Marcus sighed. “Unfortunately, if we don’t want to draw any suspicion to ourselves, Kallie and I have to get to class,” he said. “We don’t want an infraction for skipping.”
Class was the last thing on my mind. I couldn’t give a damn about school right now, not when our necks were on the line.
“Ugh, you’re right. Fuck the rules.” Kallie stomped her foot and got to her feet, but she started toward the entrance to the Lair anyway. The sound of Marcus’ footsteps followed behind her, and Rishi meowed lightly.
Before they left, Kallie turned back to add, “Those illusions aren’t going to last all day.”
I got to my feet a moment before Kallie’s illusion vanished. I felt for the chair I’d just been sitting in, but it was gone. The sounds of Kallie’s angry curses and Marcus’ loud footsteps faded as they left for class.
I turned to Ava, still fuming. “What does Oberi think of this?”
I heard the light bristle of Ava’s fingers running through Oberi’s mane. “She’s on my side.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I just do. Oberi always does whatever’s going to keep us safe.”
I blew a breath. “You thinkthisis going to keep you safe, pidge? You’re a freaking demigod. The Warden wants you. The Institute is thelastplace you should be!”
“You don’t think I know that?!” she snapped. “It’s not like Iwantto stay. I’m fuckingscared, Charlie. I thought you would understand.”
“You think I don’t understand what it’s like to be scared? I’ve known nothing but fear my whole life, and I know when to cower and when to fucking run.”
“I’m telling you, there’s nowheretorun,” she insisted.
“That’s not what you said last semester,” I reminded her. “You’re not even entertaining the idea of breaking out. Maybe if you gave it a chance, we could come up with a plan. You said it yourself that we’re demigods. The Institute wasn’t built for people like us. I bet it can’t hold us if we really try.”
“Maybe not, but we haven’t even scratched the surface of our powers,” Ava pointed out. “We can’t harness our demigod abilities to break out if we don’t know how to use them.”
She reached out for me, but I yanked away. That seemed to piss her off, and her tone became sour. “You don’t seem to understand that getting caught trying to escape is worse than staying.”
“Idounderstand,” I insisted. “You don’t understand whatI’msaying.”
“I don’t get you!” she cried. “Last semester, you were willing to bend over and get fucked in the ass by the school for no good reason. Now that I agree with you, you’re flipping sides on wanting to leave.”
“Things have changed,” I insisted.
“What do you mean? The prophecy?” Ava demanded.
I blew a breath. “Screw the prophecy. All I care about is keeping you safe— and that means getting you far away from the Warden. We’re smarter than he is. We don’thaveto get caught, if we’re careful.”
“And what if we’re not?” she demanded. “What if we’re not careful enough?”
“Exactly!” I fumed. “What if we’re not good enough at hiding our powers? What if one of us lashes out while we live out our sentence?”
Hell, all I wanted was to get Ava as far away from here as possible. Playing it cool simply wasn’t an option. I had to hit her where it hurt, for her to see the danger she was in.
I gritted my teeth before delivering the blow. “What if you have another episode and can’t control your powers? What then?”
That royally pissed her off. “Don’t youdareuse my diagnosis against me!”
Ava shoved me, and I stumbled back a step. Oberi shook her head so fast that embers from her mane landed on my skin. They were only hot for a second before they fizzled out.
“You promised to help me with the prophecy!” she cried. “Where inyourscenario does that fit in? Because we sure as hell aren’t breaking out just to stay on Darke Island, where the Warden will hunt us down for sure.”
“The prophecy isn’t worth your life!” I yelled.
Ava drew shallow, wavered breaths. “So you’ll break your promise?”
