn't know if it ever was. Whatever his motives, his reasons, doing this to me was unforgivable.

Oberi was in shock. He stood at my side, unable to function as he fought against the truth of what had just happened.

"I don't understand how we didn't catch this. We share a bond," I said brokenly. "We can hear his thoughts. Marcus looked inside his mind, and Danny felt his desires, but we still didn't see this coming."

He was lying to himself about what he truly wanted, Oberi said somberly. It is the only way he could've misled us, and Danny and Marcus as well. To deceive us, he first had to deceive himself.

At his words, I realized something crippling. I thought back to the vision the Elven goddesses had sent me not so long ago— the images that had flashed across my mind of the rampaging armies across the world, the old bearded king upon his throne, and the dead woman at the base of the tower.

The full truth of the visions hit me hard, and I clutched at my chest, feeling a sharp pain. The king I'd seen hadn't been the Warden, and the marching armies hadn't been The Mission. Those had been Charlie's soldiers, and the old king was Charlie himself. The goddesses had tried to give me a forewarning of what was coming. They had seen that Charlie would take the world over for himself, and that everything would suffer and die because of it due to famine and disease. The entire planet would turn to nothing but barren ash, all the realm's people at the mercy of a dictator-emperor.

The woman who'd thrown herself from the top of the tower was still me, but my end wasn't a result of being the Warden's prisoner. In my vision, I'd endured years of sadness watching Charlie rule over all, and my love for him eventually faded and turned to agonized hate. Charlie didn't let me wander free, nor did he permit me any sort of happiness within the palace except the kind he desired. One day, I wasn't able to take it anymore, and I jumped from the tower to end my life. The cry of the wyvern within my vision had been Oberi, grieving for me, as I abandoned Charlie to rule over his vast and empty kingdom alone.

This wasn't what could happen— I understood deeply that this was what would happen, if Charlie achieved his goal. He'd bring the entire world under his command and destroy it. I wouldn't be able to talk him out of it, no matter what I did, and any affection we had for each other would eventually wither away under the shadow of his greed.

I thought about the future, and what it held. I could tell Charlie of this new interpretation, but I already knew he wouldn't listen. The years would drag on by. I'd still be an Elvish mystic, but he wouldn't take my visions seriously if I foresaw something negative. He'd ignore my warnings and forge ahead anyway, like he was doing now. I'd become no more than a spiritual figurehead without any power, if I wasn't that already.

There were no options. Either the Warden was going to take over the world, or Charlie would, and both options would bring agony and anguish to anyone who managed to survive the all-encompassing war. Those who died in battle would be the lucky ones, for those who made it to whatever new world was built would live in misery until the day they died. Neither one of them would get to build the utopia they desired, for they would bring nothing but suffering.

Oberi observed every thought I had, trembling with each passing image as it flitted through my mind. So the goddesses have spoken, Oberi marveled. If Charlie wins, this is what will be.

"Yes. And we're powerless to stop it." I hung my head.

Oberi put a paw on my knee. You are not powerless, for the prophecy is not yet done.

He was correct. There was still one verse of my prophecy that hadn't been fulfilled.

A new world formed from gods of old,

One from ashes or one from light

The choice is hers alone

I still had a final, last option. One choice— a choice that I needed to make quickly.

The ending of my prophecy was never about us beating the Warden. It was always about me defeating Charlie. He had chosen to curse me to a cruel fate in order to turn the world to dust at his command. A fate worse than death was my destiny, and I knew that fate was one where I remained locked in a cage.

But I wouldn't be the only one. Charlie was going to lock us all in his prison, and we wouldn't be able to escape him on Earth or in the afterlife, because it was his destiny to open the Elven Gate. Once he did that, he would have control over the Blessed Haven. The Divinity Keys were going to give him that kind of power, and I'd put them right in his hands.

Yet I still had a chance to change this fate. I could save people by wiping the entire universe off the map, because being an eternal prisoner was worse than not existing at all.

I recalled the dying Earth from my vision the goddesses had sent me, and knew I couldn't allow that to happen. I needed to save this world from the person I loved, because the fate he would give it would be a more painful one than the ending I'd bestow.

My magic was strong, and you know what? I think this was where everything was leading to after all, right from the very beginning.

