“Look, you and Oberi gotta listen,” Chancey started. “There’s something wrong with Charlie.”
My heartbeat immediately quickened in fear, and Oberi stirred beside me. She changed into a phoenix, leaping onto my chair. “Wrong? Is he sick, or?—”
“Let me clarify,” Danny began. “My magic tells me there’s something wrong with Charlie’sdesires, and if he doesn’t change his way of thinking, it’s gonna fuck us all over.”
My mood immediately soured, and Oberi cocked her head.Thiswas what they had dragged me aside for? They were wasting my time. They didn’t have the right to question my husband. Nobody did, and the fact that they were pissed me off. I hadn’t missed the glance the two of them shared when Charlie stabbed that vampire.
“Is this about him torturing that guy? Because we need intel,” I argued.
“No. It’s worse,” Danny said.
I turned to leave for the door, but Chancey blocked my path. “You need to hear him out.” He jerked his head toward Danny.
Suppressing my irritation, I faced the vampire again and crossed my arms.
“Spit it out,” I demanded. “What do your demigod powers have to say?”
Danny fiddled with his hair, appearing extremely nervous. “I don’t talk about what my powers can do with just anyone. I usually keep it to myself. But it’s gotten to the point where I can’t ignore it anymore. Ihadto tell somebody, and Chancey seemed like the first person who’d be willing to listen. I just hope I can convince you, too.”
“You’re not doing a very good job of it,” I sneered.
“Then let me be clear,” Danny said harshly. “When Charlie got here, my powers told me his only desire was to keep you and his friends safe. But those desires have changed over the past few months. They’ve gotten more reckless, dangerous. He's thinking about something. I cantellhe's plotting something he ain't telling the rest of us, not even you.”
“You really think my husband would keep secrets from me? You really think hecan? We share a bond!” I burst. Howdarethey suggest Charlie was lying to me. It was unthinkable!
“There are ways to get around a bond. You know how easy it is to shut Charlie out if you don't want him to know what you’re thinking, but what you try to hide is petty shit to spare his feelings,” Danny demanded. “Whatever Charlie’s keeping from you is way bigger. And Iknowhe is— his desires plainly tell me he’s keeping secrets.”
“Okay, big shot, so what's he hiding?” I sneered. “Since youknow his desiresand all.”
“That’s the thing. I can’t tell," Danny said in frustration. “It’s somethingbig, something that involves all of us. I don't think he's worked out the details yet, because it seems like the desireis confused. I don’t even know if he’s conscious of it yet. But it's there, underneath the surface. I was hoping you’d have some idea of what it could be.”
“He hasn’t mentioned anything to me.” This was a pointless conversation. I nearly turned away again, but Oberi beat her wings, telling me to stay.
“According to you, he tells you everything, right?” Danny snapped.
I bit my lip. “Of course he does. If Charlie had something in mind, he’d share it with me.”
“That’s not what my powers tell me, and demigod magic doesn’t lie,” Danny argued. “He hasn’t decided what he’s going to do, and we don't have much time to convince him to take a different path. If we evencanat this point."
“What do you want me to do about it?” I asked coldly.
“You’ve gotta talk to him, Ava. Out of all of us, you've got the best chance of making him crack. He needs to tell us what he’s considering,” Danny insisted. “Then, once we know, we can talk him out of it, whatever it is. Or help him to achieve it, if it’s a good plan after all. Dark desires don’t mean devious intentions, and if it’s something cruel against the Warden, it could be good for us. I just don’t like that he’s keeping it from the group.”
"You ever think you could have it wrong, and your magic could be lying to you?” I asked Danny, glaring him down.
Danny nodded. “Sure. I’ve been wrong before. But I got a gut feeling about this one.”
I rolled my eyes and looked toward the angel in the room. “I’d expect this from Danny, but not you, Chancey. I thought you were Charlie’s friend, but you’re throwing accusations around without any proof.”
“Look, I've always respected Charlie,” Chancey said, spreading his arms wide. “But I've never beenafraidof him. I am now. You wanna tell me why that is?”
I steeled myself. “Iwon’tbe afraid of Charlie, no matter what you two think he’s capable of.”
“You need to be, because we all should,” Danny hissed.
“Lemme tell you something,” Chancey started. “Cassiel isn't a bad guy. But he's got a bad job, and nobody stays the head of the Elvish crime family for as long as he has without making some questionable decisions. Now he's teaching Charlie how to do the same thing.”
“Yeah, and Charlie’s just doing his job. I'm sorry if you couldn't handle being in his position, but he's doing exactly what he needs to. We need a villain if we’re going to beat the Warden,” I demanded.
