And we’d given it to him.
I hoped he hadn’t figured out me and my friends were demigods yet, or anything about the keys. If he had, we were screwed.
Guards circled around Charlie and me. They pressed in on all sides, preventing means of escape. Oberi huffed and tossed her head. Charlie stiffened next to me, though I wasn’t scared. I was ready to light this place up like a stick of dynamite. Forevermore was already ruined. I was determined not to let the Warden get his filthy fingers on it.
“I’m willing to cut you a deal,” the Warden said. “Follow us back to the Institute, and we’ll return you to the general population of the prison. I’ll look the other way at your little escape attempt, as itdidhand me Forevermore, and we’ll forget about all the guards your friends just killed. You can avoid Cellblock 9, and I can take advantage of all the benefits this gorgeous city has to offer.”
A bit of hope, then. He wasn’t sending us to Cellblock 9, which I’m sure he would do if he knew we were demigods. It was the only thing we still had going for us.
But I had no intention of going back to the Institute. Not now, not ever.
I threw back my head in a delirious laugh. “Do you thinkthisis going to stop me?” I challenged, casting my gaze at the guards surrounding us. “I’ll burn every motherfucker in this place!”
The fireball in my hand swelled to an enormous size. It became a column of flame that slammed against the ceiling, causing rocks to crumble from above. I forged the water ball in my hand into a blade, and clenched the icy sword tightly in my fingers, determined to drive it into the Warden’s heart— once I got done frying him to a crisp.
The Warden raised an eyebrow. “Very well. If you’re not going to follow orders, we’ll have to do this the hard way.”
Charlie gave an abrupt cry, and instantly collapsed. Oberi gave a high-pitched scream as his body hit the stone. I cried out, falling to my knees next to him, and my magic vanished.
Charlie gasped, as if he was struggling against the ocean and trying to breathe. I watched his skin visibly pale, and his body shook with tremors. He elicited soft cries of pain. I placed a hand over my mouth, not sure of what to do. It was like he wasperishingbefore my very eyes.
The Warden wasn’t moving. He had his hands behind his back, and was standing as rigid as ever. He could’ve fooled me that he wasn’t casting a spell, but I just knew he was the one doing this to Charlie.
It didn’t end. Insanity began to tear at the corners of my mind as I felt our bond begin to slip away. Charlie was still there, but he was fading. I felt his life begin to end at the Warden’s power. His half of our soul tugged at my own, yanking and ripping as if he was on his way to join our ancestors in the afterlife itself. I watched as the light began to leave his eyes, and completely lost my mind.
“What are you doing to him?” I screamed. I looked up, tears streaming down my face as Charlie continued to writhe. Oberi danced and knickered— the flames on her mane had gone down, as if they were being put out and she was losing her Fire.
“Aren’t you aware?” the Warden taunted. “Powerful angels have mastery over life-force manipulation, and I am a powerful angel, Miss Mitoh. I am currently siphoning away Mister Wahkin’s life force. He is very young, and quite healthy, so it will take some time. But eventually, I will drain what is left of his life with my magic, and he will, as they say, become deceased.”
“You monster. Give it back,” I demanded, sobbing now.
“I very wellcould, but that would mean you’d have to do what I say,” the Warden replied. “And you seemed very adamant a moment ago to put up an unnecessary fight.”
“Don’t, pidge,” Charlie choked out. “Don’t go with him.”
His voice was raspy and rattled— like he was on the edge of death. It cut me to the core to hear. With each breath, I felt Charlie’s tie to me and Oberi grow weaker. He was struggling to breathe. I reached out to hold his hand, and he grasped it, but loosely.
“I know you and your friends are very powerful, but keep in mind that I don’t needallof you,” the Warden said. “You are the one I am most determined to keep in my care, Miss Mitoh, and you have quite a few loved ones for me to work through— your brother comes to mind.”
“I hate you,” I spat. I wiped Charlie’s hair away from his eyes, but wept once I touched his skin. It was ice cold.
“Hate me all you like, but it’s not going to change the outcome,” the Warden said. “You have five minutes to make up your mind. That should be enough time for me to drain out the rest of Mister Wahkin’s life force. What’s left of it, anyway.”
“Charlie!” I heard Cameron cry. He hurried in our direction, but the Emperor’s Guard held him back on the orders of Cassiel. It was obvious the ruler was on the brink of making a tough decision.
“Go!” I screamed. “Get out of here!”
Cameron flinched in a moment of indecision, but Emperor Cassiel grabbed his arm. The emperor rushed through the portal, along with Cameron and all the Emperor’s Guard. In seconds, they’d passed through the Mirror of Ingress and to another place.
A couple of Institute guards went to follow the Emperor through the mirror. But once the Emperor passed through the portal, the mirror completely shattered. Glass rained down from above, cutting into the uniforms and skin of guards. They screamed, and I felt a small bit of victory at the Emperor’s escape. At least the guards wouldn’t be able to follow wherever the Elves had gone.
But they were lost to us now. Who knew where they had gone to hide?
I put a hand on Charlie’s chest. Horror rushed into my veins as I realized his heartbeat was starting to slow, on the brink of failure. I cast a pleading glance at the Warden.
“Don’t hurt him! Punishme!” I yelled. “Hurt me!”
“I’m sorry, but you and I both know you have a high tolerance for pain, and if torturing someone else is the only way to get you to listen, then so be it,” the Warden hissed. “I told you when you arrived here that I will break you, and make no mistake,I will break you.”