My mother had taught me that I could connect with the Earth's soul, and pull from it to strengthen my own magic. I'd tried to use that spell for good, and had desired to get stronger so that once I was powerful enough, I could use it to heal every soul and heart on the planet at once.

Now I accepted that spell would never work. There were too many bastards like the Warden roaming this realm, and they would never let me heal them, so that meant the world would always be this way unless I took a different path. Instead of using my connection to Earth's soul to heal the world…

I could reverse it, and change the universe forever.

I could feel the connection between the Earth and the spiritual realm, strained and fighting to survive. All I would have to do was tie my Spirit magic to that bond, and yank it tight. Once I did, both realms would collapse, and reality would cease to be. The Earth would be destroyed, along with all who lived on it, and the spiritual realm would die, taking all its souls and the gods within one energetic blast.

Everything in existence… would end.

I expected Oberi to freak out, but he didn't. He calmly resonated with my thoughts, taking the idea in.

"What's the point of living, Oberi?" I asked desperately. I wasn't sure if he could help me, but I needed some sort of excuse. Just one, to convince me to turn away from what I was considering.

I'm unsure, Oberi responded. Perhaps before, I might've pretended to know the answers. But all my millennia of living cannot grasp, fathom, nor accept that Charlie has become this, or that his actions are going to ruin the lives of millions.

"If this can happen to Charlie, and the world can make him into a monster like this, it can happen to anybody," I insisted. "He'll be worse than the Warden. He'll be more ruthless. I know he can be."

I took Oberi's furry face in my hands. "And then what'll I be? His pretty pigeon that he takes out of a gilded cage whenever he wants to play with me? He'll ruffle my feathers every now and then, but he'll never let me out long enough for me to spread my wings. Since the start, he's called me his little bird, and that's exactly what he's gonna make me into. I'm merely his pet, a sacrificial lamb he's willing to slaughter for his enjoyment. He's willing to bargain my freedom to get what he desires. Then what'll happen to you, huh?"

Oberi's big black eyes got sadder. I will be his weapon, as he desires to use me as one. I am too powerful to be kept in a cage, and unlike you, I cannot die. Since he cannot lose me, I will become an asset, a tool of war against his enemies.

"So you understand. This is the only way. It'll be beautiful. Glorious, even."

If he is capable of imprisoning you and taking away your freedom, as I did not think he would be, then he is capable of anything, Oberi said. He is something we must protect the world from.

"But can we protect it by ending it." It wasn't even a question, really. More of… asking permission.

There are far worse things than death, and this world has been left scarred by people like him. We cannot allow this to go on any longer, Oberi said firmly. This cycle of suffering and purposeless pain needs to be drawn to a close. Whatever you decide, I will support you, and be behind you all the way.

Clearly, he wasn't going to convince me otherwise, and I didn't want him to. "Do you really think this is the right decision?"

I cannot say, Oberi mused. All I can say is that I love you, and trust you. If this is your choice as the prophecy says, then I am bound to your fate. May it be that something good comes out of this after all.

"I think so. After all, energy can neither be created nor destroyed, save by demigods. If I destroy the Earth and the afterlife, all that energy has to go somewhere, so it'll recreate the universe and start everything over… give life a better chance. It'll be like the big bang, all over again from the beginning of creation, except I'll be the one creating the universe this time. If I sacrifice myself and everyone else, it could create a better world. An ideal world, one without all this hate."

It could, Oberi offered. Or it could bring about a new universe full of calamity. Are you willing to risk that?

I took a moment to really consider what I was contemplating. I thought about all the wars in the world, how they destroyed people's lives and ruined families. I thought about Kallie, what the Dollmaker had done to her, and all the girls in the future who would become victims to evil men. I thought about all those poor souls in the camps, and how cruelly they'd been treated before their miserable end. Nothing like that should ever be permissible, yet genocides similar to it had happened time and again throughout history, and they would continue to persist if something wasn't done.

Then I thought about all the vile, evil monsters who'd done all those awful things to innocents who didn't deserve it. Even if we killed the Warden, or convinced Charlie to stand down, another creature just as cruel as them would come in to take their place. And I figured if all those terrible things could happen in the world, it wasn't worth sparing anyway. I needed to protect others from enduring horrible things, even if protecting them meant ending their existence. I couldn't allow the afterlife to go on— the circle of reincarnation would just keep going, souls would find another plane of reality to return to, and the cycle would start up all over again.

