Her words had turned to a whisper, and my stomach twisted. “What do you mean by that?” I asked. I had to know how she truly felt.
A beat passed before she answered. “I don’t feel like you support me. Every time I get closer to answers, you seem to have some sort of excuse as to why we can’t do it. It’s like you’ve been trying to sabotage me the whole time.”
I said nothing, and Ava hitched a breath. “That’s because youhavetried, haven’t you?”
I crossed my arms in front of my stomach. I felt so cold. “I took the Elven books from the library, and buried them,” I admitted. “I didn’t want us getting any closer to the truth.”
“You took my key when we were fooling around in the woods, didn’t you?” Ava accused. “I didn’t lose it. Youstoleit.”
My voice had withered away inside my throat. Ava’s tone was heartbroken. “I can’t… youknowit’s hard for me to be vulnerable in that way. Do you think I can just... take my clothes off and fuck around with anyone without it beingscary? But I did, because I felt safe, and I thought that was a moment where I couldtrustyou. I’m really disappointed in you.”
I couldn’t defend myself. It’d been a shitty thing to do then, and I felt worse about it now.
Ava’s voice grew angry. “You’re always saying everything is too dangerous, and you’re right. Itisdangerous, but I knew that when I learned about the prophecy. I’m willing to face the danger, but I get that you’re not. Even if you don’t want to fulfillyourprophecy, I have to fulfill mine. I don’t want to force you to follow me when it could get you killed.”
I gaped. How did I even begin to explain this? “Pidge, you think I said all that stuff becauseIwas scared for myself? Hell, no! I was scared foryou!”
“I know it’s dangerous—”
“No, you don’t know,” I choked. “You havenoidea how dangerous this truly is.”
“I’m not—” she cut off when she realized something. “Wait... do you know something about the prophecy that I don’t?”
I pressed my lips together and didn’t speak.
“Charlie, you have to tell me,” she demanded.
“I’m not supposed to,” I said. “It could hurt you even more. Your aunt said it would compromise the outcome of the prophecy.”
“How can I do my job as the chosen one without knowingeverythingabout the prophecy?” Ava demanded. She sounded agonized that her aunt had hidden this from her.
“Because if you knew what the rest of it said, you wouldn’t keep pursuing it.”
“Then you’ll have your wish,” she stated. “You don’t want me doing this anyway.”
My heart gave a jolt. I’d been so scared of telling her the truth, thinking that doing so would doom her, but maybe she was right. Maybethiswas the choice my prophecy piece spoke of.A choice will be made by the twin of her soul… It is his choice to damn the realm, or save us all.
Perhapsthiswas how I fulfilled my piece. Breaking up sure as hell felt like a fate worse than death. Damn it all, I knew I’d do anything to save Ava, even if it meant letting her go.
“A choice will be made by the twin of her soul,” I began. I’d memorized the words months ago, but they still tore me apart to hear aloud. “To save her and damn the realm, or curse her, and save us all. A fate worse than death is the chosen one’s destiny.”
I gave a heavy sigh. “The prophecy says that I’m going to hurt you in order to save the world— deliver you a fate worse than death. Your aunt foresaw it.”
A sob broke from my chest, but that was all I allowed. I shoved the rest downward, because I couldn’t handle anything more. “Pidge,” I rasped. “I can’t keep doing this. If this is what saves you—”
“It’s not me I’m worried about,” she cut in. “If it comes down to saving the world and saving you— which it will— I’m going to chooseyou. The only way the supernaturals can survive is if you’re not around me, so you don’t end up dead. I’d damn the whole world to hell if it meant choosing you.”
“I hate that it’s hurting you to choose between me and your destiny,” I admitted.
Ava swallowed audibly. “I’m sorry, Charlie. But when I was forced to choose to save you from death instead of stopping the Warden to save the Elves, I just realized I can’t do both. We damned a whole magical society because we love each other, and it can’t happen again.”
I dropped my head. “I feel awful. It’s our fault the Elves were exposed.”
It felt so strange to agree with her. I knew I should be fighting for her, because I loved her so damn much, but we couldn’t fight for each other when it meant damning everyone else. We blamed ourselves— we blamedeach other— for what happened to the Elves. And the last thing either of us wanted was for our relationship to end the world. Because we were villains, and we knew it would.
And so, we had to end it first.
Ava hiccupped. “I’msosorry, Charlie.”
