I teared up. “Ivy… I can’t…”
“It’ll be okay, precious, I promise.” He reached out to squeeze my hand. He understood what I meant without me having to allude to it.
“It’s important,” I insisted. “We tried messing around, and nothing happened. I could barely feel anything. I can’t be intimate with my husband, and it’s killing me.”
“Don’t be afraid. Charlie loves you, no matter what,” Ivy said. “I know it’s hard to hear, but your silver lining’s coming, you got me? You just gotta be brave enough to look for it.”
I nodded, but didn’t get to add anything, because Hemlock walked into the room. Her expression didn’t change as she recognized me. She merely gave me a short nod before she came to the head of the room.
At least Hemlock wasn’t treating me any differently. She still had faith I was more than this broken… thing.
“Good morning, everyone,” Hemlock began. “Today, I’d like to move on to a new module discussing…”
She didn’t finish her sentence before a guard walked in. He stood at the back of the classroom, holding a noxite gun and remaining silent.
Hemlock’s tone was flat. “May I help you?”
“Just here to observe, ma’am,” the guard replied. “Act like I’m not even here.”
Hemlock’s eye twitched. They were dictating what she could teach in her classes. “Very well. Everyone keep up. We’ve no time to dally.”
Hemlock diverted her lecture to speak loudly about overbearing tyrants who had damaged magical history by going mad with power. I really thought she was pushing it, but the clueless guard didn’t appear like he made any connections. She didn’t assign any homework before dismissing us, slamming papers down on her desk before the guard walked out.
Ivy snickered as he pushed me out of the classroom. “Ooh, Hemlock ispissed. I bet she’s coming up with a plan of revenge against the Warden as we speak. I can’twaitto see it.”
A guard grabbed Ivy’s sleeve as we roamed by. “Hey, you! Your old man’s come to see you.”
I hated how the guards treated Ivy like he was a thing and not a person. They always refused to use his name. The inferichite bracelet warmed against my skin as my Fire magic came to the surface.
Ivy’s gleeful mood instantly evaporated. “Right now?”
“He’s not a patient vampire,” the guard replied shortly.
Ivy gulped. “Just… give me a couple minutes.” Ivy took off in the other direction without a goodbye, racing to his cell block. The guard followed.
Well, fuck. I didn’t like how he’d left me in the middle of the hall like this. I decided I’d wait for Charlie, and rolled myself to the wall so I wouldn’t be blocking traffic.
I saw Chancey come down the hallway, making his way over to me. He carried a small brown box. Somebody knocked into him, but he shoved them aside, and they flopped onto the floor.
“Hey, Ava. I was down at the mailroom, and they had a package for you. I, uh, picked it up,” Chancey said, handing it out to me.
“And who said you aren’t a sweetheart,” I teased. There was a letter attached to the outside of the package. I opened it, recognizing my youngest brother’s handwriting.
Hi, Ava!
I hope you’re okay, wheeling around a bunch of tough guys. I know you can handle it, because you’re scarier than the rest of them.
Charlie was so awesome. He’s the best bro-in-law ever. Mom said the prison can be mean about helping him with his classes. These should help. I made them! They’re glasses that will analyze and read any text on a screen or piece of paper out loud. And don’t worry. I crafted them so they’ll resist the magic around the prison, so they’ll work right. That should make things easier.
Can you send me some stories about what goes on at the prison? I want to know all the gnarly details. It sounds way more interesting than middle school.
Also, tell Ez I’m taking his surfboard, because he’s not using it.
Your awesome brother, Maverick
I laughed. Maverick was the only one I knew who’d think going to prison was cool, but I guess hewasa little boy, and anything extreme interested him.
Maverick was extremely smart when he tinkered with things. He had a talent for rigging up all kinds of mechanical objects, but it was incredible that he’d managed to invent a piece of technology that was able to resist magic, something the best magical engineers of our time hadn’t figured out how to do. The kid was practically a genius.