No… if I was destroying everything, I was destroying it all.

No one would know if everything faded. They wouldn't have any comprehension of it, because they'd be gone. I would be, too. I could wipe out the entirety of suffering forever, for all of life in one single stroke. I had one thing the other demigods didn't. My demigod magic gave me a connection to the Earth, and I could break her spirit. Once that happened, nothing could stop this realm from breaking at the seams, sending a ripple of chaos through the other realms and destroying them all entirely.

It was all I ever desired, to stop the suffering of others forever, but I never thought it would end up like this.

But either way… if I did this, I'd finally get what I wanted.

Emperor Cassiel was right. Someone would always have to pay the price to end suffering. This time, it would be us all.

"I'll risk whatever it takes to make sure something like what happened in the camps never happens again," I promised Oberi. I landed on a decision.

There was still a small, bitter part of me that protested. A part that said this wasn't the only way and we'd find another solution, if I only gave it a chance.

I detested that Ava. She was weak— she still wanted to play the hero. She was desperate to save the world and all the people in it. She wanted to act like she was good inside, just misunderstood, when that really wasn't the case at all. She did everything she could to belong and gave away parts of who she was to try and fit the mold of the people around her, because achieving the status quo meant she'd finally be accepted for who she was. She was a girl that begged for scraps of love because she didn't feel like she deserved it, a girl who thought in black-and-white and only saw the world in one way. Right was right and wrong was wrong, to her. Things were simple and straightforward, and bad people deserved to be punished just as good people deserved to be rewarded.

That was a ridiculous concept. I wasn't a good person. I didn't know how long it was going to take for me to accept that. On top of it, I didn't want to be. Good people got used and mistreated. I was always going to be an outcast, and I was never going to be accepted for the person I was born to be. I was sick of carving parts out of my heart in order to fit into a role that wasn't mine. I knew the world wasn't black and white, and that everyone had good and evil inside of them. It only depended on what parts people chose to show. In this world we lived in now, no one was a hero. Punishments and rewards weren't given out depending on a person's actions, but by chance… and by people deciding what they deserved and taking it for themselves, despite any morals that might say otherwise.

I wasn't a hero. And I was tired of trying to play the part. There was a dagger inside of me that had been plunged into my back long ago by all the good people of the world, a dagger that cut deep and said that I'd never belong.

You know what? I loved that dagger. It made me who I was, and I was sick of trying to pull it out. If I didn't belong, I was more than happy with that. I'd bleed on all the fuckers who dared to get in my way. I didn't need anyone to love me but myself, and whatever decisions I made would be the right ones. There was no need to second guess myself anymore.

From deep inside myself, I summoned my Spirit magic. I put my hand on Oberi's chest, then lifted my fingers upward to project my soul out.

A piece of myself, a part of the spirit that I shared with Charlie, materialized out of Oberi's heart. She took form, hovering before me. She looked like me, had identical features and a cold smile, but she appeared younger.

And she stood, looming over me tall on two legs. This was the person I'd been before the Infernal Underground, and I'd still been holding on to her. I hadn't realized how tightly she'd been clinging to me. This was the person that had been formed from all my parents' stories, the hero that I'd dreamed someday I might be. If I was to do what needed to be done, she couldn't be a part of me anymore.

I couldn't show any mercy. I needed to kill her. She was hurting me and holding me back from everything I had the potential to become. I was burying her today, and turning her to ash.

The good girl I'd tried to be stared back with merciless eyes. "You can't kill me. You need me."

"I haven't needed you in years." My fingers glowed with blue Fire, and I raised my arm. "You aren't who I am."

"Wait—" she pleaded, but her words turned to screams as my blue Fire ignited her form. I wrapped tendrils of Spirit magic around her form so she couldn't move, binding her as the flames licked up her body. My flames consumed the part of my soul that still dared to hope I could be someone I wasn't, and she cried out in pain as her flesh singed away by the Fire. Smoke filtered from her body and through the open balcony, turning the sky black.

It should've hurt, but it didn't. I felt nothing but relief, and a sense of freedom that I was finally rid of her. Eventually, my blue flames burned only air, and I pulled back my power.

