It seemed ridiculous we hadn’t thought of it before, but Charlie scoffed and said, “Doubt that would work. The Warden let that happen once, but there was no reason for Ava not to come back. Now that the war’s started, he’s not going to give the four of us a chance to escape. We can’t wait that long, anyhow. Ava’s journal says the Institute burning is next on the timeline. Frankly, we should be out of here before that happens.”
“Charlie’s right,” Marcus said. “A new mandate was just announced this morning that inmates aren’t allowed to leave Institute grounds for any reason during their sentence, no exceptions, save for if a student is under a court order. A couple of the rich kids’ parents are up in arms about it, but the United Supernatural Union backed him up.”
“I’m guessing no more field trips into Shade Hills, either,” I stated.
“Nope.” Marcus shook his head. “Those were canceled after our second semester here. I think the Warden was using those field trips to have students look for clues to Forevermore, and we sure led him right to it.”
“I wish you had gotten out of here, Ava.” Charlie rubbed his eyes. “If you had run away when your parents had taken you back to Kinpago for Christmas after the Darke Games, none of this would’ve happened.”
“I knew I had to come back to the Institute, because there were still keys here,” I argued. “Not to mention I wasn’t going to leave you. The Warden knew that. It’s probably the only reason he let me go home the first time.”
“Yes, but if you hadn’t come back…”
“I knew the risks of staying at the Institute, but I returned anyway, because here had what I needed,” I said firmly. “In more ways than one.”
“You mean the keys,” Charlie stated bluntly. “Why not forget about them? We don’t have to fulfill any of these prophecies.”
“Yes, we do!” I argued. “We can’t just give up on a world full of people.”
“It’d be better than giving up on you. On us.”
He had to let this go. This… guilt that was eating him alive because of what had happened to me wasn’t just hurting him.
“Caring about people and trying to save them is what got us here in the first place,” Charlie said. “Everything we’ve done in pursuit of the prophecy has only made things worse. The Warden found Forevermore because of us. We went after Eddie and the Elves in the Underground, but we were too late. And look what happened to you.”
“We’re not abandoning the prophecy,” I stated firmly. “I’m not compromising on that.”
“Then we’ll fulfill it somewhere else, where we’ll be safe in the meantime,” Charlie offered. “Once you’re stable enough to leave, we’ll get out of here and portal somewhere safe.”
“Where is safe?” Kallie threw her hands up. “The war is everywhere.”
“We need to leave the magical community,” Charlie insisted. “We can go to the human world. I know people in Detroit. The Warden isn’t going to find us there.”
Kallie scoffed. “Sure, Charlie. That’s an option.”
“We’ll all go,” Charlie offered. “We’ll work together to survive— we can break out the others, too. Ivy’s street smart, and Chancey knows how to run a long-con. We can make some good money together.”
“And what’s your definition of that? Because a couple thousand dollars a month isn’t going to be enough to get us all by, let alone pay for Ava’s care without insurance!” Kallie snapped.
“It’s better than what’s going on at the Institute!” Charlie argued.
Kallie’s knuckles cracked as she bunched her hands into fists. “Charlie, you couldn’t supportyourselfwhen you were living on the streets. How are you going to take care of Ava?”
“Howdareyou imply I can’t provide for my wife,” Charlie snarled.
“I’m not going to let you put Ava in a situation where she’s not getting what she needs, because you don’t think you can protect her here!” Kallie yelled.
The wind picked up in the room, and Charlie’s body stiffened. I saw a yellow sheen pass over Kallie’s eyes, and I knew the two of them were getting ready to fight.
Marcus stepped between them. I knew I had to say something to calm them both down.
“Either way, we still need to find those keys,” I said, interrupting the argument. “Charlie, you and Marcus did that Miriamic locating spell last semester. You figured there were three keys on the island. We already found one in the Warden’s safe. We assume there are two left on Darke Island. The Warden knows that what we’re looking for is here. If we leave the island, he’s going to have an army patrolling Darke Island’s shores, waiting for the moment where we inevitably have to come back and obtain what we’re after. Then we’ll head right into a trap.”
“If we’re strong enough to break out using demigod powers, we’ll be strong enough to come back,” Charlie insisted.
I sighed. “It’s not that simple, even as demigods. We haven’t mastered our powers yet. We’re bound by inferichite, and even if we can break these bracelets, we still have clues to find. If we’re leaving, we’re leaving for good. We need to find those clues before we make a break for it, because if we leave the Institute, I amnevercoming back. We already have a lead on the merfolk key. Promise me we’ll stay until we find it, Charlie.”
“That’s a big promise to make, pidge.”