I had no regrets. That bitch had to die, because she wasn't strong enough to keep moving forward.

I felt lighter once she was gone, as if she had been holding me in shackles the same way the Warden and Charlie had. I would not become a prisoner to anyone— not even myself.

I sat taller in my chair as I turned toward the door, finally the woman I needed to be, finally ready to meet my destiny. They wanted a villain for their queen, and by the gods, I was going to give them one.

I was made for no man. I belong to myself.

I wrenched open the door, fully expecting that I'd have to take down a full battalion of guards on my way out. But I didn't have to— Kallie stood over them all with a bloody dagger in one hand, an illusion spell still burning in the other. Bodies of Elves were scattered all around the living area. I wasn't sure if they were dead or just knocked out, but I supposed it didn't matter either way— not with what I was about to do.

"Kallie," I breathed, and I rushed to her. She hugged me tightly, and I said, "I knew you'd never leave me."

Best friends before anyone else, that was what I truly believed.

"I wasn't going to leave you in there," she swore. "Never."

"Where's everyone else?" I asked.

"Watching the battle. The one he… started." Kallie couldn't bring herself to say Charlie's name. "I stayed behind, because I didn't trust him."

"He locked me up, Kallie." Tears beaded at my eyelids once again, but I wouldn't allow them to fall. Why bother to cry when my tears would soon cease to have meaning?

"I know. I was going to confront him, but I realized it would be a better idea to get you out." She sheathed her dagger. "What's the plan?"

I wasn't sure if she was going to understand. But Kallie knew me better than most people in this world, and we had a deeper connection in some ways than even Charlie and I did. There were things I could discuss with her that my husband just wouldn't get.

Clearly.

"He's not going to quit, Kallie. No matter what you guys do, he'll go forward with what he wants," I stated. "The only thing that's gonna stop him… is me."

"If you're going to fight him, I'll help," Kallie stated.

"No." I reached out to grasp her hands and squeezed them in mine. "I'm going to make sure he can't do this ever again. Or anyone else, for the rest of time."

Kallie blinked as she slowly caught my meaning. "You're going to do it? You're going to break the connection between the spirit realm and Earth, end the world?"

"The world, the afterlife, the universe… all of it."

Kallie nodded and squeezed my hands back. "Okay. I'm with you."

"Really?" I was shocked beyond belief. Didn't she want to give any kind of protest?

Kallie nodded again. "After going to the camps, I don't see the point in fighting anymore. All the bloodshed is just going to continue, even centuries after we're gone. Our descendants are going to forget about this war just so they can go fight in another."

Kallie's lips trembled as she struggled to hold the tears inside. "And I don't know if I'm strong enough to keep enduring flashbacks of what the Dollmaker did to me for the rest of my life. Or the fact that every day, there's another woman out there who's meeting the same fate, and I can do nothing about it. I love Marcus. But I don't want to keep living like this. I don't think it's fair for anyone else to, either. I just want it all to be over."

"It will be over, Kallie. We'll do it together, so not you or me or anybody else has to suffer anymore," I promised. "Best friends until the end."

"Always." Kallie shuddered. "You know Charlie is going to try and stop you."

I dropped her hands, and my mouth fell into a thin line as I steeled my tone. "I refuse to be afraid of my husband."

"Then let's go," Kallie said. "Where are you going to do it?"

"The beach, on the city limits," I told her. "It's going to be deserted. No one will be able to stop me out there."

"I'll find Charlie and the others. I'll distract them, to give you enough time to get the job done."

We hesitated, and it was for the same reason. I somehow managed to process that this was the last time I was going to see her… ever. There'd be no afterlife for us to reunite in.

It would be like that for everyone I loved. I would never see my parents again, my siblings, my friends…

I'd never see Monica again. I was willingly choosing not to. Ancestors, it nearly broke my will and made me turn back. Let Charlie and the Warden destroy it all, just so I could see her smile and say my name one last time.

Yet my cause was greater. I wished upon wish that maybe one day, the new stars that would be created from the fragments of our souls would come together, casting out stardust. Perhaps in another eternity, we'd be reunited again.

She embraced me again. "You've been the best friend I could've ever asked for, Ava. I wish things could've been different."

I hugged her back as tightly as I could, praying I could mold her into me so we didn't have to be separated. "It was the best, Kallie. You were one of the greatest joys of my life."

"And you mine." She lifted a watery smile as Oberi shifted into a unicorn beside me. Kallie helped me onto her back. I grasped Kallie's hand, locked onto her gaze, and held on for as long as I could before our fingers trailed apart as Oberi carried me away.

There were guards warring and killing each other in the halls, but Oberi swerved me around the various battles as we galloped through the palace. I glanced to my right as we passed the main hall and saw Cameron surrounded by his men, shouting orders as he battled Charlie's warriors off with magic and his sword.

All this death and unnecessary war, merely to decide who would rule over what. It was stupid. That cycle would end today.

Oberi burst into the gardens. Once she did, her body morphed and became larger, growing scales and wings. The wyvern lifted into the sky, taking flight and carrying me far away from the palace.

Oberi flew me toward the beach. As he did so, words that the Warden spoke to me years ago came back to haunt my thoughts, his voice creeping at the edges of my being.

One day, the four of you will have a disagreement, a difference of opinion that'll lead to division. Then it'll be as simple to pick you apart as it is to pick the wings off a fly.

Well, he was right. We were broken apart now. Charlie and me, our friends, all of us. But I wouldn't give the Warden enough time to divide our group in order to conquer them, because I was finishing them off myself. The best part about this was even though I was destroying the people I cared for, I was destroying the Warden, too, and he was going down with us.

As I flew over the city, I looked down. I observed Elves battling in the streets, fighting with each other and spilling blood as Charlie's side and Cameron's fought to take control.

Let them. It would all be over soon.

Then… my eyes locked upon a lone figure on the top of a nearby penthouse. I recognized her as I flew overhead. Our eyes connected, and her gaze… it looked so sad. But full of acceptance, like she'd been waiting for this day to come and no longer had to carry the burden of it upon her shoulders.

Aunt Maddie. She knew I was going to do this all along, because she'd foreseen it. She'd tried to warn me, but I hadn't listened. She could've killed me in my crib, stopped all this from happening, but she didn't. She'd left the choice up to me.

I was grateful for that. She'd done the job of a naderei and hadn't interfered, despite what she'd foreseen.

Oberi landed on the beach. I was still inside the shield, but it wasn't like that made a difference now. I held on to Oberi's head as he lifted me off his back, setting me in the sand. He shifted back into a husky as he stood beside me, waiting for me to take action.

The waves crashed onto the shore, my most beloved sound. As high tide met its peak, I gave a sad smile at the ocean I loved so much. The horizon line called to me as it always did, promising adventures I'd never have and incredible sights that I'd never see.

It was a shame we were losing all this beauty, the brilliance of the natural world and all its biodiversity. All because we couldn't get along.

An orange hue broke out over the sea, purple and pink colors racing throughout the sky. What a beautiful sunset. A perfect way to conclude our story.

Are you going to do it now? Oberi asked, and he tilted his head.

"Yes," I replied. It was the only way.

I put both hands on the ground, digging into the sand. I felt the Earth's energy deep within the ground, going down to the core of the planet. There was the bond that linked our realm to the spiritual one. The vibration of the Blessed Haven and all the afterlifes it contained sent an echoing call to Earth, and I felt that connection tremor as souls ferried back and forth along that tethered rope. Once I set off a chain reaction that couldn't be stopped, all of it would fall apart.

Harnessing all my power, I wrapped my Spirit magic around the rope and began to pull. Immediately, there was resistance, but I pushed harder. The bond began to crack under my pressure, and there was a great moan that spread throughout the land as the Earth started to protest.

I became enraged at this realm and outraged by her spirit. Back in the gardens with my parents, when I first felt Earth's spirit, I saw her beauty. She showed me her divine feminine energy, her desire to nurture and spread joy.

But she was in all of us— every human and supernatural on the planet— and while she could build mountains and create life, we were the part of her that would always be destructive. There was a dark side to her feminine beauty, and it was us. People would continue to sabotage each other— to starve, rape, murder, and abuse. This was never going to end, unless I put an end to it.

Images of war passed behind my lids. I recalled photographs and artist depictions of the Hawkei Civil War, along with stories my parents had shared with me. I thought of the wars all our parents had fought just to get us here; the Malovian Revolution that Kallie's parents won, along with the Miriamic Conflict that Marcus' parents fought so hard to resolve. It was all for nothing, because war had never really ended. The wounds caused by those wars only permeated through to the next generation, so that we would keep hurting each other over and over again.

I saw myself holding Monica's bleeding body in my arms, and I felt John force himself onto me. I heard the screams of Elves as they were slaughtered while trying to flee Forevermore. I could still smell the rotting corpses we'd found in the crypt beneath the Institute's graveyard. I felt the agonizing invasion of inferichite as Jaymin's spell invaded my magic in the Infernal Underground, and the crushing weight of death as my spirit was torn from my body that night. I still remembered the torturous screams of Cellblock 9 as the guards trapped us inside to torment us. Terror rocked my soul as I relived the night the Institute fell and the Warden summoned the dark gods. I recalled the devastation we'd witnessed at the Main Facility, and my heart shredded at the thought of all the lives lost there. I brought up images of the bloody battle back at the palace as my own people turned upon their brothers and sisters in arms.

I showed the Earth all of this, because if I was going to break her, I had to break her spirit— as she had done to mine.

The Earth's resistance was futile as I forced my magic to keep going, breaking the connection apart. This was going to take some time. A deep connection like this wasn't going to break unless I forced it to, and there was already so much strain upon it from the fight between the gods. Reality was bending. I only had to shape it to my will.

When I began breaking the connection, there was an immediate reaction. The firmament underneath me began vibrating, and cracks appeared in the ground over a mile long. Earthquakes rumbled throughout the area, and I watched as a skyscraper in the distance collapsed within Ilamanthe's borders, crumbling to nothing as an earthquake rattled it to the ground. The lovely sunset faded as the sky turned dark, and pitch-black storm clouds thundering with lightning raged overhead. A windstorm picked up, sweeping my hair around my face. I watched waterspouts form on the waves in the distance, waves that were quickly forming into a tsunami.

I was doing it. I was bringing a stop to it all.

I heard more screams resonate from the city and nearly held myself back. But I kept going, because I reminded myself these people deserved better, and so did I.

I wasn't doing this because I no longer loved Charlie. Not at all. I was destroying everything because I loved him. He was the fire within me, driving me onward, and he was the ocean inside my heart that gave me life. That fire would consume me and that ocean would drown me if I allowed it, so I was killing it, just like I'd killed my old life.

As I continued ripping apart the connection, figures materialized before me. The first was the image of a ghostly bear, so transparent I could hardly make him out in the quickening darkness. The bear transformed into a man, and my Grandpa Liwanu stood across from me, his eyes creasing in unhappiness.

"Ava, please. Think about what you're doing," he pleaded.

"No, Grandpa," I hushed. A tear slipped from my eye and into the sand. "This is what needs to be done."

The second figure was more solid. Coyote hunched down, dropping his head and approaching me with his tail between his legs. My spirit magic went so deep it touched the other realms, and they'd used it to cross the divide and come to me.

Ava, my love, I cherish you, Coyote begged. This is not the way you were to go, not what your destiny foretold. Stop this, and come be with me.

"I will not," I whispered. Forcibly, I sent them both away, and they faded as they returned to the other side.

I'd disappointed Coyote, all the gods, and everyone in the spiritual realm who'd given me a chance. They never should've let me come back to Earth and return to my life. I should've stayed in the Ancestral Lands. At least then, things would've been able to go on.

Or maybe I would've found a way to ruin it all, even in death. Who knew?

I heard a darling voice cry out, the wind calling my name as he approached from the east. What a precious thing, to hear my name fall from his tongue. Despite being furious with him, I wanted to see him… one last time.

Oberi lifted his lip, showing his fangs in a deep growl. I quickened my magic, urging it to go faster and get the job done, because I knew who was coming for me.

Charlie couldn't stop me. To save the world, or end it. I'd never thought I'd choose to end it. I'd always sworn I'd save the day, somehow.

But there was nothing left to be saved. We all knew that. Time to let it all go. As the prophet had foretold, this was my choice alone. And I wouldn't let Charlie take that choice away from me.

Not without a fight. And until my last breath, I was going to give him one.